Business, Finance & Law Books

Book Synopsis''Reporter is just wonderful. Truly a great life, and what shines out of the book, amid the low cunning and tireless legwork, is Hersh''s warmth and humanity. Essential reading for every journalist and aspiring journalist the world over'' John le CarréIn the early 1950s, teenage Seymour Hersh was finishing high school and university - while running the family''s struggling dry cleaning store in a Southside Chicago ghetto. Today, he is one of America''s premier investigative journalists, whose fearless reporting has earned him fame, front-page bylines in virtually every newspaper in the world, a staggering collection of awards, and no small amount of controversy.Reporter is the story of how he did it. It is a story of slog, ingenuity and defiance, following Hersh from his first job as a crime reporter for the Chicago City News Bureau, through his Pulitzer Prize-winning freelance investigative exposes, to the heights of his reportinTrade ReviewOne of America's greatest investigative reporters. * New York Times Magazine *In a city and culture where screeching talk shows and preening columnists have largely supplanted old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting, and most 'investigative reporting' consists of the collection of carefully dispensed leaks, Hersh stands virtually alone. -- Rupert Cornwell * The Independent *The most feared investigative reporter in Washington. * Guardian *If there is a smoking gun lying around the White House, the reporter most likely to find it is Seymour M. Hersh. -- Scott Sherman * Columbia Journalism Review *A whip-smart, preternaturally energetic outsider who . . . assembled a body of work that helps to radically revise the way Americans see their government. -- Bob Thomson * The Washington Post *A groundbreaking journalist who has revealed some of America's darkest secrets. -- David Jackson * The Chicago Tribune *The last great American reporter. * Financial Times *Hersh's exposés of gross abuses by members of the US military in Vietnam and Iraq have earned him worldwide fame and high journalistic honors. * Foreign Policy *Quite simply, the greatest investigative journalist of his era. -- David Remnick, Editor-in-Chief * New Yorker *Hersh is necessary reading for anyone remotely interested in what went wrong and continues to go wrong in Iraq -- Praise for CHAIN OF COMMAND * The New York Times *I've long admired the skill and independence with which Hersh has brought important and concealed information to light -- Ahmed Rashid, Praise for THE KILLING OF OSAMA BIN LADEN * New York Review of Books *One of the most skilled investigative journalists in American history shares his saga in compelling detail ... Hersh takes readers behind the scenes as he exposes corrupt U.S. foreign policy, Defense Department bumbling in numerous wars, political coverups during Watergate, private sector corporate scandals, and torture tactics used by the U.S. government against alleged terrorists after 9/11. The author shares insightful (and sometimes searing) anecdotes about fellow journalists, presidents and their cronies, military generals, and numerous celebrities. Readers interested in a primer about investigative techniques will find Hersh a generous teacher. Candor is the driving force in this outstanding book. Rarely has a journalist's memoir come together so well, with admirable measures of self-deprecation, transparent pride, readable prose style, and honesty. * Starred Kirkus Review *Powerful . . . There's gripping journalistic intrigue aplenty as [Hersh] susses out sources and documents, fences with officials, and fields death threats. . . . Hersh himself is brash and direct, but never cynical, and his memoir is as riveting as the great journalistic exposés he produced. * Publishers Weekly *Candid and revelatory . . . Compared to the contemporary field of blogs, bots, and opinion-driven reportage, the last half of the twentieth-century can look like the heyday of honest and critical journalism. But even now, Hersh remains at the vanguard of tenacious and purposeful writers who speak truth to power, and surely he's inspiring the best at work now. Journalism junkies will devour this insider's account of a distinguished career. * Booklist *Reporter is just wonderful. Truly a great life, and what shines out of the book, amid the low cunning and tireless legwork, is Hersh's warmth and humanity. Essential reading for every journalist and aspiring journalist the world over -- John le Carré

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis book snaps, crackles and pops ... Readers will emerge from this heady blend of economic, business, and political history with a sense of exhilaration that so much of the American experience could be described so vividly and insightfully -- Robert Gordon * Financial Times *Capitalism in America makes a strong case, with some wonderful insights into business history. Innovation, spread to the masses, is indeed the engine of capitalist economies. * The Economist *A superbly written book ... the tone is businesslike but culturally savvy - with sociological themes from "America's urban nightmare" of the seventies and eighties to "the rising share of working women" handled with sensitivity and skill ... Capitalism in America is an inspiring, rip-roaring read - like the astonishing story it describes. -- Liam Halligan * The Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisThere''s a war on against the BBC. It is under threat as never before. And if we lose it, we won''t get it back.The BBC is our most important cultural institution, our best-value entertainment provider, and the global face of Britain. It''s our most trusted news source in a world of divisive disinformation. But it is facing relentless attacks by powerful commercial and political enemies, including deep funding cuts - much deeper than most people realise - with imminent further cuts threatened. This book busts the myths about the BBC and shows us how we can save it, before it''s too late.Trade ReviewThis book's value lies in its steady accumulation of myth-busting data ... its urgent conclusion establishes just how much Britain stands to lose if the BBC as we know it falls. -- Dorian Lynskey * Guardian *A "must" for anyone interested in the future of what many regard as Britain's most important cultural institution and our greatest source of "soft power" on the world stage -- The Sunday Times * John Arlidge *After reaching the end of the book's more than 500 pages one is left with two overwhelming impressions. The first is how important the BBC is to the healthy life of the nation and the second, how its very long-term survival is now in doubt after the sustained political and financial attacks it's suffered these past few decades ... Written with wit and panache ... like taking a stroll through the social and political history of Britain from Thatcher onwards -- Ivor Gaber * The New European *A a thorough and perceptive analysis of some of the big challenges facing the BBC, and the malevolent and dishonest forces raging against it -- Patrick Howse * Byline Times *Scrupulously researched... exposes the myths behind the onslaught. The idea of a "silent majority" exasperated by the BBC's liberal values is at odds with trust ratings that put it above every other news provider -- Ian Burrell * Independent *The value of this book is to remind us that arguments against the BBC are often dishonest or partial, often strongly motivated by vested interests - and often hope for its destruction while affecting to hope for its reform. It may make you, as it did me, think that in this accursed year there's something to be said for keeping a-hold of nurse in fear of finding something worse. -- Sam Leith * UnHerd *A frighteningly informative torrent of history, politics, global economics and warm sympathy -- Libby Purves * The Times *Hair-raising -- Polly Toynbee * The Guardian *

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Book Synopsis''One of the most important books I''ve read in years'' Brian EnoWe are losing the commons. Austerity and neoliberal policies have depleted our shared wealth; our national utilities have been sold off to foreign conglomerates, social housing is almost non-existent, our parks are cordoned off for private events and our national art galleries are sponsored by banks and oil companies. This plunder deprives us all of our common rights, recognized as far back as the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest of 1217, to share fairly and equitably in our public wealth.Guy Standing leads us through a new appraisal of the commons, stemming from the medieval concept of common land reserved in ancient law from marauding barons, to his modern reappraisal of the resources we all hold in common - a brilliant new synthesis that crystallises quite how much public wealth has been redirected to the 1% in recent decades through the state-approved exploitation of everything from Trade ReviewBrilliant, insightful, terse, apposite, daring, and transformative. A must read to understand both the past and the future -- Danny Dorling, author of All That Is SolidGuy Standing brings great historical knowledge, political insight, and passion to documenting the market enclosures of our common wealth: the great unacknowledged scourge of our time. Plunder of the Commons is both a troubling exposé and a practical-minded call to reclaim the commons for ourselves and posterity. Sitting politicians will ignore this stirring book at their peril. Incoming reformers will learn how we might transform our predatory system of economics and the complicit political culture. -- David Bollier, Director of the Reinventing the Commons Program at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics and author of Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the CommonsIn an era of intensifying privatisation, we're rapidly losing sight of the idea that there are things that can be shared communally without being owned by anybody, things that stand outside of the market system - for example rivers, forests, and other natural resources. Many of them have already been sold off to private interests, and most of the rest are being pursued. This incendiary book exposes this process and explores its corrosive effect on society and resource maintenance. This clear and radical exposition is a call for the defence of the commons, and one of the most important books I've read in years. -- Brian EnoIn this majestic work, Guy Standing not only chronicles the historic plundering of our common wealth. More importantly, he shows how we can reclaim that wealth to address our most urgent contemporary problems: economic insecurity and ecological destruction. This is history, analysis and vision, all at their very best. -- Peter Barnes, author of Capitalism 3.0Standing not only wants to remind us how much common land in Britain has been enclosed by the wealthy few. His vision of the commons is extremely capacious...his provocation could hardly be timelier -- Duncan Kelly * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisA TIMES BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS BOOK OF THE YEARThe award-winning Financial Times columnist exposes the threat that Big Tech poses to our democracies, our economies and ourselves''Powerful'' Sunday Times Google and Facebook receive 90% of the world''s news advertising spend. Amazon takes half of all e-commerce in the US. Google and Apple operating systems run on all but 1% of cell phones globally. And 80% of corporate wealth is now held by 10% of companies - the digital titans. How did these once-idealistic and innovative companies come to manipulate elections, violate our privacy and pose a threat to the fabric of our democracy? Through her skilled reporting and unparalleled access, Rana Foroohar reveals the true extent to which the ''FAANG''s (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google) crush or absorb competitors, hijack our personal data and mental space and offshore their exorbitant profits. What''s more, sTrade ReviewA masterful critique of the tech giants that now dominate our world . . . The great thing about her book is that it breaks the mesmerising spell that the tech giants seem to have cast upon governments, mass media and users everywhere -- John Naughton * Observer, 'Book of the Week' *Frightening . . . a readable and well-marshalled indictment of the sins of these new corporate empires. -- James Marriott * The Times *Powerful -- Best Business Books of the Year * Sunday Times *An insightful and powerfully argued investigation into the murky world of 'Big Tech' and its impact on our lives. * Daily Mail *Rana Foroohar is a savvy and wise commentator and a keen observer of the global economy. This book goes beyond the economic problems and examines the broader implications for society of the untrammeled and under regulated Silicon Valley companies. She demonstrates that while the creed 'don't be evil' may have initially inspired the Silicon Valley giants, its principle has long been left behind -- Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in EconomicsWe are most fortunate to have Foroohar's laser vision and trenchant business analysis turned on the tech giants and the gluttonous anti-democratic surveillance capitalism that is their most far-reaching innovation. A crucial contribution to the growing debate. -- Shoshana Zuboff, author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism and Professor Emerita, Harvard Business SchoolRana Foroohar's urgent message: 'Yes, we really are living in the Matrix,' and it's time to rise up and resist our algorithmic overlords. This book shows us how. -- Cathy O’Neil, author of Weapons of Math Destruction and CEO of ORCAA

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Book SynopsisA magisterial history of the astounding rise - and unimaginable fall - of America''s most iconic corporationPerhaps no company reflects American ingenuity, innovation, and industrial fortunes as well as the iconic General Electric Company. Producing storied leaders and almost every product imaginable, GE built a cult of success that hid cracks in its foundation. In this masterful history, William D. Cohan, one of America''s most pre-eminent financial journalists, argues that GE''s legacy is both a paragon and a cautionary tale through which to understand twentieth-century America.Power Failure limns the eventful 130-year history of GE, bringing fresh analysis drawn from rare interviews with key figures of the company''s golden era, including Jack Welch himself. As Cohan recounts, Welch traded on a sterling legacy to make GE the most valuable and respected company in the world, while cloaking its vulnerabilities. What he handed to his successor Jeffrey Immelt was, Cohan argues, both an impossible standard and a more troubled reality.Tracing the company''s leaps and stumbles through the personalities that defined it, Power Failure offers a surprising retelling of the GE story, puncturing the myth we think we know for a fresh look at its legacy - and what it tells us about the state of the financial world.Trade ReviewThis hubris-to-nemesis story... must count as one of the greatest dramas in business history... William D Cohan captures that drama exceptionally well... a gripping read.... a tour de force -- John Plender * Financial Times *The rise and fall of GE is explained as the product of individual men and their mercurial decisions, yet its fate has a wider significance. It ought to be a warning: cost-cutting, outsourcing and financial speculation produce a warped model of value that is liable to collapse -- Hettie O'Brien * Guardian *A heavyweight cautionary tale about how the reputation of one-time corporate titans such as Jack Welch can be floored by over-reach and ambition -- Andrew Hill * Financial Times *General Electric was once the most important, powerful and influential company on earth - and this is the definitive story of how it got that way, and what happened next. William Cohan takes us inside the company's boardrooms and factories with a rollicking and fascinating tale of corporate brilliance, bitter infighting, business daring and monied folly that illuminates not just General Electric, but the world and economy it helped create -- Charles DuhiggWith the sweep and authority of an accomplished historian, the digging of a fearsome investigative reporter, and the storytelling skills of a novelist, Bill Cohan takes us from the 19th Century birth of GE, to its rise as America's most valued company in the 20th, and to its near death in the 21st. With incredible access to Jack Welch and the major actors in this drama, he paints a panoramic view of America and of capitalism, how it has changed and still must -- Ken AulettaCohan rides this wild tale like a racehorse to the bitter end. It's all here: the birth of this most American of inventive American companies and the triumphs, flaws and missteps to come. If at 130 years old, GE has indeed fallen, this masterful work remains -- Mark SealFor most of our lives GE was one of the familiar, trusted U.S. companies, and in the early 2000s still the biggest company on earth. In one generation this icon of the American corporate imperium has turned into an icon of American corporate failure. We're fortunate that the great business chronicler William Cohan has now applied his extraordinary reporting skills and lucid, knowing prose to tell this story in breathtaking detail from beginning to bitter end. Power Failure is fascinating and definitive -- Kurt AndersonThis epic tale of arguably the most dominant corporation in American history has it all: money, power, sex and larger-than-life characters, from Thomas Edison to "Teflon Jack" Welch and beyond. Cohan's fine pacing and narrative flair make for a page-turner that becomes a compelling story of American capitalism itself -- Jonathan AlterPower Failure by William Cohan is a tour de force of reporting, a deeply researched chronicle of the flawed personalities and dysfunctional company politics that led General Electric, once hailed as the great American corporate success, to self-destruct. The story reads like a tragedy -- Liaquat Ahamed

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Book Synopsis''Naomi Klein''s work has always moved and guided me. She is the great chronicler of our age of climate emergency, an inspirer of generations'' - Greta Thunberg For more than twenty years Naomi Klein''s books have defined our era, chronicling the exploitation of people and the planet and demanding justice. On Fire gathers for the first time more than a decade of her impassioned writing from the frontline of climate breakdown, and pairs it with new material on the staggeringly high stakes of what we choose to do next. Here is Klein at her most prophetic and philosophical, investigating the climate crisis not only as a profound political challenge but also as a spiritual and imaginative one. Delving into topics ranging from the clash between ecological time and our culture of ''perpetual now,'' to rising white supremacy and fortressed borders as a form of ''climate barbarism,'' this is a rousing call to action for a planet on the brink. With dispaTrade ReviewNaomi Klein's work has always moved and guided me. She is the great chronicler of our age of climate emergency, an inspirer of generations -- Greta ThunbergThe greatest theorist of climate change. -- Amitav GhoshNaomi Klein applies her fine, fierce and meticulous mind to the greatest, most urgent questions of our times. . . . I count her among the most inspirational political thinkers in the world today. -- Arundhati RoyNaomi is like a great doctor - she can diagnose problems nobody else sees. -- Alfonso CuarónNaomi Klein is a precious gift: every time I read her words, my heart leaps from sadness and anger to action. She takes us deep, down to the roots of what is wrong - and then up, up to a height from which we can see what must be done. Everything we love is at stake now: these writings are our best and brightest hope. -- Emma ThompsonA critically important thought-leader in these perilous times, a necessary voice as a courageous movement of movements rises from the ashes. -- Michelle Alexander, author of THE NEW JIM CROWAn invigorating message of climate hope through social transformation. Bring on the revolution. -- Fred Pearce * New Scientist *In On Fire, the longstanding critic of corporate globalisation argues for a much more comprehensive economic reboot ... a long-lensed critique about humanity's relationship to nature. -- Jonathan Ford * Financial Times *A hopeful vision of the future ... In these extraordinary times it should appeal to a new set of readers looking for extreme solutions to match the extremity of the crisis. This is Klein doing what she does best: 'not being polite and not playing by the rules'. -- Harriet Constable * Geographical Magazine *A powerful and righteous blast against defeatism. -- Andrew Lynch * Business Post *

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Book Synopsis''One of the most influential economists in the world'' WiredEven before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, capitalism was stuck. It had no answers to a host of problems, including disease, inequality, the digital divide and, perhaps most blatantly, the environmental crisis. Taking her inspiration from the ''moonshot'' programmes which successfully co-ordinated public and private sectors on a massive scale, Mariana Mazzucato calls for the same level of boldness and experimentation to be applied to the biggest problems of our time. We must, she argues, rethink the capacities and role of government within the economy and society, and above all recover a sense of public purpose. Mission Economy, whose ideas are already being adopted around the world, offers a way out of our impasse to a more optimistic future.Trade ReviewThe case for a new approach is overwhelming and Mariana Mazzucato's project is ambitious ... Mission Economy injects the kind of vision, ambition and imagination so desperately missing from government today ... All those in favour of a better future - of prosperity that is broadly shared, first class public services to be enjoyed by all, and a solution to the climate crisis - should read this book. -- Tom Kibasi * The Guardian *One of the most agile thinkers on post-Brexit, post-Covid Britain. -- Alex Brummer * Daily Mail *a wider and more radical critique of modern capitalism ... Mazzucato is a fantastic example of a charismatic policy entrepreneur having a real impact ... Mazzucato rightly shows that the state can rise to grand challenges and set ambitious missions. -- David Willetts * Research Professional News *a bracing, optimistic read -- David MilibandA timely and optimistic vision ... Mazzucato presents her arguments so simply and clearly that they can seem obvious. In fact, they are revolutionary. Rethinking the role of government nationally and in the international economy - to put public purpose first and solve the problems that matter to people - are now the central questions for humanity -- Jayati Ghosh * Nature *In Mission Economy Mariana Mazzucato argues that societies ought to abjure tired ideologies and embrace the policy approach that put astronauts on the Moon. By setting grand missions for themselves, she writes, and deploying the power of the state in practical ways, they can become more prosperous and equitable ... Mazzucato is an Italian-born economist of a heterodox bent, whose work has long challenged standard economic thinking about the role of markets and government in generating innovation ... compelling ... arresting * Economist *'This book is by an influential thinker on an important topic at a time when trust in direction by governments has risen greatly relative to trust in decentralised competition within markets. Mazzucato recommends goal-oriented innovation as the way forward for the world.' -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times *Mission Economy proposes that we need to corral the state's energies into risky moonshots-just as JFK did with space travel. The mission then needs translating into a target whose achievement can be monitored. According to ex-Bank of England governor Mark Carney, the missing ingredient in economics is morality. * Prospect *

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Book Synopsis''A fascinating journey into our relationship with the physical book...I lost count of the times I exclaimed with delight when I read a nugget of information I hadn''t encountered before'' Val McDermid, The TimesMost of what we say about books is really about the words inside them: the rosy nostalgic glow for childhood reading, the lifetime companionship of a much-loved novel. But books are things as well as words, objects in our lives as well as worlds in our heads. And just as we crack their spines, loosen their leaves and write in their margins, so they disrupt and disorder us in turn. All books are, as Stephen King put it, ''a uniquely portable magic''. Here, Emma Smith shows us why.Portable Magic unfurls an exciting and iconoclastic new story of the book in human hands, exploring when, why and how it acquired its particular hold over us. Gathering together a millennium''s worth of pivotal encounters with volumes big and small, Smith reveals Trade ReviewIf you love books, you'll love Portable Magic -- Val McDermidFor many of us, books are the life we chose without thinking about it too much. Emma Smith's terrifically knowledgeable and thoughtful Portable Magic helps us understand every aspect of what our beloved books stand for. I for one am very grateful. What a delight this book is. -- Lynne TrussIrresistibly fascinating -- John CareyBrilliant... amusing, darkly sobering, and consistently fascinating ... a combination of deep scholarship and down-to-earth wit * Telegraph *Fun, playful, learned and accessible... Smith is herself a magical writer * BBC History Magazine *Smith's genius is to question as well as to value and register every contradiction - to make you, the reader, think without even suspecting that you are ... for communicating complex material in conversational, occasionally irreverent, prose -- Lucasta Miller * The Critic *Joyous ... thrilling ... A brilliantly written account of the book-as-material-object, and the slightly seedy pleasures of "bookhood" -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian (Book of the Week) *Wildly entertaining ... This fascinating, slyly amusing book carries an undertow of personal affection for the curious, rectangular, multileaved objects with which we're so familiar * Sunday Times *Smith's enchanting book sparkles with gems of trivia that often conceal deeper truths about the evolution of reading and publishing. Fascinating, enlightening, funny and touching, this is indeed portable magic * Sydney Morning Herald *Emma Smith's history of the physical book is a thing to cherish ... witty and ingenious ... Smith reads with all her senses alert ... A wise, funny, endearingly personal book -- Peter Conrad * Observer *Anyone who's ever enjoyed the feel or indeed smell of a book should read Emma Smith's delightful and informative Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers -- Lucasta Miller * Spectator Books of the Year *From bullet-stopping Bibles to tomes bound in human skin, Smith's history of books revels in their magic and malignity. It skewers our faith in the written word yet repays it handsomely * Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewGates' book is compulsively readable. His ambition was to 'cut through the noise' and give consumers better tools for understanding what works, an ambition he meets admirably. It more than that, however. Gates can get an audience with anyone, can marshal almost limitless resources, and is dogged in the detail. The result - particularly in the wake of the Trump presidency - is thrilling -- Emma Brockes * The Guardian *Of the many books I have come across recently making the case that climate change will be a catastrophe, but we can do something about it, this is the best ... The relentless practicality of the book combined with Gates's firm faith in innovation do not promote despair. He exudes optimism; things will get better, not least because, as John Lennon once sang, they can't get no worse -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *It is mostly concerned with solutions rather than problems. This already marks it out as something of an outlier within environmental literature... if you're after an approachable book about what needs to happen next, this is a great place to start -- Ed Conway * The Times *Bold but well argued ... a compelling explanation of how the world can stop global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions effectively to zero... [Gates] is a serious and genuine force for good on climate change -- Bob Ward * Observer *How to Avoid a Climate Disaster is clear, concise on a colossal subject, and intelligently holistic in its approach to the problem. -- Adam Vaughan * New Scientist *It all makes for a meaty manifesto which Gates hopes can offer sufficient variety to appeal across political divides and "shift the conversation" away from the polarisation and misinformation that has clouded discussion about climate change up until now. -- Martin Bentham * Evening Standard *Books about the environment can induce a paralysing despair. The billionaire Bill Gates is a can-do, problem-solving chap, and his book is full of detailed, practical plans * The Times *Gates's carefully packaged nuggets of information are not only easy to understand, but they aim to provide the reader with practical tools to engage with the density of climate change information ... What Gates has achieved with his book is something rare in the swelling arena of popular climate literature. The Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist has compiled a solutions-based strategy that is as informed on the commercial realities of scaling new technologies as it is on the environmental consequences of not doing so. -- Daniel Murray * The Business Post *The most refreshing aspect of this book is its bracing mix of cold-eyed realism and number-crunched optimism ... Ultimately [Gates's] book is a primer on how to reorganise the global economy so that innovation focuses on the world's gravest problems. It is a powerful reminder that if mankind is to get serious about tackling them, it must do more to harness the one natural resource available in infinite quantity-human ingenuity. * Economist *Gates plots out, in patient, simple prose, a pathway that would allow us to reduce carbon emissions from the current 51 billion tonnes a year to zero by 2050. -- Thomas Jones * London Review of Books *"System change not climate change!" cry the protesters, demanding that we choose between capitalism and a healthy planet. "Oh!" the less ascetically minded among us might pout. "Can't we have both?" Thankfully, according to Bill Gates, we can. In How to Avoid a Climate Disaster he outlines the new technologies we need to fight climate change, and how businesses can help to invent and deploy them. Capitalism is not only capable of stopping climate change, he says, it's also the only way to provide a decent standard of living to the world's poorest. -- Ben Cooke * The Times Books of the Year *This is an optimistic account of how climate change might be solved without destroying the world's economies in the process. * The Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade Reviewthis thoughtful polemic... is clear, punchy and... convincing... their breezy, no-nonsense guide is packed with excellent advice - a plea for expertise rather than feeling, for pragmatism rather than ideology and for listening rather than shouting. -- Christina Patterson * Sunday Times *Two of the most thoughtful economists writing today ... Collier and Kay are interesting on almost every subject they alight upon. -- Richard Reeves * Literary Review *Written by two of the UK's best economists, the book attacks the solipsistic individualism that permeates modern economics and far too much of modern society. The book's animating idea is that humans are first and foremost social animals. Our successes always depend on co-operation. The authors apply this concept to our economic, social and political institutions, which can, they argue, only be revived by being seen as self-sustaining communities. -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times Books of the Year *Their analysis is pitiless and compelling. This is a fine, incisive polemic. -- Clement Knox * Telegraph *In a provocative but thought-provoking and nuanced argument, Collier and Kay argue that our culture of hyper-centralisation is choking us. -- Books of the Year * Daily Telegraph *

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Book Synopsis''A latter-day Canterbury Tales ... Serious Money has a serious mission'' The Times''Eye-opening ... part guide, part indictment of a yawning wealth gap'' Misha Glenny, Financial TimesLondon is a plutocrat''s paradise, with more resident billionaires than New York, Hong Kong or Moscow. Far from trickling down, their wealth is burning up the environment and swallowing up the city. But what do we really know about London''s super rich, and the lives they lead?To find out more about this secretive elite, sociologist Caroline Knowles walks the streets of London from the City to suburban Surrey. Her walks reveal how the wealthy shape the capital in their image, creating a new world of gated communities and luxury developments. Along the way we meet a wide and wickedly entertaining cast of millionaires, billionaires and those who serve them: bankers, tech tycoons, Conservative party donors, butlers, bodyguards, divorce lawyers and many more.By turns jaw-dropping, enraging and enlightening, Serious Money explodes the fiction that wealth is a condition to aspire to, revealing the isolation and paranoia which accompany it when the plutocrat''s recompense - a life of unlimited luxury - ultimately proves hollow. It is a powerful reminder that it is not just the super-rich who get to make the city: we make it too, and could demand something different. Because serious money is good for no one - not even the rich.''An eye-opening, deeply disturbing, fast-moving journey through the lives, homes and affairs of the filthy rich of London'' Danny Dorling, author of All That Is Solid''A wonderful and vital account of a city ruled by, and for, extreme wealth'' Anna Minton, author of Big CapitalTrade ReviewPart guide, part indictment of a yawning wealth gap, Caroline Knowles's eye-opening book reveals how the capital has changed over the decades ... the author's gentle, yet shrewd observations quickly accumulate when seeking out a wide variety of individuals to reveal the quotidian culture of plutocracy. -- Misha Glenny * Financial Times *Knowles' book helps readers to see [London's super-rich] as less secretive, more troubling and a great deal sadder ... Serious Money has a serious mission. These vast fortunes, Knowles argues, do not just make people miserable. They are rotting the ties that hold our society together. -- Edward Lucas * The Times *Knowles's book acted on me like a goad, a stone in the shoe ... The questing sociologist has an agenda. She is our nominated surrogate in occupied territory. And she is persistent ... Among the freakishly perverse bankers and investors, she behaves like Orwell in Wigan. -- Iain Sinclair * London Review of Books *Again and again, Knowles's stories attest to a money machine devoted to nothing but its own perpetuation ... In the tradition of the great literary walkers, from Walter Benjamin to Will Self, her insistence on crossing the city on foot is, in an important sense, an act of resistance, an embrace of urban realities in defiance of the sad confinement of extreme wealth, its smoked-glass segregation. -- Nat Segnit * Times Literary Supplement *A fascinating investigation of plutocratic London ... as gripping as a pulp detective novel in which we glimpse the slimy, far from slummy lives of the morally corrupt. She patrols London's elite enclaves with a sharp eye for telling social and architectural details ... Knowles combines cunning and charm. -- Matthew Beaumont * New Statesman *An eye-opening, deeply disturbing, fast-moving journey through the lives, homes and affairs of the filthy rich of London. -- Danny DorlingFascinating, punchy, thought-provoking. Serious Money exposes the corrosive impact of London's super rich on our economy, society and politics, and comprehensively busts the myth that their wealth trickles down to the rest of us. -- Frances O’GradyA wonderful and vital account of a city ruled by, and for, extreme wealth. -- Anna Minton, author of Big CapitalStartling, spirited ... Knowles is alert to arresting details ... a wry primer to the extravagances of the super rich. -- Alex Diggins * The Critic *Years of footwork through the streets of central London have gone into producing this magnificent but disturbing book on the lives and influence of the super-rich. Knowles writes with enviable lightness and pace about how money, property, birth, breeding, contacts, secrecy, parasites and servants have created a class that owns and milks London, a world away from the city's ordinary citizens. A powerful ethnography of plutocratic power. -- Professor Ash Amin, author of Seeing Like a CityAn innovative and disturbingly entertaining travelogue covering one of the most important issues of our time ... could not have been published at a more critical time. -- Matt Reynolds * LSE Review of Books *Sociologist Caroline Knowles takes you through the neighborhoods of the capital city telling stories of how the ultra-wealthy live and work; how they spend their money, marry and divorce; and why London is one of the best places for those with nefarious intentions to hide money from authorities. * Investopedia - Best Economics Books of 2022 *A guided tour of the spaces and lifestyles of London's super-rich. Written in an engaging and accessible manner that draws the reader into spaces and conversations otherwise out of bounds, Knowles subtly exposes the paradoxes inherent within the life and politics of the super-rich in London. -- Sobia Ahmad Kaker * Soundings *

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Book SynopsisA FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAROne of our most scintillating public intellectuals explores the political paradoxes of the pandemic and helps us think our way through it''We are able to imagine anything because we are being besieged by something that was considered unimaginable...''Beneath the panic and bluster, beneath the confusing speeches and the conflicting advice, the Coronavirus pandemic acted, changing our world in the most profound ways. The tragic human cost and the economic devastation will be assessed and calculated for decades to come. But the pandemic also changed things in ways that are less easily expressed and understood. It has made bare the frayed contradictions of modern life. It has distorted things that seemed simple and settled. It has affirmed plain, uncomfortable truths. In this brilliant, thought-provoking essay, Ivan Krastev, one of our most interesting thinkers today, explores the pandemic''s iTrade ReviewOne of the great European minds of today -- Timothy SnyderFew people question the conventional wisdom like Ivan Krastev -- George SorosIvan Krastev is one of Europe's leading thinkers -- Madeleine Albright

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Book SynopsisFINALIST FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2022 THE TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2021 ''A complex story, which Tooze tells with clarity and verve... The world is unlikely to be treated to a better account of the economics of the pandemic'' The Times From the author of Crashed comes a gripping short history of how Covid-19 ravaged the global economy, and where it leaves us now When the news first began to trickle out of China about a new virus in December 2019, risk-averse financial markets were alert to its potential for disruption. Yet they could never have predicted the total economic collapse that would follow in COVID-19''s wake, as stock markets fell faster and harder than at any time since 1929, currencies across the world plunged, investors panicked, and even gold was sold. In a matter of weeks, the world''s economy was brought to an abrupt halt by governments trying to contain a spiralling public health catastrophe. Flights were grounded; supply chains broken; industries from tourism to oil to hospitality collapsed overnight, leaving hundreds of millions of people unemployed. Central banks responded with unprecedented interventions, just to keep their economies on life-support. For the first time since the second world war, the entire global economic system contracted. This book tells the story of that shutdown. We do not yet know how this story ends, or what new world we will find on the other side. In this fast-paced, compelling and at times shocking analysis, Adam Tooze surveys the wreckage, and looks at where we might be headed next.''A seriously impressive book, both endlessly quotable and rigorously analytical'' Oliver Bullough, The GuardianTrade ReviewA complex story, which Tooze tells with clarity and verve... The world is unlikely to be treated to a better account of the economics of the pandemic. * The Times *Shutdown is a seriously impressive book, both endlessly quotable and rigorously analytical. Tooze synthesises a huge volume of information to argue that we must prepare for a new wave of crises or risk being sunk by them. Hopefully, governments everywhere will heed his warning. -- Oliver Bullough * The Guardian *Mr Tooze displays a remarkable ability to master the detail ... This is truly a picture of the global impact of the crisis; it covers the disruption in the financial markets, as well as the ins and outs of government policy. * The Economist *Fascinating, informative and wise. * Times Literary Supplement *An admirable work of synthesis and original analysis from the pre-eminent diagnostician of our age of discontents. * New Statesman *What sets [Shutdown] apart is Tooze's ability to keep his eye on the big picture - and the long view ... There will be plenty more books to come on the global economy of 2020. Few will be as timely, as wide-ranging or as clear as Shutdown. -- Duncan Weldon * Prospect *[A] brilliant, bracing account of the Covid pandemic and its protracted political aftermath ... Nuanced and wide-ranging. Tooze has the impressive ability, as a writer, to contextualise historical events as they unfold. -- Jamie Maxwell * The Herald *To read Shutdown feels like sitting alongside the great professor while he feverishly collates an array of data and anecdotes, attempts to chronicle what is going on, his head fizzing with ideas about what it might all mean and where it might be leading ... a fine use of one's time. -- Bill Emmott * Financial Times *Of all the instant histories spawned by the pandemic, this is the closest we'll get to a thriller ... it's a story that bears rereading ... a survival guide for the next man-made cataclysm that Adam Tooze warns will surely come soon. -- Patrick Maguire * The Times *A comprehensive history of an unprecedented year ... Readers will find this deeply informed parsing of the pandemic to be illuminating and thought-provoking. * Publishers Weekly *Tooze examines the unprecedented decision of governments around the world to shutter their economies in the face of pandemic ... As the pandemic hopefully continues to fade, other crises remain. This book is a valuable forecast of future problems. * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ''Superb ... It is tremendous fun, tremendously told'' The Times ''A fluid intellectual thriller'' Daily Telegraph From the global bestselling author of The Big Short, the gripping story of the maverick scientists who hunted down Covid-19 ''It''s a foreboding,'' she said. ''A knowing that something is looming around the corner. Like how when the seasons change you can smell Fall in the air right before the leaves change and the wind turns cold.'' In January 2020, as people started dying from a new virus in Wuhan, China, few really understood the magnitude of what was happening. Except, that is, a small group of scientific misfits who in their different ways had been obsessed all their lives with how viruses spread and replicated - and with why the governments and the institutions that were supposed to look after us, kept making the same mistakes time and again. This group saw what nobody else did. A pandemic was coming. We weren''t prepared. The Premonition is the extraordinary story of a group who anticipated, traced and hunted the coronavirus; who understood the need to think differently, to learn from history, to question everything; and to do all of this fast, in order to act, to save lives, communities, society itself. It''s a story about the workings of the human mind; about the failures and triumphs of human judgement and imagination. It''s the story of how we got to now. ''Lewis is a master of his form'' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewWhen the stories of our times are told, there will be no more seminal documents than the books of Michael Lewis. * Guardian *He is so good everyone else may as well pack up. * Evening Standard *Michael Lewis is one of the premier chroniclers of our age. * Huffington Post *Superb ... It is tremendous fun, tremendously told. There is a lot to take from it - about the inertia of the US civil service, about the "malignant obedience" of middle managers, about how people fearful of the pandemic were treated with the "wary indulgence of the sane in the presence of the fanatic" ... Among those truths, in a familiar lesson for much of the world this year, is the danger of hubris. -- Tom Whipple * The Times *A gripping story ... This is a book about some brave, curious people who tried hard to swim against the tide. As always in a Lewis book they are brought vividly alive ... Lewis is a master of his form. -- Christina Patterson * The Sunday Times *A fluid intellectual thriller ... As always with Lewis, the book is full of fascinating facts and personal angles. -- Steven Poole * Daily Telegraph Books of the Year 2021 *[Reading The Premonition] we see a disturbing common trait emerging in our country and others: the unwillingness to prioritise people's lives over ideas and ingrained structures. -- Kazuo Ishiguro * Observer Books of the Year 2021 *It is hard to think of a writer who has had more success than Michael Lewis at turning forbiddingly complex situations into propulsive nonfiction narratives ... Without his ever having to spell it out, Lewis's message comes across very powerfully: the US government, in its institutional dysfunction, is in danger of abandoning its citizens to a private sector that is even less equipped to deal with large-scale disasters such as Covid. -- Mark O’Connell * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisIn twenty short books, Penguin brings you the classics of the environmental movement.In Hot Money Naomi Klein lays out the evidence that deregulated capitalism is waging war on the climate, and shows that, in order to stop the damage, we must change everything we think about how our world is run.Over the past 75 years, a new canon has emerged. As life on Earth has become irrevocably altered by humans, visionary thinkers around the world have raised their voices to defend the planet, and affirm our place at the heart of its restoration. Their words have endured through the decades, becoming the classics of a movement. Together, these books show the richness of environmental thought, and point the way to a fairer, saner, greener world.

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Book SynopsisRADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK Economic thinking - about globalisation, climate change, immigration, austerity, automation and much more - in its most digestible formFor decades, a single free market philosophy has dominated global economics. But this is bland and unhealthy - like British food in the 1980s, when bestselling author and economist Ha-Joon Chang first arrived in the UK from South Korea. Just as eating a wide range of cuisines contributes to a more interesting and balanced diet, so too is it essential we listen to a variety of economic perspectives.In Edible Economics, Chang makes challenging economic ideas more palatable by plating them alongside stories about food from around the world. He uses histories behind familiar food items - where they come from, how they are cooked and consumed, what they mean to different cultures - to explore economic theory. For Chang, chocolate is a life-long addiction, but more exciting are the insights it offers into post-industrial knowledge economies; and while okra makes Southern gumbo heart-meltingly smooth, it also speaks of capitalism''s entangled relationship with freedom and unfreedom. Explaining everything from the hidden cost of care work to the misleading language of the free market as he cooks dishes like anchovy and egg toast, Gambas al Ajillo and Korean dotori mook, Ha-Joon Chang serves up an easy-to-digest feast of bold ideas.Myth-busting, witty and thought-provoking, Edible Economics shows that getting to grips with the economy is like learning a recipe: if we understand it, we can change it - and, with it, the world.Trade ReviewExcellent... Chang has been working hard at providing an alternative to neoliberalism for two decades... Now he's reached the summit of the profession -- Dan Davies * Guardian *Chang has a rare gift for explaining complex ideas... whether he is dealing with food or economics, Chang is a delightful writer -- Bee Wilson * Sunday Times *The only book I've ever read that made me laugh, salivate and re-evaluate my thoughts about economics - all at the same time. A funny, profound and appetising volume -- Brian EnoA brilliant riposte to the myth that policymakers can survive on plain neoliberal fare. Edible Economics is a moveable feast of alternative economic ideas wrapped up in witty stories about food from around the world. Ha-Joon Chang proves yet again that he is one of the most exciting economists at work today -- Owen JonesA fascinating stew of food, history and economics -- Tim SpectorHa-Joon Chang has done it again. His prose delights and nourishes in equal measure. Somehow he manages to smuggle an urgent discussion of the relevance of economics to our daily lives into stories about food and cooking that are charming, funny and sweet (but never sour). In taking on the economic establishment, Chang is like a teddy bear savaging a rottweiler -- David PillingHa-Joon Chang blends culinary facts and economic expertise in this rollicking guide... Chang infuses the survey with food-related trivia, covers an impressive swatch of economics, and concludes with a call that readers scrutinize, think imaginatively, and be open-minded in their quest for economic knowledge * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisOver the past two centuries, economic growth has freed billions from poverty and made our lives far healthier and longer. As a result, the unfettered pursuit of growth defines economic life around the world. Yet this prosperity has come at an enormous price: deepening inequalities, destabilizing technologies, environmental destruction and climate change. Confusion reigns. For many, in our era of anaemic economic progress, the worry is slowing growth - in the UK, Europe, China and elsewhere. Others understandably claim, given its costs, that the only way forward is through 'degrowth', deliberating shrinking our economies. At this time of uncertainty about growth and its value, award-winning economist Daniel Susskind has written an essential reckoning. In a sweeping analysis full of historical insight, he argues that we cannot abandon growth but shows instead how we must redirect it, making it better reflect what we truly value. He explores what really drives growth, and offers origi

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Book SynopsisThe NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA radically new understanding of and practical approach to climate change by noted environmentalist and creator of Drawdown, Paul Hawken The dangers of climate change and a warming world have been in the public eye for fifty years. For three decades, scientists and the United Nations have urged us to address future existential threats. In Regeneration Paul Hawken has flipped the narrative, bringing people back into the conversation by demonstrating that addressing current human needs rather than future threats is the only path to solving the climate crisis.From land to ocean, food to industries - Regeneration proposes an extensive menu of actions that collectively can reverse the overheating and degradation of our planet. The solutions, techniques, and practices range from solar power, electric vehicles, and tree planting to bioregions, azolla fern and forest farms; they are all doa

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Book SynopsisAn updated and expanded edition of a modern business classic.

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Book SynopsisCut through the networking noise and start building the powerful, real relationships needed to succeed in our digital world If you think of networking as schmoozing at boring cocktail parties or scrolling through LinkedIn for new contacts to add, think again. In the social media age, you need a modern roadmap for creating and cultivating meaningful connections to stand out from the crowd and achieve any of your goals, no matter how big or small.   In Build Your Dream Network, acclaimed business columnist and networking expert J. Kelly Hoey offers a fresh new approach to mastering this timeworn skill in a world where everyone is posting, liking, and friending fast and furiously, but many are failing to leverage their connections successfully. Hoey presents innovative strategies for forming strong relationships—the genuine, mutually beneficial, long-lasting kind—using all of the social tools at your disposal. She also reveals creat

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Book SynopsisCelebrated historian David Nasaw, whom The New York Times Book Review has called a meticulous researcher and a cool analyst, brings new life to the story of one of America''s most famous and successful businessmen and philanthropistsin what will prove to be the biography of the season.Born of modest origins in Scotland in 1835, Andrew Carnegie is best known as the founder of Carnegie Steel. His rags to riches story has never been told as dramatically and vividly as in Nasaw''s new biography. Carnegie, the son of an impoverished linen weaver, moved to Pittsburgh at the age of thirteen. The embodiment of the American dream, he pulled himself up from bobbin boy in a cotton factory to become the richest man in the world. He spent the rest of his life giving away the fortune he had accumulated and crusading for international peace. For all that he accomplished and came to represent to the American publica wildly successful businessman and capitalist, a self-educated writer, peace activist, philanthropist, man of letters, lover of culture, and unabashed enthusiast for American democracy and capitalismCarnegie has remained, to this day, an enigma.Nasaw explains how Carnegie made his early fortune and what prompted him to give it all away, how he was drawn into the campaign first against American involvement in the Spanish-American War and then for international peace, and how he used his friendships with presidents and prime ministers to try to pull the world back from the brink of disaster.With a trove of new materialunpublished chapters of Carnegie''s Autobiography; personal letters between Carnegie and his future wife, Louise, and other family members; his prenuptial agreement; diaries of family and close friends; his applications for citizenship; his extensive correspondence with Henry Clay Frick; and dozens of private letters to and from presidents Grant, Cleveland, McKinley, Roosevelt, and British prime ministers Gladstone and Balfour, as well as friends Herbert Spencer, Matthew Arnold, and Mark TwainNasaw brilliantly plumbs the core of this facinating and complex man, deftly placing his life in cultural and political context as only a master storyteller can.Trade Review“The definitive work on Carnegie for the foreseeable future, and it fully deserves to be.” —John Steele Gordon, The New York Times “Never has this story been told so thoroughly or so well as David Nasaw tells it in this massive and monumental biography.” —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post “Beautifully crafted and fun to read.” —Louis Galambos, The Wall Street Journal “The definitive Carnegie biography has arrived.” —USA Today “Nasaw delivers a vivid history of nineteenth-century capitalism.” —Fortune“Nasaw’s fine book . . . seems sure to be the final word on ‘the Star-spangled Scotchman.’”—Los Angeles Times “Nasaw’s research is extraordinary.” —San Francisco Chronicle “A meticulous account of a paradoxical American original.” —BusinessWeek “Make no mistake: David Nasaw has produced the most thorough, accurate and authoritative biography of Carnegie to date.” —Salon.com “Nasaw’s . . . very well-written biography is timely and instructive . . . Nasaw does brilliant work in bringing [Carnegie] to life.” —Kirkus (starred review)“A comprehensive and often engrossing biography . . . compelling.” —Booklist “In this lucid, meticulous, and finely detailed biography, David Nasaw has delivered the authoritative volume on Andrew Carnegie that we have long awaited. He captures in persuasive fashion the many sides of this energetic and kaleidoscopic personality—the abrasive industrialist, the enlightened philanthropist, the aspiring, often infuriatingly self-deluded author and political polemicist—and thereby makes a valuable contribution to the rich literature of America in the Gilded Age.” —Ron Chernow, author of Alexander Hamilton

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Book SynopsisThe New York Times bestseller“A glistening psychological history, faceted largely by the biographies of eight famous leaders . . .” —The Boston Globe“A provocative thesis . . . Ghaemi’s book deserves high marks for original thinking.” —The Washington Post“Provocative, fascinating.” —Salon.comHistorians have long puzzled over the apparent mental instability of great and terrible leaders alike: Napoleon, Lincoln, Churchill, Hitler, and others. In A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi, director of the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts Medical Center, offers a myth-shattering exploration of the powerful connections between mental illness and leadership and sets forth a controversial, compelling thesis: The very qualities that mark those with mood disorders also make for the best leaders in times of crisis. From the importance of Lincoln'sTrade ReviewGhaemi isn't the first to claim that madness is a close relative of genius, or even the first to extend the idea into politics. But he does go further than others...His explanations are elegant, too - intuitively accurate and banked off the latest psychiatric research. * Newsweek *A First-Rate Madness is a sophisticated work of psychology, but it is also a gossipy work of celebrity history, a who's who of the eminently unhinged. * The New York Observer *

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Book SynopsisAlan S. Blinder-esteemed Princeton professor, Wall Street Journal columnist, and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board under Alan Greenspan-is one of our wisest and most clear-eyed economic thinkers. In After the Music Stopped, he delivers a masterful narrative of how the worst economic crisis in postwar American history happened, what the government did to fight it, and what we must do to recover from it. With bracing clarity, Blinder chronicles the perfect storm of events beginning in 2007, from the bursting of the housing bubble to the implosion of the bond bubble, and how events in the U.S. spread throughout the interconnected global economy. Truly comprehensive and eminently readable, After the Music Stopped is the essential book about the financial crisis.Trade ReviewThe Wall Street Journal:"[Blinder] is a master storyteller... [After the Music Stopped] is one of the best books yet about the financial crisis."Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times:"Highly readable... Mr. Blinder draws on the work of many... reporters in his account. But if large portions of After the Music Stopped feel familiar, the book nonetheless benefits from its wide-angle perspective, as well as from its vantage point in time, now that it's possible to assess the fallout of decisions that were being made on the run by White House and Treasury officials under extraordinary pressures. It also benefits from Mr. Blinder's clear-eyed prose and nimble gifts as an explainer — gifts that sometimes approach those of Bill Clinton, when it comes to making complicated economic issues and policies understandable to the lay reader. Direct and concise, Mr. Blinder tells it as he sees it."Financial Times:"Blinder's book deserves its likely place near the top of reading lists about the crisis. It is the best comprehensive history of the episode... A riveting tale."The New Republic:"For a reader wondering how we got here, and why the people in charge have seemed, often, to be so chary of stringing up the culprits, or tearing down the system, Blinder's book - not least because his fair-minded approach and pragmatic mindset evokes that of America's current regulators - gives us an invaluable insight."USA Today:"What does all the knowledge mean to generalist readers? A lot, actually. Blinder is no defender of his economist colleagues or other former and current insiders who caused so much damage - or, at minimum, failed to see the collapse on the horizon. He writes clearly - as well as lots of journalists. That combination makes the book a worthy addition to the literature."Seattle Times:“If you want to get between the covers with your favorite econ nerd this season, I recommend Alan Blinder’s After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response and the Work Ahead. Written by the former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, this deserves a place among the top reads on the Great Panic and its aftermath.”Cleveland Plain Dealer:"A prodigiously detailed yet generally accessible investigation of the roots of the meltdown, its multiple and continuing reverberations in the United States and globally, and the short-term fixes and long-term remedies required to treat, and then heal, the patient."President William J. Clinton:"If you want to understand every aspect of our economic crisis—how we got into it, how we escaped a depression, why we haven't fully recovered, and what we have to do now—read this book. It's a masterpiece—simple, straightforward and wise."Paul A. Volcker:"True to his scholarly roots and informed by his practical insights, Alan Blinder has produced in After the Music Stopped both a comprehensive and, mirabile dictu, engagingly readable analysis of the great financial crisis. Whether or not one agrees with every particular judgment, the force of the argument is clear: here we are, four years later, still short of reforms that are needed."Bob Woodward:"Alan Blinder is one of the world's best informed and most balanced, sensible economists. His credentials include years as a senior adviser in the Clinton White House, then as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve and as regular op-ed contributor to the Wall Street Journal. After the Music Stopped is the best account available of what really happened in the 2008 financial crisis, why and what it now means for the future."Mohamed A. El-Erian:"Of all the books that I have read on the topic—and I have read quite a few—After the Music Stopped provides the most authoritative account of the why, how and what of the global financial crisis. This highly readable analysis takes you brilliantly through the construction of America's fragile house of financial cards, its sudden and dramatic collapse and, as important, the difficult reconstruction and rehabilitation work that must still be done. Whether you are interested in current affairs or in history, read this book if you want an expert and well-written analysis of how economics and politics interacted to create one big mess, not just for America but also for the global economy."

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Book SynopsisWASHINGTON POST “COLOR OF MONEY” BOOK CLUB PICKStop Living Paycheck to Paycheck and Get Your Financial Life Together (#GYFLT)!   If you’re a cash-strapped 20- or 30-something, it’s easy to get freaked out by finances. But you’re not doomed to spend your life drowning in debt or mystified by money. It’s time to stop scraping by and take control of your money and your life with this savvy and smart guide. Broke Millennial shows step-by-step how to go from flat-broke to financial badass. Unlike most personal finance books out there, it doesn’t just cover boring stuff like credit card debt, investing, and dealing with the dreaded “B” word (budgeting). Financial expert Erin Lowry goes beyond the basics to tackle tricky money matters and situations most of us face #IRL, including:  - Understanding your relationship with moolah: do you treat it like a Tinder date o

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Book SynopsisThis book will appeal to you if you are keen to do an MBA, are doing an MBA or have done an MBA, and are looking for real-world industry-relevant management education.An MBA degree is the most coveted educational degree right now as it opens many doors to successful careers and opportunities. However, not everything is right with the MBA education system in India?the textbooks are outdated, the examples are irrelevant and there are not many adequate, industry-related professionals teaching students. This leads to colleges churning out MBA graduates who are demotivated and do not have the right skills to succeed in the world.The Practical MBA aims to help you get a valuable MBA education, i.e. what you should be taught in business schools. It discusses various topics like entrepreneurship, self-help, technological disruption and financial literacy. This holistic guide breaks down various day-to-day business concepts such as pricing, inflation, GDP, statistics and so on. It also provides a glimpse of industries?FMCG, consulting, e-commerce, banking?to help you understand their cultures and demands.With career-related advice on creating an impactful resume and acing various rounds of job selections, this book provides you with the secret sauce that will help you land the job you want.Written in an easy conversational style, it is one of the best investments you can make to advance your career.

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Book SynopsisWhether you are just inquisitive about the role of language in affecting consumer and company behaviour or a student wondering about the utility of language analysis in understanding them, Mine Your Language will teach you to use language to influence, engage and predict!

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Book SynopsisMany big companies?famous brands, once loved and revered?often disappear into oblivion mainly due to their own follies. Look at the once invincible Kodak or the seemingly unfailing Premier Padmini cars. In the unforgiving world of modern business they failed to adapt, only to perish. Many businesses fail to address and wisdom from their trying experiences. Even the infallible Nokia, BlackBerry, Woolworths and Lehman Brothers buckled. Companies such as Bethlehem Steel, Atari, Xerox, NCR, Mafatlal and Kingfisher Airlines this basic truth. Every business is tested for endurance and accomplishment but only a few extract strength once considered as the great ones to emulate, all failed to live up to their repute. Instances of business blunders and bloopers are many. They could include compromising quality to cut costs, lack of professionalism in management, botched up mergers and acquisitions, customers being taken for granted, bad leadership, family squabbles, corporate fraud, unmanageable

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Book SynopsisBy examining these two companies and their business models in depth, Professor Nirmalya Kumar elucidates on the more general phenomenon of incumbents competing with disruptors (e.g., Volkswagen vs Tesla, Marriott vs Airbnb) as well as the move to omnichannel retail where physical stores must coexist with online retailers.

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Book SynopsisToday, mobile connections are so readily accessible that it is perhaps easy to forget the time when only the elite had access to a phone provided by the sole operator: the Government of India. It all changed in the early 1990s as liberalisation stirred the Indian economy out of its decades of complacency.

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Book SynopsisFor example, India now has as many chess grandmasters as the United States, and the expertise of its scientists has guided India's space modules to the dark side of the moon, a feat no other country has achieved.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThe definitive history of American war reporting in the Pacific theater of World War II, from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.After almost two years slogging with infantrymen through North Africa, Italy, and France, Ernie Pyle immediately realized he was ill prepared for covering the Pacific War. As Pyle and other war correspondents discovered, the climate, the logistics, and the sheer scope of the Pacific theater had no parallel in the war America was fighting in Europe. From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The War Beat, Pacific provides the first comprehensive account of how a group of highly courageous correspondents covered America''s war against Japan, what they witnessed, what they were allowed to publish, and how their reports shaped the home front''s perception of some of the most pivotal battles in American military history. In a dramatic and fast-paced narrative based on a wealth of previously untapped primary sources, Casey takes us from MacArthur''s doomed defense on the Philippines and the navy''s overly strict censorship policy at the time of Midway, through the bloody battles on Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Tarawa, Saipan, Leyte and Luzon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, detailing the cooperation, as well as conflict, between the media and the military, as they grappled with the enduring problem of limiting a free press during a period of extreme crisis.The War Beat, Pacific shows how foreign correspondents ran up against practical challenges and risked their lives to get stories in a theater that was far more challenging than the war against Nazi Germany, while the US government blocked news of the war against Japan and tried to focus the home front on Hitler and his atrocities.Trade ReviewA nuanced and engaging narrative of the Pacific war in World War II....Steven Casey...untangles the complex challenges that reporters experienced from the moment they arrived on the vast front....The reporters were not sideline observers or members of a pool simply repurposing what they were told from official sources. They often put themselves at great risk and, along with the soldiers they accompanied, endured malnourishment, blistering heat and humidity, disease, endless insects, and enemy bullets and shells....With everything seemingly against them—a public distracted by the European war; military officials who viewed them with suspicion; or publishers who wanted something other than graphic or demoralizing coverage—the Pacific reporters did their jobs nonetheless....A timely reminder of what a democracy needs from an independent press in times of crisis. * Tracy Campbell, Journal of American History *[A] brilliant book on American reporters covering World War II in the Pacific....Casey's powerful and readable account offers an important addition to the historiography of the Pacific theater.... Casey concludes that despite the difficulties that reporters faced in the Pacific, they played an invaluable role in bridging the gap between what was occurring on the battlefield and what was understood on the home front. Reporters developed working relationships with different military commanders and public relations officers while overcoming harsh environmental conditions, dangerous and sometimes deadly combat situations, and unreliable transportation. * David L. Snead, Journal of Military History *Casey has produced a highly useful companion volume to his earlier book The War Beat, Europe (2017), deserving of a place in any collection focusing on WWII or journalism. * J.P. Sanson, CHOICE Connect, Vol. 59 No. 8 *Shrewd and comprehensive.... The War Beat, Pacific is an impressive achievement. Media-military relations in the Pacific were, it shows us, a world of paradoxes and conundrums reflecting the competing agendas and institutional frictions within the military and between it and the media. Casey composes a lucid narrative out of disparate archival materials and secondary sources. While he captures the terror, misery, and frustration reporters felt in the Pacific, his eyes are on the bigger picture, the forces in both media and military that determined what the American public knew of the war and what it did not. Now the definitive account of US war reporting in the Pacific, The War Beat, Pacific promises to have a long shelf life. * Richard Fine, Michigan War Studies Review *Reporters assigned to cover the Pacific theater of WW II faced obstacles that were difficult to overcome. The Pacific War covered thousands of square miles, and much of it was fought by the navy. Reporters might be on a ship dozens or even a hundred miles from major battles trying to make sense of the progress by listening to comments and reports from pilots without seeing one moment of action. Moreover, they struggled with wording dispatches to their home offices in order to make it past military censors....Pacific theater reporters also had to contend with the unique personalities of those who were in charge of operations....Casey...has produced a highly useful companion volume to his earlier book The War Beat, Europe (2017), deserving of a place in any collection focusing on WW II or journalism....Recommended. General readers, advanced undergraduates through faculty, and professionals. * Choice *Brimming with anecdotes, it sheds light on just what it takes to be a war correspondent. For those seeking new perspectives on America's war with Japan this is a thoroughly illuminating book. * History of War *In this masterful and often gripping work, Steven Casey narrates the history of World War II in the Pacific from the perspective of the reporters who covered it. News coverage of American fighting in the Pacific was hampered by censorship and by the difficulty of simply getting to the front, leading to a largely 'shrouded war,' undermining public engagement and understanding. Through exhaustive research, Casey reveals the way journalists risked their lives to keep Americans informed. * Mary L. Dudziak, author of War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences *Students of military-news media relations have long decried the lack of a wide-ranging history of the role of the press in World War II's Pacific theater. Steven Casey's thoroughly researched War Beat, Pacific, fills that gap. Balanced, concise, superbly written, it will be a must-read along with Casey's War Beat, Europe, for anyone hoping to comprehend World War II in all its breadth and complexity. * William M. Hammond, author of Reporting Vietnam: Media and Military at War *Steven Casey has made an important, original contribution to our knowledge of American war reporting, an eternally relevant topic, especially for a society that values both free speech and operational security. In Casey's exploration of war reporting in the Pacific theater, we see the struggles of reporters against military censorship, appalling conditions, an almost nonexistent communications infrastructure, and often their fellow correspondents in the endless competition for breaking stories. Casey weaves naturally from relating the experiences of individual reporters to larger context on the customs and practices of war reporting as a whole. * John C. McManus, author of Fire and Fortitude: The U.S. Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943 *Steven Casey has produced another superbly researched and beautifully written study of US media coverage of World War II, this time in the Pacific theater. It will serve as a worthy companion to his previous study of media coverage in the European theater. As with that previous volume, this one should lead to reconsideration of many standard beliefs regarding the relationship within and between the media, the armed forces, and the government during the conflict, as well as the numerous individuals whose reporting and photographs helped shape the public image of the war. * Mark A. Stoler, editor of the George C. Marshall Papers *Steven Casey offers a fresh and absorbing account of the Pacific War told through the harrowing experiences of battle-hardened reporters. Correspondents on 'the war beat' risked everything to tell its story, but the fog of that war was thick. Americans knew shockingly little about what actually transpired in such places as Bataan and Okinawa, Tokyo and Hiroshima. Casey's brilliant and fast-paced narrative opens up that world, providing a behind-the-scenes picture of the war unlike any other. * Kenneth Osgood, author of Total Cold War: Eisenhower's Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad *Steven Casey has written an exceptional book. * Stephen C. Murray, Journal of Pacific History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Part One: The Shrouded War Chapter 1. The Paradox of Pearl Harbor Chapter 2. Fiasco in the Philippines Chapter 3. Censorship at Sea Chapter 4. The New Guinea Gang Chapter 5. The Shroud Slips: Guadalcanal Part Two: Lifting the Veil Chapter 6. Atrocities Chapter 7. Dress Rehearsal in New Guinea Chapter 8. Bloody Battles in the Central Pacific Chapter 9. The Burma Backwater Part Three: Vengeance Chapter 10. The Return Chapter 11. Death in the Pacific Chapter 12. Endgame Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPopulism, on both the right and the left, has spread like wildfire throughout Europe and the United States and is making inroads in other parts of the world. In simplest terms, populism is a political ideology that vilifies elites, minorities and foreigners while lionizing the people. It reached its apogee in the U.S. with the election of Donald Trump but has been a force in Europe since the Great Recession and the refugee crisis. We now see the rise of leaders with populist tendencies everywhere from Brazil to Turkey.In The Populist Temptation, Barry Eichengreen places this global resurgence of populism in its historical context. Populists have always thrived, he observes, in times of poor economic performance. Populism feeds on rising inequality, which augments the ranks of those left behind and fans dissatisfaction with the economic status quo. It responds to rapid economic change that heightens insecurity. These economic developments, Eichengreen shows, give rise to populist reactions when they highlight the divergent interests of the people and the elite. Banking and financial crises are a case in point: the financiers who are the precipitating agents of such crises are card-carrying members of the elite, and are seen as profiting at the expense of the people.But populism is also a protest against the declining influence of the traditions, beliefs and community of once-dominant groups. It is a reaction against the challenge posed by immigrants and minorities to the people as a homogeneous, well-defined entity. Populists capitalizing on these feelings appeal to a glorious, mythologized past grounded in the collective traditions of that once-dominant majority. They invoke nationalism and criticize politicians who embrace diversity, open borders and equal rights. Populism has particular appeal, Eichengreen shows, when these identity politics and economic grievances come together.There is no magic solution to these concerns, but Eichengreen points to a starting place: strengthening welfare state policies that make for greater equality of opportunity and social cohesion. Comparing Europe with the United States, he shows that America''s patchwork welfare state is less well equipped to deal with the fallout from globalization and technical change and the growing distance between social groups. This reality will be hard to change, since America''s limited welfare state reflects the country''s historically-rooted suspicion of big government. It is therefore in the United States, Eichengreen concludes, where the siren song of populism is most alluring--and dangerous.Trade ReviewBarry Eichengreen is the world leader in distilling the lessons of economic history for the policy makers of today. This important book is the best we yet have on populism and the antidotes it demands. * Lawrence H. Summers, President Emeritus and Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University *No one makes economic history relevant to today while doing justice to the past like Barry Eichengreen. The Populist Temptation is the best of American and European perspectives on the worst of current EU and US politics. Sobering and sensible, this is a necessary interpretative guide to our times. * Adam S. Posen, President, Peterson Institute for International Economics *Finally, a superb book that places populism in its proper historical context. And who better to write it than Barry Eichengreen, a master at shedding light on our contemporary economic problems from a historical perspective? Eichengreen brilliantly describes the backlash unleashed by economic difficulties and dislocation periodically throughout history, and the varying success of political regimes to rise to the challenge. Historical treatments with their focus on deeply rooted processes can be fatalistic. Eichengreen nicely sidesteps that trap, with a hopeful, constructive message pointing the way forward. * Dani Rodrik, Harvard University *In The Populist Temptation, Barry Eichengreen, amongst the foremost international economists today, explains why we are seeing an outburst of populist movements across the industrial world, and how they mirror similar movements from history. He argues that while the populists have genuine grievances, the solutions their leaders propose are unlikely to work. Eichengreen is skeptical that populists' concerns can be addressed easily. However, his insightful analysis is an essential starting point for anyone who wants to understand one of the most important developments of our times. * Raghuram G. Rajan, Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance, University of Chicago *Barry Eichengreen has written a characteristically lucid book on the contemporary threat of populism." - Financial TimesTable of ContentsPreface Chapter 1. The Populist Archetype Chapter 2. American Panorama Chapter 3. Luddites and Laborers Chapter 4. Voyage of the Bismarck Chapter 5. The Associationalist Way Chapter 6. Unemployment and Reaction Chapter 7. The Age of Moderation Chapter 8. Things Come Apart Chapter 9. Trumped Up Chapter 10. Breaking Point Chapter 11. Containment Chapter 12. Au Revoir Europe? Chapter 13. Prospects

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWho Cares is a fresh, informative look at the nature of the American welfare state: why do we care about some needs more than others? What's the actual level of protection afforded, and for whom? What do key actors (the public, parties and politicians, unions, and business organizations) have to say? Will the gaps exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic spur a reset, or not? Chris Howard wields his stunningly clear prose to examine both the usual policy areas (income, healthcare, food) and the often-overlooked (housing, child- and elder-care). I can't wait for the conversations this thoughtful book will prompt. * Andrea Louise Campbell, author of Trapped in America's Safety Net *The strengths of the book include its deep dive into public opinion and its information on the roles of government, charities, and volunteers in mitigating poverty...Who Cares is suitable for undergraduate courses on social welfare, public policy, and the sociology of poverty. * Choice *...by surveying caring commitments and practices across the public-private spectrum throughout society, the book's detailed empirical analysis greatly helps to place our collective caring efforts to aid the disadvantaged in the United States into a robust context, actually making thorough assessment more possible. For this alone, the book is an important contribution to the scholarly literature and deserving of a wide audience among the broader public. * Sanford Schram, Hunter College-City University of New York *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction WHAT WE SAY 1. General Public 2. Business and Labor 3. Churches and Other Charities 4. Public Officials WHAT WE DO 5. Income 6. Food 7. Housing 8. Medical Care 9. Daily Care Conclusion Postscript: The Social Safety Net and the Pandemic Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisStrategy decision making and action used to be off limits to all but the select few at the very top of an organization. It was a largely cerebral activity focused on grand long-terms plans made at annual off-site retreats away from the daily challenges of the business. That is no longer the case.The current business environment does not wait for companies to slowly adjust in an annual meeting. The relentless pace of change renders today''s long-term future tomorrow''s history. Rapid innovations and ever-increasing complexities limit executives'' ability to make decisions with perfect information. Does this mean strategy is no longer useful, or even feasible? No. Good strategists are needed now more than ever. But today''s high-performing organizations think of strategy differently than in the past. These companies make strategy part of every manager''s role; they strategize continuously and tackle strategic problems through individuals from all parts of the organization.Strategy in this new, fast-paced world is about diagnosing the diverse array of complex challenges confronting organizations, deciding on novel solutions to address those challenges, and delivering by taking action on those solutions. Including a novel organizational framework and never-before-published application examples, Strategy in 3D helps build these foundational skills and prepares the reader for success as a strategist in the 21st century.Trade ReviewStrategy in 3D: Essential Tools to Diagnose, Decide & Deliver (Oxford University Press), co-authored with two former Kelley School faculty members, presents insights into how companies can broaden and include more people in the strategic process. * George Vlahakis, Indiana University Kelley School of Business, Kelley Blog *Strategy in 3D is one of the most useful and practical strategy books I have encountered. It is structured extremely well around the core strategic modules of diagnosis, decision, and delivery. It also gives students a practical how-to guide to 15 of the most useful strategy frameworks. Students tend to enjoy the contemporary examples and it is clear the authors have written a book that remedies some of the typical issues in strategy textbooks. * Will Geoghegan, Assistant Clinical Professor, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University *The simplicity and straightforwardness of the writing style is attractive. The fact that this book gets right to business without fluff makes it a book I would choose to use in the classroom. * Marilyn R. Kaplan, School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas *Strategy in 3D is a practitioner-oriented book that is easy to read and understand. The authors primarily focus on the various strategy tools and how each tool could be used for any business scenario. At the same time, the authors succinctly explain and duly give credit to the theory that each tool is based on. The first thing that caught my attention is the word 3D and its representation of the three important phases of the strategic management process - diagnose, decide, and deliver, with clear guidelines about the relevant tools that could be used within each phase for any firm. * Sumita Sarma, Assistant Professor of Management, and Director, Business Research and Education Center (BREC), California State University Bakersfield *Strategy in 3D provides a thorough and digestible overview of the fundamentals of strategy and important tools that can be used. The book is packaged together in a way that makes it easy to navigate and offers high-value to the reader. The authors show that they are not only experts in the field, but that they can also effectively deliver that expertise/knowledge in a succinct manner. It's a great resource for any strategic management class and I've also referred back to it for other classes and projects. It's definitely the best strategy textbook that I've read and I highly recommend it. * Scott Wegener, Senior Marketing Specialist at Hatfield Consultants *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction Part 1: Fundamentals Chapter 2: Definition and Levels of Strategy Chapter 3: The Context for Strategic Decision Making Chapter 4: The 3D's of Strategy Part 2: Tools Chapter 5: A Strategy Toolbox Chapter 6: STEEP Chapter 7: 5-Forces Chapter 8: Competitor Analysis Chapter 9: VRIO Chapter 10: Financial Performance Analysis Chapter 11: SWOT Chapter 12: Root Cause Analysis Chapter 13: S-Curve Analysis Chapter 14: Value Chain Analysis Chapter 15: Hypothesis Testing Chapter 16: Segmentation Analysis Chapter 17: Vertical Integration Chapter 18: Market Entry Modes Chapter 19: Business Model Canvas Chapter 20: Balanced Scorecard Chapter 21: Conclusion

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