Search results for ""currency""

This book reveals significant lessons on how economic prosperity was secured for people over three decades in eight Asian countries. It focusses on the careful way in which these nations designed and implemented pro-growth, liberal economic and financial policies. A new phenomenon - namely financial fragility - in the more liberalised fast growth Asian economies is also examined.The authors explore why only some of the early reformers among China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, and Thailand succumbed to a serious financial crisis in 1997 whilst others did not. They also analyse the impact of policies implemented by the crisis-hit economies, either under the IMF restructuring programs or independent pursuit of capital and currency controls. The book goes on to identify the weaknesses of the banking sector in order to explain the reasons behind the financial crisis. The book concludes with lessons for other emerging economies undertaking economic and financial development through liberalization. These examples reveal policies that could be prescribed in order to prevent future problems. Focusing on post-crisis reforms and their policy impacts, and on post-crisis evaluation of restructuring implemented in the financial sector, this book will appeal to academics and those with specific interests in Asian studies and/or banking and finance. Policymakers - in particular those at central banks and treasuries, along with professionals in financial institutions and multinational firms, will find the book to be a fascinating read.

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This authoritative book analyses the recent problems associated with the UK's monetary system and suggests a long-term solution to control bank lending in the future. It draws on extensive historical material, discussions with former senior officials and politicians, and the perceptive insights of Gordon Pepper, an advisor to Margaret Thatcher when the foundations of monetary control were being laid, to revisit and re-examine the monetarist experiment of the 1980s.The authors argue that, in spite of the instinct of the Prime Minister, the authorities never attempted to control the supply of money in the 1980s and only paid lip service to controlling the demand for money. Extraordinary behaviour of bank lending was a significant cause of the Barber boom in the mid-1970s, of the Lawson boom of the 1980s and of the depth of the recession in the early 1990s. They assert that varying interest rates is an ineffective tool to manage lending and controversially propose that the only enduring solution is to control the banks' reserves. The authors forcefully argue that should the UK not become a member of the European Single Currency the debate surrounding monetary base control will need to be reopened.By reassessing a significant era in British economic policy and suggesting a strategy for the future, this book will be of great interest to economic historians, monetary and political economists, policymakers and investment advisers.

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The question of what defines the human, and of what is human about the humanities, have been shaken up by the radical critiques of humanism and the displacement of anthropomorphism that have gained currency in recent years, propelled in part by rapid advances in our knowledge of living systems and of their genetic and algorithmic codes coupled with the global expansion of a knowledge-intensive capitalism. In Posthuman Knowledge, Rosi Braidotti takes a closer look at the impact of these developments on three major areas: the constitution of our subjectivity, the general production of knowledge and the practice of the academic humanities. Drawing on feminist, postcolonial and anti-racist theory, she argues that the human was never a neutral category but one always linked to power and privilege. Hence we must move beyond the old dualities in which Man defined himself, beyond the sexualized and racialized others that were excluded from humanity. Posthuman knowledge, as Braidotti understands it, is not so much an alternative form of knowledge as a critical call: a call to build a multi-layered and multi-directional project that displaces anthropocentrism while pursuing the analysis of the discriminatory and violent aspects of human activity and interaction wherever they occur.Situated between the exhilaration of scientific and technological advances on the one hand and the threat of climate change devastation on the other, the posthuman convergence encourages us to think hard and creatively about what we are in the process of becoming.

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Sustainability is a nearly ubiquitous concept today, but can we ever imagine what it would be like for humans to live sustainably on the earth? No, says Bryan G. Norton in Sustainable Values, Sustainable Change. One of the most trafficked terms in the press, on university campuses, and in the corridors of government, sustainability has risen to prominence as a buzzword before the many parties laying claim to it have come close to agreeing how to define it. But the term's political currency urgently demands that we develop an understanding of this elusive concept. While economists, philosophers, and ecologists argue about what in nature is valuable, and why, Norton here offers an action-oriented, pragmatic response to the disconnect between public and academic discourse around sustainability. Looking to the arenas in which decisions are made-and the problems that are driving these decisions-Norton reveals that the path to sustainability cannot be guided by fixed, utopian objectives projected into the future; sustainability will instead be achieved through experimentation, incremental learning, and adaptive management. Drawing inspiration from Aldo Leopold's famed metaphor of "thinking like a mountain" for a spatially explicit, pluralistic approach to evaluating environmental change, Norton replaces theory-dependent definitions with a new decision-making process guided by deliberation and negotiation across science and philosophy, encompassing all stakeholders and activists and seeking to protect as many values as possible. Looking across scales to today's global problems, Norton urges us to learn to think like a planet.

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Collins Cambridge IGCSE™ Maths Student’s Book – Fourth Edition provides in-depth coverage of every aspect of the revised Cambridge IGCSE and IGCSE (9-1) Mathematics syllabuses (0580/0980) for examination from 2025. The resource covers the Core and Extended syllabus. Exam Board: Cambridge Assessment International EducationFor examination from: 2025 Support and challenge students with both the Core and Extended syllabus content clearly labelled in one book. Cover the syllabus with confidence with clear references to what students will learn at the start of every chapter and content fully updated for the revised syllabus and assessment. Grow confidence working without a calculator with clearly labelled questions and exercises. Familiarise students with a mix of structured and unstructured questions throughout. Develop problem solving with questions that require students to apply their skills, often in real life, international contexts. Help students to prepare for examination with past paper questions. Emphasise the relevance of maths with 'Why this chapter matters' showing maths in everyday life or historical development. Consolidate understanding with tried and tested questions in extensive practice exercises and detailed worked examples. Deliver a fully international course with international examples, contexts, names, currency and locations. Assist English as Second Language learners understand complex mathematical terminology with clear key term definitions, gathered in a glossary. Answers available as a free download on collins.co.uk/internationalresources We are working with Cambridge Assessment International Education towards endorsement of this title.

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER AWARD 2019 Hamburg, 1948In a routine operation, Chief Inspector Frank Stave is shot down. He survives, but transfers from the murder commission to the office combatting the black market. There, Stave is confronted with an enigmatic case: Trummerfrau, women helping to clear rubble from Hamburg's bombed streets, discover works of art from the Weimar period - right next to a unidentified corpse. Shortly afterwards, mysterious banknotes whose existence disturbs the Allies' secret plans begin to pop up on the black market. The Supervisor soon discovers strange parallels between the two cases. With the introduction of a new currency, Stave thinks he is on the brink of a solution. But the truth is dangerous, and not just for him.Praise for the Frank Stave Investigations'Undoubtedly the most powerful work of crime fiction I have read this year' Independent'Vivid and harrowing' Sunday Times'Police procedural, romance, thriller The Murderer in Ruins has a bit of everything and it's one hell of a read.' BücherReader Reviews for The Forger'An excellent series based in Hamburg just after World War II. Interesting characters and story lines - a view from defeated Germany we wouldn't normally hear' *****'Characters were good, plot good and it really highlights post war Germany and the inequalities among both sides. The only really disappointing thing is there is not a fourth one to read' *****'I could not put it down. Brilliant' *****Translated from the German by Peter Millar

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“If wilderness is outlawed, only outlaws can save wilderness.” Edward Abbey In a collection of gripping stories of adventure, Doug Peacock, loner, iconoclast, environmentalist, and contemporary of Edward Abbey, reflects on a life lived in the wild, asking the question many ask in their twilight years: “Was It Worth It?” Recounting sojourns with Abbey, but also Peter Matthiessen, Doug Tompkins, Jim Harrison, Yvon Chouinard and others, Peacock observes that what he calls “solitary walks” were the greatest currency he and his buddies ever shared. He asserts that “solitude is the deepest well I have encountered in this life,” and the introspection it affords has made him who he is: a lifelong protector of the wilderness and its many awe-inspiring inhabitants. With adventures both close to home (grizzlies in Yellowstone and jaguars in the high Sonoran Desert) and farther afield (tigers in Siberia, jaguars again in Belize, spirit bears in the wilds of British Columbia, all the amazing birds of the Galapagos), Peacock acknowledges that Covid 19 has put “everyone’s mortality in the lens now and it’s not necessarily a telephoto shot.” Peacock recounts these adventures to try to understand and explain his perspective on Nature: That wilderness is the only thing left worth saving. In the tradition of Peacock’s many best-selling books, Was It Worth It? is both entertaining and thought provoking. It challenges any reader to make certain that the answer to the question for their own life is “Yes!”

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In light of the experience of the global financial crisis, this book develops concrete recommendations for financial sector reform and regulation in Asian economies aimed at preventing the recurrence of systemic financial crises, improving the ability to manage and resolve crises, managing capital flows and promoting the development of Asian bond markets. The focus of the book is on longer-term structural measures. It explores areas such as the scope for regional monitoring and cooperation; deepening and integration of Asian bond and money markets; liberalization/regulation of capital flows; and issues related to macroprudential oversight, regulatory structure and cooperation as well as the role of state intervention in crisis resolution in the financial sector. The need for and impacts of regulations on innovative financial products and specific investor groups such as hedge funds, ways to reduce systemic risk of pro-cyclicality of regulation and ways to improve the infrastructure and regulatory environment for local currency bond markets are also examined in depth. The book will appeal to public and private finance experts, policy makers and decision makers in governments and banks, think-tanks and students in graduate courses related to financial and economic development. Contributors: C. Adams, J.A. Batten, Y.J. Cho, S.F. de Lis, M. Fujii, A. Garcia-Herrero, W.P. Hogan, M. Kapur, M. Kawai, D.G. Mayes, R. Mohan, P.J. Morgan, M.G. Plummer, M. Pomerleano, M.M. Spiegel, P.G. Szilagyi, L.D. Wall, A. Winkler

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Once upon a time, economists saw capital account liberalization--the free and unrestricted flow of capital in and out of countries--as unambiguously good. Good for debtor states, good for the world economy. No longer. Spectacular banking and currency crises in recent decades have shattered the consensus. In this remarkably clear and pithy volume, one of Europe's leading economists examines these crises, the reforms being undertaken to prevent them, and how global financial institutions might be restructured to this end. Jean Tirole first analyzes the current views on the crises and on the reform of the international financial architecture. Reform proposals often treat the symptoms rather than the fundamentals, he argues, and sometimes fail to reconcile the objectives of setting effective financing conditions while ensuring that a country "owns" its reform program. A proper identification of market failures is essential to reformulating the mission of an institution such as the IMF, he emphasizes. Next he adapts the basic principles of corporate governance, liquidity provision, and risk management of corporations to the particulars of country borrowing. Building on a "dual- and common-agency perspective," he revisits commonly advocated policies and considers how multilateral organizations can help debtor countries reap enhanced benefits while liberalizing their capital accounts. Based on the Paolo Baffi Lecture the author delivered at the Bank of Italy, this refreshingly accessible book is teeming with rich insights that researchers, policymakers, and students at all levels will find indispensable.

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The cryptocurrency world has transformed in a few short years from a niche subculture to a parallel economic universe, reaching a market capitalization of more than $2.5 trillion in 2021 before plummeting in 2022. For their advocates, cryptocurrencies represent a revolution of world-historical significance. To critics, crypto is more of a speculative tool than a true currency. How do tens of thousands of financial actors make these new monies? What forces give cryptocurrencies their value—or take it away? And what does crypto’s spectacular ascent reveal about the nature of money? In this groundbreaking ethnographic analysis of crypto economies and their global markets and communities, Koray Caliskan offers an inside view of how cryptocurrencies are made and traded. He argues that cryptocurrency should be understood as “data money,” a historically novel money type, created as the right to send data privately over an accounting infrastructure called blockchain. Drawing on two years of fieldwork among global cryptocurrency communities and in crypto markets, Caliskan makes visible the production principles of cryptocurrencies and explores how crypto exchanges work from within. He explains why and how we have been misunderstanding, underregulating, and improperly taxing crypto exchanges and actors. He also proposes a radically new way to make sense of new finance and its actors. An invaluable book for all readers seeking to understand cryptocurrency, Data Money sheds new light on a profound transformation of finance and its possible future trajectories.

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How can a company that has never turned a profit have a multibillion dollar valuation? Why do some start-ups attract large investments while others do not? Aswath Damodaran, finance professor and experienced investor, argues that the power of story drives corporate value, adding substance to numbers and persuading even cautious investors to take risks. In business, there are the storytellers who spin compelling narratives and the number-crunchers who construct meaningful models and accounts. Both are essential to success, but only by combining the two, Damodaran argues, can a business deliver and sustain value. Through a range of case studies, Narrative and Numbers describes how storytellers can better incorporate and narrate numbers and how number-crunchers can calculate more imaginative models that withstand scrutiny. Damodaran considers Uber's debut and how narrative is key to understanding different valuations. He investigates why Twitter and Facebook were valued in the billions of dollars at their public offerings, and why one (Twitter) has stagnated while the other (Facebook) has grown. Damodaran also looks at more established business models such as Apple and Amazon to demonstrate how a company's history can both enrich and constrain its narrative. And through Vale, a global Brazil-based mining company, he shows the influence of external narrative, and how country, commodity, and currency can shape a company's story. Narrative and Numbers reveals the benefits, challenges, and pitfalls of weaving narratives around numbers and how one can best test a story's plausibility.

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'The author's home town is falling apart. Lebanon's capital [...] has morphed into a symbol of devastation and hatred and madness. Majdalani is a survivor who still finds in himself the elegance to smile and hope' Amin Maalouf, Prix Goncourt winner'It is rare to capture the moment when it first occurs, in real time, with these seemingly humble details that describe the instant in all its depth' Alexandra Schwartzbrod, Libération'A short narrative that strikes straight at the heart' Gaëtane Morin, Le ParisienWhen Charif Majdalani begins to walk the streets of his city, and to write down what he sees, the first hints of unrest within a vibrant culture creep to the fore. Majdalani's reportage through the months of 2020 bears witness to the ways in which an ancient civilization slowly, then rapidly, descends into the abyss: corruption and vice infect the corridors of power; currency plummets into freefall, rats scurry between piles of rotting rubbish that grow higher along the pavements. Born from the rancour of existential pestilence, violence erupts and Beirut's citizens find themselves in high-voltage stand-offs with law enforcement.Then, the unexpected, Beirut collapses under the explosive force of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. The blast kills hundreds and injures thousands. But through the rubble and the sirens, a people finds its strength to survive and its heart to unite. The city becomes the metaphor for each of our cultural capitals throughout the world.

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What did Charles Dickens savour in punch, Thomas Jefferson eat in omelettes, Queen Victoria sip in navy grog, and the Kamehameha Kings of Hawaii drink straight? What helped spark the American Revolution, was used as currency in Australia, was targeted by the Temperance Movement, and is still a sacramental offering among voodoo worshippers? The answer is rum, whose colourful, secret history is described in Rum: A Global History. This book chronicles the evolution of rum, from a raw spirit concocted for slaves five hundred years ago, to a beverage savoured by connoisseurs. It charts the history of the drink, showing how this once-humble spirit has become a worldwide phenomenon over the last five hundred years. Rum: A Global History shows how rum has left its mark on religious rituals, popular songs and other cultural landmarks, describing a far more varied and interesting history of the drink than is commonly known. Also included in the book are recipes for sweet and savoury rum dishes, obscure but delicious rum drinks, and illustrations of rum memorabilia from the earliest days to the tiki craze of the 1950s. Costing less than a bottle of good rum, Rum: A Global History will provide satisfaction for far longer, with none of the hangover, guaranteed. The book will delight all who enjoy the beverage and wish to learn more of its heritage, as well as those who enjoy a fast-paced, well-written history of food.

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With a new introduction from the author, discover the secrets to a perfect TED Talk and learn how to deliver an exceptional presentation with Carmine Gallo’s Talk Like TED.‘A smart, practical book that will teach you how to give a kick-butt presentation’ - Daniel H. Pink, No. 1 bestselling author of DriveTED Talks have redefined the elements of a successful presentation and become the gold standard for public speaking around the world. And yet the techniques that top TED speakers use are the same ones that will make any presentation more dynamic, fire up any team, and give anyone the confidence to overcome their fear of public speaking.Communications coach and bestselling author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, Carmine Gallo has broken down the top TED Talks and interviewed the most popular TED presenters to uncover the nine secrets of all successful TED presentations. From ‘Unleashing the Master Within’ and ‘Delivering Jaw Dropping Moments’ to ‘Sticking to the eighteen-minute Rule’, Gallo provides a step-by-step method that makes it possible for anyone to create, design, and deliver a TED-style presentation that is engaging, persuasive, and memorable.Ideas are the true currency of the twenty-first century, and Talk Like TED gives readers a way to create presentations around the ideas that matter most to them, presentations that will energize their audiences to spread those ideas, launch new initiatives, and reach their highest goals.

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Argentina, once heralded as the future of capitalist progress, has a long history of economic volatility. In 2001–2002, a financial crisis led to its worst economic collapse, precipitating a dramatic currency devaluation, the largest sovereign default in world history, and the flight of foreign capital. Protests and street blockades punctuated a moment of profound political uncertainty, epitomized by the rapid succession of five presidents in four months. Since then, Argentina has fought economic fires on every front, from inflation to the cost of utilities and depressed industrial output. When things clearly aren't working, when the constant churning of booms and busts makes life almost unlivable, how does our deeply compromised order come to seem so inescapable? How does critique come to seem so blunt, even as crisis after crisis appears on the horizon? What are the lived effects of that sense of inescapability? Anthropologist Sarah Muir offers a cogent meditation on the limits of critique at this historical moment, drawing on deep experience in Argentina but reflecting on a truly global condition. If we feel things are being upended in a manner that is ongoing, tumultuous, and harmful, what would we need to do—and what would we need to give up—to usher in a revitalized critique for today's world? Routine Crisis is an original provocation and a challenge to think beyond the limits of exhaustion and reimagine a form of criticism for the twenty-first century.

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THE FIRST GRAY MAN NOVEL FROM #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR MARK GREANEY - now a Netflix original film starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans'Hard, fast, and unflinching-exactly what a thriller should be.' Lee ChildTo those who lurk in the shadows, he's known as the Gray Man. He is a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible and then fading away. And he always hits his target. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. Forces like money. And power. And there are men who hold these as the only currency worth fighting for. In their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness.But Court Gentry is going to prove that, for him, there's no grey area between killing for a living and killing to stay alive...***********************'Bourne for the new millenium' New York Times bestselling author James Rollins'A high-octane thriller that doesn't pause for more than a second for all of its 464 pages...For readers looking for a thriller where the action comes fast and furious, this is the ticket.' Chicago Sun-Times'Take fictional spy Jason Bourne, pump him up with Red Bull and meth, shake vigorously-and you've got the recipe for Court Gentry.' The Memphis Commercial Appeal'From the opening pages, the bullets fly and the bodies pile up. Through the carnage, Gentry remains an intriguing protagonist with his own moral code.' Booklist

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An in-depth guide to global and risk finance based on financial models and data-based issues that confront global financial managers. Globalization, Gating, and Risk Finance offers perspectives on global risk finance in a world with economies in transition. Developed from lectures and research projects investigating the consequences of globalization and strategic approaches to fundamental economics and finance, it provides an approach based on financial models and data; it includes many case-study problems. The book departs from the traditional macroeconomic and financial approaches to global and strategic risk finance, where economic power and geopolitical issues are intermingled to create complex and forward-looking financial systems. Chapter coverage includes: Globalization: Economies in Collision; Data, Measurements, and Global Finance; Global Finance: Utility, Financial Consumption, and Asset Pricing; Macroeconomics, Foreign Exchange, and Global Finance; Foreign Exchange Models and Prices; Asia: Financial Environment and Risks; Financial Currency Pricing, Swaps, Derivatives, and Complete Markets; Credit Risk and International Debt; Globalization and Trade: A Changing World; and Compliance and Financial Regulation. Provides a framework for global financial and inclusive models, some of which are not commonly covered in other books. Considers risk management, utility, and utility-based multi-agent financial theories. Presents a theoretical framework to assist with a variety of problems ranging from derivatives and FX pricing to bond default to trade and strategic regulation. Provides detailed explanations and mathematical proofs to aid the readers’ understanding. Globalization, Gating, and Risk Finance is appropriate as a text for graduate students of global finance, general finance, financial engineering, and international economics, and for practitioners.

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Discover the history of precious, semi-precious, and organic gemstones, their scientific properties, their mythical powers, and their traditional uses.Humans have been beguiled and fascinated by gemstones and crystals since prehistory, and made use of them for everything from currency and ceremonial decoration to tokens of love or power. But why have some been considered more significant than others – rare or otherwise? Learn all about the key characteristics of precious and semi-precious stones, and discover the science behind some of their more unusual and mysterious properties, and the various ways in which they have taken on powerful symbolic meanings. How did the Vikings use iolite to help them steer their ships, for example? Why did the Ancient Greeks and Romans believe that sardonyx could protect them in battle?Dive deep into the pages of this curated crystal book to discover:- A quirky and compelling angle on the subject of crystals and gems – combining science with culture and history.- Definitions for the key properties of precious, semi-precious, and organic stones, clearly and simply.- Explores their traditional uses in healing and manifesting, and the powers they have been ascribed through the centuries.Encounter the fascinating stories of some of the most famous or celebrated gemstones and jewels along the way – from a turquoise-studded pectoral worn during Aztec ceremonies, to the diamond necklace that helped to bring about the French Revolution – in this glorious celebration of precious, semi-precious, and organic stones in all their beauty and variety.

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While serving as the first Treasury Secretary from 1789 to 1795, Alexander Hamilton engineered a financial revolution. Hamilton established the Treasury debt market, the dollar, and a central bank, while strategically prompting private entrepreneurs to establish securities markets and stock exchanges and encouraging state governments to charter a number of commercial banks and other business corporations. Yet despite a recent surge of interest in Hamilton, U.S. financial modernization has not been fully recognized as one of his greatest achievements.This book traces the development of Hamilton's financial thinking, policies, and actions through a selection of his writings. The financial historians and Hamilton experts Richard Sylla and David J. Cowen provide commentary that demonstrates the impact Hamilton had on the modern economic system, guiding readers through Hamilton's distinguished career. The book showcases Hamilton’s thoughts on the nation's founding, the need for a strong central government, confronting problems such as a depreciating paper currency and weak public credit, and the architecture of the financial system. His great state papers on public credit, the national bank, the mint, and manufactures instructed reform of the nation’s finances and jumpstarted economic growth. Hamilton practiced what he preached: he played a key role in the founding of three banks and a manufacturing corporation, and his deft political maneuvering and economic savvy saved the fledgling republic's economy during the country's first full-blown financial crisis in 1792. Sylla and Cowen center Hamilton's writings on finance among his most important accomplishments, making his brilliance as an economic policy maker accessible to all interested in this Founding Father's legacy.

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'The notion of governance has gained significant currency and has become an inseparable part of sport organisations' strategies and practices. It is also a widely taught subject in academic institutions. This is an original and well-conceptualized book, which provides a comprehensive examination of governance at different levels of analysis. Written by established scholars, the text represents a great reference source and will complement nicely the library of academics and practitioners alike.'- Vassil Girginov, President, European Association for Sport Management (EASM) 'The timeliness of this Research Handbook is underscored by the fact that the topic of sport governance has become extremely relevant and important but also extremely complex in our time.' - Hallgeir Gammelsæter, Molde Specialized University in Logistics, Norway Recent scandals across the word of sport can be directly related to poor governance. This Research Handbook gathers the state-of-the-art research on sport governance by leading international scholars on various issues across various sports, offering a vital reference point for advancing research. Illustrating different approaches and perspectives such as good governance principles, systemic governance, political governance and network governance, chapters suggest research-informed practical solutions to current problems within sport organisations. Covering sport event governance, business implications, corporate social responsibility for enhancing good governance and extended board management, specific directions for further research are provided for each topic under examination. This is the essential reference for all sport governance researchers. It will also be insightful for sport governing bodies and administrators looking for advice on improving good governance in sport institutions.

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'The notion of governance has gained significant currency and has become an inseparable part of sport organisations' strategies and practices. It is also a widely taught subject in academic institutions. This is an original and well-conceptualized book, which provides a comprehensive examination of governance at different levels of analysis. Written by established scholars, the text represents a great reference source and will complement nicely the library of academics and practitioners alike.'- Vassil Girginov, President, European Association for Sport Management (EASM) 'The timeliness of this Research Handbook is underscored by the fact that the topic of sport governance has become extremely relevant and important but also extremely complex in our time.' - Hallgeir Gammelsæter, Molde Specialized University in Logistics, Norway Recent scandals across the word of sport can be directly related to poor governance. This Research Handbook gathers the state-of-the-art research on sport governance by leading international scholars on various issues across various sports, offering a vital reference point for advancing research. Illustrating different approaches and perspectives such as good governance principles, systemic governance, political governance and network governance, chapters suggest research-informed practical solutions to current problems within sport organisations. Covering sport event governance, business implications, corporate social responsibility for enhancing good governance and extended board management, specific directions for further research are provided for each topic under examination. This is the essential reference for all sport governance researchers. It will also be insightful for sport governing bodies and administrators looking for advice on improving good governance in sport institutions.

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The Art of Mary Linwood is the first book on Leicester textile artist Mary Linwood (1755-1845) and catalogue of her work. When British textile artist and gallery owner Mary Linwood died in 1845 just shy of 90 years old, her estate was worth the equivalent of £5,199,822 in today’s currency. As someone who made, but did not sell, embroidered replicas of famous artworks after artists such as Gainsborough, Reynolds, Stubbs, and Morland, how did she accumulate so much money? A pioneering woman in the male-dominated art world of late Georgian Britain, Linwood established her own London gallery in 1798 that featured copies of well-known paintings by these popular artists. Featuring props and specially designed rooms for her replicas, she ensured that her visitors had an entertaining, educational, and kinetic tour, similar to what Madame Tussaud would do one generation later. The gallery’s focus on picturesque painters provided her London visitors with an idyllic imaginary journey through the countryside. Its emphasis on quintessentially British artists provided a unifying focus for a country that had recently emerged from the threat of Napoleonic invasion. This book brings to the fore Linwood's gallery guides and previously unpublished letters to her contemporaries, such as Birmingham inventor Matthew Boulton and Queen Charlotte. It also includes the first and only catalogue of Linwood’s extant and destroyed works. By examining Linwood’s replicas and their accompanying objects through the lens of material culture, the book provides a much-needed contribution to the scholarship on women and cultural agency in the early 19th century.

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AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO USING BLOCKCHAIN TO PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY, COST-SAVINGS, AND SECURITY TO DATA MANAGEMENT, DATA ANALYSIS, AND INFORMATION SHARING Blockchain for Distributed Systems Security contains a description of the properties that underpin the formal foundations of Blockchain technologies and explores the practical issues for deployment in cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) platforms. The authors—noted experts in the field—present security and privacy issues that must be addressed for Blockchain technologies to be adopted for civilian and military domains. The book covers a range of topics including data provenance in cloud storage, secure IoT models, auditing architecture, and empirical validation of permissioned Blockchain platforms. The book's security and privacy analysis helps with an understanding of the basics of Blockchain and it explores the quantifying impact of the new attack surfaces introduced by Blockchain technologies and platforms. In addition, the book contains relevant and current updates on the topic. This important resource: Provides an overview of Blockchain-based secure data management and storage for cloud and IoT Covers cutting-edge research findings on topics including invariant-based supply chain protection, information sharing framework, and trust worthy information federation Addresses security and privacy concerns in Blockchain in key areas, such as preventing digital currency miners from launching attacks against mining pools, empirical analysis of the attack surface of Blockchain, and more Written for researchers and experts in computer science and engineering, Blockchain for Distributed Systems Security contains the most recent information and academic research to provide an understanding of the application of Blockchain technology.

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Markus Krajewski is emerging as a leading scholar in the field of media archaeology, which seeks to trace cultural history through the media networks that enable and structure it. In World Projects he opens a new portal into the history of globalization by examining several large-scale projects that, at the beginning of the twentieth century, shared a grand yet unachievable goal: bringing order to the world. Drawing from a broad array of archival materials, Krajewski reveals how expanding commercial relations, growing international scientific agreements, and an imperial monopolization of the political realm spawned ambitious global projects. World Projects contends that the late nineteenth-century networks of cables, routes, and shipping lines—of junctions, crossovers, and transfers—merged into a “multimedia system” that was a prerequisite for conceiving a world project. As examples, he presents the work of three big-thinking “plansmiths,” each of whose work mediates between two discursive fields: the chemist and natural philosopher Wilhelm Ostwald, who spent years promoting a “world auxiliary language” and a world currency; the self-taught “engineer” and self-anointed authority on science and technology Franz Maria Feldhaus, who labored to produce an all-encompassing “world history of technology”; and Walther Rathenau, who put economics to the service of politics and quickly transformed the German economy. With a keen eye for the outlandish as well as the outsized, Krajewski shows how media, technological structures, and naked human ambition paved the way for global-scale ventures that together created the first “world wide web.”

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Fresh insights into the ongoing fascination with dinosaurs and their place in 19th century American nationalism In 1801, the first complete mastodon skeleton was excavated in the Hudson River Valley, marking the climax of a century-long debate in America and Europe over the identity of a mysterious creature known as the American Incognitum. Long before the dinosaurs were discovered and the notion of geological time acquired currency, many citizens of the new republic believed this mythical beast to be a ferocious carnivore, capable of crushing deer and elk in its "monstrous grinders." During the American Revolution, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson avidly collected its bones; for the founding fathers, its massive jaws symbolized the violence of the natural world and the emerging nation's own dreams of conquest. Paul Semonin's lively history of this icon of American nationalism focuses on the link between patriotism and prehistoric nature. From the first fist-sized tooth found in 1705, which Puritan clergyman claimed was evidence of human giants, to the scientific racialism associated with the discovery of extinct species, Semonin traces the evangelical beliefs, Enlightenment thought, and Indian myths which led the founding fathers to view this prehistoric monster as a symbol of nationhood. Semonin also sees the mystery of the mastodon in early America as a cautionary tale about the first flowering of our narcissistic fascination with a prehistoric nature ruled by ferocious carnivores. As such, American Monster offers fresh insights into the genesis of the ongoing fascination with dinosaurs.

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A century and a half after the abolition of slavery in the United States, survivors of contemporary forms of enslavement from around the world have revived a powerful tool of the abolitionist movement: first-person narratives of slavery and freedom. Just as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and others used autobiographical testimonies in the fight to eradicate slavery, today’s new slave narrators play a crucial role in shaping an antislavery agenda. Their writings unveil the systemic underpinnings of global slavery while critiquing the precarity of their hard-fought freedom. At the same time, the demands of antislavery organizations, religious groups, and book publishers circumscribe the voices of the enslaved, coopting their narratives in support of alternative agendas.In this pathbreaking interdisciplinary study, Laura T. Murphy argues that the slave narrative has reemerged as a twenty-first-century genre that has gained new currency in the context of the memoir boom, post-9/11 anti-Islamic sentiment, and conservative family-values politics. She analyzes a diverse range of dozens of book-length accounts of modern slavery from Africa, Asia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, examining the narrative strategies that survivors of slavery employ to make their experiences legible and to promote a reinvigorated antislavery agenda. By putting these stories into conversation with one another, The New Slave Narrative reveals an emergent survivor-centered counterdiscourse of collaboration and systemic change that offers an urgent critique of the systems that maintain contemporary slavery, as well as of the human rights industry and the antislavery movement.

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"Underpinned by ecological theories of development concerned with children, families and communities, this book provides the reader with philosophical, economic and sociological insights and with the latest thinking emerging from post-humanism. In so doing, it provides tools that enable students to research childhood, to understand the complexities of often seemingly simple matters and to navigate critically ever-changing policy and practice in early childhood. Its breadth, depth and currency cannot fail to impress." - Ian Barron, Professor of Early Childhood Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University Student focused and designed to support critical thinking, this brand new textbook is mapped to early childhood degrees and is designed to cover the breadth and depth of content across the course. Focused on seeing children in the context of the world they live in, it provides students with a range of perspectives and insights to help them understand the complexities of early childhood, develop their own critical ideas and apply theory to practice. A range of features in the book and resources online help students: Get to grips with the basic with: Spotlights on people, policy and practice An extensive Glossary in the book along with online Flashcards Learn from others with: Video insights from academics and practitioners Student perspectives at the start of each chapter Prepare for Assignments with: Further reading resources in the book and online to enable wider reading Spotlights on research and reflection points to develop critical thinking skills Relate to practice with: Case study scenarios of real-life settings Action point activities to put theory into practice

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Pioneers in the field, Cateora, Gilly, and Graham continue to set the standard in this 19th edition of International Marketing with their well-rounded perspective of international markets that encompass history, geography, language, and religion as well as economics, which helps students see the cultural and environmental uniqueness of any nation or region. The dynamic nature of the international marketplace is reflected in the number of substantially improved and expanded topics in this 19th, including the following over 300 new academic articles and their findings. All data, text, photos and images have been updated for currency, as has the corresponding content within McGraw-Hill Education’s Connect with adaptive SmartBook. Additional updates include: NEW Cases: New cases accompany the 19e, enlivening the material in the book and class discussions while broadening a student’s critical thinking skills. These cases bring forth many of the topics discussed in the chapters and demonstrate how these concepts are dealt with in the real world. These cases can be assigned in Connect and SmartBook. Optionally, a case booklet can be create using McGraw-Hill CREATE. Crossing Borders Boxes: These invaluable boxes offer anecdotal company examples. These entertaining examples are designed to encourage critical thinking and guide students through topics ranging from ethical to cultural to global issues facing marketers today. 4-Color Design: New color maps and exhibits allow for improved pedagogy and a clearer presentation of international symbols and cultural meanings in marketing and advertising. In addition, photos that depend on full color for maximum impact easily bring many global examples to life.

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A Practitioner's Guide to Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Digital Assets, and Distributed Ledger Technology In Decentralizing Finance: How DeFi, Digital Assets and Distributed Ledger Technology Are Transforming Finance, blockchain and digital assets expert Kenneth Bok offers an insightful exploration of the current state of decentralized finance (DeFi). As distributed ledger technology (DLT) increasingly optimizes and democratizes financial ecosystems worldwide, this book serves as a comprehensive guide to the most salient aspects of the ongoing transformation. The text delves into both crypto-native DeFi and DLT applications in regulated financial markets, providing: Comprehensive analysis of crypto-native DeFi across key areas such as its competitive landscape, infrastructure, financial instruments, activities, and applications Coverage of key risks, mitigation strategies, and regulatory frameworks, analyzed through the perspective of international financial standard-setting bodies Insight into how DLT is reshaping traditional financial systems through innovations like central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), tokenized assets, tokenized deposits, and institutional-grade DeFi platforms In a world where financial technology is rewriting the fundamental code of digital currency, the future of money is undeniably DLT-centric. How will this seismic shift interact with existing financial infrastructures? Can decentralization and traditional banking coexist and potentially synergize? This book endeavors to answer these pressing questions for financial professionals navigating these transformative times. Authored by a former Goldman Sachs trader, past Head of Growth at Zilliqa, and an early Ethereum investor with extensive experience in both traditional finance and the crypto ecosystem, Decentralizing Finance provides you with an insider's perspective on the revolution that is DeFi.

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Since the end of the Great Recession in 2009 the central banks of the advanced countries have taken unprecedented actions to reflate and stimulate their economies. There have been significant differences in the timing and pace of these actions. These independent monetary policy actions have had significant spillover effects on the economies and monetary policy strategies of other advanced countries. In addition the monetary policy actions and interventions of the advanced countries have had a significant impact on the emerging market economies leading to the charge of 'currency wars.' The perceived negative consequences of spillovers from the actions of national central banks has led to calls for international monetary policy coordination. The arguments for coordination based on game theory are the same today as back in the 1980s, which led to accords which required that participant countries follow policies to improve global welfare at the expense of domestic fundamentals. This led to disastrous consequences. An alternative approach to the international spillovers of national monetary policy actions is to view them as deviations from rules based monetary policy. In this view a return to rules based monetary policy and a rolling back of the "" global great deviation"" by each country's central bank would lead to a beneficial policy outcome without the need for explicit policy coordination. In this book we report the results from a recent conference which brought together academics, market participants, and policy makers to focus on these issues. The consensus of much of the conference was on the need for a classic rules based reform of the international monetary system.

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Nobel Prize winner James Tobin has made outstanding contributions to modern macroeconomics. In this final collection of his work he examines the economic policies of the United States and its relations with other major economies after 1990. In James Tobin's view, the welfare of populations depends uniquely on these policies and it is important to be aware of their impact.This book brings together James Tobin's recent work, both published and unpublished, on finance and globalization, currency crises and bailouts. Emphasis is placed on international economic relations and policies, and on the IMF and World Bank. In particular, economic and monetary relations among nations, exchange rate problems and policies and the 'Tobin Tax' - popular in Europe but much misunderstood - are discussed.Professor Tobin also examines the impact of his earlier work on recent US fiscal policy. The Clinton administration followed a tight fiscal policy leading to budget surpluses, and this enabled Alan Greenspan at the Federal Reserve to follow an 'easy', low interest rate, monetary policy. This mix was advocated back in the 1950s and 1960s by Paul Samuelson and James Tobin. The memo Professor Tobin wrote for the J.F. Kennedy campaign of 1960 is published for the first time. The policy was not applied until 30-35 years later. Presenting a framework for understanding monetary and fiscal policies and how they determine full employment and growth, the book will prove invaluable to students and scholars of macroeconomics, as well as economists wishing to gain an insight into Professor Tobin's unique contribution to economics.

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Nobel Prize winner James Tobin has made outstanding contributions to modern macroeconomics. In this final collection of his work he examines the economic policies of the United States and its relations with other major economies after 1990. In James Tobin's view, the welfare of populations depends uniquely on these policies and it is important to be aware of their impact.This book brings together James Tobin's recent work, both published and unpublished, on finance and globalization, currency crises and bailouts. Emphasis is placed on international economic relations and policies, and on the IMF and World Bank. In particular, economic and monetary relations among nations, exchange rate problems and policies and the 'Tobin Tax' - popular in Europe but much misunderstood - are discussed.Professor Tobin also examines the impact of his earlier work on recent US fiscal policy. The Clinton administration followed a tight fiscal policy leading to budget surpluses, and this enabled Alan Greenspan at the Federal Reserve to follow an 'easy', low interest rate, monetary policy. This mix was advocated back in the 1950s and 1960s by Paul Samuelson and James Tobin. The memo Professor Tobin wrote for the J.F. Kennedy campaign of 1960 is published for the first time. The policy was not applied until 30-35 years later. Presenting a framework for understanding monetary and fiscal policies and how they determine full employment and growth, the book will prove invaluable to students and scholars of macroeconomics, as well as economists wishing to gain an insight into Professor Tobin's unique contribution to economics.

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Beyond Alterity contests a core tendency in postcolonial studies as well as emerging critiques of neoliberalism—to assume that nations of the Global South are categorically distinct from their counterparts in the North and that they provide an alternative, or even an antidote, to the competitive and individualistic cultures of the advanced capitalist world. Through a textured analysis of cultural production from contemporary India, Shakti Jaising argues that neoliberal capitalism has produced significant continuities in class dynamics and subjective experience across the North-South divide—continuities that are at least as worthy of our consideration as differences arising from colonialism and its aftereffects. The book engages an array of political, economic, and cultural narratives, while focusing in particular on widely circulating Indian English-language novels and their audio-visual adaptations that demonstrate the growing currency of a neoliberal script extoling values like privatization and deregulation as conduits to both individual growth and national development, as well as freedom from poverty. With their potent enactments of personal and national maturation, contemporary Indian novels and films offer striking illustrations of the imaginative means by which the neoliberal script proliferates— even as economic precarity and inequality worsen in India, much like elsewhere in the world. Whereas literary scholars tend to approach the Indian English novel as an exemplar of resistance from the formerly colonized world, Beyond Alterity contends that far from inevitably modelling resistance, this genre’s contemporary examples instead encapsulate the challenges of disentangling literature from the all-pervasive logics and narratives of neoliberal capitalism.

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This book offers a critical perspective from which to observe evolution of the Euro Area and the European Union in these times of growing economic and political conflict. Key implications of design failures in the Euro Area (i.e. incorrect diagnostics of the public finance crisis, single monetary policy failure, heterogeneous macroeconomic environment, asymmetry in macroeconomic policies, obstacles for policy coordination) and their contribution to the excessive external and internal economic imbalances will be critically discussed from the economic, policy and institutional perspectives. This critical insight is used to examine both institutional asset and economic performance of Europe after the crisis, moving from the authors’ shared perspective that the crisis revealed the weak aspects of the whole architecture of the European Union. The economic crisis revealed the existence of different forms of imbalances inside the Eurozone and highlighted the flaws of the institutional architecture of economic policy in Europe. The greater fragility of some countries in respect to others has triggered a backward process in which national interests have started to prevail over those of both the currency area and the entire European Union. In turn, this has fuelled a progressive decline in confidence in the European institutions and is creating growing questions of interpretation both in terms of economic theory and institutional asset. This book focuses on these issues and on the degree of legitimacy of the European institutions resulting therefrom. It aims to investigate the nature and validity of the European integration process emphasizing limits and challenges arising from it.

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Barrier options are a class of highly path-dependent exotic options which present particular challenges to practitioners in all areas of the financial industry. They are traded heavily as stand-alone contracts in the Foreign Exchange (FX) options market, their trading volume being second only to that of vanilla options. The FX options industry has correspondingly shown great innovation in this class of products and in the models that are used to value and risk-manage them. FX structured products commonly include barrier features, and in order to analyse the effects that these features have on the overall structured product, it is essential first to understand how individual barrier options work and behave. FX Barrier Options takes a quantitative approach to barrier options in FX environments. Its primary perspectives are those of quantitative analysts, both in the front office and in control functions. It presents and explains concepts in a highly intuitive manner throughout, to allow quantitatively minded traders, structurers, marketers, salespeople and software engineers to acquire a more rigorous analytical understanding of these products. The book derives, demonstrates and analyses a wide range of models, modelling techniques and numerical algorithms that can be used for constructing valuation models and risk-management methods. Discussions focus on the practical realities of the market and demonstrate the behaviour of models based on real and recent market data across a range of currency pairs. It furthermore offers a clear description of the history and evolution of the different types of barrier options, and elucidates a great deal of industry nomenclature and jargon.

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DATA MINING AND MACHINE LEARNING APPLICATIONS The book elaborates in detail on the current needs of data mining and machine learning and promotes mutual understanding among research in different disciplines, thus facilitating research development and collaboration. Data, the latest currency of today’s world, is the new gold. In this new form of gold, the most beautiful jewels are data analytics and machine learning. Data mining and machine learning are considered interdisciplinary fields. Data mining is a subset of data analytics and machine learning involves the use of algorithms that automatically improve through experience based on data. Massive datasets can be classified and clustered to obtain accurate results. The most common technologies used include classification and clustering methods. Accuracy and error rates are calculated for regression and classification and clustering to find actual results through algorithms like support vector machines and neural networks with forward and backward propagation. Applications include fraud detection, image processing, medical diagnosis, weather prediction, e-commerce and so forth. The book features: A review of the state-of-the-art in data mining and machine learning, A review and description of the learning methods in human-computer interaction, Implementation strategies and future research directions used to meet the design and application requirements of several modern and real-time applications for a long time, The scope and implementation of a majority of data mining and machine learning strategies. A discussion of real-time problems. Audience Industry and academic researchers, scientists, and engineers in information technology, data science and machine and deep learning, as well as artificial intelligence more broadly.

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One of the most ritualized spectacles of colonial and early national New England, public execution was intended to warn of the wages of sin, reconcile the convict to both God and the community, and demonstrate the cooperative authority of church and state. The clergy played a central role in the ritual itself and provided one of the primary explications of it: the execution sermon. In his in-depth study, Seay analyzes just over 100 such sermons preached and published in colonial and early national New England. After placing the execution sermon in its ritual and literary context, he explores three interrelated themes—human sinfulness, the economy of conversion, and the nature and function of civil government—and outlines how theological explications of capital crime and its punishment changed over the course of 150 years. Seay offers more than a description of the content of these sermons; he explores how theological interpretations evolved in relation to larger cultural trends in early New England. Seay concludes that as long as the Congregational church remained established, executions were public, public discourse was restricted to an educated elite, and execution sermons remained the definitive word on crime and punishment. The decades following the American Revolution, however, brought the slow disestablishment of the church, the privatization of executions, and the democratization of public discourse. As a result of these cultural changes, the execution sermon slowly lost its currency in New England, and this genre of preaching simply disappeared. This book will appeal to those interested in American History, theology, and the ministry.

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In The Captive Sea, Daniel Hershenzon explores the entangled histories of Muslim and Christian captives—and, by extension, of the Spanish Empire, Ottoman Algiers, and Morocco—in the seventeenth century to argue that piracy, captivity, and redemption helped shape the Mediterranean as an integrated region at the social, political, and economic levels. Despite their confessional differences, the lives of captives and captors alike were connected in a political economy of ransom and communication networks shaped by Spanish, Ottoman, and Moroccan rulers; ecclesiastic institutions; Jewish, Muslim, and Christian intermediaries; and the captives themselves, as well as their kin. Hershenzon offers both a comprehensive analysis of competing projects for maritime dominance and a granular investigation of how individual lives were tragically upended by these agendas. He takes a close look at the tightly connected and ultimately failed attempts to ransom an Algerian Muslim girl sold into slavery in Livorno in 1608; the son of a Spanish marquis enslaved by pirates in Algiers and brought to Istanbul, where he converted to Islam; three Spanish Trinitarian friars detained in Algiers on the brink of their departure for Spain in the company of Christians they had redeemed; and a high-ranking Ottoman official from Alexandria, captured in 1613 by the Sicilian squadron of Spain. Examining the circulation of bodies, currency, and information in the contested Mediterranean, Hershenzon concludes that the practice of ransoming captives, a procedure meant to separate Christians from Muslims, had the unintended consequence of tightly binding Iberia to the Maghrib.

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The story of silk is an old and familiar one, a tale involving mercantile travel and commercial exchange along the broad land mass that connects ancient China to the west and extending eventually to sites on the eastern Mediterranean and along sea routes to India. But if we shift our focus from economic histories that chart the exchange of silk along Asian and Mediterranean trade routes to medieval literary depictions of silk, a strikingly different picture comes into view. In Old French literary texts from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, emphasis falls on production rather than trade and on female protagonists who make, decorate, and handle silk. Sea of Silk maps a textile geography of silk work done by these fictional women. Situated in northern France and across the medieval Mediterranean, from Saint-Denis to Constantinople, from North Africa to Muslim Spain, and even from the fantasy realm of Arthurian romance to the historical silkworks of the Norman kings in Palermo, these medieval heroines provide important glimpses of distant economic and cultural geographies. E. Jane Burns argues, in brief, that literary portraits of medieval heroines who produce and decorate silk cloth or otherwise manipulate items of silk outline a metaphorical geography that includes France as an important cultural player in the silk economics of the Mediterranean. Within this literary sea of silk, female protagonists who "work" silk in a variety of ways often deploy it successfully as a social and cultural currency that enables them to traverse religious and political barriers while also crossing lines of gender and class.

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Today Europe finds itself in a crisis that casts a dark shadow over an entire generation. The seriousness of the crisis stems from one core political contradiction at the heart of the European project: namely, that what urgently needs to be done is also extremely unpopular and therefore virtually impossible to do democratically. What must be done - and almost everyone agrees in principle on the measures that would be needed to deal with the financial crisis - cannot be sold to the voting public of the core member states, which so far have been less affected by the crisis than those on the periphery, nor can the conditions that core members try to impose be easily sold to voters in the deficit countries. The European Union is therefore becoming increasingly disunited, with deepening divides between the German-dominated ‘core’ and the southern ‘periphery’, between the winners and the losers of the common currency, between the advocates of greater integration and the anti-Europeans, between the technocrats and the populists. Europe finds itself trapped by the deepening divisions that are opening up across the Continent, obstructing its ability to deal with a crisis that has already caused massive social suffering in the countries of the European periphery and is threatening to derail the very project of the European Union. In this short book, Claus Offe brings into sharp focus the central political problem that lies at the heart of the EU and shackles its ability to deal with the most serious crisis of its short history.

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Packed with striking photography, this compact Countries of the World guide explores over 200 countries and territories from around the world.Explore the planet and journey across the world to discover what makes it special in this fact-filled Pocket Eyewitness book for children aged 9-12.This country guide is divided into continental chapters, featuring each nation's geography, climate, and economics, supplemented by stats and data. Children will learn the national flags, official names, capital cities, populations, total area, population density, languages, literacy rate, type of government, and currency, all meticulously researched from the latest sources.This condensed children’s guide on Countries of the World offers: - A pocket-sized but detailed guide, fitting all the important information into one small package.- Up to 200 country profiles, each featuring a map, flag and keynote statistics.- Easy-to-navigate chapters presented in geographical order, making it easy to explore the world.Which is the biggest country in the world? Which one has the most people? Which one has three capital cities? Children can find the answers to these questions and more in the pages of this illustrated reference guide to all the countries of the world.Suitable for all children interested in geography, this guide presents lots of useful information and facts about the world we live in. Each country entry has a full-color map showing terrain, major places, and geographical features. There is also a fascinating 'insight' fact for each country revealing interesting details that make places so unique.

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A century and a half after the abolition of slavery in the United States, survivors of contemporary forms of enslavement from around the world have revived a powerful tool of the abolitionist movement: first-person narratives of slavery and freedom. Just as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and others used autobiographical testimonies in the fight to eradicate slavery, today’s new slave narrators play a crucial role in shaping an antislavery agenda. Their writings unveil the systemic underpinnings of global slavery while critiquing the precarity of their hard-fought freedom. At the same time, the demands of antislavery organizations, religious groups, and book publishers circumscribe the voices of the enslaved, coopting their narratives in support of alternative agendas.In this pathbreaking interdisciplinary study, Laura T. Murphy argues that the slave narrative has reemerged as a twenty-first-century genre that has gained new currency in the context of the memoir boom, post-9/11 anti-Islamic sentiment, and conservative family-values politics. She analyzes a diverse range of dozens of book-length accounts of modern slavery from Africa, Asia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, examining the narrative strategies that survivors of slavery employ to make their experiences legible and to promote a reinvigorated antislavery agenda. By putting these stories into conversation with one another, The New Slave Narrative reveals an emergent survivor-centered counterdiscourse of collaboration and systemic change that offers an urgent critique of the systems that maintain contemporary slavery, as well as of the human rights industry and the antislavery movement.

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While serving as the first Treasury Secretary from 1789 to 1795, Alexander Hamilton engineered a financial revolution. Hamilton established the Treasury debt market, the dollar, and a central bank, while strategically prompting private entrepreneurs to establish securities markets and stock exchanges and encouraging state governments to charter a number of commercial banks and other business corporations. Yet despite a recent surge of interest in Hamilton, U.S. financial modernization has not been fully recognized as one of his greatest achievements.This book traces the development of Hamilton's financial thinking, policies, and actions through a selection of his writings. The financial historians and Hamilton experts Richard Sylla and David J. Cowen provide commentary that demonstrates the impact Hamilton had on the modern economic system, guiding readers through Hamilton's distinguished career. The book showcases Hamilton’s thoughts on the nation's founding, the need for a strong central government, confronting problems such as a depreciating paper currency and weak public credit, and the architecture of the financial system. His great state papers on public credit, the national bank, the mint, and manufactures instructed reform of the nation’s finances and jumpstarted economic growth. Hamilton practiced what he preached: he played a key role in the founding of three banks and a manufacturing corporation, and his deft political maneuvering and economic savvy saved the fledgling republic's economy during the country's first full-blown financial crisis in 1792. Sylla and Cowen center Hamilton's writings on finance among his most important accomplishments, making his brilliance as an economic policy maker accessible to all interested in this Founding Father's legacy.

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If Honoré de Balzac's Treatise on Elegant Living addressed one crucial pillar of modernity--the "mode" itself, fashion--his Physiology of the Employee examines another equally potent cornerstone to the modern era: bureaucracy, and all of the cogs and wheels of which it is composed. Long before Franz Kafka described the nightmarish metaphysics of office bureaucracy, Balzac had undertaken his own exploration of the dust-laden, stifling environment of the paper-pusher in all of his roles and guises. "Bureaucracy," as he defined it: "a gigantic power set in motion by dwarfs." In this guidebook, published for mass consumption in 1841, Balzac's classic theme of melodramatic ambition plays itself out within the confined, unbreathable space of the proto-cubicle, filtered through the restricted scale of the pocket handbook. The template for such later novels such as The Bureaucrats, and one of the first significant texts to grapple with the growing role of the bureaucrat, this physiology reads like a birding field guide in its presentation of the various classifications of the office employee, from the Intern to the Clerk (all ten species, from Dapper to Bootlicker to Drudger) to Office Manager, Department Head, Office Boy and Pensioner. The job titles may change over the years, and paper-pushing has perhaps evolved into email-forwarding, but the taxonomy remains the same. In our twenty-first-century crisis of employment, jobs continue to be themselves a form of currency, and the question continues to loom: when will it be quitting time?

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“A time when panics seem far removed is the best time to prepare our financial system to withstand a storm. The most crying need this country has is a proper banking and currency system. The existing one is inadequate, and everyone who has studied the question admits it.”—William Howard Taft The interaction between President William Howard Taft and the Congress provides a window on his leadership. Volume IV of The Collected Works of William Howard Taft is devoted to his messages to the legislative branch and concerns some of the pressing issues of the day, issues that have relevance still. Oftentimes President Taft was at odds with a somewhat reactionary Congress, causing him to veto legislation that he thought unwise. For example, his commitment to the independence of elected judges led him to reject statehood for Arizona until its constitution was altered to address his objection. His messages also touched on subjects for which he led the way over the objections of Congress, such as his recommendation of a federal law to protect resident aliens against denial of their civil rights and his advocacy of free trade with Canada. In his commentary to the volume, Professor Burton points out: “There is exhibited time after time concern for the American people, for men and women from different walks of life. Taft comes across less as a judge, which he had been, or the chief justice he was to become, and more as a sitting president of all the people.” Taft’s Presidential Messages to Congress provides the documentary evidence to support that claim.

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Discover the history of precious, semi-precious, and organic gemstones, their scientific properties, their mythical powers, and their traditional uses.Humans have been beguiled and fascinated by gemstones and crystals since prehistory, and made use of them for everything from currency and ceremonial decoration to tokens of love or power. But why have some been considered more significant than others - rare or otherwise? Learn all about the key characteristics of precious and semi-precious stones, and discover the science behind some of their more unusual and mysterious properties, and the various ways in which they have taken on powerful symbolic meanings. How did the Vikings use iolite to help them steer their ships, for example? Why did the Ancient Greeks and Romans believe that sardonyx could protect them in battle?Dive deep into the pages of this curated crystal book to discover:- A quirky and compelling angle on the subject of crystals and gems - combining science with culture and history.- Definitions for the key properties of precious, semi-precious, and organic stones, clearly and simply.- Explores their traditional uses in healing and manifesting, and the powers they have been ascribed through the centuries.Encounter the fascinating stories of some of the most famous or celebrated gemstones and jewels along the way - from a turquoise-studded pectoral worn during Aztec ceremonies, to the diamond necklace that helped to bring about the French Revolution - in this glorious celebration of precious, semi-precious, and organic stones in all their beauty and variety.

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A pocket-sized travel guide, packed with expert advice and ideas for the best things to see and do in Prague, and complemented with a sturdy pull-out map - perfect for a day trip or a short break.Whether you want to wander through medieval lanes, cross bewitching Charles Bridge at dawn, or sample superlative beer in one of the city's many characterful pubs - this great-value, concise travel guide will ensure you don't miss a thing. Inside Mini Map and Guide Prague:- Easy-to-use pull-out map shows Prague in detail, and includes a transport map- Colour-coded area guide makes it easy to find information quickly and plan your day- Illustrations show the inside of some of Prague's most iconic buildings- Colour photographs of Prague's museums, architecture, shops, cathedrals and more- Essential travel tips including our expert choices of where to eat, drink and shop, plus useful transport, currency and health information and a phrase book- Chapters covering Staré Mesto; Josefov and Northern Staré Mesto; Prague Castle and Hradcany; Malá Strana; Nové Mesto; Beyond the Centre Mini Map and Guide Prague is abridged from DK Eyewitness Travel Guide PragueStaying for longer and looking for a more comprehensive guide? Try our DK Eyewitness Top Ten Prague. About DK Eyewitness Travel: DK's Mini Map and Guides take the work out of planning a short trip, with expert advice and easy-to-read maps to inform and enrich any short break. DK is the world's leading illustrated reference publisher, producing beautifully designed books for adults and children in over 120 countries.

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Successful word-coinages -- those that stay in currency for a good long time -- tend to conceal their beginnings. We take them at face value and rarely when and where they were first minted. Engaging, illuminating, and authoritative, Ralph Keyes's The Hidden History of Coined Words explores the etymological underworld of terms and expressions and uncovers plenty of hidden gems. He also finds some fascinating patterns, such as that successful neologisms are as likely to be created by chance as by design. A remarkable number of new words were coined whimsically, originally intended to troll or taunt. Knickers, for example, resulted from a hoax; big bang from an insult. Casual wisecracking produced software, crowdsource, and blog. More than a few resulted from happy accidents, such as typos, mistranslations, and mishearing (bigly and buttonhole), or from being taken entirely out of context (robotics). Neologizers (a Thomas Jefferson coinage) include not just scholars and writers but cartoonists, columnists, children's book authors. Wimp originated with a book series, as did goop, and nerd from a book by Dr. Seuss. Coinages are often contested, controversy swirling around such terms as gonzo, mojo, and booty call. Keyes considers all contenders, while also leading us through the fray between new word partisans, and those who resist them strenuously. He concludes with advice about how to make your own successful coinage. The Hidden History of Coined Words will appeal not just to word mavens but history buffs, trivia contesters, and anyone who loves the immersive power of language.

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