Economy & Finance

Written by the originators and leaders of the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) movement itself, this short, practical guide offers an approach to organizational change based on the possibility of a more desirable future, experience with the whole system, and activities that signal ''something different is happening this time.'' That difference systematically taps the potential of human beings to make themselves, their organizations, and their communities more adaptive and more effective. AI, a theory of collaborative change, erases the winner/loser paradigm in favor of coordinated actions and closer relationships that lead to solutions at once simpler and more effective.

Statistical Rethinking: A Bayesian Course with Examples in R and Stan, Second Edition builds knowledge/confidence in statistical modeling. Pushes readers to perform step-by-step calculations (usually automated.) Unique, computational approach.

Bestselling author Mary Buffett and finance expert Sean Seah - 'the Warren Buffett of Asia' explain Warren Buffett's proven techniques and describes the habits and mindset that make a successful investor, in this clear, simple guide and workbook for beginning investors.

Challenge your creativity methodsDesign thinking is not just the property of graphic designers. This approach to creating solutions by thinking from the customer perspective can lead to new and innovative ideas that old methods could not approach. Design Thinking For Dummies provides a jump-start to get you and your organization on the path to new creativity. Written by a pair of design thinking thought leaders who've applied these steps to large organizations, this book helps you through the design thinking cycle and shows how it can help any industry.Inside...- Adopting a design thinking mindset- Building creative environments- Facilitating design thinking workshops- Working through the design thinking cycle- Implementing your solutions- Applying design thinking to business- Building a design thinking toolbox- Tips for transforming your organization

A guide to investing basics by the author of Broke Millennial, for anyone who feels like they aren't ready (or rich enough) to get into the marketMillennials want to learn how to start investing. The problem is that most have no idea where to begin. There's a significant lack of information out there catering to the concerns of new millennial investors, such as: * Should I invest while paying down student loans? * How do I invest in a socially responsible way? * What about robo-advisors and apps--are any of them any good? * Where can I look online for investment advice?In this second book in the Broke Millennial series, Erin Lowry answers those questions and delivers all of the investment basics in one easy-to-digest package. Tackling topics ranging from common terminology to how to handle your anxiety to retirement savings and even how to actually buy and sell a stock, this hands-on guide will help any investment newbie become a confident player in the market on their way to building wealth.

A Federal Reserve insider pulls back the curtain on the secretive institution that controls America’s economy After correctly predicting the housing crash of 2008 and quitting her high-ranking Wall Street job, Danielle DiMartino Booth was surprised to find herself recruited as an analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, one of the regional centers of our complicated and widely misunderstood Federal Reserve System. She was shocked to discover just how much tunnel vision, arrogance, liberal dogma, and abuse of power drove the core policies of the Fed. DiMartino Booth found a cabal of unelected academics who made decisions without the slightest understanding of the real world, just a slavish devo­tion to their theoretical models. Over the next nine years, she and her boss, Richard Fisher, tried to speak up about the dangers of Fed policies such as quanti­tative easing and deeply depressed interest rates. But as she puts it, “In a world rendered unsafe by banks that were too big to fail, we came to understand that the Fed was simply too big to fight.” Now DiMartino Booth explains what really happened to our economy after the fateful date of December 8, 2008, when the Federal Open Market Committee approved a grand and unprecedented ex­periment: lowering interest rates to zero and flooding America with easy money. As she feared, millions of individuals, small businesses, and major corporations made rational choices that didn’t line up with the Fed’s “wealth effect” models. The result: eight years and counting of a sluggish “recovery” that barely feels like a recovery at all. While easy money has kept Wall Street and the wealthy afloat and thriving, Main Street isn’t doing so well. Nearly half of men eighteen to thirty-four live with their parents, the highest level since the end of the Great Depression. Incomes are barely increasing for anyone not in the top ten percent of earners. And for those approaching or already in retirement, extremely low interest rates have caused their savings to stagnate. Millions have been left vulnerable and afraid. Perhaps worst of all, when the next financial crisis arrives, the Fed will have no tools left for managing the panic that ensues. And then what? DiMartino Booth pulls no punches in this exposé of the officials who run the Fed and the toxic culture they created. She blends her firsthand experiences with what she’s learned from dozens of high-powered market players, reams of financial data, and Fed docu­ments such as transcripts of FOMC meetings. Whether you’ve been suspicious of the Fed for decades or barely know anything about it, as DiMartino Booth writes, “Every American must understand this extraordinarily powerful institution and how it affects his or her everyday life, and fight back.”

Mullins presents some bare facts about the Federal Reserve System with subjects on: it IS NOT a U.S. government bank; it IS NOT controlled by Congress; it IS a privately owned Central Bank controlled by the elite financiers in their own interest. The Federal Reserve elite controls excessive interest rates, inflation, the printing of paper money, and have taken control of the depression of prosperity in the United States.

The fully revised and updated version of the leading textbook on real estate investment, emphasising real estate cycles and the availability and flow of global capitalReal Estate Investment remains the most influential textbook on the subject, used in top-tier colleges and universities worldwide. Its unique, practical perspective on international real estate investment focusses on real-world techniques which measure, benchmark, forecast and manage property investments as an asset class. The text examines global property markets and real estate cycles, outlines market fundamentals and explains asset pricing and portfolio theory in the context of real estate.In the years since the text's first publication, conditions in global real estate markets have changed considerably following the financial crisis of 2008-2009. Real estate asset prices have increased past pre-crisis levels, signalling a general market recovery. Previously scarce debt and equity capital is now abundant, while many institutions once averse to acquiring property are re-entering the markets. The latest edition - extensively revised and updated to address current market trends and practices as well as reflect feedback from instructors and students - features new content on real estate development, improved practical examples, expanded case studies and more. This seminal textbook:* Emphasises practical solutions to real investing problems rather than complex theory* Offers substantial new and revised content throughout the text* Covers topics such as valuation, leasing, mortgages, real estate funds, underwriting and private and public equity real estate* Features up-to-date sections on performance measurement, real estate debt markets and building and managing real estate portfolios* Includes access to a re-designed companion website containing numerous problems and solutions, presentation slides and additional instructor and student resourcesWritten by internationally-recognised experts in capital management and institutional property investing strategies, Real Estate Investment, Second Edition: Strategies, Structures, Decisions is an indispensable textbook for instructors and students of real estate fund management, investment management and investment banking, as well as a valuable reference text for analysts, researchers, investment managers, investment bankers and asset managers.

The classic guide to wealth planning, updated for 2018.

Essential reading on sustainability governance in the twenty-first century

Provides a state-of-the-art overview of real-estate derivatives which covers the description of these financial products, their applications, and the most important models.

The definitive compendium for the Insurance Digital RevolutionFrom slow beginnings in 2014, InsurTech has captured US$7billion in investment since 2010 -- a 10% annual compound growth rate is predicted until at least 2020. Three in four insurance companies believe some part of their business is at risk of disruption and understanding the trends, drivers and emerging technologies behind Insurance's Digital Revolution is a business-critical priority for all growth-minded firms.The InsurTech Book offers essential updates, critical thinking and actionable insight -- globally -- from start-ups, incumbents, investors, tech companies, advisors and other partners in this evolving ecosystem, in one volume. For some, Insurance is either facing an existential threat; for others, it is a sector on the brink of transforming itself. Either way, business models, value chains, customer understanding and engagement, organisational structures and even what Insurance is for, is never going to be the same. Be informed, be part of it.* Learn from diverse experiences, mindsets and applications of technologies* Discover new ways of defining and grasping growth opportunities* Get the inside track from innovators, disruptors and incumbents* Be updated on the evolution of InsurTech, why it is happening and how it will evolve* Explore visions of the future of Insurance to help shape yoursThe InsurTech Book is your indispensable guide to a sector in transformation.

The book of financial wisdom that your future self will thank you for reading For many adults under 40, 'debt' is a four-letter word something that should be avoided but is all too often unavoidable. In The Value of Debt in Building Wealth, bestselling author Thomas J. Anderson encourages you to rethink that.

The bestselling guide-updated to help traders capitalize on the latest developments and trends in option products and trading strategies

Whether you're trading cornerstone commodities or innovative investment products, observing how investors responded to past events through technical analysis is your key to forecasting when to buy and sell in the future. This edition shows you how to maximize your profits in today's markets by tailoring your application of this powerful tool.

A historical tour of economic ideas in world literature to examine the way societies have reconciled their moral values with economic forces.

Score your highest in econometrics? Easy. Econometrics can prove challenging for many students unfamiliar with the terms and concepts discussed in a typical econometrics course. Econometrics For Dummies eliminates that confusion with easy-to-understand explanations of important topics in the study of economics.

A new and radical reexamination of today's neoliberalist "new economy” through the political lens of the debtor/creditor relation."The debtor-creditor relation, which is at the heart of this book, sharpens mechanisms of exploitation and domination indiscriminately, since, in it, there is no distinction between workers and the unemployed, consumers and producers, working and non-working populations, between retirees and welfare recipients. They are all 'debtors,' guilty and responsible in the eyes of capital, which has become the Great, the Universal, Creditor."—from The Making of the Indebted ManDebt—both public debt and private debt—has become a major concern of economic and political leaders. In The Making of the Indebted Man, Maurizio Lazzarato shows that, far from being a threat to the capitalist economy, debt lies at the very core of the neoliberal project. Through a reading of Karl Marx's lesser-known youthful writings on John Mill, and a rereading of writings by Friedrich Nietzsche, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, and Michel Foucault, Lazzarato demonstrates that debt is above all a political construction, and that the creditor/debtor relation is the fundamental social relation of Western societies.Debt cannot be reduced to a simple economic mechanism, for it is also a technique of "public safety” through which individual and collective subjectivities are governed and controlled. Its aim is to minimize the uncertainty of the time and behavior of the governed. We are forever sinking further into debt to the State, to private insurance, and, on a more general level, to corporations. To insure that we honor our debts, we are at once encouraged and compelled to become the "entrepreneurs” of our lives, of our "human capital.” In this way, our entire material, psychological, and affective horizon is upended and reconfigured.How do we extricate ourselves from this impossible situation? How do we escape the neoliberal condition of the indebted man? Lazzarato argues that we will have to recognize that there is no simple technical, economic, or financial solution. We must instead radically challenge the fundamental social relation structuring capitalism: the system of debt.

A groundbreaking book that sheds new light on the vital importance of teams as the fundamental unit of organization and competition in the global economy.Teams—we depend on them for both our professional success and our personal happiness. But isn't it odd how little scrutiny we give them? The teams that make up our lives are created mostly by luck, happenstance, or circumstance—but rarely by design. In trivial matters—say, a bowling team, the leadership of a neighborhood group, or a holiday party committee—success by serendipity is already risky enough. But when it comes to actions by fast-moving start-ups, major corporations, nonprofit institutions, and governments, leaving things to chance can be downright dangerous.Offering vivid reports of the latest scientific research, compelling case studies, and great storytelling, Team Genius shows managers and executives that the planning, design, and management of great teams no longer have to be a black art. It explores solutions to essential questions that could spell the difference between success and obsolescence. Do you know how to reorganize your subpar teams to turn them into top performers? Can you identify which of the top-performing teams in your company are reaching the end of their life span? Do you have the courage to shut them down? Do you know how to create a replacement team that will be just as effective—without losing time or damaging morale? And, most important, are your teams the right size for the job?Throughout, Rich Karlgaard and Michael S. Malone share insights and real-life examples gleaned from their careers as journalists, analysts, investors, and globetrotting entrepreneurs, meeting successful teams and team leaders to reveal some "new truths": The right team size is usually one fewer person than what managers think they need. The greatest question facing good teams is not how to succeed, but how to die. Good "chemistry" often makes for the least effective teams. Cognitive diversity yields the highest performance gains—but only if you understand what it is. How to find the "bliss point" in team intimacy—and become three times more productive. How to identify destructive team members before they do harm. Why small teams are 40 percent more likely to create a successful breakthrough than a solo genius is. Why groups of 7 (± 2), 150, and 1,500 are magic sizes for teams.Eye-opening, grounded, and essential, Team Genius is the next big idea to revolutionize business.

It was only intended to make money, but it turned out to be the perfect experiment for discovering the true secrets of investing.

Environmental economics can be controversial, but it is also central to some key policy issues facing governments and society today, including industrial pollution, global warming, and waste/recycling. Stephen Smith looks at how economic activity affects the environment in which we live, and how environmental policies can most effectively be used.

Billionaire Warren Buffet, currently the third wealthiest man in the world, paid the lowest rate of tax among his office staff, including his receptionist. Tax havens are the most important single reason why poor people and poor countries stay poor. The author shows how this happened, and what this means for you.

This practical text offers the ideal introduction to the economic techniques used in public health.

A brilliantly illuminating and darkly comic tale of the ongoing financial and political crisis in America. The financial crisis that exploded in 2008 isn't past but prologue. The grifter class-made up of the largest players in the financial industry and the politicians who do their bidding-has been growing in power, and the crisis was only one terrifying manifestation of how they've hijacked America's political and economic life.Matt Taibbi has combined deep sources, trailblazing reportage, and provocative analysis to create the most lucid, emotionally galvanizing account yet written of this ongoing American crisis. He offers fresh reporting on the backroom deals of the bailout; tells the story of Goldman Sachs, the "vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity"; and uncovers the hidden commodities bubble that transferred billions of dollars to Wall Street while creating food shortages around the world.This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the labyrinthine inner workings of this country, and the profound consequences for us all.

The best way to beat the market is to follow the top endowments that always do: Harvard and Yale. The Ivy Portfolio is a step-by-step guide on how to track and mimic the investment results of these legendary endowments using an Exchange Traded Fund-based investment strategy.

A guidebook that provides you with what you need to navigate the highyield market in the integrated global economy. It gives you the insight and strategies you need to: use the Sharpe ratio to measure the return versus risk for high-yield debt; develop and oversee a portfolio of high-yield bonds; and, value individual high-yield issuances.

Offers the information you need to know about how to: implement a smart asset allocation strategy; diversify your investments with stocks, bonds, real estate, and other classes; and, change your allocation and lock in gains. This title includes advice on learning which investments work well together and why.

A third edition of the bestselling bond investing guide, fully updated - including new post-2008 risks and rewards.