Customer Reviews:
Joe is AMAZING! .......2007-04-05
I have never been so impressed by a copywriter
like I have been with Joe. I saw him speak a long
time ago at a Mark Joyner event and bought this
book. I have had it by my side ever since.
I couldn't recommend it enough!
Matt Bacak
Author of Secrets of the Internet Millionaire Mind
and The Ultimate Lead Generation Plan
Buy this book.......2007-01-05
Of the dozens of books I have read on the subject this one is the only one that I feel was well worth the purchase price.
Ideas backed by facts not opinions.
Wow - tremendous book.......2007-01-03
I think it was about the second chapter, maybe earlier where he mentioned the 'magic stat thermostat'. Well, back when I was a kid in the early 80's (read like 10 years old), my dad used to get tons of mail order catalogs (like Hemmachler, sharper image, etc...), and liking technology at a young age, I used to look through them. Well, JS&A must have been one of them as well, as I specifically remembered this ad! I recalled the ad tearing the product to shreds before recommending it (I even remebered what the thing looked like). It was that substantantial, that as a 10 year old (roughly), I recalled it today. At the same time, I recalled another ad that I thought was odd - some handheld game that was supposed to be some big conspiracy. Sure enough, that was one of his ad examples at the end of the book.
This alone should be a testament to exactly how powerful his ads are. Not too mention, his writing style as an educator in the field of written ads is astounding - I could not put the book down.
Although geared toward catalog sales, the techniques clearly can apply to the web as well. So, if you are interested in selling anything - order this book now!
One of the best books on crafting mouthwatering copy ever written!.......2005-09-14
Joe Sugarman is a copywriting and marketing genius.
Probably known best for his "BluBlocker" sunglasses ads, Joe has provided aspiring (and experienced) copywriters with a treasure trove of useful information, tips and step-by-step techniques.
During the 80's Joe held annual Copywriting and marketing workshops and smart marketers willing paid thousands to learn his "secrets".
As far as I can tell, Joe has shared every last one of those million dollar secrets in this must have manual.
This one is a "no brainer". Buy it. Read it. Use it.
A Consumate Master of the Written Word.......2005-08-05
Notice the last two words in the title -- 'Written Word.' Writing something that is intended to be read is different than writing for television, radio, or anything else that is to be spoken. There are different techniques for the two approaches, and Mr. Sugarman is a consumate master of the written word.
The concentration in this book is intended to be mail order writing -- sometimes in letter form, sometimes in the form of a brochure. Mail order advertising has a lot of advantages over other types of writing. The biggest one is that you have an almost instant measure of its success -- how many responses do you get. Then you can change the mailing package - any part of it, the writing, the typeface, the color of the envelope - and again you get an immediate response. There's no room for BS. And the successful people have to be good.
Most of the orientation here is for direct response mail order. The interesting challenge of the next few years, or maybe the next few decades, is to convert this writing style to the web. At first glance, most of the techniques given here would seem to apply. Using them and taking into account the special characteristics of the web is going to be fun.
Book Description
Sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer's bestselling classic is now available in paperback
Jeffrey Gitomer's Sales Bible was listed as one of "The Ten Books Every Salesperson Should Own and Read" by the Dale Carnegie Sales Advantage Program. Now completely revised, this book is available for the first time in paperback. The Sales Bible has helped tens of thousands of salespeople all over the world reach their potential and close the big deal. Gitomer gives sales professionals the right answers to the toughest questions:
* How to make sales in any economic environment
* Twenty-five ways to get that most-elusive appointment
* Top-down selling
* How to fill the sales pipeline with prospects ready to buy
* How to use the right questions to make more sales in half the time
This book is everything its title claims to be.
Jeffrey Gitomer (Charlotte, NC) is a world-class authority on sales and customer loyalty. He leads over 125 training programs and annual sales meetings for companies like IBM, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Caterpillar, Miliken, GE, Carlsburg, and Cintas. He writes the popular syndicated weekly column "Sales Moves," read by more than 3.5 million people across the United States and Europe. And his award-winning Web sites (gitomer.com and trainone.com) and his weekly e-zine (sales caffeine) feature every element of selling from making assessments to weekly articles, free sales tips, and streaming video sales training.
Customer Reviews:
same old stuff.......2007-09-27
No new information. The man has written 7 books on the same subject. I learned nothing my 20 years of actual sales experience did not already teach me. I was hoping for more than suggestions on how to "out fox" prospects. Nothing really useful here.
A Definate "Must Have" Book.......2007-09-18
If you don't have this book on your shelf, get it!
The Sales Bible is definitely one of the most comprehensive books written for sales people. It is a fun read and Gitomer uses different fonts and bolding to give you a feel of the author's sense of humor and style of "ranting".
This book covers it all; cold calling, networking, the sales process, handling objections, questioning, trade show strategies, 30 second commercial development to name only a few key elements, skills and processes of selling. This only skims the surface. The lay out is simple and the table of contents is detailed for easy reference.
This book is full of proven sales strategies, tactics and techniques that work. Even though this book is a few years old, it still comes out on top as The Ultimate Sales Resource today.
If you are looking for a resource book that contains many sales secrets - this is the book to buy. It will make it to your "favorite's" section in your personal library.
Eliot Hoppe
Author - Selling: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success
Great resource for sales and marketing.......2007-09-16
This book has been very helpful in my venture into marketing our new product. The content is really geared toward sales people. Jeffrey Gitomer is a well-seasoned sales person and offers great advice and personal experience in his trek down the road of sales. His book deals with cold calls, followup, what to do and what not to do, and how to approach sales from a more friendly and uninhibiting direction, among much else. GREAT RESOURCE!!!
Awesome Book - Inspirational Author.......2007-07-22
I love this book, it is a must have for all sales professionals. I can't believe Jeffrey isn't already 5x as popular as he is. His articles should be in every business publication in America. I am looking forward to meeting him this September when he is in Boston.
[...].
If you dont have this... your stuck in the 80's and you wont sell!.......2007-06-08
The sales bible is the bible of sales... no joke... no compromise... its really the new way of selling that has changed from the 80's to 2000! Get this or you will really fall behind!
Product Description
The cure for scrapbooking block. Filled with 1,240 sketches of scrapbook-page elements you can ""scraplift,"" My Creative Companion will give you endless ideas for any layout. Ideas: Borders, Embellishments, designs, mats, backgrounds & more!
It's easy to use - simply browse sketches until you find one that's perfect for the page you're working on, then re-create the concept on your layout. By Becky Higgins. 190+ semi-glossy full color pages. Color(s) may vary slightly from image.
Customer Reviews:
A Beloved Classic and It Still Works.......2007-09-28
I bought this book 5 years ago, and I still use it. This book, and all of Becky's sketch books, give you ideas for pages not reliant upon products, designs, or themes. I simply look for a page layout based on how many photos I have and their orientation. Turn the book 90 degrees and you have more options. Turn it upside down for even more options. Have an empty space to fill with an accent? Check out that section. Wondering how to emphasize your focal point photo? Look at frames.
The best thing about this book is that the sketches do not rely upon the more modern trend of oddly sized photos. All the photos in this book are 4 x 6 or thereabouts. No PhotoShop skills or computer equipment is necessary!
Absolutely worth every penny.
Excellent Resource for a new-intermediate scrapper!.......2007-09-20
Becky Higgins is a wealth of ideas for scrappers, and this book is just the thing I need when I'm trying to put together a layout. In the world of scrapbooking, trends come and go, but because these ideas are based onkey graphic design concepts (and all of Becky's stuff is like this)they can easily transfer over to new styles and techniques. If you are an experienced scrapper, then you've probably seen a lot of this stuff before and would benefit from getting her newest book, "Best of Becky Higgins Sketches." But I consider this book indispensable!
GREAT SCRAPBOOKERS HELPER.......2007-05-18
THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR WHEN YOU HAVE A CREATIVE BLOCK -- LOTS OF IDEAS AND YOU CAN EASILY ADAPT THEM TO FIT YOUR STYLE! TONS AND TONS OF GREAT STUFF
My Creative Companion.......2007-05-12
Great Book, I love it. Good source of information and ideas. I would recommend it to anyone. I plan to get her other books also. Thanks Becky Higgins.
Great Generic Ideas With No Photos to Distract.......2007-01-31
My favorite part about this book is that it isn't just a bunch of pages other people have created that you then get caught up in the photos and stories, forgetting why you originally went looking. For years, I'd gotten the scrap magazines, which, while beautiful and ususally inspiring, did not always help me. I usually thought I had to find a book with exactly the theme I was working on. The good news is that you don't, and this book has mock-ups of layouts, borders, etc. that are easily adaptable to any book you're working on. I think the only downside might be that there are so many new techniques that have come out in the five years since it was published, that it may not cover as much as some might like. Having said that, I'm willing to bet the #2 that just came out will pick those up perfectly! From my perspective, buying either book (or even both!) would be a good investment for anyone who's found themselves stuck creatively!
Book Description
The Musician's Atlas, the best-selling contact and networking directory, is created especially for musicians and others to connect with fans and music business professionals. Completely updated for 2007, this ninth edition includes 15,000+ U.S. and international contacts in more than 28 categories, including club talent buyers; college and festival bookers; commercial and college radio programmers; promoters and publicitists; film and TV music supervisors; distributors; marketing services; and other essential contacts. Highlights of this edition include more than 800 new performance opportunities; song contests and CD compilation contacts; and e-commerce services.
Book Description
An unparalleled compendium of incisive essays, lively biographies, and authoritative and up-to-date source materials, Business is an operating system for your whole business, and includes:
--Original best-practice essays from over 150 of today's thought leaders
--Profiles of the 100 most influential business pioneers and management thinkers
--Summaries of the 70 most important business books of all time
--Over 300 practical checklists, covering all areas of management and career development
--A first-class world business almanac covering more than 150 countries, all 50 US states, and 24 industries
--A jargon-free dictionary of 6,000 business terms
--An extensive list of 3,000 information sources (books, journals, Web sites and organizations), covering 115 topics
"Could there be a business intelligence -- a set of abilities that dismantle those truly outstanding in the world of commerce? Could business intelligence be the mark of outstanding individual performers, as well as the building block of the best-performing companies?"
--From the Introduction by Daniel Goleman
Business: The Ultimate Resource offers unique access to the expertise and ideas that will drive global commerce and the art of management in the twenty-first century. Unmatched in scope and depth, and guided by a team of eminent advisors and editors, Business will become the "operating system" for any organization or anyone in business -- the infrastructure that drives ideas and action. Business illuminates the state of the art in business thinking and practice today, and will serve as the essential guide for seasoned executives, up-and-coming managers, entrepreneurs, consultants, administrators, educators, and students alike.
Much more than a reference, Business provides fascinating perspectives on the culture of business, which is arguably becoming the most potent force in society around the globe. The centerpiece of Business is a collection of over 150 original essays and thought pieces, commissioned especially for this volume from among the world's most dynamic business authors. From Warren Bennis on the four critical aspects of leadership to Charles Handy on the future of business to Peter Bernstein on the case against the long run, readers will learn what's on the minds of today's thought leaders. Business also includes colorful, and often surprising, biographies of the pioneers who have left their indelible marks on the business landscape: from the larger-than-life "robber barons," such as financier J.P. Morgan and oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, to today's high-tech and media titans, Bill Gates and Martha Stewart; from the groundbreaking research of W. Edwards Deming on quality and Abraham Maslow on psychological needs to today's high-profile strategy gurus, Gary Hamel and Rosabeth Moss Kanter.
Every page of Business is filled with information, inspiration, and application. For example, the management library section illuminates the most influential business books of all time, including Sun Tzu's timeless The Art of War, Alfred P. Sloan's My Years with General Motors, and James Champy and Michael Hammer's controversial bestseller, Reengineering the Corporation. Over 300 checklists, covering every aspect of management, offer a wealth of practical guidance for anyone who works: essential strategies for tackling virtually every challenge, from managing stress on the job to reading a balance sheet to making the most out of performance appraisals. With detailed industry overviews, an extensive dictionary of business terms, and a world-class almanac of facts and figures, Business has something for everyone.
Let the collective wisdom of generations of trailblazers be your guide to achieving business literacy -- a working knowledge of the key thinking, writing, people, and trends that define business today -- and ultimately the business intelligence to thrive in a world of complexity and possibility.
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyed. Good read.......2006-01-23
Picked up on a lot of great new concepts in business enterprise. The entrepreneurial parts
are sound. A good read.
Not bad.......2005-07-11
I loved reading this book. Was excellent reading during the 4th of July.
Incomplete Geography.......2004-01-13
This book contains a "World Business Almanac" with significant information on all countries of the world - all countries, that is, except Madagascar! Imagine my surprise having bought this book as a general resource and being able to find out economic and other information on all countries, including North Korea and Cuba, but to find Madagascar missing!
Great Detail...A bit Dry..........2003-07-04
I enjoyed this book, and I think it will have great value for anyone who wants to learn more about Business. On the other hand, for those of us who are entrepreneurs, or have the spirit of creating, the book is a little dry. But still recomended.
Jabu Studio
www.jabustudio.com
Size Does Matter................2003-06-24
This book is massive and holds a wealth of information unsurpassed by any management/business book I've encountered. The layout is exceptional and is unassuming as it's driven by icons and clearly organized. The book has a top-notch advisory board. The little extras listed under "For More Information" such as websites and books are invaluable. They've done all the legwork for you. Also, each section highlights possible application of the concept discussed in a section called "Making It Happen" and the numerous management checklist make this book very applied. If there is a lacuna in your knowledge base it will surly be filled with Business the Ultimate Resource. Additionally, the bios and details of business gurus are helpful in understanding what it takes to be successful in a global market. Yes, this book does have a global perspective from illustrating the Japanese methodology of Kaizen to business opportunities in Mozambique. So, if you are looking for an exceptional reference book that overshadows Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace by 670 pages this is it!
Book Description
Now revised and fully updated, the second edition of the acclaimed one-stop reference tool for business literacy in the twenty-first century
The "Business Bible" that captured the imaginations and fueled the ambitions of readers from the boardroom to the mailroom has now been completely revised and updated to reflect the state of the business world today. This one-ofa- kind reference guide offers readers a portable M.B.A. between two covers without the expense of tuition, the trouble of entrance exams, or the struggle of making it to classes on time. As business is arguably the most potent force in society today--CEOs wield more power and influence than political leaders, trade of goods and services spreads cultural values around the globe, even the rules of commerce increasingly govern the administration of our educational, nonprofit, and social institutions--it is more important than ever that professionals from all walks of life understand its language and its theories. Business: The Ultimate Resource captures the state of the art in business today, and the extensive revisions and additions make this second editionthe undisputed reference for anyone in the field. The additional material includes 30 new articles from authors such as Michael E. Gerber, Howard Rheingold, and Francis Fukuyama; the Management Library is 40 percent new with 39 articles, including "The Tipping Point" and "Barbarians at the Gate." Moreover, everything else--from the Actionlists to the Dictionary-is fully updated to reflect the latest in business knowledge. Business is the gold standard of insight and information for executives and managers, entrepreneurs, administrators, educators, and students alike.
Book Description
If you want to know what the Bible says about topics like computers or nutrition or psychology, you may not find them in regular concordances.
Where to Find It in the Bible helps you locate specific Bible references to thousands of different subjects!
This is a contemporary concordance that uses common phrases to help you locate biblical sources on a myriad of subjects, both traditional and offbeat.
Useful to Bible readers, students, Sunday school teachers, youth directors, counselors, pastors, or anyone who wants to find - using everyday speech - relevant Bible passages quickly and easily. An A-to-Z listing of topics puts key Scriptures at your fingertips, without heavy theological language. Includes humorous illustrations throughout.
Features:
- Entries from Ability to Zoology
- Humorous illustrations throughout
- Fast, fun way to find Scriptures on a variety of contemporary topics
Download Description
If you want to know what the Bible says about chiropodists, computers, or credit cards WHERE TO FIND IT IN THE BIBLE helps you locate specific Bible references to over 3,700 different subjects. This contemporary concordance helps you locate Biblical sources on a yriad of subjects, both traditional and offbeat.
Customer Reviews:
Bible index.......2007-10-17
This book is an excellent resource for finding topics in the bible. I highly recommend this to any Christian person. Best guide I have ever seen.
Outstanding!.......2007-09-11
"Where To Find It in the Bible" is an excellent resource for finding contemporary issues in the Bible. I had ordered additional copies "just in case" and sure enough, those copies were taken the same day.
I highly recommend this item as a good biblical study and resource tool.
Ato Z.......2007-08-23
This is a very helpful book although I have only used it a couple of times.
Very Useful.......2007-02-04
I have a ministry for young girls and I use this book constantly. It provides me with location for the modern topics that we discuss in the ministry. My 16 year old daugther loves it when she has a question and wants to know what the word says she grabs this book.
This book is great for young adults and those who have young adults in their lives.
I love this book!.......2007-01-26
This book is very helpful. It saves a great deal of time by telling you where in the Bible you can find scriptures about virtually anything! Would recommend to EVERYONE!
Amazon.com
Julian L. Simon is the world's greatest contrarian. The Ultimate Resource 2--an update, not a sequel, despite the title--skewers the sacred cows of environmentalism, population control, and Paul Ehrlich. In the contest between resource scarcity and human ingenuity, Simon bets the farm on the ability of intelligent people to overcome their problems. Thankfully, he is not a theorist. This book lays out convincing empirical evidence for Simon's prediction of a prosperous future. The key to progress is not state-run conservation programs, he says, but economic and political freedom. Only then can talented minds properly apply themselves to our earthly dilemmas.
Book Description
Arguing that the ultimate resource is the human imagination coupled to the human spirit, Julian Simon led a vigorous challenge to conventional beliefs about scarcity of energy and natural resources, pollution of the environment, the effects of immigration, and the "perils of overpopulation." The comprehensive data, careful quantitative research, and economic logic contained in the first edition of The Ultimate Resource questioned widely held professional judgments about the threat of overpopulation, and Simon's celebrated bet with Paul Ehrlich about resource prices in the 1980s enhanced the public attention--both pro and con--that greeted this controversial book.
Now Princeton University Press presents a revised and expanded edition of The Ultimate Resource. The new volume is thoroughly updated and provides a concise theory for the observed trends: Population growth and increased income put pressure on supplies of resources. This increases prices, which provides opportunity and incentive for innovation. Eventually the innovative responses are so successful that prices end up below what they were before the shortages occurred. The book also tackles timely issues such as the supposed rate of species extinction, the "vanishing farmland crisis," and the wastefulness of coercive recycling.
In Simon's view, the key factor in natural and world economic growth is our capacity for the creation of new ideas and contributions to knowledge. The more people alive who can be trained to help solve the problems that confront us, the faster we can remove obstacles, and the greater the economic inheritance we shall bequeath to our descendants. In conjunction with the size of the educated population, the key constraint on human progress is the nature of the economic-political system: talented people need economic freedom and security to bring their talents to fruition.
Customer Reviews:
Simon research is revealing and a joy too study!.......2006-08-02
The engineering process for forecasting scarcity is as follows: 1. Estimate the presently known physical quantity of the 2. Extrapolate the future rate of use from the current use rate; and 3. Subtract the successive estimates of use in from inventory.
The economic process for forecasting is as follows: 1. ask whether there is any convincing reason to think that the period for which you are forecasting will be different from the past, going back as far as the data will allow; 2. if there is no good reason to reject the past trend as representative of the future as well, ask whether there is a reasonable explanation for the observed trend; 3. if there is no reason to believe that the future will be different than from the past, and if you have a solid explanation for the trend-or even if you lack a solid theory, but the data are overwhelming-project the trend into the future.
There is a wide disparity between engineering and economic forecasting. "Prediction is always a leap of faith; there is no scientific guarantee from past to future. The correctness of an assumption that what happened in the past will similarly happen in the future rests on your wise judgment and knowledge of your subject matter." "A prediction based on past data is sound if it is sensible to assume that the past and the future belong to the same statistical universe, that is, if you can expect conditions that held in the past to remain the same in the future. Ask yourself, "have conditions changed in recent years in such manner that the data on natural resources generated over the many past decades are no longer relevant."
The costs of natural resources have been steadily declining. Another way of thinking about costs is the proportion of ones total income to get them. This measure reveals a steady decline. "This trend makes it clear that the cost of minerals-even if it becomes considerably higher, which we have no reason to expect-is almost irrelevant to our standard of living, and hence an increased scarcity of mineral is not a great danger to our peacetime standard of living.
World reserves do not go down they even go up. The anti-intuitive conclusion is that even as we use coal and oil and iron and other natural resources, they are becoming less scarce.
As soon as information about an impending scarcity becomes known and accepted, people begin buying the commodity; they bid up the present market price until it reflects the expected future scarcity. In 1973, Japanese overreacted to OPEC supply manipulation. "The Japanese, and above all Japanese officialdom, were seized by hysteria in 1974 when raw materials shortages were cropping up everywhere. They bought and bought and bought (copper, iron, pulp, sulfur, and coking coal). Now they are frantically trying to get out of commitments to take delivery, and have slashed raw materials imports nearly in half. Even so, industrial inventories are bulging with high-priced raw materials." Japan paid heavy for the blunder. Mineral resources will not rise in real price but only adjust for inflation.
The prophecies of "Limits to Growth" are false. Interestingly, China attempted to control growth resulting in millions starving. The Chinese chose to start having babies. The Chinese government responded with force and implemented a policy of one child per family. A political scientist discussing the relationship of resources to national security refers to the "incontrovertible fact that many crucial resources are nonrenewable". "The assumption of finiteness indubitably misleads many scientific forecasters because their conclusions follow inexorably from that assumption. Limits to Growth gives this false doctrine, "The world model is based on the fundamental assumption that there is an upper limit to the total amount of food that can be produced annually by the world's agricultural system". John Maynard Keynes doctrine of diminishing returns implied an assertion impending scarcity in Europe. "Law of diminishing returns" fails because there is no law that compels cost to rise. Technology advancements mitigate the effects of diminishing returns when applied to costs.
Price is the key. Low prices cause innovation. Innovation reduces inefficiency. Increased efficiency improves discovery of new resources or a substitute process or commodity: Kerosene for oil, electricity for steam, and possibility hydrogen for hydro. Future generations will be better off for the discovery. Heighten scarcity causes prices to rise. The higher prices present opportunity and prompt investors and entrepreneurs to search for solutions. In a free society solutions are eventually found.
Infinite resource. "Even if energy is the relevant constraint for fabricating new kinds of raw materials, on would need to take into account, at the very least, all the mass/energy in the solar system. This amount is so huge relative to our use of energy, even by many multiples of the present population and many multiples of the present rate of individual use, that the end of the solar system in seven billion years or whenever would hardly be affected by our energy use now."
Man has a strong propensity towards creation rather than destruction. We can expect a positive preponderance of creativity over our exploitative activities. We are not at a turning point of destruction. Instead there is a reliable long-term pattern of non-scarcity exists.
The "Population Bomb" is erroneous, "the battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s the world will undergo famines-hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death". Food production is so complete that if government subsidies did not artificially hold up the prices then food prices would drop to lower levels. More food is grown on less land and with less labor. Erosion losses are mitigated, as farmers move towards flat land agriculture. Flat land is farmed using large equipment, automated irrigation systems, and better fertilizers. Economy of scale increases supply. Food production in the US could be immediately enlarged if the government stopped paying farmers to keep idle land. The price of wheat has fallen adjusted for inflation even as the world demand for wheat increased. "Food supply increased because of agricultural knowledge resulting from research and development that was induced by the increased demand, together with the improved ability of farmers to get their produce to market on better transportation." All-important historical trends point towards cheaper food. Famines were caused by government policies: 1958 Chinese famine (30 million died) and 1930s Ukranians (7 million died), and Africa and Somolia distribution breakdowns and warlord profiteering. In 1991, China had reversed its scarcity problems and was shipping grain and meat to the Soviets. India can vastly improve its food production and seek to match Japan and Taiwan food production levels. Better storage would reduce waste to pests by 15-20 percent. In short run costs increase, but in the long run population pressures reduce costs.
Hydroponics is sufficiently practical that one supermarket has built a 10,000 sq ft vegetable garden. Phytofarm in Dekalb, Illinois produces mainly lettuce and other garden vegetables in a factory measuring 200 by 250 feet, at a rate of a ton of food per day, enough to completely feed 500 to 1000 people. Energy from artifical light is the key raw material in state-of-the-art hydroponics. Even at present electricity costs, PhytoFarm is profitable, and its food prices are affordable at ordinary American incomes. The entire present population of the world could be supplied with a square area about 140 miles on a side. Phytofarm techniques could feed a hundred times the world present population, say 500 billion people, on 1 percent of present farmland.
Fish farms have begun to produce at or near competitive prices. The main obstacle to a rapid increase in aquaculture costs and hence is that wild fish are too cheap to invite competition. Aquaculture capacity can be expanded almost indefinitely.
We believe too much bad news. We need to have more faith in free markets and innovation. Land is almost irrelevant to food production.
The sharp rise in the 1970s provides an illustrative case history of government intervention in the energy market. Conventional experts predicted a continued rise to say $3 a barrel by 1990s. The 1979 OPEC prices rise were the result of cartel agreements and not extraction cost increases. If one wants to know about he world's capacity to produce oil, the appropriate indicator is the cost of production and transportation and for oil the cost remains a small portion of the production costs. During the energy crisis the cost of oil did not raise at all and it remain 1 percent of the selling price of crude. The energy prices to the consumer had been falling continually. In the face of world-wide surplus of oil, Saudi Arabia and several other OPEC nations cut their oil production by 10 percent. "Still another waste due to false energy scares was the $15 billion thrown away on the development of synthetic fuels." "Government price-regulation system had the effect of supporting the OPEC cartel's price-fixing power and subsidizing member countries operations". The government measures harmed the consumer causing short-run shortages and long-run diminishing supply.
When OPEC boosted the price of oil in 1973, the price of uranium began to jump from $8 to $53 a ton within three years. This meant that Westinghouse might accrue losses of perhaps $2 billion. At the same time Gulf Oil together with the Canadian government and other producers of uranium got together to keep the price of uranium high.
Stick to the arguments.......2006-03-26
One reviewer below, apparently without any pause to shift gears manages to write:
"The poor quality of the critics' arguments, along with their ad hominem attacks, reveals why environmentalist doomsaying is a sad, pathetic, quasi-religion that bitterly opposes examining the facts."
Assuming he or she knows what 'ad hominem' means, this shows just how hard it is to stay objective when the stakes are so high.
Sebb
What would Simon say now?.......2005-11-06
Julian Simon won a famous ten-year-long bet with Paul Erlich regarding the prices of certain resources in the 1980's, which Simon predicted would decline in real terms. If Simon hadn't died a few years ago and he had made a similar set of bets with someone starting in 1995 for resources like Atlantic cod, copper, nickel, natural gas in North America and petroleum, by 2005 he would have lost, and spectacularly so. Apparently Simon's model for "unlimited" resources has begun to break down. The increasingly strained world oil supply shows that throwing more ingenuity and money at a resource problem can't always solve it. For example, despite having access to petroleum and natural gas from the North Sea, with the double-digit decline in North Sea output the British government has plans for _rationing_ fossil fuels this winter (2005-06) in the event of prolonged frigid weather.
And why do people keep referring to the Simon/Ehrlich bet any way? It doesn't follow from that contest that things haven't gone awry now.
As for the reviewer who blames government regulations and environmentalists for our current resource constraints, consider the following:
1. The world consumes a billion barrels of oil every 12 days or so at the current rate, up by 20 percent from a decade ago. If environmentalists and government regulators have tried to interfere with the growth of this flow of petroleum, they have clearly failed.
2. Much of our oil comes from parts of the world with few or no environmental restrictions. Even within the U.S., people along the Gulf Coast live with a level of petroleum-derived pollution and environmental damage that the rest of the country wouldn't tolerate.
3. Evolutionary psychologists will tell you that when people experience economic anxiety, they often blame other tribes for the resource problems they helped to cause themselves. If you feel anxious about having to pay twice as much for natural gas or gasoline as you did a couple years ago, look in the mirror for the reason instead of blaming caricatures from the Right's demonology.
Simon would still win today.......2005-10-16
If you examine the history of all "resources" you discover that they do become cheaper and more abundant over time. Why? In the better book, The Unltimate Resource, Simon goes into much more in depth research and analysis. The human mind is the "Ultimate Resource."
Lets take one example, copper. Copper was heavily used in the telecommunictions industry as well as in electronics. But the heavier user was in telecommunications. All of the scare about copper running out was nonsense in many ways. But the way that no ideologically driven socialist/environmentalist ever considers is through invention and innovation. The invention of fiber optical cable eliminated millions of tons worth of copper phone lines. Optical cable is made out of sand, the most abundant resource on the planet. We will never run out. Then consider that nano-technology is already working on making a nano fiber that will conduct electricity. Nano fibers are made out of carbon, THE most abundant resource in the universe! As soon as that work is finished, millions of tons of copper overhead electrical and underground cable will be recycled. Coppers price will go down again, and its abundance will increase. Humans continue to do this, create something that has never existed before and increase the abundance of all resources.
Lets also recognize that it was the discovery of petroleum oil and its production that saved the whales, as it made the whaling fleets obsolete. Wihtin a few years the whaling towns of boston and maine went mostly bust. Whaling was expensive and dangerous. Petroleum oil, not whale oil then became the lubricant of the industrial revolution. Lets think about photography and silver. All film was silver intensive. With the advent of digital photography, now including digital x-rays! All of the silver and all of the chemicals once needed are not needed any longer. This now frees up that resource! Every advance in technology eventually replaces the lower, least productive and least efficient technology. It is an ongoing evolutionary process!
The difference between Dr. Simon and the green left is one of basic philosohpy. He and those like him believe in humanity and humanities incredible capabilities and the detractors do not. Is the glass half empty or half full is not a cogent arguement as long as one side [the green communists] stops up the mouth of the glass and allows no new water into the glass.
If you can stop all invovation and sustain humanity then yes, all resources will eventually run out! That is the main point.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
M. A. Plus "Advanced Atheist"
<
<"Apparently Simon's model for "unlimited" resources has begun to break down. The increasingly strained world oil supply shows that throwing more ingenuity and money at a resource problem can't always solve it." >>
what bunk!
What Simon's critics never include in their "devanced" calculus is the factor of government interference in the markets through burdensome regulation. Environmental regulations, prohibitions on drilling, mining etc has caused an artificial shortage in these resources. These Enviro-morons have missed Simon et al's arguement. That given a free market and indivudals left alone to persue their "self" interesst all resources would drop in price and increase in abundance. Simon would win again if "environmentlaly safe" mining, drilling and exploration was allowed in and around the continental united states and throughout the world.
It is the artifical shortages cuased by enviro-socialism that makes it apear to the intellectually shallow, as if resources are increasing in scarcity and are going up in price.
Are you kidding me?.......2005-09-23
More frightening than Simon's non-sensical conclusions are the number of other reviewers who actually buy what Simon says. Here's one example of Simon's gross mischaracterization of scientifically accepted limits to our planet.
Simon suggests that we have infinite material and energy resources because the earth is an open system. Wrong! The earth scientifically accepted to be a closed system materially (save the odd meteor). This means that matter on earth is finite (a word Simon hates), and that it cycles through our ecological and geological systems.
The earth is an open system in terms of energy, because it receives a steady stream of energy from the sun. However, this in not infinite either, in a practical sense. Sure, we can consider it infinite in the sense that the flow will last billions of years, but the level of the flow is finite. If someone promised you $1000 a month for a million years, you wouldn't be a millionaire. You'd still have to budget that $1000 each month. That's what the earth does with the flow of energy from the sun. Therefore, to achieve sustainability, we must be able to exist with a finite level of material and energy resources.
Simon responds to this scientific reality by quoting Stephen Hawking about the infinite universe. No argument here. The universe may well be infinite, but the fact that we can't quite comprehend the outer limits of our universe has little bearing on our earthly supplies of energy and drinking water, for example. Simon tries to circumvent scientific reality with academic-sounding slight of hand, and he made a lot of money preaching his "good news" to those who don't want to hear anything else. Don't fall for it.
Still, this is worth reading just to be aware of the slop that Simon (and Bjorn Lomborg, Simon's predecessor)are trying to pass off as science.
Book Description
Do you want to learn and ultimately master Google's web and software tools beyond what information can find through their help files?
Well Googlepedia shows both casual end-users and professional web developers how to get the most out of the Google search site and Google's powerful tools. For web searchers, Googlepedia describes how Google indexes web pages and ranks search results, and provides step-by-step instructions on conducting both basic and advanced queries. All types of searches are presented, including searches of specific government and university web sites. Finally, webmasters and website developers learn how to submit their pages to Google for indexing, increase their search rankings, incorporate Google searches on their Web sites, and use Google's Adsense service to make money from any sized website.
For all web users, Googlepedia shows how to use and master Google's web-based and software-based tools. Readers learn how to enhance their PC's operation with the Google Pack and Google Toolbar; map destinations, get driving directions, and find nearby businesses with Google Maps and Google Earth; find the best online bargains with Froogle; instant message other users with Google Talk; view web pages in other languages with Google Translate; create their own blogs with Blogger; use Google on their mobile phones; and much, much more.
Customer Reviews:
Comprehensive and High-Level Bird's Eye View.......2007-10-03
Comprehensive and High-Level Bird's Eye View of an impossibly huge collection of:
* Basic, Specialized Searches, and Additional Features,
* Shopping and Product Searches,
* Maps and Directions, Communication Services,
* Multimedia,
* Other Services,
* Google Software Tools,
* Google for Business and Developers,
* Into the future,
This is an impressive work of trying to summarize (even though it took 800 pages) of an impossible huge number Services and Products that are offered by Google. Some of these are totally disjoint, and some really related and extensions of each others.
This is an excellent comprehensive Reference Book to have next to your computer. I was very pleasantly surprised by many things, for example:
* Searching for Financial, University, Technical, and Government information,
* Google alerts and Updates, Making Google Safe for Kids, and other Languages and Translation Capabilities,
* I refined my ability to use to use Maps and Directions,
* I was impressed with Google Answers and Book Search, Tools for desktop, Calendar, and Google Pack,
* Was really happy to find Picasa, which is good image processing Application,
* Found out things about Google Labs, and found the Advanced Search Operators to be extremely helpful for navigation into the book and understanding of it.
Again, as one of the Google Mottos, Michael Miller has made the Impossible, Possible with this book. And not only he has done "No Evil", he has done an excellent job.
Bruce Razban,
President/Founder, Razban Internet International
Silicon Valley, CA, USA
But ... why?.......2007-04-19
I would be the last person to complain about turning to books for information, and am even willing to argue that reading a well-done book about something can in some cases be an adequate substitute for experiencing it directly. But after looking through the nearly 800 pages of the "Google-pedia," I am still not entirely sure why it's necessary or for whom it is intended.
In my experience (and I admit to being a heavy user of Google products), Google specializes in two things: online searches -- obviously -- and also in making their products easy to understand and work with. I frankly saw very little in this "Google-pedia" that a user couldn't find in Google's own help documentation, or even figure out intuitively just from poking around the various sites and programs.
Perhaps it is easier or less intimidating for people less comfortable with the 'Net to have this kind of information readily available in book form instead of having to search for it online. In that case, this might be a decent enough introduction to the wealth of ways Google can facilitate (or monopolize, if you see it that way) your online experience. But I would suspect that more experienced users won't really find a whole lot in these pages they didn't already know or couldn't figure out with a minimal amount of curiosity and effort.
Simply " The Best".......2007-03-25
This book describes the many ways to refine your search on the web plus so much mors. Google is the largest search engine on the web witch explains the nearly 800 pages of Googlepedia. It has a prominent place in my library.
WHO KNEW!?!?.......2006-11-10
Did you know that Google has free email servie? Did you know that Google has a service, similar to EBay where you can buy/sell items? Did you know that you can download Google software, FREE, that could also sweep your hard drive to find items you've lost? Did you know all of the many different ways to use the search engine to find a wealth of information? Well, I was amazed to learn of these things and much, much more. I've recommended this book to everyone at my place of work and I will be buying three more copies at Christmas gifts for members of my family.
I highly recommend Googlepedia.
Book Description
Here is the most comprehensive guide to leading a training session or workshop ever published. This ``soup-to-nuts" reference answers just about every question a trainer/facilitator might have about leading a successful training program, from motivating participants to measuring the results. Based on 25 years of workshop experience, the book features hundreds of professional tips and tricks, plus reproducible materials to use at every step of the training process.
Customer Reviews:
The Ultimate Training Workshop.......2007-01-26
This book has everything one needs to lead successful workshops and training programs, from agendas to evaluations. It gives strategies for designing workshops to meet the needs of the learners. It reviews models and theories of best practices. If you are in the business of providng workshops or training this book is an excellent resource. It has everything you need.
A mixed blessing.......2001-04-13
This is the most useful Training book I've come across in a long time. I find myself referring to it often. However, it is in desperate need of editing. It could easily be cut down by 1/3 - and that would make it much better.
Did anyone edit this book?.......2001-01-06
It is tragic to find wonderful research compiled into a book wrought with spelling, grammatical, and sentence structure errors. Unnecessary comments by the author makes reading even more tedious. A new edition with a good editor would make this book priceless.
Did anyone edit this book?.......2001-01-06
It is tragic to find wonderful research compiled into a book wrought with spelling, grammatical, and sentence structure errors. Unnecessary comments by the author makes reading even more tedious. A new edition with a good editor would make this book priceless.
A must for people in the workshop business!.......1999-03-05
"Ultimate" and "comprehensive" are the key words in the title that set this handbook apart from the others. They say it all - over 600 pages of checklists, diagrams, models, and examples covering every topic of the workshop business. And you are given permission to copy pages for personal workshop use! When paging through the book I began to play a game - he must have missed something! Well, whatever it is, I'm still looking...
Books:
- Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution
- America's Great Depression
- American Environmentalism: Readings In Conservation History
- Basic College Mathematics (7th Edition) (Lial Developmental Mathematics Series)
- Basics of Industrial Hygiene (Preserving the Legacy)
- Best Practices in Leadership Development and Organization Change: How the Best Companies Ensure Meaningful Change and Sustainable Leadership (Essential Knowledge Resource)
- Beyond the Bubble: How to Keep the Real Estate Market in Perspective--and Profit No Matter What Happens
- Business and Its Environment (5th Edition)
- Business and Its Environment (5th Edition)
- Capitalism at the Crossroads: The Unlimited Business Opportunities in Solving the World's Most Difficult Problems
Books Index
Books Home
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- For a Few Demons More
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- Biology: Concepts & Connections with Student CD-ROM
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- 8vo: On the outside
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General
| Business & Investing
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| Books
Triggers: 30 Sales Tools you can use to Control the Mind of your Prospect to Motivate, Influence and Persuade.
Tested Advertising Methods (Prentice Hall Business Classics)
The Irresistible Offer: How to Sell Your Product or Service in 3 Seconds or Less
Marketing Secrets of a Mail Order Maverick : Stories & Lessons on the Power of Direct Marketing to Start a Successful Business, Create a Brand
How to Write a Good Advertisement
