Unequal Democracy debunks many myths about politics in contemporary America, using the widening gap between the rich and the poor to shed disturbing light on the workings of American democracy. Larry Bartels shows that increasing inequality is not simply the result of economic forces, but the product of broad-reaching policy choices in a political system dominated by partisan ideologies and the interests of the wealthy.

The Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan while Chechnya still struggles under a shadow of violence, and the nations surrounding them are barely more stable. Add in the significant reserves scattered throughout Central Asia and you have a volatile political cocktail that makes the region, in Rob Johnson’s words, the “new Middle East.” In Oil, Islam and Conflict, Johnson provides an essential analysis of the region’s tumultuous history and uncertain future.Johnson examines the problems that have plagued the region, including civil wars in Afghanistan and Tajikistan and burgeoning Islamist terrorist movements in several nations. He explains the complex role played by narcotics, ethnic tensions, and the potential wealth from oil and gas reserves in the region’s political maneuverings, and delineates the complex links between civil violence and the policies of Central Asian governments on such crucial issues as human rights, economic development and energy.A timely investigation, Oil, Islam and Conflict will be required reading for all those invested in the threat of terrorism and the future of energy security.

A unique, complete tutorial of digital video production techniques from the experts driving the content revolution *Coverage of datacasting, webcasting, interactive television, digital cinema, DVD and more *Post production tutorials *Provides an exhaustive explanation of new business models: how is anyone supposed to survive and profit in the digital content environment?

Publishers of contemporary high-street magazines invest more and more money in developing innovative design for an increasingly design-literate reader. Innovation, however, must always be grounded in the underlying conventions of legibility to ensure loyal readership and economic success. Digital Magazine Design provides detailed descriptions of all the necessary rules of design, and uses these rules to cast a critical eye over a selection of contemporary high-street magazines.The second part of this volume, written by publishing students, demonstrates how the tools of design can be applied to the analysis and practice of contemporary magazine design.Through an understanding of the relationship between text, image and design, and the ability to make informed judgements, the student is able to critically evaluate all publishable material.

Today, the whole world knows about the socialist fiasco. But in 1920, when Ludwig von Mises’s journal article on “Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth” was published, he was a lone voice of truth.“Socialism,” he wrote in the book that followed two years later, “is the watchword and the catchword of our day.” It “dominates the modern spirit” and “has set its seal upon our time. When history comes to tell our story it will write above the chapter ‘The Epoch of Socialism.’” Until the glorious year of 1989, almost everyone seemed to agree that history was indeed on the side of socialism.The only question was the pace of the transition. The Marxists and Nazis wanted immediate revolution; the Fabians and New Dealers wanted gradualism. But for all of them, laissez-faire capitalism was the enemy.

An updated edition of Robert Irwin’s popular, practical guide to the basics of investingHow to Get Started in Real Estate Investing presents a step-by-step system that walks you through your first purchase and helps you build on that success. Updated to reflect today’s market realities, this second edition is the reliable, hands-on guide every first-time investor needs.

This is the book for anyone who wants to know what really lies behind the scandals and disasters of global business that have marred the first few years of the twenty-first century. This book is not about stock market “bubbles”. Nor is it about accounting scandals and craven auditors. Rather, it examines why companies fail. The authors postulate that the reasons companies fail are few, and all too common. Detailed studies of eight of the most famous recent failures identify six main causes: poor strategic decisions; over-expansion and ill-judged acquisitions; dominant CEOs; greed, hubris and a desire for power; failure of internal controls, and ineffective boards. The authors also set out what the prudent investor, board member or manager should be alert to but often is not.

Anger and hurt tend to figure strongly in divorce, hand-in-hand with resentment, sadness, and fear about your future. And more often than not, these emotional woes all coalesce under the banner of money. Nolo Press is known for its thorough research and user-friendly approach to legal matters, and its book on Divorce and Money is up to its usual high standards of quality. "Think financially--act legally," the folks at Nolo say, and they explain how to do so, in detailed and practical terms, for joint accounts and hidden assets, gifts and insurance, alimony and retirement benefits, marital property and the IRS, net worth and what to do about the house. They also discuss where to seek professional help, how to keep proper records and assemble the facts, why the financial issues are so sticky, in what ways you're at risk, and how to reduce the stress and avoid the bad scenes, when possible. A life-saver of a reference book for when you're at your most vulnerable and disorganized, Divorce & Money offers practical and proactive advice to help you protect yourself and safeguard your financial future. --Stephanie Gold

This book’s essays discuss human behavior and the institutions of capitalism. The essays are non-technical and are written so as to be accessible to students of all disciplines and to all other persons interested in capitalism and in economic behavior. They often present unconventional views of the topics they discuss. Those containing unconventional views discuss self-interested behavior, selfish gene theory, the meaning and social function of private ownership, the externality problem, the nature of the firm, and the rise of capitalism. The essays are not meant to be a textbook, but they offer a useful supplementary reading source for courses in business, economics, and law that deal with human behavior in the marketplace and with capitalism, ownership, markets, and firms.

In this collection of essays, contributors debate the definition of social capital—-broadly understood as the effect social networks and shared attitudes can have on economic performance—and ask how the concept can be applied to development policy and analysis.How do social capital theories help broaden our thinking about development–and how does this hard-to-quantify concept make analyzing development efforts more difficult? What impact do informal social networks have on the state and other formal organizations? What role does trust play within large organizations? These are some of the questions that the contributors debate. They also suggest methods for measuring social capital and offer examples from China, the Czech Republic, India, Italy, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Tanzania, and Ukraine.

Thanks to the partnership between Glencoe and Congressional Quarterly, this program provides a “behind-the-scenes” look at Washington never before available in any government program.

The 2004 and 2007 enlargements pushed the EU’s external border further east as well as closer to unstable areas in the western Balkans. With future enlargements unlikely in the short-term, the EU faces new challenges in securing stable relationships with these neighbouring countries, while not fostering false hopes of early accession. This book explores the challenges facing the EU in developing its relations with neighboring countries in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe following the enlargements of 2004 and 2007.

This book examines the way in which financial markets will develop over the coming years in the face of electronification, other technical innovations, and increasing competition among international markets. It uses current research from the Bank of Finland in collaboration with researchers from Europe and the US, providing a good balance between the academic, policy and practitioner communities. It is compelling reading for policy makers, financial institutions and academics in an area where the link between theory and practice has, until now, not been made.

Achieve competitive financial returns and make a difference at the same time by applying the information in Compelling Returns: A Practical Guide to Socially Responsible Investing, a well-rounded guide to socially responsible investing (SRI). Understand the basics of SRI and discover how you can align your values with your investments by choosing from three basic strategies. Learn to implement these strategies in your investment portfolios and combine your newfound knowledge with the basic principles of successful investing. An up-to-date directory of companies involved with SRI is included.

This new textbook is for contemporary signal detection and parameter estimation courses offered at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels. It presents a unified treatment of detection problems arising in radar/sonar signal processing and modern digital communication systems. The material is comprehensive in scope and addresses signal processing and communication applications with an emphasis on fundamental principles. In addition to standard topics normally covered in such a course, the author incorporates recent advances, such as the asymptotic performance of detectors, sequential detection, generalized likelihood ratio tests (GLRTs), robust detection, the detection of Gaussian signals in noise, the expectation maximization algorithm, and the detection of Markov chain signals. Numerous examples and detailed derivations along with homework problems following each chapter are included.