Book Description
Tough Choices or Tough Times calls for first redesign of the American education system in a century. This report of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce shows how the dynamics of the global economy will lead to a steady decline in the American standard of living if this country does not undertake the first thorough overhaul of its education system in a century. It shows how our country can graduate 95% of our students (not two-thirds, as it does now) after 12 years and the majority after only 10 years of grade school. It reveals how billions of dollars can be saved by changing the way students progress through the grades and how the money saved could be used to build high quality early childhood education systems, attract the best and brightest teachers, and provide the resources for even the most disadvantaged students to reach world class standards. This hard-hitting analysis describes the kind of economy needed to sustain our current standard of living and kinds of skills and knowledge that American workers need to make that economy work. It also details the dramatic changes in governance, finance, organization, and management of the American education and training systems that are needed.
Tough Choices or Tough Times was written for anyone concerned with the future of this country and the state of our schools and our job training systems. It provides a well-researched analysis of the issues and a compelling set of proposals for changing our system of education.
National Center in Education and the Economy (NCEE) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing young people with the world-class skills that will allow them to succeed in a global economy. The 26-member commission includes former Cabinet secretaries of labor and education, Senators, Members of Congress, school superintendents, CEOs of major firms, union leaders, and governors.
Customer Reviews:
Releiance on Objective Tests.......2007-02-20
This is an interesting and important document from a group who have had considerable influence on education policy. My largest disagreement is the emphasis on external testing rather than classroom assessment. Good art and music teachers both teach and assess creativty. There is no external test for this ability; whose importance is emphasized in the report.
A well-written wake-up call........2007-02-04
This book by the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce is well written in clear terms with summaries and simple graphics. It is a must read for anyone interested in the future of the US economy. The Commission points out the risks of our poor pre-university education to the US economy. India and China are now competing with the US in the high skilled labor market (not just low skilled) and at lower wages. With the Internet, many jobs can be done anywhere, and companies will hire the best at the lowest cost (Indian engineers make $7500 annually with the same qualifications as US engineers who make $45,000).
The Commission describes how US universities continue to be the best in the world, but grade schools and high schools have fallen behind. In the 20th century the US pioneered universal education, and received an influx of talent, from scientists fleeing Germany before World War II to a more recent influx of Asian students, who stayed and worked here. But now, other countries have passed us in pre-university education and many foreign students are going back to their own countries after graduating.
"A Nation at Risk" came out in 1983, saying "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre education performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war." The Tough Choices Commission points out that since then we've had a more than doubling of spending on education (inflation adjusted) with only modest improvement. The Commission concludes that the main improvement, standards testing, turns out to be misguided because it is multiple choice, not essay, and thus doesn't teach the creative, out of the box thinking needed for the US to maintain its lead. Multiple choice tests are by definition "in the box" tests.
"A Nation at Risk" proposals in 1983 for merit pay for teachers were resisted, and teachers continue to come from the bottom 1/3 of University graduates. The Commission proposes merit pay for new teachers, with an opt-in choice for existing teachers, combined with higher salaries made possible by eliminating pensions and using 401Ks instead, like other professions. Other proposals include universal pre-school, school choice with funding following students, less bureaucracy and more independence for individual schools, adult education coordinated with the business community, and inter-city schools and supporting social services being coordinated under one person, such as the mayor. Finally, partial funding can be found by reducing the number of students in the last 2 years of high school by allowing board testing at the 10th grade, with those passing going to community college then a university, directly to trade school, or directly to work.
I have separately read that having funding follow the student to encourage competition among schools has been implemented successfully at the city level in San Francisco. The Commission shows that if pensions and vacation time are included, current teacher salaries are actually somewhat competitive. But talented young people prefer money now, and don't know that they would stay in teaching long enough to earn a pension. Thus, pension money could be moved to up front salary and portable 401Ks, with existing teachers having the option of opting in or staying with their pensions.
The proposal to coordinate social services with schooling to help the disadvantaged, such as by putting all under a mayor has been done in New York recently, with great success. By providing programs for kids until 5 PM, and help to their families, the disadvantages of a poor home situation can be addressed. The US economy is healthy because of the waves of immigration it has had over the past 15 years, and we can't afford not to train those immigrants so our business have a talented labor pool to draw on.
The board exams proposed at the end of the 10th grade will provide badly needed motivation to students, since they can get out of school earlier if they work harder, rather than marking time.
To cut bureaucracy, the commission proposed principals be given free reign on how to spend the money they get (which is based on the number of students). Also, school boards would not run schools, but would contract with others (such as private companies, groups of teachers, etc.). The school boards would then become performance contract managers.
Finally, the report proposes training of people in the workforce, since these people will be the largest part of our workforce for some time, and will need more advanced and creative skills.
Finally, a comprehensive strategy forward.......2007-02-03
Citing Winston Churchill, who said America always did the right thing after it had exhausted all the alternatives, the New Commission on Skills of the American Workforce calls for a complete overhaul of American education.
Unlike the Commission Report in 1990, which recommended that we improve our high technology skills and accept as inevitable the movement of low-skill jobs to global competitors, the current Commission draws our attention to the fact that we are losing high-skill jobs to global competitors as well. Such losses are projected to grow geometrically if we fail to act with an integrated whole system response.
The Commission recommends a major overhaul of American education to include how we define needs, develop curriculum, attract and retain world class teachers, focus scarce resources, assess stakeholders, and finance public education. All familiar words, I know, but the devil or angel, if you will, is in the details. Let's look at some of the most important.
Noting the poor scores made by U.S. students on international tests and the prospect that we will lose our leadership position in fields that require exemplary abilities in mathematical reasoning; scientific concepts; writing; creativity and innovation; self-discipline and organization; and teamwork, the Commission calls for regional economic development authorities. These authorities would be responsible for coordinating with existing institutions to develop goals and strategies that would serve as guides for local decisions and channel resources where initiatives contributed to the achievement of such goals and strategies.
The Commission calls for significant changes in school governance. School boards and districts would find their role focused on policy making, facilitation of educational networks, operation of support service centers, reporting, and writing performance contracts with those who operate the schools. Schools would be operated by independent contractors and would have complete discretion to determine spending, staffing, calendar, organization and management ---- all subject to the same safety, curriculum, and testing standards as other schools. States would recruit and train teachers; build standard curriculum and assessment agencies; investigate, review and approve networks; contract for special services; and develop statewide schools to serve gifted children.
Teachers would be employed and licensed by the state. Their compensation would shift from current practices, which are back-loaded to emphasize pensions and defined health care benefits, to one which is front-loaded to emphasize cash compensation. Under a front-loaded approach, pay for beginning teachers would be $45,000. Competent academic-year teachers could receive $95,000 and competent calendar-year teachers as high as $110,000. In addition, incentive pay would be paid to teachers willing to teach in remote areas, tough urban areas, and in fields with labor shortages like math, science, language, and special education. The objective of all these changes is to recruit, develop, and retain individuals who had graduated from the top third of their high school graduation classes.
To discover where much of the money is coming from to pay for these changes, you have to examine their recommendation in the area of assessment. Essentially, the Commission wants to shift American education from a system that is time-based to one that is based on merit, using Board Examinations to control progression. They would allow high school students to sit for the initial board examinations at the end of their sophomore year. If they score well enough, they will be allowed to begin a two-year technical training program or to enter a four-year degree program. Those who scored less well would remain to prepare for the second board examination which, when passed, would allow them to attend a state college or university. Neither progression would permit remediation at the next highest level. In short, no one would be allowed to progress unless they are ready and no one would be held back based on a scheme that honors time more than it does competence. The Commission expects this progression scheme to save $67 billion.
In addition to teacher compensation, the Commission would spend part of the savings on high-quality, universal early childhood education for three and four year olds. Supplemental funding would be made available to help schools with high concentrations of disadvantaged students, e.g. screening and diagnosis, tutoring; community involvement, etc. School financing would be a state, rather than a local matter. And the state would use a uniform funding formula that emphasizes equity over equality. New Federal money would be sought to fund interest-bearing Personal Competitiveness Accounts. These accounts would be funded by the Federal government with a $500 deposit at birth and annual contributions made to age 16. The fund would accept tax-free contributions from employers, states, and individuals. From these funds, individuals could draw to improve their education and skills as adults.
Reactions from the educational establishment have been mixed. Predictably, all favor high-quality universal education for three and four year olds and for injections of more money into the educational system. No one, however, wants to support recommendations that would require substantial changes for their membership. The National Education Association (NEA) doesn't want to support the shift in compensation because their current membership favors back-loaded systems. Neither the NEA nor the National School Boards Association wants to give up local funding and operation of schools. Finally, the National Association for College Admission Counseling cautions against using Board Examinations if they are built on the foundation of European models.
All stakeholders need to realize that the situation has deteriorated to such a point that anything less than a major transformation of American education risks being characterized as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. As the Commission emphasizes, this is not a set of recommendations to be cherry-picked. Instead, they require a thoughtful, soul searching reflection and authentic dialogue to meet the challenges that are quickly coming into view.
It's Time to Put the Professionalism in Teaching.......2007-01-29
While there are some debatable aspects of the TOUGH CHOICES OR TOUGH TIMES report, the call to elevate teaching to the professional level it deserves is certainly long overdue. One problem the report doesn't explicitly mention is that our education system right now is a two-tiered heirarchy in which educrats--the professional ruling class of policymakers, administrators, and midlevel bureaucrats who don't actually teach--wield far too much power and often earn staggering salaries, while teachers are treated like common day-laborers, underpaid and (often) undermined by the flaky, self-serving policies that educrats impose on them.
The report recommends raising teacher salaries to attract the best and brightest, i.e. those who would otherwise be doctors, lawyers, and other ambitious career professionals, by doing away with current teacher-retirement systems in favor of higher up-front cash rewards and 401(k) packages. Astonishingly, the NEA and other powerful teacher unions are opposed to this. But the fact is our schools are failing us, in part, because teachers are not treated like professionals. Yes, there are plenty of attractive benefits to teaching already, like summers off and seniority-based salary schedules. But the trade-off is that many teachers are willing to give up intellectual authority over their profession and allow themselves to be infantilized by condescending educrats. This is a Faustian bargain, and it's time to break it.
If the commission's compensation plan were implemented, more young and bright professionals would be drawn to the classroom, and they'd (hopefully) stay there rather than hopscotching up to an administrative desk job as soon as they could. They would be unafraid to challenge the bad policies of educrats, and they would serve their constituents (the students and their parents) in far more creative and effective ways, because real professionals do not allow themselves to be bullied. Teachers would finally have intellectual authority over their profession, the same way that doctors, lawyers, and other true professionals do. It may mean sacrificing some comfort and standing up to our own unions, but the long-term results would be well worth it. Independence, as we already know, sometimes comes at a high price.
Creativity and Innovation.......2007-01-24
This report, the result of the second Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce in thirty years, represents "the canary in the mine." It is a warning to law makers, educators, students, parents and business people that we must overhaul the American educational system. Emphasis on creativity and innovation needs to be added to student learning and assessment as well as high levels of critical thinking. Instead of pushing toward analysis, teachers need to devise ways in which students can synthesize their learning; for example, thematically combining the content of a World Civ class with scientific breakthroughs. Creativity and innovation is the only way in which we can claim U.S. superiority in the fast approaching future. Countries like India and Japan are already ahead of us. We need to catch up quickly or lose our standing in the world marketplace.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
|
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
Thanks to the Internet, home-based businesses are booming. With a home computer and a good idea, you can market and sell almost anything in the world just from home. Whether you’re selling homemade jams or working as a business consultant, today’s entrepreneur doesn’t even have to leave home.
Home-Based Business For Dummies, 2
nd Edition will help you make your endeavor profitable and successful! Ideal for future entrepreneurs who have the urge and want the know-how, this updated guide includes new information on home business scams and how to avoid them, shows how to create an efficient, comfortable (but not too comfortable) work environment, explains how to put new technologies to work for you, and much more. There’s even a 10-question quiz to help you determine if you’re ready. You’ll learn all the basics, including:
- Selecting the right kind of business for you
- Setting up a home office
- Managing money, credit, and financing
- Marketing almost anything in the world
- Avoiding distractions at home
Home-Based Business For Dummies, 2
nd Edition was written by Paul and Sarah Edwards, award-winning authors who write a monthly column for Entrepreneur magazine, and Peter Economy, an author or coauthor For Dummies books on managing, consulting, and personal finance. In straightforward English, they show you how to:
- Stay connected to the business community, even when working from home
- Keep your work separate from your personal life
- Handle benefits, health insurance, and your retirement planning
- Make sure your bookkeeping is accurate and legal
- Use the Internet to bid for work, list your services in directories, network, and more
- Choose the technology and other resources you need
- Develop your own marketing and advertising strategies
- Navigate IRS rules for home-based businesses
Home-Based Business For Dummies is packed with ideas and information that will help you get started right and help established, successful home-based business owners stay ahead of the pack. Use it well and this handy guide will be the most important reference in your home office.
Customer Reviews:
Hooray for DUMMY Books........2007-02-26
Well organized as usual with a Dummy Book. Easy to find answers to questions. Love the idea list for home businesses. Great book.
Be Your Own Boss!.......2006-01-01
I would classify this book as more of a general overview of all the important things you need to consider before actually starting your business. For particulars you will definitely want to contact a good business attorney and a good accountant. Not to mention, you'll need to interface a lot initially with your local city/state governments to get tax forms and your business license.
This book seems to work best if you already have an idea for your business. Granted , they do throw out a few ideas for things like medical billing and place an emphasis on what could be described as services geared towards either elderly folks, or dual income families who are too busy to deal with traditional family type things. If you already kind of know what you think you want to try, this book will primarily help you fine tune your thoughts, and bring them to reality.
The section on Managing Money is probably one of the best things anyone can read. Obviously, if you're in business, the goal is to make money. By understanding the basic accounting principles presented in Part II of the book, you'll be well on your way to managing your business money wisely.
For general knowledge, my favorite part of the book was Part V. Here you will find Top 10 lists that describe common myths and pitfalls, and even success producing ideas to help you on your journey as a home based business owner. If you have a family, you'll want to take note on the section about what I would call, "The good way to set up your office." Which means, keeping distractions from the spouse and kids to a minimum while you are working at home.
There is a section on marketing, but in lieu of just that section alone, I would definitely recommend "Guerilla Marketing" by Jay Conrad Levinson. It's a very dry read, but there are a lot of interesting and unique ideas for getting word out about your business with out spending much (if any) money. And when you're in business for yourself, the more advertising you can get for free, the better!
I really like the way the authors describe how to get in to the home based business. Meaning, the idea of working at your full-time job (which you may or may not like) while you test the waters with your own venture on the side. That's excellent advice because if your business idea doesn't take off, you're not stuck without any income. Plus you can stay under your current employer's medical plan (A HUGE money saver!)
Overall there is so much information in here, it will be hard to take it in all at once. Likewise, as I stated earlier, the most important thing to remember is make sure and check with a professional accountant and lawyer in your area before/as you get started so they can help walk you through the particulars in your area. Every city and state is different in terms of setting up a business when it comes to taxes and getting your license.
Bottom line is, if you are semi-seriously considering starting a home based business, do yourself a favor and pick up this book and read it through. You'll get some good advice and knowledge on what it takes to be your own boss. Of course the other thing you can do is, talk to other small business owners in your area. Take them to lunch and learn as much as you can from those who are successful small business owners.
Home-Based Business For Dummies.......2005-07-26
I think this book is great, concise, and entertaining. It is just what I was wanting to know.
The obvious choice for anyone starting a home based business.......2005-06-22
Paul Edwards shares his great knowledge in yet another book to help anyone start thier own business. This book will answer every question you can come up with and answer it in a way that is easy for anyone to understand. This is why it will help you to become successful. I highly recommend this book, it has great tips, information and ideas to help you start and run your own home based business successfully.
Michelle Dunn, Author
Another home-base business book from the Edwards.......2005-03-18
Working at home seems like a dream for many. The Edwards have written several books on working on home. Their advice is sound and filled with common sense. However, this book does not rate a 5 because it is lacking in details about individual businesses you can start at home. They do have other home businesses books, as I stated. These are filled with 3-5 pages at the most on some individual businesses, but does not go too far into details about each, obviously. But for an overview of starting a home-based business at all, this is a decent book.
Book Description
When Rudolph Diesel invented his engine in the late nineteenth century, he envisioned a device that could run anywhere on a wide range of local fuels. A century later, Greg Pahl recalls that vision and shows us it is possible with Biodiesel: Growing a New Energy Economy.
Biodiesel is:
more biodegradable than sugar and less toxic than table salt.
produced from domestic feedstocks, reducing the need for foreign oil while boosting the local economy and supporting the agricultural community.
Biodiesel can:
reduce net CO2 emissions by 78 percent compared with petroleum diesel fuel, cutting greenhouse gases that lead to global warming.
be mixed with petroleum diesel at any level to produce a cleaner-burning biodiesel blend.
be blended with No. 2 oil for home heating, usually without any retrofits required.
As the politics of energy grow bleak, visionary entrepreneurs in the biofuels industry may very well become society's next great hope-heroes to today's energy insecurity the way astronauts were to the Cold War's space race. In Biodiesel, Greg Pahl delves into the history of the biofuels industry. He assesses its recent successes and current shortcomings, and stands well prepared to estimate its future. If the political, environmental, or financial woes of our current fuel industry have you concerned, it's time to take another look at biodiesel!
Customer Reviews:
The best biodiesel primer available.......2007-05-14
Interest in alternative motor fuels has been rising even faster than the cost of gasoline. Biodiesel, a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel, is widely seen as one of the best renewable energy sources. Unfortunately, there is a good deal of misinformation and just plain nonsense out there. As a former big-oil-company research chemist with some experience in alternative fuels, I am often asked where good, reliable information can be found. I use and recommend Pahl's book as a source for trustworthy information written for the non-technical reader. In addition, his information about Rudolph Diesel is a very interesting introduction.
Readers should know (and Pahl in fact tells them)that his book is not neutral: he is an unabashed biodiesel proponent. That's not a problem; there is a lot to be excited about when discussing biodiesel. Another warning: if you want to make your own biodiesel (easy to do, actually), go to the Internet, as Pahl concentrates on larger-scale operations. The book's biggest drawback is that the field is changing so rapidly that some of the information (particularly relating to political and commercial developments) is already out of date, even though it was published in 2005.
Nevertheless, Pahl has written what I consider to be the best primer on biodiesel available. Anyone interested in learning about biodiesel should own or have access to a copy.
Great overview of biodiesel in practice.......2007-04-18
Pahl's book on Biodiesel is a great introduction to the basics and some of the more thought-provoking possibilities of how to create this biofuel. Though biodiesel is given much media attention, it is barely in use at all in the US, and this book tells it like it is. I particularly liked the fact that it shows the efficiencies of different feedstocks, pointing out that plant oils might not be the best resource (particulary soybeans), much like corn is a terrible feedstock for ethanol. What I did find amazing is how great of a feedstock brown grease and algae are....the latter has tremendous possibilities, especially when coupled with carbon sequestration in applications such as coal plants. It's a great book that will get you thinking, if not running out to get another book on how to apply some of these ideas at home or in the business world.
Great resource on Biodiesel and other alt. fuels.......2006-07-19
Greg does a great job of explaining what biodiesel is, how/where it came about, and why it is a good additive to our current petrodiesel. He also writes about what other countries are doing with and how they are (currently) ahead of the US in utilizing it. He also discusses other forms of alternative/renewable sources of energy. I would recommend this book as good reading, but I would probably recommend 'Biodiesel America' first....as it has a bit more current info than Biodiesel: Growing A New Energy Economy. But good reading nontheless.
Excellent overview of Biodiesel.......2006-05-08
Greg's book is a fine introduction to the concept of diesel biofuels and deserves its fivestar rating. As someone who has actually refined and used biodiesel on a daily basis, as opposed to a bio-d critic just pontificating about the subject in general, his viewpoint is very welcome. I found 'Biodiesel' well written and a good introduction to the interesting world of biodiesel fuels, its raw material sourcing, and the growing industry of biofuel production. While obviously written from a pro-biodiesel viewpoint, it is an experienced and well-grounded one. Pahl obviously believes that the advantages of cleaner emissions and potential for OPEC import reductions outweigh biodiesel's disadvantages. Pahl may be dismissed by some as a Vermont treehugger, but you don't have to take his word for it. Long-haul truckers are already flocking to biodiesel for its clean burn, longer engine component life, and greater fuel economy - and those guys don't waste money on impractical solutions!
I wouldn't pay too much attention to unemployed agronomists in Brazil or otherwise, with patently obvious agendas against biodiesel as book critics. Ethanol is a great biofuel, but its advantages are oversold as a cure-all. It won't solve our energy problems in the US by itself, and biodiesel fuels are also needed, which Pahl notes come from a constantly expanding variety of byproduct oils from many plant and animal sources. Brazil still has to import petrodiesel to run its trucking industry, and here in the U.S. we have a 'few' large trucks that wouldn't work too well on E85!
As to the book critics, most of them don't like biodiesel, and mistake bio-d criticism for book criticism. The two are completely different. Have they even read the book? I also note that most bio-d critics have never even tried the fuel anyway - just how does can anyone know something doesn't work on either the national or local level if they haven't either tried the fuel in the field or worked in quantity bio-d research and production? At least Mr. Pahl has user experience. Agree or disagree, but at least write a review based on the book, not on your own prejudices.
Biodiesel isn't a solution for energy........2006-02-20
Beeing unemployed, I'm an agronomist here in Brazil.Then I know very much about energy and fuel from crops.Compared to ethanol, the same area produces 7 times more fuel then to biodiesel.If you read in portuguese, you can read my own article about biodisel in site http://www.israel3.com/article341.html .
Biodiesel insn't a real source of energy.It's a way to transform waste(oil burned) into fuel.It will never be a great source of fuel in America, and in any other place in the world.
Biogas, ethanol and hidrogenation of crops are the real possiblities of fuel from agricultural sources.
Book Description
In The New Golden Age, bestselling author and economist Ravi Batra identifies the roadblocks to economic prosperity--and what we need to do to overcome them. Bringing the same insight and expertise that made books like The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism international bestsellers, Batra takes on falling minimum wages, corporate scandals, rocketing oil prices, and many of the other crises facing the world economy. He also offers an expansive, optimistic vision of how the international community can address them and bring about something historically unprecedented: true global economic prosperity.
Customer Reviews:
The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos.......2007-08-08
An exceptional economics book that tells the truth directly and in simple and completely understandable terms. Scuttles the Media and Political hype and presents what is needful and workable toward economic democracy that is now being submerged be the Global "Free Market" lies, myths and swindles.
Should be required reading for every truly patriotic citizen.
Stays on message - still the most potent critic of Capitalism .......2007-06-16
Ravi Batra is still at it, almost three decades since he penned the classic "The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism: A New Study of History". We have come a long way with this author since then and never been bored. Batra's thesis is that we have entered the era of financial capitalism, the last stage of the Age of Acquisitors, where an increasingly uneven distribution of wealth feeds into increasing financial leverage and speculation, until the system can't handle it anymore and collapses. Following the collapse is financial destitution of many and social chaos. Such an outcome is still the most potent form of criticism of Capitalism. If Batra is at some point proved right that
a) the Great Depression of the 1930s was no fluke and
b) that innovations and safeguards to our financial system adopted since then cannot prevent another meltdown,
then that is a major an indictment of our form of social organization and, ultimately, our way of life.
At the heart of Batra's writings are the ideas of his mentor P.R. Sarkar. Batra has done more than anyone to publicize the message of this giant of modern day Indian thought in the West. This book is yet another installation into that body of work. While the message may no longer be as novel or fresh as it was in the 1980s, his work now builds on three decades of experience, including a multitude of accurate predictions (although the most important one has so far been a spectacular failure - the Great Depression of 1990!). He is now more circumspect about such things, including the adoption of a fiat monetary system in the 1970s and how monetary policy has been successfully used to forestall a major crash. In one sense he is quite correct, our monetary and financial system is an ongoing social experiment. Batra's work is, if anything, a reminder that we take a lot of things for granted. It is healthy to consider the alternatives, such as if the systemic stability were to give way to catastrophe. Central banks all over the world now devote considerable resources into researching this question and government surveillance of the financial market is now commonplace with stock markets all over the world soaring. Interestingly, all of that, albeit important, is not really the key focus of his work. As the name of his new book suggests, it is the glorious new dawn of a world based on the sentient philosophy of his mentor that is his main message.
Time will tell if Batra and the ideas he promotes are the real deal. So far, he has yet to prove the worth of these ideas with his major prediction. However, he has offered many novel insights into how modern capitalism works. For instance, in the 1980s he was one of the first to talk about how the financial sector was becoming the key to social developments in the West. Today, we take such insights for granted. Overall, the ideas he is describing are more than worthy of our careful consideration. Let us also not forget that he made a prediction in the book mentioned above in 1978 that Communism would fall. It did. As is the norm for him, the book is exceedingly well written and the message as fascinating as ever. Batra tends to be a few steps ahead of the rest of us, even if it sometimes looks as if he going down the wrong path. Even if he has made a big misstep, in my opinion, he is still headed in the right direction. The ideas are serious and profound and also filled with hope. The book is highly recommended for the intellectually curious or those scoping about for a more meaningful approach to life than what the real world has on offer in the early 21th century.
A Call to Arms!!!.......2007-03-25
In this book, Batra expains how the economic chaos and political corruption will continue to escalate and worsen over the next few years until the working class eventually rise up like warriors against the acquisitor class (capitalist - Russ Winter calls them the "pigmen") who have infiltrated all aspects of our government, the press, and our society at large. This uprising will dawn a new golden era of prosperity for the masses and the working class. A move away from "trickle down" economics where indebtedness of the masses for the fortitude of the richest has resulted in an increasingly unstable bubble-led economy with resultant record trade imbalances that leaves us (as a nation and society) in a precarious and vulnerable situation.
Book Description
Policy makers in the developing world are grappling with new dilemmas created by openness to trade and capital flows. What role, if any, remains for the state in promoting industrialization? Does openness worsen inequality, and if so, what can be done about it? What is the best way to handle turbulence from the world economy, especially the fickleness of international capital flows?
In The New Global Economy and Developing Countries Dani Rodrik argues that successful integration into the world economy requires a complementary set of policies and institutions at home. Policy makers must reinforce their external strategy of liberalization with an internal strategy that gives the state substantial responsibility in building physical and human capital and mediating social conflicts.
Customer Reviews:
Lessons for Policy Makers.......2000-05-04
In this book, Danny Rodrik offers some valuable guidance for policy-makers. They should focus on the fundamentals of economic growth - investment, macro-economic stability, human resources and good governance - and not let international economic integration dominate their thinking. The potential benefits of openness will only be realised when "complementary policies and institutions are in place domestically".
An important result from his analysis is that a strong, participatory, democracy is good for growth. This is very much in line with Barro's "Determinants of Economic Growth" (1998).The resoning is that a country with a strong democracy will be better at resolving the social conflicts emerging from external economic shocks, and therefore benefit from greater macroeconomic stability. In order to increase the effectiveness of dealing with shocks, the channels to which non-elites can make themselves heard, and participate, in policy making needs to be improved. Otherwise dissatisfaction will lead to social unrest.To play the role of honest broker, the state needs to perceived as competent and free of corruption.
Two policy areas are identified as being central to achieving long-term growth and making openness work: A domestic investment strategy; the strengthening of domestic institutions of conflict management.
Many of his findings offer support for much of current policy thinking on development. The importance of political freedom, security of person, and the need for a reasonable degree of macroeconomic stability is widely recognised. Good governance has moved firmly up the list of priorities. Also, attempts are being made to try and increase the widespread "ownership" of reforms through e.g. the Comprehensive Development Framework of the World Bank.
However, there are several important areas where Rodrik's analysis requires further consideration:
· Developing countries, in devising a domestic investment strategy, are better advised to look at ways of reducing risk and improving their credibility in the eyes of domestic and foreign investors, rather than following Rodrik's suggestion to improve investment returns through e.g. investment subsidies. (see Moran (1998) "Foreign Direct Investment and Development").
· The strong link between good governance and openness is very important and needs greater attention. Red tape and corruption are strongly correlated. Trade restrictions nearly always introduce distortions, caused by "rent seeking" activities, and create vested interest groups.
· As he suggests, all countries are able to improve their "fundamentals". But it is also true that different regions are likely to benefit from integration - in terms of both growth and poverty reduction - to very different extents.
· Rodrik suggests that Africa is not "different". He is right in so far as domestic factors - stability and security - are central to its success. But sub Saharan Africa is different . It faces great difficulties in building institutions of conflict management and has a legacy of being the most trade and capital hostile region.
· As is always the case in the "never ending question" of empirical tests of the links between trade and growth, the interpretation of the results of his work is very much open to question. He is far from decisively refuting this link.
Taking some of these factors into account suggests that Rodrik's somewhat sanguine attitude to inward-looking developm t is ill advised. Also, the potential role for international governance in helping to overcome several of and the problems facing poorer countries - low credib ity, limited regulatory resources, small markets -becomes more important. But these rules will help in so far as they encourage certainty, transparency and non-discrimination, rather than in offering flexibility. However, as Rodrik states, " these rules of the internation economy must be flexible in order to allow developing countries to develop their own "styles of capitalism"".
Insights into making 'globalization'work for poor countries.......1999-02-20
Like clothes, economic development policies are subject to the trends of fashion. This book examines the current development fad, "openness," and critiques it as a flawed economic model when applied simplistically to developing countries. The author, Dani Rodrik, professor of international political economy at Harvard, is no enemy of an open world economy, but he argues that its boosters greatly oversell its virtues and neglect its vices. He contends that too many governments and their policy advisors are fixated on openness --the unrestricted flow of goods, services, and capital across borders--as an end in itself. The dangers to this approach, he warns, are that: 1) openness alone is an unreliable mechanism to generate and sustain economic growth; 2) it tends to widen income and wealth inequalities within both developed and developing countries; and 3) it exposes countries to external shocks that can trigger domestic conflicts and political upheavals.
A developing country can gain much from openness to trade and investment, he agrees, but it must also do much in actively "making openness work"--the theme of the book. The minuses of openness may outweigh the pluses if a country fails to develop its own internal "complementary policies and institutions." What kind of policies and institutions? He cites these as among the most important: "participatory institutions, civil and political liberties, free labor unions, non-corrupt bureaucracies, high-quality independent judiciaries, and mechanisms of social insurance such as social safety nets." He offers specific evidence on how such institutions are valuable to developing countries for coping with turbulence in the world economy and for countering the widening of inequality that openness often brings. For most economists Rodrik is heretical because he debunks the "free market religion" and derides "knee-jerk globalizers," though only in passing. This is far from a diatribe against globalization. Instead, the book presents a detailed factual case for openness as "part of a development strategy," rather than a substitute for one. His forceful advice to governments and policy advisers: "Stop thinking of international economic integration as an end itself. Developing nations have to engage the world economy on their own terms, not on terms set by global markets or multilateral institutions." A valuable chapter of the book is one titled "Is Africa Is Different?" Rodrik answers No; openness can work its wonders there but (as anywhere) definitely not if applied simplistically.
Rodrik slips into jargon from time to time, but you can still benefit from reading his book even if you don't have a degree in economics.
--Robert A. Senser, editor of the Website Human Rights for Workers
Amazon.com
Nobody disputes the fact that inner-city schools are going to the dogs. Poor facilities, shell-shocked teachers, and hostile, apathetic students are frequent topics on the evening news, as are the supposed solutions for these problems: school vouchers, school uniforms, teacher testing, and the like. In Ghetto Schooling, author Jean Anyon exposes the futility of such social band-aids on the gaping wound that is ghetto education. Anyon starts with the premise that urban education's problems lie not within the schools themselves but rather in the "economic and political devastation" of the cities. It is the poverty, the racial isolation, and the lack of political clout that dooms inner-city schools to failure, Anyon posits, and she backs up her thesis with solid evidence: her own experiences as a school reformer in Newark, New Jersey.
Ghetto Schooling is filled with interviews, media reports and Anyon's eyewitness account of the sorry state of Newark schools and reformers' Sisyphean task of trying to make changes in the midst of urban decay and governmental indifference. Anyon concludes that it is racial, class, and ethnic discrimination at governmental levels that has led to the neglect of inner cities and, by association, their schools. The problems Anyon discusses and the solutions she proposes are not limited to the Newark city schools; they could be implemented in other urban school districts across the country. For anyone interested in the state of education in America's cities today, Ghetto Schooling is an important, if troubling, read.
Customer Reviews:
The direct effect of the city on schooling.......2005-05-24
Ghetto schooling touches on the failure of inner city schools but especially the failure of the school system in Newark, NJ. She takes a look at the expansive school system from the years 1860- 1997. Her book looks at the failure of school reform but better yet the failure of the city and how it has failed to educate it's minority students through mismangement of money to political partronage that promotes unskilled teachers and adminstrators. She traces the school system as a product of the development of the city. To Jean Anyon, the city has a direct effect on the progress of the school. As she states, "The contours and fortunes of schools in the twentieth centruy have also been intimately linked to the economic transformations of the city--and to federal and state policy as well as to local and national corporate decision making" (156). In stating what she feels is an obvious, Anyon describes the rise and fall of Newark and how fiscal prosperiety directly affected the quality of schooling. She states that through several discriminatory practices by federal and state governments such as redlining, housing segregation, financial disparity between districts and even efforts by corporations to restrict municipal spending and borrowing, education in Newark took a turn for the worst. She also says that the decline in quality of education is aligned with the increase of minorities into the city and the exodus of middle class residents to the suburbs. Anyon does a good job of presenting the historical factors that have influenced education in the city. She also shows how this has occured in other major cities. Another selling pointo f the argurment is that she presents a reform agenda that although expensive does to the root of the "underclass" urban education problem. While in no way belittling the residents of the inner cities she calls for action from these individuals and how their participation in the process strenthens the ties of the community to education. Anyon's book is only the beginning in a long line of cities that are afflicted by the same ailments as Newark, NJ.
Ghetto Schooling Review.......2002-11-18
Since as far back as formal education existed, Newark NJ school district has suffered from numerous problems. In the book Ghetto Schooling - A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform, Jean Anyon deals with the topic of the Newark school district and what has been done and what should be done in the future. The book begins with her experience of being in the Newark School system (Marcy School) as a member of a group trying to restructure eight schools in this school district. Then she follows up with a chronological break down by era of what went on in the Newark district and around the country. The book begins in the present, goes to the past, and finishes up with how we are supposed to learn from our past.
In the present time, we see schools that are ill equipped, dirty, having unqualified staff, and chaos. These children come from poor homes (if they have a home), with chaotic lives, neglect, abuse, histories of poor helth and chronic health problems, emotional stress, anxiety and anger (Anyon, 1997). If the children are coming from home environments like this, it does not seem that it would take much to make them want to come to school. However, quite a few students that were interviewed did not want to be there. Why? They did not respect the teachers. They thought the teachers were only there for the money or could not find a job anywhere else. One student did not like the abuse inflicted upon the students by the teachers. This section of the book is the one that stands out above all else. The reason being, I cannot believe how these students are handled. What these teachers say and do is uncalled for. This stems from the fact that these teachers do not have the proper training to be a teacher. We are not going to stop this vicious cycle if we do not train these teachers. We learn how to parent from our parents, and how to teach from past teachers, unless otherwise trained. If I did not get anything else out of this book, I do know how not to teach.
I am sure the information presented in this book is all true. It is just hard for me to fathom that a school district was ran this way without little interference from the outside. I know if this were the education my children were getting, I would definitely have something to say about it. I would be at every board meeting, every PTO and PTA meeting, be up at the school during class time, and hold these people accountable as well as my child. I have never been to or worked in a school of this nature. I also hope I never will. If I did though, I would pray that I would be a better, more caring, understanding teacher than the ones presented.
I found this book to be a hard read. It included entirely too many statistics. If I had to come up with my favorite part of the book, it would be part 1. It was real and easier to read. My least favorite part was Chapter 7 - Class, Race, Taxes, and State Educational Reform: 1970-1997. It was cumbersome to say the least. It seemed to have more statistics than any other chapter. If I could change one thing about this book it would be to reduce the amount of numbers included and include more real life situations.
Revisiting Marcy School got my attention again. It almost felt like I was there. I am not sure it is a place I would want to be. I know I would not go at this time in my life. I am not equipped to teach these kids. I sub in a small school district in Illinois and experience none of this. I probably would do more harm to these children than good. On the other hand, it sounds like they just need someone to care for them and let them know they are cared for. It broke my heart to hear what the white teacher had to say. She said,
" These kids have major problems! Incest, drugs, the girls to from boyfriend to boyfriend. You look at them and say `what's the matter,' and they cannot tell you. I have a little boy [in first grade] who's wondering where his mother went. No one knows. No wonder things go in one ear and out the other [when you're trying to teach them]."
Another teacher said,
"We think, `they're only going to sweep floors' - why teach them science?"
And another added,
"When you realize who they [the students] are, you laugh, and you can't take it [teaching] seriously."(Anyon, 1997)
These statements made me want to help these boys and girls. Saying they were only going to sweep floors is such a self-fulfilling prophecy. Even if that is what they are going to do, science may help them someday. If these teachers cannot take teaching seriously, who could? These students need more teaching and caring than the average student does.
Jean Anyon appears to have all the qualifications needed to write a book of this nature. As the books states she has her Ph.D., and is an Associate Professor at Rutgers University. She taught elementary grades in inner city schools in Bedford-Stuyvesant, NY; Philadelphia; and Washington D.C. She is Director of the Institute for Research in Urban Education on the Rutgers-Newark Campus. She has published widely on the relation of social class and race to issues of curriculum, equity, classroom practice, and school reform. This is her first book (Anyon, 1997).
If I were asked if I would recommend this book to someone else, I would definitely respond with a hearty NO! If you are interested in research for this subject, you might find some useful information, with some careful reading. This just was not a book I could not put down. Usually I want to read a book from cover to cover in one sitting. This book seemed to be never ending.
A look into inner city schools and reform.......2002-11-14
Anyon gives us a glimpse into the world of inner city schooling and everything that goes with it. This is an eye opening journey for educators that do not teach in the inner city schools. I do feel that she is way off and don't believe that some of her suggestions would actually work to improve the schools. She has not herself worked as an educator in the inner city schools. So how does she know that what she is reccommending will work?
She does make a good point and that new funding is needed in the schools. It is just a matter of where to get those funds. I do believe that educationing our young children is a responsiblity for all of America, therefore everyone should help in the funding process. I do not think that one soul contributor should be used.
Thoughts on Ghetto Schooling.......2002-11-12
Jean Anyon's book, Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform paints a harrowing portrait of the struggles of those who have a role in inner-city schools. It is written in three parts that address the present situation, reflect upon the past, and look to the future, respectively. The book took several years to write due to the level of research involved for the historical content, but the personal account was based on four years of the author's participation in the reform effort in Newark, New Jersey, beginning in 1992. The reform efforts targeted eight schools in the central section of the city. (On a broader note, the historical text of the book points out that the decline of the schools really began in the 1930s.) The book begins by showing the present state of education within the reform district, but then postulates the reasons for this status by looking at the historical foundations of the problems. In the first chapter of part two, Anyon begins the historical breakdown by looking at early situation with educating the children of the many immigrants who came to Newark beginning in the 1860s. Despite early attempts at reform, the seeds had already been planted for the disenfranchisement seen today. The historical context of Anyon's research design shows decade by decade the continual decay of the Newark schools. Reform efforts were suggested, but never truly implemented. After the period of organized crime and municipal scandals had arrived, Anyon notes that:
"Because there was no rescue of the Newark educational system in 1968, it would continue to limp along, and further generations of Newark children-the grandchildren, the grandchildren, the great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren of the southern rural immigrants-would
join their parents in the ranks of the uneducated and the undereducated. Many would therefore be unable to participate in the economic and political institutions of U.S. society" (p. 127).
This generational cycle of poverty and hopelessness is at the heart of Anyon's determination that changes can only be effective if they consider the sociocultural status and economic plight of those involved. I found the accounts in the book to be a revelation to say the least. I think people like myself who are born and raised outside urban areas live in blissful ignorance as to the true state of education for the thousands trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair. I like that Anyon takes such an honest approach to her research, realizing that to be effective she must be disclose everything she witnessed. The only change I would like to see is the statistical information presented in some type of graph form so that it would be easier to read and interpret. Otherwise, I found the book to be an invaluable read as a future educator. In fact, it has made me think beyond the world of education and to ponder my place among the human race and the responsibility I must take for needs of my fellow man and the generations to come.
Review of Ghetto Schooling.......2002-11-11
Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Education Reform, is an interesting explanation of the case study done by the author, Jean Anyon. Anyon was a part of the attempted educational reform of the Newark, New Jersey schools in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Although most of her personal contact was with the faculty, staff, administration, parents, and children of the Marcy school, she gives the historical background for the Newark schools system starting in 1860. This history ventures all of the way to the present, which includes her personal experience in the reform process. Although the reform process in which she participated in failed, she did learn a great deal and shared a lot of insight about school reform. Her main point was that reform would not happen until the economic and political systems that surround the schools are transformed, neither would the schools be transformed. (Anyon 13) I found this book to be informative and insightful. Through this reading I have a better understanding of the inner city school setting, and how much help is needed there. Unfortunately, as Anyon point out, money is not the answer. The answer is reform on the larger scale. This book helped me to see this. Additionally, because of my current quest to become a teacher this booked helped me to prepare for some of the obstacles I may face. Although I will probably never teach at a school like those in the Newark district, it is very beneficial to my learning process to see the problem that plague the educational community. I am glad this book was part of my college curriculum.
Amazon.com
The horror of slavery, says Kevin Bales, is "not confined to history." It is not only possible that slave labor is responsible for the shoes on your feet or your daily consumption of sugar, he writes, the products of forced labor filter even more quietly into a broad portion of daily Western life. "They made the bricks for the factory that made the TV you watch. In Brazil slaves made the charcoal that tempered the steel that made the springs in your car and the blade on your lawnmower.... Slaves keep your costs low and returns on your investments high."
The exhaustive research in Disposable People shows that at least 27 million people are currently enslaved around the world. Bales, considered the world's leading expert on contemporary slavery, reveals the historical and economic conditions behind this resurgence. From Thailand, Mauritania, Brazil, Pakistan, and India, Bales has gathered stories of people in unthinkable conditions, kept in bondage to support their owners' lives. Bales insists that even a small effort from a large number of people could end slavery, and devotes a large chapter to explaining the practical means by which this might be accomplished. "Are we willing to live in a world with slaves?" he asks. As a sign of his commitment, all his royalties from Disposable People will go toward the fight against slavery. --Maria Dolan
Book Description
Slavery is illegal throughout the world, yet more than twenty-seven million people are still trapped in one of history's oldest social institutions. Kevin Bales's disturbing story of contemporary slavery reaches from Pakistan's brick kilns and Thailand's brothels to various multinational corporations. His investigations reveal how the tragic emergence of a "new slavery" is inextricably linked to the global economy. This completely revised edition includes a new preface.
Customer Reviews:
Understanding Modern Slavery.......2007-06-06
The comparison that Bales' draws between the "new" slavery and the "old" slavery is the most striking revelation I have encountered yet. It is essential that people read this book to understand that slavery effects every person, either directly or indirectly, and to understand the extent to which both individuals and state government's help to perpetuate this socially constructed atrocity.
Bales gives an intimate account of slavery in different locations and the information that he presents is compelling, informative, and heartbreaking. Informed people of the world should pick up this book and begin to act.
Buy this book and see how slavery still exists in the World Today........2007-04-27
As Bales himself points out, many people equivilate slavery with the kind that existed in the United States over 100 years ago. But that's only one tupe of slavery, thankfully long gone. However, slavery still exists in the world today and it is worse than ever. Bales book is englightening for those of us, like myself, who have trouble imagining where and how it still exists.
The book is mainly consisted of case studies, which serve as examples for each kind of slavery found in the world today. If you want to find out the social environments that allow for slavery to come into existence, then you are better of reading Bales' more in depth book "Understanding Slavery". But if you are just starting and want to know how slavery exists in the world today, this book is the one to get.
I'll admit, sometimes the writing of this book is a little redundant, as others have said, but more often then not it's interesting. You don't need to read the entirety of every chapter to get the gist of this book, because the point of it is not to compeltely educate the reader about slavery but simply to inform the reader about ways it exists still today.
After reading this book, hopefully you will feel inspired to get invovled with one of Bales' organizations, such as "Free The Slaves". Whether you can sit down and read this entire book or not is of no importance. Even simply reading the introduction and skimming the chapters is enough to englighten one to the facts, which no person can hide from.
Good bur Redundant..........2006-11-30
I liked this book a lot. It was a huge eye-opener to the depressions of slavery in the world today. I never realized it was so bad. The only thing I didn't like about the book was that the author tended to say the same thing over and over. He would just re-word what he had previously stated. He could have had the same impact in less pages. I would, however, recommend this book to anyone who has an interest (or not) in slavery. Everyone needs to know that this kind of stuff goes on in our world today.
A Poignant Cry in the Dark.......2006-05-12
By cloak of night or false identity, Bales, the world's foremost expert on slavery, goes to the squalid homes of slaves around the globe. From the coal-making batterias in Brazil to the brothels of Thailand, from the brick factories of Pakistan to the bonded-labor farms of India, he looks into the eyes of the oppressed and gives voice to their cries.
Sometimes too academic and repetitive, this book is nonetheless a life-changing must-read. For, as Bales reminds readers, ignorance of slavery perpetuates the crime. Suggestions for fighting this insidious and slippery aspect of commerce are included at the end.
An Evil That Is Still With Us.......2005-08-18
Sadly, it is not true that human slavery was abolished back in the 1800s, and in fact there are still millions of slaves in the world. There are slaves working in third world brothels, mines, farms, and sweatshops. Even some domestic servants in Western nations are technically enslaved. Here Kevin Bales explains how this is a new and modernized type of slavery. The old "classic" slavery, in which masters outwardly and legally owned other people, has disappeared around the world, except for in the oddly backward nation of Mauritania. The new slavery is not based on ethnic or religious subjugation and punishment, but is the outcome of globalized economics, as certain industries inevitably gravitate toward near-zero cost labor.
Most modern slaves are victims of "debt bondage," in which businessmen or middlemen make poor and desperate people work off their debts, but through fraudulent accounting and trickery make it impossible for the debts to be paid off, therefore gaining forced and unpaid labor. This phenomenon is tragically common in many nations, and tens of millions of people are subjected to hopeless lives of economic subjugation. Bales explores this modern slavery in several nations that are trying to convince the world that it doesn't happen within their borders, or try to justify this bondage with dissembling arguments that are disgustingly similar to those used by the old Southern plantation owners in America.
Bales does a pretty good job of describing how real, quantifiable economics and globalization processes bring this human tragedy about. However, this aspect of his analysis could be strengthened, to make a more effective argument with policy makers. I suggest that Bales team up with a reputable political scientist or economist to make this structural argument stronger. Some international readers may also take issue with Bales' introductory explanations of the cultures on which he is reporting. Statements about how Thailand's culture totally condones that nation's horrific sex industry, or how Pakistan's social structure inevitably results in internecine violence, are most likely generalizations that could be fleshed out with more sensitive research. But overall those are minor flaws. Bales gives you a very disconcerting feeling about the state of modern humanity, and about how slavery has played a part in the manufacture of many of your consumer items and the bottom line of companies in which you may have invested. [~doomsdayer520~]
Book Description
Great companies consistently meet and exceed customer desires. Superior Customer Value in the New Economy: Concepts and Cases, Second Edition offers a blueprint for responding effectively to customer demands and for creating the benchmarks common to world-class service companies. The Second Edition elaborates on the latest perspectives of the business and academic communities, exploring leading marketing and managing developments in the crucial area of customer value (CV). It delivers expert guidance on designing, implementing, and evaluating a CV strategy that benefits e-service and information-based organizations. Building upon concepts, cases, and in-chapter applications, the book addresses best practices, organizational responsiveness, market orientation, and the planning and strategy issues that result in high rates of customer satisfaction in e-service and information-based organizations. It concludes with 18 detailed, "hands-on" examples of companies attempting to create customer value. Each case study delivers an in-depth look at major CV themes such as responding to change, being customer oriented, customer loyalty, and more. Each of these real-world examples provides excellent learning opportunities to model effective customer value behavior and practices.
Customer Reviews:
Superior Customer Value in the New Economy: Concepts and Cases, Second Edition.......2007-06-09
Very nice book :)
Excellent reference book for customer service and how this creates value .......2007-05-09
I purchased this book as a classroom requirement for my MBA program. I found this book extremely easy to read with a wealth of information. Offering many examples, it is easy to see how the companies listed incorporated different strategies and policies to improve customer service and ultimately add value for the customer, the company and other shareholders. I found myself using this book as a reference source for research papers written for other classes taken later on in the program. This book is an excellent resource for any future business manager.
Book Description
Widely praised as an exciting, insightful exposition and development of Marx's critique of political economy, Harvey updates his classic text with a discussion of the turmoil in world markets today.
Customer Reviews:
classic book.......2007-06-08
In my opinion, Limits to Capital is the best path to Marx's political economy, and in a sense it's an update of Capital. Harvey explains Marx, and introduces some new concepts such as 'spatial fix', 'socially necessary turnover time of capital' etc. Together with Mandel's Late Capitalism, Limits to Capital is the most significant contribution to Marx by a contemporary writer. (The radical geography journal Antipode had a special issue for the 20th year of Limits to Capital.)
However, Harvey revisioned some of his thought later, with 'The New Imperialism'. He introduced the notion of 'accumulation by dispossession', I don't know why, limiting the 'reproduction on an enlarged scale', and thereby limiting the validity of class conflict. This imperialism issue blurs all the contemporary accounts of capital accumulation. He is now an Arendtian. Good luck with that, but we miss the Harvey of Limits to Capital.
The most thorough exposition of Marxist political economy in print.......2006-07-23
David Harvey is actually a geographer, but from reading this book, one would think him one of the great political economists. Based on this work alone, he should be in the popular range of Stiglitz, Schumpeter, Milton Friedman etc., but it is not likely that such 'honor' will ever befall a Marxist theorist. Nevertheless everyone interested in Marxist economics, for whatever reasons, simply must read this book.
Harvey's discussion of capitalism from a Marxist perspective is extraordinary clear, sharp and thorough. So much in fact that it is probably the most consistently in-depth exposition of capitalism from every aspect since "Capital" itself. This also makes it hard to review it, since one hardly knows where to begin.
Fortunately for political economy newbies (and this book is definitely the best kind of "introductory overview" you could give to an intellectual person), Harvey starts at the same point "Capital" starts, then works his way through. First he gives a clear exposition of the general framework of Marxist theory: the law of value, the differences between value, use value and exchange value, the mode of production etc. All this is done quite well, though there are of course many many such general descriptions available in print. Harvey does seem to skip over the "transformation problem" somewhat, which may annoy those who consider it a major hurdle. Harvey, in my view with good reason, does not.
The next two chapters discuss production, distribution, surplus value and its realization and the relation to supply and demand. Particularly useful here are his explanations of the importance of the concept of value composition of capital, and the reduction of skilled to simple labour, where he addresses one of Von Böhm-Bawerk's better critiques of Marxism.
The next part of the book is perhaps the core of the book. Here, Harvey delves into the organization of capital, the various forms which it can take and how these interrelate, and the tendency of the rate of profit to fall. He shows how the various manifestations of capital can interfere with each other's functioning and how this creates the tendency towards crises. He then posits the problem of overaccumulation (rather than underdevelopment) as the first 'layer' or 'cut' of crisis theory.
After the reader has grasped all this, the second crucial part of the book follows in a rapid manner, introducing first the problematic of fixed capital and its relation to the law of value, and then the role of credit in capitalism. The first is not very satisfactorily resolved and is in my view probably the weakest part of his theory. Alan Freeman has since given a quite different solution to the same issue, but that does not seem to really solve the problem either. Perhaps this is one of the things Marxist political economy has yet to fully solve.
Harvey's demonstration of the role of credit is however masterful and extremely enlightening for the many who are confused by the vast array of forms in which credit appears in modern society. His emphasis on the importance of understanding the so-called "fictitious capital", that is advanced capital not yet backed by actual value through production, allows him to show the second major appearance of crises in capitalism as well as explaining the theory of rent in Marxism, which forms the subject of the chapter thereafter. He corrects Marx' somewhat excessively anti-distributive theory of rent and explains the role of agricultural technology. Harvey is in many parts of this chapter rather confusing in his terminology, but a careful reader can certainly grasp the issue.
At the end of the book Harvey can finally follow up on his own area of expertise. By explaining the role of spatial and temporal relations in the flow of capital and the necessity of 'exporting' the internal contradictions of capitalist social relations, he is able to form a theory of imperialism that is largely in accordance with that of Lenin, but without the theory of underdevelopment. It also puts a good perspective on Marx & Engels' many journalistic articles about India and colonialism. Finally he combines this with the earlier two aspects to form the third 'cut' of capitalist crisis theory, which takes every aspect of capitalism in its modern appearance into account.
On the whole, Harvey has done an unparallelled and magisterial work in creating an exposition of capitalism that is at once as in-depth as "Capital" and much clearer (and shorter!) than that, although of course without Marx no such thing could ever have been made.
There are a few things nevertheless not covered (fully) in the book. Harvey pays surprisingly little attention to urban geography and (sub)urbanization as a factor in capitalism. Furthermore his theory of the state is a hodgepodge of different roles, which he never unites into one whole. Finally, people experienced in handling Marxist theory might have problems with Harvey's generally structuralist approach, which leaves relatively very little room for the autonomous significance of class struggle. Harvey mostly relegates that to the fields of production processes and labour mobility. Because of this, Lebowitz' "Beyond Capital" should probably be read alongside it as a complementary contribution, analyzing the same from the side of wage-labour.
A great book to get started on understanding Marx's Captial.......2000-08-24
I was attracted to this work becaues i'm interested in Marx and have read another of Harvey's books "The Condition of Postmodernity." Harvey is an erudite scholar who's formal education is in georgraphy, but his research has produced accessable and powerful studies beyond his origins. "Limits to Captial" is a complete and balanced account of Marx's economic work centering upon his major text "Das Kaptial." Harvey has does a intense study of Marx and Marxist scholarship (Lenin, Rose Luxingberg, and others) to produce a systematic and dialetical account of Marx's critique of Captialism. Even though harevy pays attention to the importance of Hegelian dialetics this book is accessable to to readers who do not have strong philosophic of economic backgrounds. If your are interested in Marx and/or captialism this is an excelent inroad to begin your studies. A detaled biblography of cited sources is a gem for continuted research. His book on postmodernity is also excelent.
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