Showing titles in Economic Conditions

The machines are here. After decades of sci-fi doomsaying and marketing hype, advanced A.I. and automation technologies have leapt out of research labs and Silicon Valley engineering departments and into the centre of our lives. The world's biggest corporations are racing to automate jobs and some experts predict that A.I could put millions of people out of work. But all is not lost. With a little effort, we can become futureproof.

In this book, Nobel Prize-winning economist Edmund Phelps draws on a lifetime of thinking to make a sweeping new argument about what makes nations prosper--and why the sources of that prosperity are under threat today. Why did prosperity explode in some nations between the 1820s and 1960s, creating not just unprecedented material wealth but "flourishing"--meaningful work, self-expression, and personal growth for more people than ever before?

Break free from the 9-to-5 grind and live life on your own terms with this practical guide to achieving financial independence. Packed with insider strategies used by the wealthy, this book walks you through the step-by-step process to take control of your financial future. Learn how to define your own vision of financial independence, disregard outdated advice from older generations, and map a personalized roadmap to reach your goals. Discover the power of passive income, the freedom of owning appreciating assets, and how to make strategic investments both inside and outside the stock market.

Peak Everything addresses many of the cultural, psychological and practical changes we will have to make as nature rapidly dictates our new limits. This latest book from Richard Heinberg, author of three of the most important books on Peak Oil, touches on the most important aspects of the human condition at this unique moment in time.

A combination of wry commentary and sober forecasting on subjects as diverse as farming and industrial design, this book tells how we might make the transition from The Age of Excess to the Era of Modesty with grace and satisfaction....

Maxed Out exposes the recent history and culture of debt for all of its absurdities and contradictions. The world's largest financial institutions are trolling for customers - from the nouveau riche to the poorest members of society, who counter-intuitively make for the largest profits. By turns hilarious, fascinating, and deeply disturbing, Maxed Out is ultimately one observer's answer to the question, "Why can't we get out of debt?"

An insider points out the holes that still exist on Wall Street and in the banking system. Exile on Wall Street is a gripping listen for anyone with an interest in business and finance, US capitalism, the future of banking, and the root causes of the 2007-08 financial meltdown. Award-winning veteran sell side Wall Street analyst Mike Mayo writes about one of the biggest financial and political issues of our time - the role of finance and banks in the US. He has worked at six Wall Street firms, analyzing banks and protesting against bad practices for two decades.

Provocative political commentator Arianna Huffington yanks back the curtain on the unholy alliance of CEOs, politicians, lobbyists, and Wall Street bankers who have shown a brutal disregard for those in office cubicles and on factory floors.

Our world is constantly buffeted by new and dramatic changes we can't fully grasp. No one is fully prepared for the challenges, crises, and risks that lie ahead. The Extreme Future is a blueprint for what's next and how to navigate these changes.

Exotic India is as near as the voice answering an 800 number for one dollar an hour. Communist China is as close as the nearest Wal-Mart, its shelves full of goods made in Chinese factories. But India and China are vastly different nations, with opposing economic and political strategies - strategies we must understand to survive in the new global economy. The Elephant and the Dragon explains how these nations have spurred a new "gold rush", and what this will mean for the rest of the world.

Just as Britain set the terms of the international system in the 19th century, and America in the 20th century, a new system will be set by today's creditors in China and the Middle East. In the process, rich will be pitted against poor, young against old, public sector workers against taxpayers, and one country against another. In Paper Promises, Economist columnist Philip Coggan helps us to understand the origins of this mess and how it will affect the new global economy.

For over 15 years, New York Times best-selling author Harry S. Dent, Jr. has been uncannily accurate in predicting the financial future. In his three previous works, Dent predicted the financial recession of the early 90s, the economic expansion of the mid-90s, and the financial free-for-all of 1998-2000.

The Shifts and the Shocks is not another detailed history of the crisis, but the most persuasive and complete account yet published of what the crisis should teach us about modern economies and economics. The audiobook identifies the origin of the crisis in the complex interaction between globalization, hugely destabilizing global imbalances and our dangerously fragile financial system.

America's middle class, the driver of so much of our economic success and political stability, is rapidly disappearing, forcing us to confront the fear that we are slipping as a nation - that our children and grandchildren will enjoy fewer opportunities and face a lower standard of living than we did. It's the dark flipside of the American Dream - an American Nightmare of our own making.

In this up to the minute account of the current financial crisis, Dan Gross goes step by step through the timeline leading up to the October 2008 bail-out and explains what exactly happened. Using information and statistics only weeks old, he offers a thorough and enlightening analysis of where we all go from here.

The need today is for the church to press the crown-rights of Christ the king, confident that his government over all will increase without end: "The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. This powerful volume sets forth a Biblical theology of the state, tracing in detail the history and consequences of both statist domination and Christian dereliction of duty. By firmly establishing the Biblical alternative to modern Christianity's polytheism, the author alerts us to the pitfalls of the past, and provides Godly counsel for both the present and future.

In The China Dream, acclaimed business journalist Joe Studwell takes to task the predictions that China will become an economic juggernaut on the world stage in the 21st century - and instead foresees an economic crisis. He argues that since the days of Marco Polo, Western nations have seen the vast population of the Middle Kingdom as a fantastic opportunity for expanding trade, investing time and resources again and again in the hope to develop it, only to see, century after century, its economy crash.

In his first book, American Underdog, David Brat examines how we brought down the status quo by tapping in to moral and economic lessons as old as our civilization and discusses how Washington can learn from history instead of ignoring it. A fighter for children, he illuminates how our current fiscal policies are selling their future and outlines new ways to move forward with a conservative agenda that provides fairer treatment for all.

President Obama's goal is to create a two-class society: the poor and the super-rich. Decades of liberals - and even a few supposed "Republicans" - have helped push America toward this goal, and President Obama hopes to finish their work. Why? Because this two-class society cements the crony capitalism that feeds big government and keeps corrupt big shots like Obama and his friends in power, permanently enshrined as the ruling class. Meanwhile, it keeps everyone else hooked on the government like a drug that's impossible to quit.

The recent changes in our economic landscape have only exposed and intensified a phenomenon: an explosion in sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping. From enormous marketplaces such as eBay and Craigslist to emerging sectors such as peer-to-peer lending (Zopa), "swap trading" (Swaptree), and car sharing (Zipcar), Collaborative Consumption is disrupting outdated modes of business and reinventing not only what we consume but how we consume.

With the collapse of investment banks, trillion-dollar-plus government bailouts, and decimated retirement portfolios, it's never been more important to understand the "new rules" of making money. Faced with the reality that "investing will never be the same again," Fiscal Hangover may well be the most important audio book you'll listen to this year.