Download or read book The Knockoff Economy written by Kal Raustiala and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-08-15 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the shopping mall to the corner bistro, knockoffs are everywhere in today's marketplace. Conventional wisdom holds that copying kills creativity, and that laws that protect against copies are essential to innovation--and economic success. But are copyrights and patents always necessary? In The Knockoff Economy, Kal Raustiala and Christopher Sprigman provocatively argue that creativity can not only survive in the face of copying, but can thrive. The Knockoff Economy approaches the question of incentives and innovation in a wholly new way--by exploring creative fields where copying is generally legal, such as fashion, food, and even professional football. By uncovering these important but rarely studied industries, Raustiala and Sprigman reveal a nuanced and fascinating relationship between imitation and innovation. In some creative fields, copying is kept in check through informal industry norms enforced by private sanctions. In others, the freedom to copy actually promotes creativity. High fashion gave rise to the very term "knockoff," yet the freedom to imitate great designs only makes the fashion cycle run faster--and forces the fashion industry to be even more creative. Raustiala and Sprigman carry their analysis from food to font design to football plays to finance, examining how and why each of these vibrant industries remains innovative even when imitation is common. There is an important thread that ties all these instances together--successful creative industries can evolve to the point where they become inoculated against--and even profit from--a world of free and easy copying. And there are important lessons here for copyright-focused industries, like music and film, that have struggled as digital technologies have made copying increasingly widespread and difficult to stop. Raustiala and Sprigman's arguments have been making headlines in The New Yorker, the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Boston Globe, Le Monde, and at the Freakonomics blog, where they are regular contributors. By looking where few had looked before--at markets that fall outside normal IP law--The Knockoff Economy opens up fascinating creative worlds. And it demonstrates that not only is a great deal of innovation possible without intellectual property, but that intellectual property's absence is sometimes better for innovation.
Download or read book The Knockoff Economy written by Kal Raustiala and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the shopping mall to the corner bistro, knockoffs are everywhere in today's marketplace. Conventional wisdom holds that copying kills creativity, and that laws that protect against copies are essential to innovation - and economic success. But are copyrights and patents always necessary? This book argues that creativity can not only survive in the face of copying, but can thrive
Download or read book Knockoff The Deadly Trade in Counterfeit Goods written by Tim Phillips and published by Kogan Page Publishers. This book was released on 2007-03-03 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this compelling account, Knockoff exposes the truth behind the fakes and uncovers the shocking consequences of dealing in counterfeit goods. Travelling across the globe, Tim Phillips shows that counterfeiting isn't a victimless crime; it is an illegal global industry undermining the world's economies. Based on interviews with victims, investigators and the people who sell counterfeits, Knockoff reveals the link between what we see as "innocent" fakes and organized crime. Phillips describes in detail how the counterfeiters' criminal network costs jobs, cripples developing countries, breeds corruption and violence, and kills thousands of people every year. He shows that by turning a blind eye to the problem, we become accomplices to theft, extortion and murder.
Download or read book Talent Wants to Be Free written by Orly Lobel and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2013-09-30 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents a set of positive changes in corporate strategies, industry norms, regional policies, and national laws that will incentivize talent flow, creativity, and growth.
Download or read book Poor Economics written by Abhijit V. Banerjee and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2012-03-27 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics upend the most common assumptions about how economics works in this gripping and disruptive portrait of how poor people actually live. Why do the poor borrow to save? Why do they miss out on free life-saving immunizations, but pay for unnecessary drugs? In Poor Economics, Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, two award-winning MIT professors, answer these questions based on years of field research from around the world. Called "marvelous, rewarding" by the Wall Street Journal, the book offers a radical rethinking of the economics of poverty and an intimate view of life on 99 cents a day. Poor Economics shows that creating a world without poverty begins with understanding the daily decisions facing the poor.
Download or read book Illicit written by Moises Naim and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2006-10-10 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking investigation of how illicit commerce is changing the world by transforming economies, reshaping politics, and capturing governments.In this fascinating and comprehensive examination of the underside of globalization, Moises Naím illuminates the struggle between traffickers and the hamstrung bureaucracies trying to control them. From illegal migrants to drugs to weapons to laundered money to counterfeit goods, the black market produces enormous profits that are reinvested to create new businesses, enable terrorists, and even to take over governments. Naím reveals the inner workings of these amazingly efficient international organizations and shows why it is so hard — and so necessary to contain them. Riveting and deeply informed, Illicit will change how you see the world around you.
Download or read book Knockoff written by Tim Phillips and published by Kogan Page Publishers. This book was released on 2007-03-03 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on interviews with victims, investigators, and the people who sell counterfeits, "Knockoff" reveals the link between what we see as innocent fakes and organized crime.
Download or read book Capitalism without Capital written by Jonathan Haskel and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Early in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, and software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers. For all sorts of businesses, the ability to deploy assets that one can neither see nor touch is increasingly the main source of long-term success. But this is not just a familiar story of the so-called new economy. Capitalism without Capital shows that the growing importance of intangible assets has also played a role in some of the larger economic changes of the past decade, including the growth in economic inequality and the stagnation of productivity. Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake explore the unusual economic characteristics of intangible investment and discuss how an economy rich in intangibles is fundamentally different from one based on tangibles. Capitalism without Capital concludes by outlining how managers, investors, and policymakers can exploit the characteristics of an intangible age to grow their businesses, portfolios, and economies.
Download or read book Pocketbook Politics written by Meg Jacobs and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2007-03-12 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "How much does it cost?" We think of this question as one that preoccupies the nation's shoppers, not its statesmen. But, as Pocketbook Politics dramatically shows, the twentieth-century American polity in fact developed in response to that very consumer concern. In this groundbreaking study, Meg Jacobs demonstrates how pocketbook politics provided the engine for American political conflict throughout the twentieth century. From Woodrow Wilson to Franklin Roosevelt to Richard Nixon, national politics turned on public anger over the high cost of living. Beginning with the explosion of prices at the turn of the century, every strike, demonstration, and boycott was, in effect, a protest against rising prices and inadequate income. On one side, a reform coalition of ordinary Americans, mass retailers, and national politicians fought for laws and policies that promoted militant unionism, government price controls, and a Keynesian program of full employment. On the other, small businessmen fiercely resisted this low-price, high-wage agenda that threatened to bankrupt them. This book recaptures this dramatic struggle, beginning with the immigrant Jewish, Irish, and Italian women who flocked to Edward Filene's famous Boston bargain basement that opened in 1909 and ending with the Great Inflation of the 1970s. Pocketbook Politics offers a new interpretation of state power by integrating popular politics and elite policymaking. Unlike most social historians who focus exclusively on consumers at the grass-roots, Jacobs breaks new methodological ground by insisting on the centrality of national politics and the state in the nearly century-long fight to fulfill the American Dream of abundance.
Download or read book Principles of Political Economy written by John Stuart Mill and published by . This book was released on 1866 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Financial Domino Effect How to Profit Now in the Volatile Global Economy written by Ben Emons and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2012-11-16 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Predict and profit from the chain reactions of market turmoil “If you care about the inner dynamics and investors’ reactions to the emerging new financial world that will increasingly consist of ‘path-dependent, multimodal, fat-tailed outcomes,’ Ben Emons’s new book is a must-read. In a coherent and clear framework, Ben shows how falling dominoes in a world of fast markets and uniquely new possibili¬ties creates a market landscape we might never have prepared for.” —Vineer Bhansali, Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, PIMCO “At some point after getting your financial life in order, you may well have money to invest. Where should you put it, especially when worldwide markets are in flux? Ben Emons, a senior vice president at Pimco, the investment company that runs the world’s largest bond fund, addresses that question in The Financial Domino Effect.” —The New York Times “A great book; it’s a very smart book. This is not general reading but it’s something accessible to anyone." —Tom Keene, Bloommberg Radio When a major political or financial event happens, the impact disseminates like a contagion across markets and sovereign boundaries. Like a row of toppling dominoes, the effect of the crisis accelerates along various paths. The Financial Domino Effect enables you to benefit from these moving catastrophes and helps you navigate current changes taking place in governmental and financial systems. At the heart of this progressive book is a powerful framework for analyzing and interpreting the variety of connected influences in the three main domino effects categories—social-political, economic, and financial. By examining the aftermath of such recent milestone events as the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the Middle East protests, it shows you how to apply domino theory to become a more knowledgeable and astute portfolio manager. Written with the everyday inves¬tor in mind, this hands-on resource takes you to the next level by delving into such consequential topics as: How easily complex domino effects can become and what it means to your portfolio Six symptoms in the aftermath of a financial or sovereign crisis Post–financial crisis responses, such as quantitative easing (QE), credit easing, and competitive quantitative easing (CQE) How the dissemination and speed of domino effects relate to monetary transmission The second part of the book goes into great depth examining the euro zone debt crisis through the framework. This crisis is particularly unique because it is a domino effect of three kinds—social, economic, and financial—and it has not fully played out. This timely guide takes you step by step through the crisis to a final analysis. In the end, you will be prepared to plan for the myriad of far-reaching consequences and balance your portfolio. Financial crises will happen with high frequency. The Financial Domino Effect helps you stay on top when it all goes down.
Download or read book Hive Mind written by Garett Jones and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-11 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last few decades, economists and psychologists have quietly documented the many ways in which a person's IQ matters. But, research suggests that a nation's IQ matters so much more. As Garett Jones argues in Hive Mind, modest differences in national IQ can explain most cross-country inequalities. Whereas IQ scores do a moderately good job of predicting individual wages, information processing power, and brain size, a country's average score is a much stronger bellwether of its overall prosperity. Drawing on an expansive array of research from psychology, economics, management, and political science, Jones argues that intelligence and cognitive skill are significantly more important on a national level than on an individual one because they have "positive spillovers." On average, people who do better on standardized tests are more patient, more cooperative, and have better memories. As a result, these qualities—and others necessary to take on the complexity of a modern economy—become more prevalent in a society as national test scores rise. What's more, when we are surrounded by slightly more patient, informed, and cooperative neighbors we take on these qualities a bit more ourselves. In other words, the worker bees in every nation create a "hive mind" with a power all its own. Once the hive is established, each individual has only a tiny impact on his or her own life. Jones makes the case that, through better nutrition and schooling, we can raise IQ, thereby fostering higher savings rates, more productive teams, and more effective bureaucracies. After demonstrating how test scores that matter little for individuals can mean a world of difference for nations, the book leaves readers with policy-oriented conclusions and hopeful speculation: Whether we lift up the bottom through changing the nature of work, institutional improvements, or freer immigration, it is possible that this period of massive global inequality will be a short season by the standards of human history if we raise our global IQ.
Download or read book Making Home written by Sharon Astyk and published by New Society Publisher. This book was released on 2012-06-01 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Shows us why the actions that prepare us for emergencies and energy descent are the right things to do no matter what the future brings.” —Toby Hemenway, author of Gaia’s Garden Other books tell us how to live the good life—but you might have to win the lottery to do it. Making Home is about improving life with the real people around us and the resources we already have. While encouraging us to be more resilient in the face of hard times, author Sharon Astyk also points out the beauty, grace, and elegance that result, because getting the most out of everything we use is a way of transforming our lives into something much more fulfilling. Written from the perspective of a family who has already made this transition, Making Home shows readers how to turn the challenge of living with less into settling for more—more happiness, more security, and more peace of mind. Learn simple but effective strategies to: · Save money on everything from heating and cooling to refrigeration, laundry, water, sanitation, cooking, and cleaning · Create a stronger, more resilient family · Preserve more for future generations We must make fundamental changes to our way of life in the face of ongoing economic crisis and energy depletion. Making Home takes the fear out of this prospect, and invites us to embrace a simpler, more abundant reality. “Americans are born to be transient—Sharon Astyk has the prescription for dealing with that genetic disease, and building a healthy nativeness into our lives.” —Bill McKibben, New York Times–bestselling author “Exhaustively researched and compassionately delivered.” —Harriet Fasenfest, author of A Householder’s Guide to the Universe
Download or read book An Economist Goes to the Game written by Paul Oyer and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2022 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engaging look at the ways economic thinking can help us understand how sports work both on and off the field "Mr. Oyer writes clearly and ranges across all sorts of sports as well as across the globe, introducing fascinating observations."--Henry D. Fetter, Wall Street Journal Are ticket scalpers good for teams? Should parents push their kids to excel at sports? Why do Koreans dominate women's golf, while Kenyans and Ethiopians dominate marathon racing? Why would Michael Jordan, the greatest player in basketball, pass to Steve Kerr for the game-winning shot? Paul Oyer shows the many ways economics permeates the world of sports. His topics range from the business of sport to how great athletes use economic thinking to outsmart their opponents to why the world's greatest sports powerhouse (at least per capita) is not America or China but the principality of Liechtenstein. Economics explains why some sports cannot stop the use of performance-enhancing drugs while others can, why hundred-million-dollar player contracts are guaranteed in baseball but not in football, how one man was able to set the world of sports betting on its ear--and why it will probably never happen again. This book is an entertaining guide to how a bit of economics can make you a better athlete and a more informed fan.
Download or read book Mine written by Michael A. Heller and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Mine” is one of the first words babies learn, and by the time we grow up, the idea of ownership seems natural, whether we are buying a cup of coffee or a house. But who controls the space behind your airplane seat: you, reclining, or the squished laptop user behind you? Why is plagiarism wrong, but it’s okay to knock off a recipe or a dress design? And after a snowstorm, why does a chair in the street hold your parking space in Chicago, while in New York you lose both the space and the chair? In Mine!, Michael Heller and James Salzman, two of the world’s leading authorities on ownership, explain these puzzles and many more. Remarkably, they reveal, there are just six simple rules that everyone uses to claim everything. Owners choose the rule that steers us to do what they want. But we can pick differently. This is true not just for airplane seats, but also for battles over digital privacy, climate change, and wealth inequality. Mine! draws on mind-bending, often infuriating, and always fascinating accounts from business, history, courtrooms, and everyday life to reveal how the rules of ownership control our lives and shape our world.
Download or read book Prototype Nation written by Silvia M. Lindtner and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-15 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid look at China’s shifting place in the global political economy of technology production How did China’s mass manufacturing and “copycat” production become transformed, in the global tech imagination, from something holding the nation back to one of its key assets? Prototype Nation offers a rich transnational analysis of how the promise of democratized innovation and entrepreneurial life has shaped China’s governance and global image. With historical precision and ethnographic detail, Silvia Lindtner reveals how a growing distrust in Western models of progress and development, including Silicon Valley and the tech industry after the financial crisis of 2007–8, shaped the rise of the global maker movement and the vision of China as a “new frontier” of innovation. Lindtner’s investigations draw on more than a decade of research in experimental work spaces—makerspaces, coworking spaces, innovation hubs, hackathons, and startup weekends—in China, the United States, Africa, Europe, Taiwan, and Singapore, as well as in key sites of technology investment and industrial production—tech incubators, corporate offices, and factories. She examines how the ideals of the maker movement, to intervene in social and economic structures, served the technopolitical project of prototyping a “new” optimistic, assertive, and global China. In doing so, Lindtner demonstrates that entrepreneurial living influences governance, education, policy, investment, and urban redesign in ways that normalize the persistence of sexism, racism, colonialism, and labor exploitation. Prototype Nation shows that by attending to the bodies and sites that nurture entrepreneurial life, technology can be extricated from the seemingly endless cycle of promise and violence. Cover image: Courtesy of Cao Fei, Vitamin Creative Space and Sprüth Magers
Download or read book Ricky Rouse Has a Gun written by Jörg Tittel and published by SelfMadeHero. This book was released on 2014-09-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rick Rouse is a US Army deserter who, after running away to China, gets a job at Fengxian Amusement Park--a family destination heavily "inspired" by Western culture, featuring Rambi (the deer with a red headband), Ratman (the caped crusader with a rat's tail), Bumbo (small ears and a big behind), and dozens of other original characters. The park's general manager is convinced that Rick was destined to greet Fengxian customers, dressed as none other than Ricky Rouse. This original graphic novel is a relentless action comedy, a satire of US-China relations, a parody of Western entertainment, and a curious look at China--a country that, once we look past its often outrageous copyright infringements, is a culture ripe with innovation and a unique, courageous spirit.
