Download or read book An Economist Walks into a Brothel written by Allison Schrager and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Financial Times Book of the Month pick for April! Is it worth swimming in shark-infested waters to surf a 50-foot, career-record wave? Is it riskier to make an action movie or a horror movie? Should sex workers forfeit 50 percent of their income for added security or take a chance and keep the extra money? Most people wouldn't expect an economist to have an answer to these questions--or to other questions of daily life, such as who to date or how early to leave for the airport. But those people haven't met Allison Schrager, an economist and award-winning journalist who has spent her career examining how people manage risk in their lives and careers. Whether we realize it or not, we all take risks large and small every day. Even the most cautious among us cannot opt out--the question is always which risks to take, not whether to take them at all. What most of us don't know is how to measure those risks and maximize the chances of getting what we want out of life. In An Economist Walks into a Brothel, Schrager equips readers with five principles for dealing with risk, principles used by some of the world's most interesting risk takers. For instance, she interviews a professional poker player about how to stay rational when the stakes are high, a paparazzo in Manhattan about how to spot different kinds of risk, horse breeders in Kentucky about how to diversify risk and minimize losses, and a war general who led troops in Iraq about how to prepare for what we don't see coming. When you start to look at risky decisions through Schrager's new framework, you can increase the upside to any situation and better mitigate the downside.
Download or read book Bettering Humanomics written by Deirdre Nansen McCloskey and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2023-06-05 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deirdre Nansen McCloskey's latest meticulous work examines how economics can become a more "human" science. Economic historian Deirdre Nansen McCloskey has distinguished herself through her writing on the Great Enrichment and the betterment of the poor—not just materially but spiritually. In Bettering Humanomics she continues her intellectually playful yet rigorous analysis with a focus on humans rather than the institutions. Going against the grain of contemporary neo-institutional and behavioral economics which privilege observation over understanding, she asserts her vision of “humanomics,” which draws on the work of Bart Wilson, Vernon Smith, and most prominently, Adam Smith. She argues for an economics that uses a comprehensive understanding of human action beyond behaviorism. McCloskey clearly articulates her points of contention with believers in “imperfections,” from Samuelson to Stiglitz, claiming that they have neglected scientific analysis in their haste to diagnose the ills of the system. In an engaging and erudite manner, she reaffirms the global successes of market-tested betterment and calls for empirical investigation that advances from material incentives to an awareness of the human within historical and ethical frameworks. Bettering Humanomics offers a critique of contemporary economics and a proposal for an economics as a better human science.
Download or read book A Little History of Economics written by Niall Kishtainy and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lively, inviting account of the history of economics, told through events from ancient to modern times and the ideas of great thinkers in the field What causes poverty? Are economic crises inevitable under capitalism? Is government intervention in an economy a helpful approach or a disastrous idea? The answers to such basic economic questions matter to everyone, yet the unfamiliar jargon and math of economics can seem daunting. This clear, accessible, and even humorous book is ideal for young readers new to economics and for all readers who seek a better understanding of the full sweep of economic history and ideas. Economic historian Niall Kishtainy organizes short, chronological chapters that center on big ideas and events. He recounts the contributions of key thinkers including Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, and others, while examining topics ranging from the invention of money and the rise of agrarianism to the Great Depression, entrepreneurship, environmental destruction, inequality, and behavioral economics. The result is a uniquely enjoyable volume that succeeds in illuminating the economic ideas and forces that shape our world.
Download or read book Foolproof written by Greg Ip and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2015-10-13 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the very things we create to protect ourselves, like money market funds or anti-lock brakes, end up being the biggest threats to our safety and wellbeing. We have learned a staggering amount about human nature and disaster -- yet we keep having car crashes, floods, and financial crises. Partly this is because the success we have at making life safer enables us to take bigger risks. As our cities, transport systems, and financial markets become more interconnected and complex, so does the potential for catastrophe. How do we stay safe? Should we? What if our attempts are exposing us even more to the very risks we are avoiding? Would acceptance of danger make us more secure? Is there such a thing as foolproof? In FOOLPROOF, Greg Ip presents a macro theory of human nature and disaster that explains how we can keep ourselves safe in our increasingly dangerous world.
Download or read book Samuelson Friedman The Battle Over the Free Market written by Nicholas Wapshott and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Financial Times Best Economics Book of 2021 From the author of Keynes Hayek, the next great duel in the history of economics. In 1966 two columnists joined Newsweek magazine. Their assignment: debate the world of business and economics. Paul Samuelson was a towering figure in Keynesian economics, which supported the management of the economy along lines prescribed by John Maynard Keynes’s General Theory. Milton Friedman, little known at that time outside of conservative academic circles, championed “monetarism” and insisted the Federal Reserve maintain tight control over the amount of money circulating in the economy. In Samuelson Friedman, author and journalist Nicholas Wapshott brings narrative verve and puckish charm to the story of these two giants of modern economics, their braided lives and colossal intellectual battles. Samuelson, a forbidding technical genius, grew up a child of relative privilege and went on to revolutionize macroeconomics. He wrote the best-selling economics textbook of all time, famously remarking "I don’t care who writes a nation’s laws—or crafts its advanced treatises—if I can write its economics textbooks." His friend and adversary for decades, Milton Friedman, studied the Great Depression and with Anna Schwartz wrote the seminal books The Great Contraction and A Monetary History of the United States. Like Friedrich Hayek before him, Friedman found fortune writing a treatise, Capitalism and Freedom, that yoked free markets and libertarian politics in a potent argument that remains a lodestar for economic conservatives today. In Wapshott’s nimble hands, Samuelson and Friedman’s decades-long argument over how—or whether—to manage the economy becomes a window onto one of the longest periods of economic turmoil in the United States. As the soaring economy of the 1950s gave way to decades stalked by declining prosperity and "stagflation," it was a time when the theory and practice of economics became the preoccupation of politicians and the focus of national debate. It is an argument that continues today.
Download or read book Money written by Jacob Goldstein and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The co-host of the popular NPR podcast Planet Money provides a well-researched, entertaining, somewhat irreverent look at how money is a made-up thing that has evolved over time to suit humanity's changing needs. Money only works because we all agree to believe in it. In Money, Jacob Goldstein shows how money is a useful fiction that has shaped societies for thousands of years, from the rise of coins in ancient Greece to the first stock market in Amsterdam to the emergence of shadow banking in the 21st century. At the heart of the story are the fringe thinkers and world leaders who reimagined money. Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor, created paper money backed by nothing, centuries before it appeared in the west. John Law, a professional gambler and convicted murderer, brought modern money to France (and destroyed the country's economy). The cypherpunks, a group of radical libertarian computer programmers, paved the way for bitcoin. One thing they all realized: what counts as money (and what doesn't) is the result of choices we make, and those choices have a profound effect on who gets more stuff and who gets less, who gets to take risks when times are good, and who gets screwed when things go bad. Lively, accessible, and full of interesting details (like the 43-pound copper coins that 17th-century Swedes carried strapped to their backs), Money is the story of the choices that gave us money as we know it today.
Download or read book Portfolio Selection and Asset Pricing Models of Financial Economics and Their Applications in Investing written by Jamil Baz and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2022-09-06 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This uniquely comprehensive guide provides expert insights into everything from financial mathematics to the practical realities of asset allocation and pricing Investors like you typically have a choice to make when seeking guidance for portfolio selection―either a book of practical, hands-on approaches to your craft or an academic tome of theories and mathematical formulas. From three top experts, Portfolio Selection and Asset Pricing strikes the right balance with an extensive discussion of mathematical foundations of portfolio choice and asset pricing models, and the practice of asset allocation. This thorough guide is conveniently organized into four sections: Mathematical Foundations―normed vector spaces, optimization in discrete and continuous time, utility theory, and uncertainty Portfolio Models―single-period and continuous-time portfolio choice, analogies, asset allocation for a sovereign as an example, and liability-driven allocation Asset Pricing―capital asset pricing models, factor models, option pricing, and expected returns Robust Asset Allocation―robust estimation of optimization inputs, such as the Black-Litterman Model and shrinkage, and robust optimizers Whether you are a sophisticated investor or advanced graduate student, this high-level title combines rigorous mathematical theory with an emphasis on practical implementation techniques.
Download or read book Poker Brat written by Phil Hellmuth and published by D&B Publishing. This book was released on 2017-08-01 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Brothels Bordellos Bad Girls written by Jan MacKell Collins and published by UNM Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This look at prostitution in Colorado, 1860-1930, uncovers the lives and woes of "working girls" in mining towns such as Cripple Creek.
Download or read book The Social Survey in Historical Perspective 1880 1940 written by Martin Bulmer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 2001 book traces the history of the social Survey in Britain and the US, with two chapters on Germany and France. It discusses the aims and interests of those who carried out early surveys, and the links between the social survey and the growth of empirical social science.
Download or read book The Passion Economy written by Adam Davidson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2020-01-07 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The brilliant creator of NPR's Planet Money podcast and award-winning New Yorker staff writer explains our current economy: laying out its internal logic and revealing the transformative hope it offers for millions of people to thrive as they never have before. Contrary to what you may have heard, the middle class is not dying and robots are not stealing our jobs. In fact, writes Adam Davidson—one of our leading public voices on economic issues—the twenty-first-century economic paradigm offers new ways of making money, fresh paths toward professional fulfillment, and unprecedented opportunities for curious, ambitious individuals to combine the things they love with their careers. Drawing on the stories of average people doing exactly this—an accountant overturning his industry, a sweatshop owner's daughter fighting for better working conditions, an Amish craftsman meeting the technological needs of Amish farmers—as well as the latest academic research, Davidson shows us how the twentieth-century economy of scale has given way in this century to an economy of passion. He makes clear, too, that though the adjustment has brought measures of dislocation, confusion, and even panic, these are most often the result of a lack of understanding. The Passion Economy delineates the ground rules of the new economy, and armed with these, we begin to see how we can succeed in it according to its own terms—intimacy, insight, attention, automation, and, of course, passion. An indispensable road map and a refreshingly optimistic take on our economic future.
Download or read book Becoming Facebook written by Mike Hoefflinger and published by AMACOM. This book was released on 2017-04-06 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the hard learned lessons to creating a successful company, straight from a stakeholder who had a front-row seat to Facebook’s growing pains, stumbles, and reinventions. You can’t create a $300 billion company by accident in between classes. You may think you know the legendary story behind the beginning of Facebook by wunderkind Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, but those who were there on the inside molding this social media idea into a game-changing, Goliath-sized company know the experience was far more tumultuous and uncertain than one might expect. In Becoming Facebook, computer engineer turned marketing innovator Mike Hoefflinger shares the challenges faced and lessons learned during the coming-of-age times of the übercompany. Discover from an insider: How Facebook recovered from its “disastrous” IPO How the growth team achieved the impossible Why Facebook’s newsfeed ads were the company’s most important business decision ever How Google+ attacked and lost Why and how Instagram and WhatsApp were added Follow the social media giant from its almost mythical birth all the way to the overwhelming success it has been solidified in today, uncovering the lessons its leaders learned while overcoming setbacks and achieving greatness.
Download or read book Big Bang Disruption written by Larry Downes and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-01-07 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It used to take years or even decades for disruptive innovations to dethrone dominant products and services. But now any business can be devastated virtually overnight by something better and cheaper. How can executives protect themselves and harness the power of Big Bang Disruption? Just a few years ago, drivers happily spent more than $200 for a GPS unit. But as smartphones exploded in popularity, free navigation apps exceeded the performance of stand-alone devices. Eighteen months after the debut of the navigation apps, leading GPS manufacturers had lost 85 percent of their market value. Consumer electronics and computer makers have long struggled in a world of exponential technology improvements and short product life spans. But until recently, hotels, taxi services, doctors, and energy companies had little to fear from the information revolution. Those days are gone forever. Software-based products are replacing physical goods. And every service provider must compete with cloud-based tools that offer customers a better way to interact. Today, start-ups with minimal experience and no capital can unravel your strategy before you even begin to grasp what’s happening. Never mind the “innovator’s dilemma”—this is the innovator’s disaster. And it’s happening in nearly every industry. Worse, Big Bang Disruptors may not even see you as competition. They don’t share your approach to customer service, and they’re not sizing up your product line to offer better prices. You may simply be collateral damage in their efforts to win completely different markets. The good news is that any business can master the strategy of the start-ups. Larry Downes and Paul Nunes analyze the origins, economics, and anatomy of Big Bang Disruption. They identify four key stages of the new innovation life cycle, helping you spot potential disruptors in time. And they offer twelve rules for defending your markets, launching disruptors of your own, and getting out while there’s still time. Based on extensive research by the Accenture Institute for High Performance and in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, investors, and executives from more than thirty industries, Big Bang Disruption will arm you with strategies and insights to thrive in this brave new world.
Download or read book The Geometry of Wealth written by Brian Portnoy and published by Jaico Publishing House. This book was released on 2023-04-25 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: HOW DOES MONEY HELP IN CREATING A HAPPY LIFE? In The Geometry of Wealth, behavioral finance expert Brian Portnoy delivers an inspired answer based on the idea that wealth, truly defined, is funded contentment. It is the ability to underwrite a meaningful life. This stands in stark contrast to angling to become rich, which is usually an unsatisfying treadmill. At the heart of this groundbreaking perspective, Portnoy takes readers on a journey toward wealth, informed by disciplines ranging from ancient history to modern neuroscience. He contends that tackling the big questions about a joyful life and tending to financial decisions are complementary, not separate, tasks. These big questions include: • How is the human brain wired for two distinct experiences of happiness? And why can money “buy” one but not the other? • Why is being market savvy among the least important aspects of creating wealth but self-awareness among the most? • Can we strike a balance between pushing for more and being content with enough? This journey memorably contours along three basic shapes: A circle, triangle, and square help us visualize how we adapt to evolving circumstances, set clear priorities, and find empowerment in simplicity. In this accessible and entertaining book, Portnoy reveals that true wealth is achievable for many—including those who despair it is out of reach—but only in the context of a life in which purpose and practice are thoughtfully calibrated.
Download or read book Weaponized Lies written by Daniel J. Levitin and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previously Published as A Field Guide to Lies We’re surrounded by fringe theories, fake news, and pseudo-facts. These lies are getting repeated. New York Times bestselling author Daniel Levitin shows how to disarm these socially devastating inventions and get the American mind back on track. Here are the fundamental lessons in critical thinking that we need to know and share now. Investigating numerical misinformation, Daniel Levitin shows how mishandled statistics and graphs can give a grossly distorted perspective and lead us to terrible decisions. Wordy arguments on the other hand can easily be persuasive as they drift away from the facts in an appealing yet misguided way. The steps we can take to better evaluate news, advertisements, and reports are clearly detailed. Ultimately, Levitin turns to what underlies our ability to determine if something is true or false: the scientific method. He grapples with the limits of what we can and cannot know. Case studies are offered to demonstrate the applications of logical thinking to quite varied settings, spanning courtroom testimony, medical decision making, magic, modern physics, and conspiracy theories. This urgently needed book enables us to avoid the extremes of passive gullibility and cynical rejection. As Levitin attests: Truth matters. A post-truth era is an era of willful irrationality, reversing all the great advances humankind has made. Euphemisms like “fringe theories,” “extreme views,” “alt truth,” and even “fake news” can literally be dangerous. Let's call lies what they are and catch those making them in the act.
Download or read book Optimizing Project Management written by Te Wu and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2020-04-27 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: SHELVING GUIDE: Project Management This hands-on guide is written for project professionals seeking to find an optimized way of performing project management. It provides answers to such critical questions as: Why should an organization apply project management? What is the value of project management in the broader context of an organization? Is project management as successful as some advocates suggested or is it a waste of time and resources because of the many extensive and bureaucratic processes? Which project management approach should our project team adopt: predictive or adaptive, waterfall or rolling water, extreme programming or Scrum? This book aims to provide an optimized view of project management by balancing and blending competing methodologies (e.g., traditional versus Agile), lengthy methodologies and broad principles, processes and practices, and the need to understand versus the need to apply. It includes project management templates, an integrated case study illustrating how to apply tools and concepts, and a glossary of key terms. Optimizing Project Management is for both aspiring and practicing project management professionals. It covers the core concepts, practices, and skills that are useful for developing new ideas, planning activities, implementing projects, and conducting planning and controlling of schedule, budget, and scope. The text is particularly useful for students, project professionals wanting to refresh their knowledge, and those pursuing project management certifications. This book is aligned with common project management standards such as the Project Management Body of Knowledge and the ISO 21502: Project, Programme and Portfolio Management — Guidance on Project Management.
Download or read book Stretch written by Scott Sonenshein and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wall Street Journal Bestseller A groundbreaking approach to succeeding in business and life, using the science of resourcefulness. We often think the key to success and satisfaction is to get more: more money, time, and possessions; bigger budgets, job titles, and teams; and additional resources for our professional and personal goals. It turns out we’re wrong. Using captivating stories to illustrate research in psychology and management, Rice University professor Scott Sonenshein examines why some people and organizations succeed with so little, while others fail with so much. People and organizations approach resources in two different ways: “chasing” and “stretching.” When chasing, we exhaust ourselves in the pursuit of more. When stretching, we embrace the resources we already have. This frees us to find creative and productive ways to solve problems, innovate, and engage our work and lives more fully. Stretch shows why everyone—from executives to entrepreneurs, professionals to parents, athletes to artists—performs better with constraints; why seeking too many resources undermines our work and well-being; and why even those with a lot benefit from making the most out of a little. Drawing from examples in business, education, sports, medicine, and history, Scott Sonenshein advocates a powerful framework of resourcefulness that allows anybody to work and live better.
