Economy & Finance

If you like your smartphone or your widescreen TV, your car or your pension, then, whether you know it or not, you are a fan of Wall Street.William D. Cohan, bestselling author of House of Cards, has long been critical of the bad behaviour that plagued much of Wall Street in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, and, as an ex-banker, he is an expert on its inner workings as well. But in recent years he has become alarmed by the vitriol directed at the bankers, traders and executives who keep the wheels of our economy turning. Why Wall Street Matters is a timely and trenchant reminder of the actual good these institutions do and the dire consequences for us all if the essential role they play in making our lives better is carelessly curtailed.

In winter 2014, a Tibetan monk lectured the world leaders gathered at Davos on the importance of Happiness. The recent DSM-5, the manual of all diagnosable mental illnesses, for the first time included shyness and grief as treatable diseases. Happiness has become the biggest idea of our age, a new religion dedicated to well-being. In this brilliant dissection of our times, political economist William Davies shows how this philosophy, first pronounced by Jeremy Bentham in the 1780s, has dominated the political debates that have delivered neoliberalism. From a history of business strategies of how to get the best out of employees, to the increased level of surveillance measuring every aspect of our lives; from why experts prefer to measure the chemical in the brain than ask you how you are feeling, to why Freakonomics tells us less about the way people behave than expected, The Happiness Industry is an essential guide to the marketization of modern life. Davies shows that the science of happiness is less a science than an extension of hyper-capitalism.

Capitalism is killing the planet, and the preservation of a natural environment favorable to human life requires a radical alternative. In this new collection of essays, long time revolutionary and environmental activist Michael Lwy offers a vision of ecosocialist transformation. This vision combines an understanding of the destructive logic of the capitalist system with an appreciation for ongoing struggles, particularly in Latin America.

A History of Money looks at how money as we know it developed through time. Starting with the barter system, the basic function of exchanging goods evolved into a monetary system based on coins made up of precious metals and, from the 1500s onwards, financial systems were established through which money became intertwined with commerce and trade, to settle by the mid-1800s into a stable system based upon Gold. This book presents its closing argument that, since the collapse of the Gold Standard, the global monetary system has undergone constant crisis and evolution continuing into the present day.

In The Reckoning, award-winning historian Jacob Soll shows how the use and misuse of financial bookkeeping has determined the fates of entire societies. Time and again, Soll reveals, good and honest accounting has been a tool to build successful companies, states and empires. Yet when it is neglected or falls into the wrong hands, accounting has contributed to cycles of destruction that continue to this day. Combining rigorous scholarship and fresh storytelling, The Reckoning traces the surprisingly powerful influence of accounting on financial and political stability, from the powerful Medici bank in 14th century Italy to the 2008 financial crisis.

The Quest continues the riveting story Daniel Yergin began twenty years ago with his No.1 International Bestseller The Prize, revealing the on-going quest to meet the world's energy needs - and the power and riches that come with it.A master story teller as well as our most expert analyst, Yergin proves that energy is truly the engine of global political and economic change. From the jammed streets of Beijing, the shores of the Caspian Sea, and the conflicts in the Middle East, to Capitol Hill and Silicon Valley, Yergin tells the inside stories of the oil market, the rise of the 'petrostate', the race to control the resources of the former Soviet empire, and the massive corporate mergers that have transformed the oil landscape. He shows how the drama of oil - the struggle for access to it, the battle for control, the insecurity of supply, its impact on the global economy, and the geopolitics that dominate it - will continue to shape our world. And he takes on the toughest questions: will we run out; are China and the United States destined for conflict; what of climate change? Yergin also reveals the surprising and turbulent histories of nuclear, coal, and natural gas, and investigates the 'rebirth of renewables'- biofuels, wind, and solar energy - showing how understanding this greening landscape and its future role are crucial to the needs of a growing world economy.The Quest presents an extraordinary range of characters and dramatic stories to illustrate the principles that will shape our energy security system for the decades to come. It is essential reading.

'If Martin Scorsese's film The Wolf of Wall Street is about the finance industry's greediest adults, Kevin Roose's Young Money is a look at those wolves as cubs' Amazon.com 'Best Book of the Month'Every year, thousands of eager graduates are hired by the world's financial giants, where they're taught the secrets of making obscene amounts of money -- as well as how to dress, talk, date, drink, and schmooze like real financiers. Young Money is the exclusive, inside story of this well-guarded world. Investigative reporter Kevin Roose shadows eight rookies as they are exposed to the exhausting workloads, huge bonuses, and recreational drugs that have always characterized Wall Street life. But they experience something new, too: an industry forever changed by the massive financial collapse of 2008. And as they get their Wall Street educations, they face hard questions about morality, prestige, and the value of their work.'A great new read that doubles as a post-crash update to Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker - Mother Jones'A fun fast read that will make you laugh out loud' Fortune Magazine

Understanding economics just got easierThe defining economic event of recent times - the global financial crisis of 2008 - was good for economists. That might sound crass but the truth is it stimulated interest in the subject by showing how important economic concerns are to our lives. Get the economy wrong and things we take for granted start to fall apart. It's a lesson that applies especially to those working in business, who, more than most, need to understand the subject. This book will help you by showing how economics can be useful for you in business, explaining economic ideas you might not have had time to explore previously and stimulating an interest in economics that encourages you to further study. Each of the seven chapters in Business Economics In A Week covers a different aspect of economics:- Sunday: Economics and your business- Monday: The wonderful works of the market- Tuesday: Businesses in the market- Wednesday: Knowing your consumers- Thursday: The limits of the market- Friday: Business strategies and government macroeconomic policy- Saturday: Surviving the international economy

'Infuriating... Wilkin's main claim is that the super-rich have discovered 'secret' ways of both making and preserving their fortunes... like [Capital author Thomas] Piketty, Wilkin has a love-hate relationship with capitalism. He takes the view that most billionaires are rich because, one way or another, they have found ways to rig the market.' The TimesWhat does it take to make a fortune? Hard work? Great ideas? Intelligence? Business acumen? Or something else entirely? Spanning centuries and continents, from the Ancient World to the 21st century, Wealth Secrets of the 1% uncovers the economic principles that enable a fortunate few to get really rich. Witty, provocative and immaculately researched, it is essential and revelatory reading at a time when 1% of the world's population owns half of its wealth.'Clever [and] entertaining, with a distinctly satirical edge' Daily Mail'Illuminating [and] eye-opening... sure to make libertarian heads explode' Kirkus Reviews'What makes this book different is that Sam Wilkin is an inside man' Daily Telegraph'No one gets really rich reading how-to-get-rich handbooks...Wilkin offers up the real scoop in Wealth Secrets of the One Percent, a delicious - and insight-packed - send-up of the genre.' Toomuch.com

Exam Board: AQALevel: AS/A-levelSubject: EconomicsFirst Teaching: September 2015First Exam: June 2016Build knowledge of Economics through active learning with the latest Powell textbook, featuring quantitative skills practice and brand new case studies.This textbook has been fully revised to reflect the 2015 AQA A-level specification, giving you up-to-date material that supports your teaching and will enable your students to:- Develop subject knowledge with topic-by-topic support from Ray Powell and James Powell, who both have extensive experience in teaching and examining- Demonstrate awareness of current issues in Economics through brand new case studies that also help build analytical and evaluative skills- Use the language of economics to explain important concepts and issues effectively, with key terms identified throughout the text and glossaries for both microeconomics and macroeconomics- Build quantitative skills with worked examples- Stretch and challenge their knowledge with extension materials- Prepare for exams with practice questions and activities throughout

Exam Board: AQALevel: AS/A-levelSubject: EconomicsFirst Teaching: September 2015First Exam: June 2016Build knowledge of Economics through active learning with the latest Powell textbook, featuring quantitative skills practice and brand new case studies.This textbook has been fully revised to reflect the 2015 AQA A-level specification, giving you up-to-date material that supports your teaching and will enable your students to:- Develop subject knowledge with topic-by-topic support from Ray Powell and James Powell, who both have extensive experience in teaching and examining- Demonstrate awareness of current issues in Economics through brand new case studies that also help build analytical and evaluative skills- Use the language of economics to explain important concepts and issues effectively, with key terms identified throughout the text and glossaries for both microeconomics and macroeconomics- Build quantitative skills with worked examples- Stretch and challenge their knowledge with extension materials- Prepare for exams with practice questions and activities throughout

A million readers bought The Undercover Economist to get the lowdown on how economics works on a small scale, in our everyday lives. Since then, economics has become big news. Crises, austerity, riots, bonuses - all are in the headlines all the time. But how does this large-scale economic world really work? What would happen if we cancelled everyone's debt? How do you create a job? Will the BRIC countries take over the world? Asking - among many other things -- what the future holds for the Euro, why the banks are still paying record bonuses and where government borrowing will take us, in The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, Tim Harford returns with his trademark clarity and wit to explain what's really going on - and what it means for us all.

Using the groundbreaking formula they introduced in their book Financial Intelligence: A Manager's Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean, Karen Berman and Joe Knight present the essentials of finance specifically for entrepreneurial managers.Drawing on their work training tens of thousands of people at leading organizations worldwide, the authors provide a deep understanding of the basics of financial management and measurement, along with hands-on activities to practice what you are reading. You'll discover:Why the assumptions behind financial data matter- What income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements really reveal- How to use ratios to assess your venture's financial health- How to calculate return on your investments in your enterprise- Ways to use financial information to do your own job better- How to instill financial intelligence throughout your teamAuthoritative and accessible, Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs empowers you to "e;talk numbers"e; confidently with colleagues, partners, and employees-- and fully understand how to use financial data to make better decisions for your business.

Provides advanced students and researchers in experimental economics with the skills they need in order to analyse their data in deeper and more illuminating ways.

How did the rich countries really become rich? In this provocative study, Ha-Joon Chang examines the great pressure on developing countries from the developed world to adopt certain 'good policies' and 'good institutions', seen today as necessary for economic development. His conclusions are compelling and disturbing: that developed countries are attempting to 'kick away the ladder' with which they have climbed to the top, thereby preventing developing countries from adopting policies and institutions that they themselves have used.

Truly eye-opening . . . There is almost no situation that Harford cannot dissect with his sharp economist's tools . . . economics has never been this cool' NEW STATESMANIf humans are so clever, why do we smoke and gamble, or take drugs, or fall in love? Is this really rational behaviour? And how come your idiot boss is so overpaid? In fact, the behaviour of even the unlikeliest of individuals - prostitutes, drug addicts, racists and revolutionaries - complies with economic logic, taking into account future costs and benefits, even if we don't quite realise it. We are rational beings after all.

'Whether a complete novice, or a professional portfolio manager, this book will give you access to the mindset and techniques of the most successful investors of our time and more importantly, it will help you avoid mistakes. The Great Investors will have a permanent place on my desk.'Mark Sheridan, Executive Director, Nomura International PLC Leading investors such as Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Sir John Templeton, George Soros and Anthony Bolton are known throughout the world. How did these people come to be so successful? Which strategies have they used to make their fortunes? And what can you learn from their techniques?In The Great Investors, Glen Arnold succinctly and accurately describes the investment philosophies of the worlds greatest investors. He explains why they are the best, gives details of their tactics for accumulating wealth, captures the key elements that led to their market-beating successes and teaches you key lessons that you can apply to your own investing strategies. From the foreword: There are some very special people who seem to possess an exceptional talent for acquiring wealth. I want to explore not just the past triumphs of these masters, but also the key factors they look for as well as the personality traits that allow them to control emotion and think rationally about where to place funds. How does a master of investment hone skills through bitter experience and triumph to develop their approach to accumulating wealth?Glen Arnold The Great Investors is the story of a number of remarkable men: John Templeton, George Soros, Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Philip Fisher, Peter Lynch, Anthony Bolton and John Neff. Whether youre new to investing, have had success in the markets, or youre a professional investor or fund manger, youll benefit from reading about their proven, and successful, trading philosophies. The Great Investorswill show you how to: Be a business analyst rather than a security analyst Do your homework and develop a broad social, economic and political awareness Control emotion so as not to get swept away by the market Be consistent in your approach, even when you have bad years See the wood for the trees and not over complicate your portfolio Learn from your investing Be self reliant, stand aside from the crowd and follow your own logic Take reasonable risk

This innovative new textbook firmly roots management accounting in management, placing the emphasis on the management accountant as a key member of the management team and the strategic business decision making process. Unique case studies and examples of worldwide practices illustrate how concepts and techniques are applied in real-world business situations. It explores how management accounting techniques are adapted and modified to support specific industries from energy to media sectors and covers topical issues such as: Environmental accounting Environmental auditing and ISO14001/EMAS The balanced scorecard Kaizen costing Target costing Social responsibility Features Integrates the most up-to-date and relevant research with a broad approach to management accounting. Presents compelling examples of real organisations, exploring the interactions of management accounting in practice. Extends knowledge of management accounting concepts and techniques to how they can be used for strategic decision making and management control. Uses Excel to develop and apply solutions methods. Examines how management accounting techniques are adapted and modified to support specific industries from energy to media sectors. Covers topical issues such as activity-based budgeting, the balanced scorecard, target costing, capacity planning, quality management, Six Sigma and performance measurement. Fully compliant with developments within the professional bodies such as CIMA and ACCA. Offers end-of chapter exercises to extend your critical thinking and applications of key concepts. Provides short case studies, so you can practise manipulating and analysing data.This is the ideal textbook for students studying management accounting at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Paul Krugman has made a reputation for himself by telling us the truth about economics however unlikely it may seem and however little we want to believe it. In this collection of sharp, witty essays, Krugman tackles bad economic ideas from across the political spectrum, giving us clear-eyed insights into unemployment, globalization, economic growth and financial speculation. The writing here brilliantly combines the acerbic style and clever analysis that has made Krugman famous.

Our planet's resources are running out. The media bombards us with constant warnings of impending shortages of fossil fuels, minerals, arable land, and water and the political Armageddon that will result as insatiable global demand far outstrips supply. But how true is this picture?In Winner Take All, Dambisa Moyo cuts through the misconceptions and noise surrounding resource scarcity with a penetrating analysis of what really is at stake. Examining the operations of commodity markets and the geopolitical shifts they have triggered, she reveals the hard facts behind the insatiable global demand for economic growth. In this race for global resources, China is way out in front.China, Moyo reveals, has embarked on one of the greatest commodity rushes in history. Tracing its breathtaking quest for resources - from Africa to Latin America, North America to Europe - she examines the impact it is having on us all, and its profound implications for our future. What, Moyo asks, will be the financial and human effects of all this - and is large-scale resource conflict inevitable or avoidable?Instead of another polemic, Winner Take All is a clear-eyed look at the realities we all need to face if we want a just, balanced and peaceful global economy for the 21st century.

Steven Levitt, the original rogue economist, and Stephen Dubner have spent four years uncovering the hidden side of even more controversial subjects, from terrorism to shark attacks, cable TV to hurricanes. The result is Superfreakonomics. It reveals, among other things: - Why you are more likely to be killed walking drunk than driving drunk - How a prostitute is more likely to sleep with a policeman than be arrested by one- Why terrorists might be easier to track down than you would imagine- How a sex change could boost your salaryBecause sometimes the most superfreaky solution is the simplest.

The Financial Times Guide to Banking is a comprehensive introduction to how banks and banking works. Best-selling author Glen Arnold provides you with a foundation for understanding the wide variety of activities undertaken by banks. He shows you why these global institutions are so important to consumers and finance professionals alike and explains how their activities impact on everyday life. The Financial Times Guide to Banking will give you: - A thorough understanding of all types of banking from retail through to asset management and investment banking. - An overview of global banking including the worldwide evolution of the sector, the influence of cross-border money flows and the importance of modern banking to international development - Expert knowledge about instruments and markets including debt markets, futures markets and swaps and options - Insight into the crucial importance of central banking and government regulation - Answers to the big questions about monetary policy and interest rates, payment systems and banking success

How did we get to where we are? John Cassidy shows that the roots of our most recent financial failure lie not with individuals, but with an idea - the idea that markets are inherently rational. He gives us the big picture behind the financial headlines, tracing the rise and fall of free market ideology from Adam Smith to Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan. Full of wit, sense and, above all, a deeper understanding, How Markets Fail argues for the end of 'utopian' economics, and the beginning of a pragmatic, reality-based way of thinking.A very good history of economic thought EconomistHow Markets Fail offers a brilliant intellectual framework . . . fine work New York TimesAn essential, grittily intellectual, yet compelling guide to the financial debacle of 2009 Geordie Greig, Evening StandardA powerful argument . . . Cassidy makes a compelling case that a return to hands-off economics would be a disaster BusinessWeekThis book is a well constructed, thoughtful and cogent account of how capitalism evolved to its current form Telegraph Books of the Year recommendationJohn Cassidy ... describe[s] that mix of insight and madness that brought the world's system to its knees FT, Book of the Year recommendationAnyone who enjoys a good read can safely embark on this tour with Cassidy as their guide . . . Like his colleague Malcolm Gladwell [at the New Yorker], Cassidy is able to lead us with beguiling lucidity through unfamiliar territory New StatesmanJohn Cassidy has covered economics and finance at The New Yorker magazine since 1995, writing on topics ranging from Alan Greenspan to the Iraqi oil industry and English journalism. He is also now a Contributing Editor at Portfolio where he writes the monthly Economics column. Two of his articles have been nominated for National Magazine Awards: an essay on Karl Marx, which appeared in October, 1997, and an account of the death of the British weapons scientist David Kelly, which was published in December, 2003. He has previously written for Sunday Times in as well as the New York Post, where he edited the Business section and then served as the deputy editor. In 2002, Cassidy published his first book, Dot.Con. He lives in New York.

A book that revolutionised our understanding of English social history. E. P. Thompson shows how the English working class emerged through the degradations of the industrial revolution to create a culture and political consciousness of enormous vitality.

'Endlessly witty, but the wit is underpinned by a tremendous, unembarrassed anger and moral lucidity. A superb guide which will turn any reader into an expert within the space of 200 pages' Jonathan Coe There's probably a word in German for that feeling you get when you can understand something while it's being explained to you, but lose hold of the explanation as soon as it stops. A lot of writing about the credit crunch has that effect: you can grasp it while it's going on, and then as soon as it's over, you can no longer remember the difference between a CDO, a CDS, an MBS, and a toasted cheese sandwich. Whoops! makes it possible for all of us to grasp how we found ourselves in this predicament.What went wrong? In 2000, the total GDP of Earth was $36 trillion. At the start of 2007 it was $70 trillion. Today that growth has gone suddenly and sharply into decline, with an effect roughly resembling that of putting a car into reverse while doing seventy down a motorway. John Lanchester is a journalist, novelist and winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award. He is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books and the New Yorker, with a monthly column in Esquire. John's piece on our love affair with the City, 'Cityphilia', generated much response on its publication in January 2008 and indeed predicted a worldwide crash based on the misuse of financial derivatives. In October 2008 he charted the crisis as it had developed over the year in 'Cityphobia', which also attracted much attention as a piece that explained not only what had happened, but how we felt about it. John was raised in South-East Asia and now lives in London John Lanchester travels with a cast of characters - including reckless banksters, snoozing regulators, complacent politicians, predatory lenders, credit-drunk spendthrifts, and innocent bystanders to understand deeply and genuinely what is happening and why we feel the way we do.

Forget the 1% - it's time to get to grips with the 0.1% ...There has always been some gap between rich and poor, but it has never been wider - and now the rich are getting wealthier at such breakneck speed that the middle classes are being squeezed out. While the wealthiest 10% of Americans, for example, receive half the nation's income, the real money flows even higher up, in the top 0.1%. As a transglobal class of highly successful professionals, these self-made oligarchs often have more in common with one another than with their own countrymen. But how is this happening, and who are the people making it happen? Chrystia Freeland, acclaimed business journalist and Global Editor-at-Large of Reuters, has unprecedented access to the richest and most successful people on the planet, from Davos to Dubai, and dissects their lives with intelligence, empathy and objectivity. Pacily written and powerfully researched, Plutocrats could not provide a more timely insight into the current state of Capitalism and its most wealthy players.'A superb piece of reportage ... a tremendous illumination' (New Statesman on Freeland's previous title, Sale of the Century)

In The Conscience of a Liberal Paul Krugman, one of the US s most respected economists and outspoken commentators, lays out his vision of a New Deal for a fairer society. After the Second World War it seemed that, in the West, society was gradually becoming more equal. Welfare States had been established in many countries, there was a general reduction in income inequality and in America Franklin D. Roosevelt s New Deal seemed to ensure strong democratic values and broadly shared prosperity. So what went wrong? Why, in the past thirty years, has the gap between the poor and the super-rich become such a gulf? Why are we so disillusioned with the political system? And what can be done about this huge economic inequality and bitter polarization? Krugman argues that the time is ripe for another era of great reform. Here he outlines a programme for change, explaining what can be done to narrow the wealth gap. And he shows how a new political coalition can both support and be supported by reform, making our society not just more equal but more democratic. The Conscience of a Liberal promises to reshape public debate and become a touchstone work.

This book picks up where Karl Polanyi's study of economic and political change left off. Building upon Polanyi's conception of the double movement, Blyth analyzes the two periods of deep seated institutional change that characterized the twentieth century: the 1930s and the 1970s. Blyth views both sets of changes as part of the same dynamic. In the 1930s labor reacted against the exigencies of the market and demanded state action to mitigate the market's effects by 'embedding liberalism.' In the 1970s, those who benefited least from such 'embedding' institutions, namely business, reacted against these constraints and sought to overturn that institutional order. Blyth demonstrates the critical role economic ideas played in making institutional change possible. Great Transformations rethinks the relationship between uncertainty, ideas, and interests, achieving profound new insights on how, and under what conditions, institutional change takes place.

What determines the price of a pop concert or an opera? Why does Hollywood dominate the film industry? Does illegal downloading damage the record industry? Does free entry to museums bring in more visitors? In A Textbook of Cultural Economics, one of the world's leading cultural economists shows how we can use the theories and methods of economics to answer these and a host of other questions concerning the arts (performing arts, visual arts and literature), heritage (museums and built heritage) and creative industries (the music, publishing and film industries, broadcasting). Using international examples and covering the most up-to-date research, the book does not assume a prior knowledge of economics. It is ideally suited for students taking a course on the economics of the arts as part of an arts administration, business, management, or economics degree.

Whether you are saving for a particular goal, planning towards retirement or simply maximising your capital, financial guru Alvin Hall helps you to:Make more informed choices about your investments.Learn basic analysis techniques to minimize risk and maximize reward.Understand your own risk tolerance and find an investment style that suits your personality and circumstances.Investing in the stock market can be a complex business, but with practical examples and clear definitions, Alvin makes it a highly accessible one, regardless of your investment experience. Fully revised and updated with the latest financial information, The Stock Market Explained provides easy comparisons of the features, benefits, rewards and risks among the different asset classes. This is the ultimate guide to feeling more comfortable (and smarter) about your investment decisions.