- Table View
- List View
The Dark Theatre: A Book About Loss
by Alan ReadThe Dark Theatre is an indispensable text for activist communities wondering what theatre might have to do with their futures, students and scholars across Theatre and Performance Studies, Urban Studies, Cultural Studies, Political Economy and Social Ecology. The Dark Theatre returns to the bankrupted warehouse in Hope (Sufferance) Wharf in London’s Docklands where Alan Read worked through the 1980s to identify a four-decade interregnum of ‘cultural cruelty’ wreaked by financialisation, austerity and communicative capitalism. Between the OPEC Oil Embargo and the first screening of The Family in 1974, to the United Nations report on UK poverty and the fire at Grenfell Tower in 2017, this volume becomes a book about loss. In the harsh light of such loss is there an alternative to the market that profits from peddling ‘well-being’ and pushes prescriptions for ‘self-help’, any role for the arts that is not an apologia for injustice? What if culture were not the solution but the problem when it comes to the mitigation of grief? Creativity not the remedy but the symptom of a structural malaise called inequality? Read suggests performance is no longer a political panacea for the precarious subject but a loss adjustor measuring damages suffered, compensations due, wrongs that demand to be put right. These field notes from a fire sale are a call for angry arts of advocacy representing those abandoned as the detritus of cultural authority, second-order victims whose crime is to have appealed for help from those looking on, audiences of sorts.
The Darker Side of Leadership: Pythons Devouring Crocodiles
by Manfred F. Kets de VriesManfred Kets de Vries is one of the most authoritative voices on organizational dynamics, leadership, executive coaching, and psychotherapy today. In all his roles, he has noticed that questions are now, increasingly, coming back to one thing – the wider state of the world. Using an engaging and highly readable style throughout the book, Manfred helps us to make sense of the confusing and, some might say, psychotic times in which we now live.Revealing the darker side of leadership, Manfred explores the tendency for people to adopt ‘sheeple’ or herd-like behavior, the populist threat that we are facing, the dangers that come with feelings of perceived injustice, the rise of dictatorships, and the impact of Leviathan (neo-authoritarian) leadership behavior. Guided by theoretical concepts, the book provides readers with a better understanding of the underlying forces that drive these phenomena to the surface. What are the psychological dynamics at play? Why do groups of people behave in this manner? Beyond merely diagnosing what’s happening, Manfred introduces various coping strategies to counteract the emergence of these regressive forces.The book offers a unique and original approach to answering the micro- and macro-psychological questions of how to mitigate against populism and autocratic leadership, and will be of interest to the general reader as well as the key audiences of organizational leaders, psychoanalysts, coaches, psychotherapists, sociologists and social psychologists.
The Darker Side of Social Media: Consumer Psychology and Mental Health
by Angeline Close ScheinbaumThe Darker Side of Social Media: Consumer Psychology and Mental Health takes a research-based, scientific approach to examining problematic issues and outcomes that are related to social media use by consumers. Now in its second edition, it relies on psychological theories to help explain or predict problematic online behavior within the social media landscape through the lens of mental health.With an aim to provide solutions, the authors spotlight the key issues affecting consumer well-being and mental health due to the omnipresence and overuse of social media. The book dissects the unintended consequences of too much social media use, specifying key problems like disconnection anxiety, eating disorders, online fraud, cyberbullying, the dark web, addiction, depression, self-discrepancies, and serious privacy concerns (especially impacting children or young people). The book provides grapples with mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, self-harm, and eating disorders that can be intensified by, or correlated with, too much social media use. The authors meticulously review the various facets of the darker side of online presence and propose actionable solutions for each of the problems stated, providing scholars with a conceptual model with propositions for continued research.This international exploration of social media is a must-read for students of marketing, advertising, and public relations, as well as scholars/managers of business, marketing, psychology, communication, management, and sociology. It will also be of interest to social media users, those navigating new media platforms parents, policymakers, and practitioners.
The Darker Side of Travel
by Richard Sharpley Philip R. StoneOver the last decade, the concept of dark tourism has attracted growing academic interest and media attention. Nevertheless, perspectives on and understanding of dark tourism remain varied and theoretically fragile whilst, to date, no single book has attempted to draw together the conceptual themes and debates surrounding dark tourism, to explore it within wider disciplinary contexts and to establish a more informed relationship between the theory and practice of dark tourism. This book meets the undoubted need for such a volume by providing a contemporary and comprehensive analysis of dark tourism.
The Darwin Economy: Liberty, Competition, and the Common Good
by Robert H. FrankWhat Charles Darwin can teach us about building a fairer societyWho was the greater economist—Adam Smith or Charles Darwin? The question seems absurd. Darwin, after all, was a naturalist, not an economist. But Robert Frank, New York Times economics columnist and best-selling author of The Economic Naturalist, predicts that within the next century Darwin will unseat Smith as the intellectual founder of economics. The reason, Frank argues, is that Darwin's understanding of competition describes economic reality far more accurately than Smith's. And the consequences of this fact are profound. Indeed, the failure to recognize that we live in Darwin's world rather than Smith's is putting us all at risk by preventing us from seeing that competition alone will not solve our problems.Smith's theory of the invisible hand, which says that competition channels self-interest for the common good, is probably the most widely cited argument today in favor of unbridled competition—and against regulation, taxation, and even government itself. But what if Smith's idea was almost an exception to the general rule of competition? That's what Frank argues, resting his case on Darwin's insight that individual and group interests often diverge sharply. Far from creating a perfect world, economic competition often leads to "arms races," encouraging behaviors that not only cause enormous harm to the group but also provide no lasting advantages for individuals, since any gains tend to be relative and mutually offsetting.The good news is that we have the ability to tame the Darwin economy. The best solution is not to prohibit harmful behaviors but to tax them. By doing so, we could make the economic pie larger, eliminate government debt, and provide better public services, all without requiring painful sacrifices from anyone. That's a bold claim, Frank concedes, but it follows directly from logic and evidence that most people already accept.In a new afterword, Frank further explores how the themes of inequality and competition are driving today's public debate on how much government we need.
The Darwinian Trap: The Hidden Evolutionary Forces That Explain Our World (and Threaten Our Future)
by Kristian RönnA provocative exploration of how humans are wired to seek short-term success at the expense of long-term survival—an evolutionary &“glitch&” that explains everything from toxic workplaces to climate change&“Essential reading . . . a lively, ultimately hopeful examination of how incentivizing the wrong values and actions has led to some of our most intractable problems.&”—Eric Ries, New York Times bestselling author of The Lean StartupWhen people talk about today&’s biggest challenges—pollution, misinformation, artificial intelligence, inept CEOs, and politicians—they tend to frame the conversation around &“bad people&” doing &“bad things.&” But is there more to the story?Humans, it turns out, are intrinsically wired to seek short-term success at the expense of long-term prosperity. Kristian Rönn, an entrepreneur formerly affiliated with the University of Oxford&’s Future of Humanity Institute, calls these deeply rooted impulses &“Darwinian demons.&” These forces, a by-product of natural selection, can lead us to act in shortsighted ways that harm others—and even imperil our survival as a species. If this evolutionary glitch is left unchecked, the consequences will grow in magnitude as the power of technology accelerates.In this eye-opening work, Rönn shows that we must learn to cooperate in new ways if we are to escape these evolutionary traps in our daily lives and solve our biggest existential threats. Evolution may be to blame for the trap—but humans need not fall for it. Our salvation, he writes, will involve the creation of new systems that understand, track, and manage what humankind values most.Bold, brilliant, and ultimately optimistic, The Darwinian Trap gives readers a powerful new lens on our world and its problems, and invites us to rethink our priorities for the sake of generations to come.
The Data Asset: How Smart Companies Govern Their Data for Business Success
by Tony FisherAn indispensable guide that shows companies how to treat data as a strategic asset Organizations set their business strategy and direction based on information that is available to executives. The Data Asset provides guidance for not only building the business case for data quality and data governance, but also for developing methodologies and processes that will enable your organization to better treat its data as a strategic asset. Part of Wiley's SAS Business Series, this book looks at Business Case Building; Maturity Model and Organization Capabilities; 7-Step Programmatic Approach for Success; and Technologies Required for Effective Data Quality and Data Governance and, within these areas, covers Risk mitigation Cost control Revenue optimization Undisciplined and reactive organizations Proactive organizations Analysis, improvement, and control technology Whether you're a business manager or an IT professional, The Data Asset reveals the methodology and technology needed to approach successful data quality and data governance initiatives on an enterprise scale.
The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics
by Tim HarfordFrom &“one of the great (greatest?) contemporary popular writers on economics&” (Tyler Cowen) comes a smart, lively, and encouraging rethinking of how to use statistics.Today we think statistics are the enemy, numbers used to mislead and confuse us. That&’s a mistake, Tim Harford says in The Data Detective. We shouldn&’t be suspicious of statistics—we need to understand what they mean and how they can improve our lives: they are, at heart, human behavior seen through the prism of numbers and are often &“the only way of grasping much of what is going on around us.&” If we can toss aside our fears and learn to approach them clearly—understanding how our own preconceptions lead us astray—statistics can point to ways we can live better and work smarter.As &“perhaps the best popular economics writer in the world&” (New Statesman), Tim Harford is an expert at taking complicated ideas and untangling them for millions of readers. In The Data Detective, he uses new research in science and psychology to set out ten strategies for using statistics to erase our biases and replace them with new ideas that use virtues like patience, curiosity, and good sense to better understand ourselves and the world. As a result, The Data Detective is a big-idea book about statistics and human behavior that is fresh, unexpected, and insightful.
The Data Driven Leader: A Powerful Approach to Delivering Measurable Business Impact Through People Analytics
by David Swanson Jenny DearbornData is your most valuable leadership asset—here's how to use it The Data Driven Leader presents a clear, accessible guide to solving important leadership challenges through human resources-focused and other data analytics. This engaging book shows you how to transform the HR function and overall organizational effectiveness by using data to make decisions grounded in facts vs. opinions, identify root causes behind your company’s thorniest problems and move toward a winning, future-focused business strategy. Realistic and actionable, this book tells the story of a successful sales executive who, after leading an analytics-driven turnaround (in Data Driven, this book’s predecessor), faces a new turnaround challenge as chief human resources officer. Each chapter features insightful commentary and practical notes on the points the story raises, guiding you to put HR analytics into action in your organization. HR and other leaders cannot afford to overlook the power and competitive advantages of data-driven decision-making and strategies. This book reflects the growing trend of CEOs choosing analytics-minded business leaders to head HR, at a time when workplaces everywhere face game-changing forces including automation, robotics and artificial intelligence. It is urgent that human resources leaders embrace analytics, not only to remain professionally relevant but also to help their organizations successfully navigate this digital transformation. HR professionals can and must: Understand essential data science principles and corporate analytics models Identify and execute effective data analytics initiatives Boost HR and company productivity and performance with metrics that matter Shape an analytics-centric culture that generates data driven leaders Most organizations capture and report data, but data is useless without analysis that leads to action. The Data Driven Leader shows you how to use this tremendous asset to lead your organization higher.
The Data Game: Controversies in Social Science Statistics (Habitat Guides)
by Mark Maier Jennifer ImazekiThis book introduces students to the collection, uses, and interpretation of statistical data in the social sciences. It would suit all social science introductory statistics and research methods courses. Separate chapters are devoted to data in the fields of demography, housing, health, education, crime, the economy, wealth, income, poverty, labor, business statistics, and public opinion polling, with a concluding chapter devoted to the common problem of ambiguity. Each chapter includes multiple case studies illustrating the controversies, overview of data sources including web sites, chapter summary and a set of case study questions designed to stimulate further thought.
The Data Governance Imperative: A Business Strategy for Corporate Data
by Steve SarsfieldAttention to corporate information has never been more important than now. The ability to generate accurate business intelligence, accurate financial reports and to understand your business relies on better processes and personal commitment to clean data. Every byte of data that resides inside your company, and some that resides outside its walls, has the potential to make you stronger by giving you the agility, speed and intelligence that none of your competitors yet have. Data governance is the term given to changing the hearts and minds of your company to see the value of such information quality. "The Data Governance Imperative" is a business person's view of data governance. This practical book covers both strategies and tactics around managing a data governance initiative. The author, Steve Sarsfield, works for a major enterprise software company and is a leading expert in data quality and data governance, focusing on the business perspectives that are important to data champions, front-office employees, and executives.
The Data Hero Playbook: Developing Your Data Leadership Superpowers
by Malcolm HawkerA powerful new mindset for data leaders in any organization In The Data Hero Playbook: Developing Your Data Leadership Superpowers, veteran data professional and thought leader Malcolm Hawker offers fresh and exciting new ways to collect, manage, and use data. Called “Heroic Data Leadership,” Hawker's new mindset for data professionals will unlock the true potential of your organization's data. It puts to bed the limiting, counterproductive mindsets that often plague data leaders and offers original and effective alternatives you can apply immediately to generate tangible business results. The book shows you how to re-center customer satisfaction within your data strategy and convincingly demonstrates why sound data management must be paired with the delivery of value to the customer in order to have a significant impact on your company's bottom line. Inside the book: Step-by-step recommendations for productive behaviors and best practices within your data teams Illuminating quotes and anecdotes from data professionals leading data functions at large companies today Narratives and stories explaining how to transition from stale, limiting data mindsets to more productive and effective approaches An essential resource for data professionals at organizations of all types and sizes, The Data Hero Playbook is the hands-on roadmap to data leadership that managers, analysts, executives, entrepreneurs, and founders have been waiting for.
The Data Preparation Journey: Finding Your Way with R (Chapman & Hall/CRC Data Science Series)
by Martin Hugh MonkmanThe Data Preparation Journey: Finding Your Way With R introduces the principles of data preparation within in a systematic approach that follows a typical data science or statistical workflow. With that context, readers will work through practical solutions to resolving problems in data using the statistical and data science programming language R. These solutions include examples of complex real-world data, adding greater context and exposing the reader to greater technical challenges. This book focuses on the Import to Tidy to Transform steps. It demonstrates how “Visualise” is an important part of Exploratory Data Analysis, a strategy for identifying potential problems with the data prior to cleaning.This book is designed for readers with a working knowledge of data manipulation functions in R or other programming languages. It is suitable for academics for whom analyzing data is crucial, businesses who make decisions based on the insights gleaned from collecting data from customer interactions, and public servants who use data to inform policy and program decisions. The principles and practices described within The Data Preparation Journey apply regardless of the context.Key Features: Includes R package containing the code and data sets used in the book Comprehensive examples of data preparation from a variety of disciplines Defines the key principles of data preparation, from access to publication
The Data-Driven Project Manager: A Statistical Battle Against Project Obstacles
by Mario VanhouckeDiscover solutions to common obstacles faced by project managers. Written as a business novel, the book is highly interactive, allowing readers to participate and consider options at each stage of a project. The book is based on years of experience, both through the author's research projects as well as his teaching lectures at business schools.The book tells the story of Emily Reed and her colleagues who are in charge of the management of a new tennis stadium project. The CEO of the company, Jacob Mitchell, is planning to install a new data-driven project management methodology as a decision support tool for all upcoming projects. He challenges Emily and her team to start a journey in exploring project data to fight against unexpected project obstacles.Data-driven project management is known in the academic literature as “dynamic scheduling” or “integrated project management and control.” It is a project management methodology to plan, monitor, and control projects in progress in order to deliver them on time and within budget to the client. Its main focus is on the integration of three crucial aspects, as follows:Baseline Scheduling: Plan the project activities to create a project timetable with time and budget restrictions. Determine start and finish times of each project activity within the activity network and resource constraints. Know the expected timing of the work to be done as well as an expected impact on the project’s time and budget objectives. Schedule Risk Analysis: Analyze the risk of the baseline schedule and its impact on the project’s time and budget. Use Monte Carlo simulations to assess the risk of the baseline schedule and to forecast the impact of time and budget deviations on the project objectives. Project Control: Measure and analyze the project’s performance data and take actions to bring the project on track. Monitor deviations from the expected project progress and control performance in order to facilitate the decision-making process in case corrective actions are needed to bring projects back on track. Both traditional Earned Value Management (EVM) and the novel Earned Schedule (ES) methods are used.What You'll LearnImplement a data-driven project management methodology (also known as "dynamic scheduling") which allows project managers to plan, monitor, and control projects while delivering them on time and within budgetStudy different project management tools and techniques, such as PERT/CPM, schedule risk analysis (SRA), resource buffering, and earned value management (EVM)Understand the three aspects of dynamic scheduling: baseline scheduling, schedule risk analysis, and project controlWho This Book Is ForProject managers looking to learn data-driven project management (or "dynamic scheduling") via a novel, demonstrating real-time simulations of how project managers can solve common project obstacles
The Data-driven Organization: Using Data for the Success of Your Company (Business Guides on the Go)
by Jonas RashediData has become an indispensable success factor for every company. However, the road towards a data-driven organization is paved with numerous challenges. This book presents a process model for the path to a data-driven company and provides recommendations for the design of all relevant fields of action: Which structures need to be created? Which systems and processes have proven beneficial? How can the quality of the data be ensured and what requirements exist for a data-driven organization in the areas of governance and communication? And last but not least: How can employees be brought along on the journey and what implications does the data-driven organization have for our corporate culture? The book presents an orientation and action framework for the strategic and operational design of a data-driven organization and is valuable for managers who are involved in data management in companies and organizations.
The Datapreneurs: The Promise of AI and the Creators Building Our Future
by Steve Hamm Bob MugliaA leader in the data economy explains how we arrived at AI—and how we can navigate its future In The Datapreneurs, Bob Muglia helps us understand how innovation in data and information technology have led us to AI—and how this technology must shape our future. The long-time Microsoft executive, former CEO of Snowflake, and current tech investor maps the evolution of the modern data stack and how it has helped build today&’s economy and society. And he explains how humanity must create a new social contract for the artificial general intelligence (AGI)—autonomous machines intelligent as people—that he expects to arrive in less than a decade. Muglia details his personal experience in the foundational years of computing and data analytics, including with Bill Gates and Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and others that are not household names—yet. He builds upon Isaac Asimov&’s Laws of Robotics to explore the moral, ethical, and legal implications of today&’s smart machines, and how a combination of human and machine intelligence could create an era of progress and prosperity where all the people on Earth can have what they need and want without destroying our natural environment.The Datapreneurs is a call to action. AGI is surely coming. Muglia believes that tech business leaders, ethicists, policy leaders, and even the general public must collaborate answer the short- and long-term questions raised by its emergence. And he argues that we had better get going, because advances are coming so fast that society risks getting caught flatfooted—with potentially disastrous consequences.
The Dawn of Industrial Agriculture in Iowa: Anthropology, Literature, and History
by E. Paul DurrenbergerIn The Dawn of Industrial Agriculture in Iowa E. Paul Durrenberger recounts the transformation of Iowa’s family farms into today’s agricultural industry through the lens of the lives and writings of Iowa novelist Paul Corey and poet Ruth Lechlitner. This anthropological biography analyzes Corey’s fiction, Lechlitner’s poetry, and their professional and personal correspondence to offer a new perspective on an era (1925–1947) that saw the collapse and remaking of capitalism in the United States, the rise of communism in the Soviet Union, the rise and defeat of fascism around the world, and the creation of a continuous warfare state in America. Durrenberger tells the story that Corey aimed to record and preserve of the industrialization of Iowa’s agriculture and the death of its family farms. He analyzes Corey’s regionalist focus on Iowa farming and regionalism’s contemporaneous association in Europe with rising fascism. He explores Corey’s adoption of naturalism, evident in his resistance to heroes and villains, to plot structure and resolution, and to moral judgment, as well as his ethnographic tendency to focus on groups rather than individuals. An unusual and wide-ranging study, The Dawn of Industrial Agriculture in Iowa offers important insight into the relationships among fiction, individual lives, and anthropological practice, as well as into a pivotal period in American history.
The Dawn of Innovation: The First American Industrial Revolution
by Charles R. MorrisIn the thirty years after the Civil War, the United States blew by Great Britain to become the greatest economic power in world history. That is a well-known period in history, when titans like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J. P. Morgan walked the earth. But as Charles R. Morris shows us, the platform for that spectacular growth spurt was built in the first half of the century. By the 1820s, America was already the world's most productive manufacturer, and the most intensely commercialized society in history. The War of 1812 jumpstarted the great New England cotton mills, the iron centers in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and the forges around the Great Lakes. In the decade after the War, the Midwest was opened by entrepreneurs. In this beautifully illustrated book, Morris paints a vivid panorama of a new nation buzzing with the work of creation. He also points out the parallels and differences in the nineteenth century American/British standoff and that between China and America today.
The Dawn of the Pacific Century: Implications For Three Worlds Of Development
by William McCordThis book is a bold affirmation of the Asian 'miracle' of development, an explanation of reasons for its success, and a review of its implications. As McCord reminds us, understanding why and how these nations have propelled themselves so far, so fast, is a key to anticipating the destiny of much of the rest of the world. Despite their interest, analysis have been confounded in attempts to explain Asian Development-without resources and colonies, without internal violence, and broadly distributing wealth as they have grown. Existing theories of development offer little guidance. Even explanations that look to the special circumstances of Asian countries have their weaknesses. Reviewing all of these explanations, McCord identifies a common group of socioeconomic values and policies shared by most of these nations. And these, he shows, tell us much. The Dawn of the Pacific Century convincingly makes the case for a genuinely Asian model of development-one that must be understood on its own terms. It should find a broad professional social science readership. In addition, those general readers who wish to learn from and understand the Asian challenge will find this book a good beginning.
The Day After Tomorrow: A Handbook on the Future of Economic Policy in the Developing World
by Marcelo M. Giugale Otaviano CanutoThe 2008-09 Global Financial Crisis shook the ground under the conventional wisdom that had guided mainstream development economics. Much of what had been held as true for decades is now open to reexamination-from what the role of governments should be in markets to which countries will be the engines of the world's economy, from what people need to leave poverty to what businesses need to stay competitive. Development economists look into the future. They do not just ask how things work today, but how a new policy, program, or project would make them work tomorrow. They view the world and history as a learning process-past and present are inputs into thinking about what is coming. It is that appetite for a vision of the future that led the authors of 'The Day after Tomorrow: A Handbook on the Future of Economic Policy in the Developing World' to invite some 40 development economists, most of them from the World Bank's Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network-an epicenter of the profession-to report what they see on the horizon of their technical disciplines and of their geographic areas of specialization. The disconcerting but exciting search for a new intellectual compact has begun. To help guide the discussion, 'The Day after Tomorrow: A Handbook on the Future of Economic Policy in the Developing World' puts forth four key messages: While the developed world gets its house in order, and macroeconomics and finance achieve a new consensus, developing countries will become a (perhaps the) growth engine for the world. Faster technological learning and more South-South integration will fuel that engine. Governments in developing countries will be better-they may even begin to earn the trust of their people. A new, smarter generation of social policy will bring the end of poverty within reach, but the attainment of equality is another matter. Many regions of the developing world will break out of their "developing" status and will graduate into something akin to "newly developed." Africa will eventually join that group. Others, like Eastern Europe, have a legacy of problems to address before such a transition. While some regions will do better than others, and some technical areas will be clearer than others, there is no question that the horizon of economic policy for developing countries is promising-risky, yes, but promising. The rebalancing of global growth toward, at the very least, a multiplicity of engines, will give the developing world a new relevance.
The Day After the Dollar Crashes: A Survival Guide for the Rise of the New World Order
by Damon VickersHow to profit from the events leading up to the likely collapse of the U.S. dollar Society is at a crossroads. Here at home and around the world, we are living in a manner that is absolutely, unconditionally, irrevocably unsustainable. The Day After the Dollar Crashes: A Survival Guide for the Rise of the New World Order outlines the kinds of events that could trigger a global economic collapse, describing in detail the events that are likely to occur just prior to, during, and immediately following such a total collapse. It also explains how investors can profit and support a sustainable future by anticipating social trends. Describes what government can do now to soften the dollar's fall later Details how to lead the charge to introduce innovations and solutions to meet the inevitable challenges of new kinds of economic forces Reveals how to profit by changing expectations and taking action to align investments with reality The Day After the Dollar Crashes tears away the illusions generated by politicians, media, and the financial industry to show how investors can position themselves to survive and thrive in a New World Order.
The Day It Finally Happens: Alien Contact, Dinosaur Parks, Immortal Humans - And Other Possible Phenomena
by Mike Pearl__________If you live on planet Earth, you're probably scared about the future.Terrorism, complicated international relations, global warming, killer viruses and a raft of other issues make it hard not to be.Watching the news you have to wonder: is it safe to go out there or not?In The Day It Finally Happens, Mike Pearl games out many of the 'could it really happen?' scenarios we've all speculated about, assigning a probability rating, and taking us through how it would unfold. He explores what would likely occur in dozens of possible scenarios - the final failure of antibiotics, the loss of the world's marine life, the abolition of the British monarchy, and even the arrival of aliens - and reports back from the future, providing a clear picture on how the world would look, feel, and even smell in each of these instances.Hilarious, enlightening, and terrifying, this book makes science accessible and is a unique form of existential therapy, offering practical answers to some of our most worrisome questions.Thankfully, the odds of humanity pulling through look pretty good.__________For fans of such bestsellers as What If?,The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook and The Uninhabitable Earth, as well as Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell, this is a book about future events that we don't really understand and getting to know them in close detail.Entertaining speculation featuring both authoritative research and a bit of mischief: a look at how humanity is likely to weather such happenings as the day nuclear war occurs, the day the global internet goes down, the day we run out of effective antibiotics, and the day immortality is achieved.
The Day It Finally Happens: Alien Contact, Dinosaur Parks, Immortal Humans - And Other Possible Phenomena
by Mike Pearl__________If you live on planet Earth, you're probably scared about the future. Terrorism, complicated international relations, global warming, and a raft of other issues make it hard not to be. Watching the news you have to wonder: is it safe to go out there or not? In The Day It Finally Happens, Mike Pearl games out many of the 'could it really happen?' scenarios we've all speculated about, assigning a probability rating, and taking us through how it would unfold. He explores what would likely occur in dozens of possible scenarios - the final failure of antibiotics, the loss of the world's marine life, the abolition of the British monarchy, and even the arrival of aliens - and reports back from the future, providing a clear picture on how the world would look, feel, and even smell in each of these instances. Hilarious, enlightening, and terrifying, this book makes science accessible and is a unique form of existential therapy, offering practical answers to some of our most worrisome questions. Thankfully, the odds of humanity pulling through look pretty good. __________For fans of such bestsellers as What If?,The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook and The Uninhabitable Earth, as well as Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell, this is a book about future events that we don't really understand and getting to know them in close detail. Entertaining speculation featuring both authoritative research and a bit of mischief: a look at how humanity is likely to weather such happenings as the day nuclear war occurs, the day the global internet goes down, the day we run out of effective antibiotics, and the day immortality is achieved.(P) 2019 Simon & Schuster Audio
The Day the King Defaulted: Financial Lessons from the Stop of the Exchequer in 1672
by Moshe Arye MilevskyThis book studies King Charles II's decision to stop all payments from his royal exchequer, a sordid but little-known event in English history with eerie similarities to the cause of the Great Recession of 2008. As with any modern banking crisis, the financial system in 1672 almost collapsed, day-to-day commerce ground to a halt, houses were lost, and ordinary investors suffered—but there was no banking bailout, and no mercy for the goldsmith-bankers who had lent the king millions to fund his unsustainable lifestyle. The royal decision, made in the wake of plagues, fires, and war with the Dutch, left bankers unable to cover their own liabilities and, in the days before bankruptcy, they couldn’t walk away from their obligations and start fresh. Many bankers spent the end of their lives in debtors' prison, but English commoners had little sympathy for the plight of rich financiers—a sentiment echoed after the financial crisis of 2008. Ultimately, this book tells the complete story of the Merry Monarch's financial default (England's first and last) using the lens and language of modern financial products and markets. It covers the precarious history leading up to the infamous day in 1672, the intrigue surrounding the ‘stop’—including those who traded on inside information beforehand—and the attempt by distressed creditors to gain financial restitution.
The Day the Markets Roared: How a 1982 Forecast Sparked a Global Bull Market
by Henry Kaufman David B. SiciliaLegendary economist Dr. Henry Kaufman shares a classic Wall Street story that has never been fully told: a firsthand account of the day in August 1982 that would define US economics for decades Dr. Henry Kaufman is the most famous economist Wall Street has ever seen, renowned well beyond the financial industry. He was the subject of New Yorker cartoons, had cameos in drama productions and two seminal literary works of the 1980s, was subject to death threats, and enjoyed the nickname "Dr. Doom." His pinnacle of influence arrived on August 17, 1982. That single day turned out to be the beginning of the world that we now live in. At the time, after painful years of high interest rates and the inflation of the late 1960s and 1970s, consumers were paying 17 percent and higher to borrow money. But by the end of one summer day almost 40 years ago, the stock market had undergone its second-biggest rally since WWII, while bond prices soared and interest rates plunged. Dr. Kaufman himself had written a memo that sparked this tremendous boom-and it set the global markets on fire, marking the start of almost four decades of US economic growth. The Day the Markets Roared answers the questions: Why did Dr. Kaufman break with his longstanding bearish views to make a momentous prediction that spurred blaring headlines everywhere from Brazil to Beijing? How could a private individual exercise such profound influence over global financial markets? How did we get to today's rock-bottom and even negative rates? And what is their continuing impact on the economy, our financial markets and our livelihoods? The Day the Markets Roared is a firsthand, minute-by-minute account of one remarkable day in financial and economic history, with a rich cast of characters, from Salomon's John Gutfreund to interest rate guru Sydney Homer, to Dr. Kaufman's longtime friend, Fed Chairman Paul Volcker. Dr. Kaufman reflects on the lessons of the historic August 1982 episode, harkening back to a more optimistic moment in American history, and offering inspiration for better times ahead.