Thomas Piketty is a fine example of an evaluative thinker. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, he not only provides detailed and sustained explanations of why he sees existing arguments relating to income and wealth distribution as flawed, but also gives us very detailed evaluations of the significance of a vast amount of data explaining why incomes is distributed in the ways it is. As Piketty stresses, “the distribution question… deserves to be studied in a systematic and methodical fashion.” This stress on evaluating the significance of data leads him to focus on the central evaluative questions, and look in turn at the acceptability, relevance, and adequacy of existing justifications for the unequal distribution of wealth. In doing so, Piketty applies his understanding of the data to answering the deeply important question of what political structures and what policies are necessary to move us towards a more equal society. Piketty’s evaluation of the data supports his argument that inequality cannot be depended on to reduce over time: indeed, without government intervention, it is highly likely to increase. In addition, he evaluates international data to argue that poor countries do not necessarily become less poor as a result of foreign investment. This strong emphasis on the interrogation of data, rather than building mathematical models that are divorced from data, is a defining feature of Piketty’s work.

In Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne tackle the central problem facing all businesses: how to perform better than your competitors? Their solution involves taking a creative approach to the normal view of competition. In the normal framework, competition is a zero-sum game: if there are two companies competing for the same market, as one does better, the other has to do worse. The authors’ creative leap is to suggest one can beat the competition by not competing. Companies should avoid confronting competitors in crowded marketplaces, what they call “red oceans,” and instead seek out new markets, or “blue oceans.” Once the blue oceans have been identified, companies can get down to the task of creating unique products which exploit that market. Chan and Mauborgne argue, for example, that a wine company might decide to start appealing to a group previously uninterested in wine. This would be a “blue ocean” market, giving the winemaker a huge advantage, which they could exploit by creating a wine that appealed to the tastes of a beer-drinking demographic. A classic of business writing, Blue Ocean Strategy is creative thinking and problem solving at its best.

We're all in Sales now Parents sell their kids on going to bed. Spouses sell their partners on mowing the lawn. We sell our bosses on giving us more money and more time off. And in astonishing numbers we go online to sell ourselves on Facebook, Twitter and Match.com profiles. Relying on science, analysis and his trademark clarity of thought, Pink shows that sales isn't what it used to be. Then he provides a set of tools, tips, and exercises for succeeding on this new terrain - including six new ways to pitch your idea, three ways to understand another's perspective, five frames that can make your message clearer, and much more.

Written by a man with inside knowledge of all the major players, this is the story of how the economic crisis continues to haunt us, and why the unchecked recklessness of some banks is still a threat to our financial future. Bad Banks is a gripping account of the problems and scandals that continue to bedevil the world's banking system some seven years after the credit crunch. It follows the fortunes and misfortunes of individual banks, from RBS to Lloyds. It exposes instances of mis-selling, money laundering, interest rate fixing and incompetence. And it considers the bigger picture: how the failings of the world's banking system are threatening to undermine our future economic security. Alex Brummer, the City Editor of the Daily Mail, has had access to all the major players, from HBOS's Andy Hornby, to former Governor of the Bank of England Sir Mervyn King, to the ex-Chief Executive of Barclays, Bob Diamond, to Lloyds' António Horta-Osório. His book is an insightful -- and terrifying -- account of institutions once renowned for their probity, but now all too often a byword for incompetence, and worse.

At one time, people saw their homes simply as a place to live. Nowadays, property is more likely to be seen as a potentially lucrative business, safer and more reliable than many other types of investment. But property investment is a highly complex business - do you want to be a sideline or full-time investor? What type of property may be best for you and your portfolio? And have you anticipated every single expense involved in renovating that 'bargain' property? This new edition of the Complete Guide to Investing in Property looks at all aspects of property investment - from making money from your own home, to property development, buy-to-let, investing abroad, taking in lodgers and commercial premises. Inspiring case studies and cautionary tales will help readers weigh up the pros and cons of investing in property. The book also includes new information on the latest government legislation, including SIPPs, plus a new country-by-country section with useful contact details and website addresses. This is both an informative and entertaining read and a valuable reference source.

This is a simple, effective way to transform your finances and your life from leading financial advisor and New York Times columnist Carl Richards. Creating a financial plan can seem overwhelming, but the best plans aren't long or complicated. A great plan has nothing to do with the details of how to save and invest your money and everything to do with why you're doing it in the first place.

Knowing what's important to you, you will be able to make better decisions in any market conditions. The One-Page Financial Plan will help you identify your values and goals. Carl Richard's simple steps will show you how to prioritize what you really want in life and figure out how to get there.

"In a world where financial advice is (often purposely) complicated and filled with jargon, Carl Richards distils what matters most into something that is easy and fun to read." (Wall Street Journal). "Feeling tormented by your finances?

The One-Page Financial Plan helps you identify what you truly want from life, get crystal clear about the financial position you are starting from today, and develop a simple, actionable plan to narrow the gap between the two." (Manisha). Thakor, CEO at MoneyZen Wealth Management Carl Richards is a certified financial planner and a columnist for the New York Times, where his weekly Sketch Guy column has run every Monday for over five years. He is also a columnist for Morningstar magazine and a contributor to Yahoo Finance.

When we speak about the image of a hotel we instantly think about architecture or interior design, but obviously there are some other very important details to achieve that final touch that will distinguish one hotel from another: the logo, the stationery– which includes business cards, letters and envelopes– the beloved “Do not disturb” hangers, signage on vehicles, toiletries, magazines and other welcome gifts for their customers. A range of products that are carefully designed to get the best corporate image. In Hotel brand indentity we’ll see a selection of branding designed by some of the best creatives worldwide.

Trade impacts on the lives of all global citizens, influencing the range of commodities available for consumption and where those commodities are produced. Driven increasingly by market exchange, trade shapes the nature of work and how the costs and benefits of that work are distributed around the world. Economic growth and development are closely associated with the flows of goods and services between countries. International Trade: The Basics offers an accessible and engaging introduction to contemporary debates on international trade, inviting readers to explore the connections between national political economies within a globally integrated world. Topics covered include: Why nations trade Globalization and transnational production networks Transnational governance The emergence of Asia as a major trade region Ethical trade and environmental sustainability Trade in solar energy, services and ideas. Featuring case studies and social media links that help to illustrate key concepts, this book is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand how trade varies between regions, affects relationships between countries and influences a country’s social, political and economic life.

The completion of a successful venture capital transaction is no easy task, requiring the venture capitalist to simultaneously play the part of both coach and negotiator with the entrepreneur while ensuring that the deal passes the scrutiny of the fund. Klonowski provides one of the most comprehensive overviews of the internal and external challenges of processing venture capital deals, providing an eight stage investment model that breaks down each part of the deal into its own specific challenges and rewards.

The Global Curse of the Federal Reserve reveals and explores the missing link between the Austrian School of Economics and behavioral finance theory. Monetary instability is the source of the waves of irrational exuberance (sometimes described as "asset price inflation"), which spread so much economic destruction and geo-political turmoil when they break. The largest and most destructive waves in the past 100 years have all been powered by monetary turmoil created by the Federal Reserve. Dr. Brown argues that flawed monetary practice and principles—most recently in the form of Bernanke-ism—have been responsible for the Fed-made havoc. The author comes to two optimistic conclusions. First, political forces in the US will one day gain sufficient strength to repeal Bernanke-ism. But the new revolutionaries must learn from the mistakes of the first monetarist revolution. Brown argues for the end of the Fed as a policy-making institution. Second, it is possible for investors to build substantial protection for their wealth and even profit from monetary chaos unleashed by the Federal Reserve—but this depends on throwing overboard much of the established wisdom about optimal portfolio management.

Most people don't know it yet, but branding is dead. Of course, we need to know about the things we want to buy, but the billions of pounds spent on logos, sponsorships, and jingles have little - if anything - to do with consumer behaviour. For example: -Dinosaur-headed execs in Microsoft ads didn't help sell software.

Corporate Finance: The Basics is a concise introduction to the inner workings of finance at the company level. It aims to take the fear out of corporate finance and add the fun in, presenting the subject in a way that is simple to grasp and easy to digest. Its aim is to explain – and demystify – the essential ideas of corporate finance, avoiding the heavy use of maths and formulae. The calculations and figures in the book are purely to illustrate fundamental concepts, appealing to readers’ common sense, rather than stretch their ability to do "number-crunching". Topics covered include: Financial statements through the corporate finance lens How to make investment decisions Cash versus profit Net working capital management How to determine the value of a business Through the use of a subject map, this book explains how the key components of the subject are connected with each other, strengthening the reader’s understanding. This book is the ideal introduction for anyone looking for a short yet scholarly overview of corporate finance.

The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Finance, Investment and Banking helps you understand and use financial language with more ease and confidence. Compiled by a finance professional with real-world experience on three continents, it is a highly practical

The traditional (final or average salary) pension that employers have provided their employees has suffered a huge decline in labor force coverage in the United Kingdom and the United States, and less severe declines in Canada and elsewhere. The traditional pension provides a precious measure of retirement security by paying retirees an annuity for life. This study compares developments in the countries just named and in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland to explain the forces behind the decline of the traditional pension and to contrast the experience of public sector employer-provided plans, where it remains dominant. Given the great value of the longevity insurance that the traditional plan provides, and the risks its diminished coverage entails, the book proposes a set of measures that either stem the decline or endow defined contribution pensions with some of the attributes of the traditional plan.

This book examines the origins of modern corporate finance systems during the rapid industrialization period leading up to World War I; leading to three sets of conclusions. First, modern financial systems are rooted in the past, are idiosyncratic to specific countries and are highly path-dependent. Therefore, to understand current financial institutions, we must take stock of the forces at play in the near and distant past. Second, financial institutions and markets do not create economic growth without significant first steps in industrial development and supporting institutions. Third, and most important from the modern policy standpoint, there is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution to financial system design and industrial development. Having specific types of financial institutions is far less important than developing a strong, stable and legally protected financial system with a rich diversity of institutions and vibrant markets that can adapt to changing needs.

Although coercion is a fundamental and unavoidable part of our social lives, economists have not offered an integrated analysis of its role in the public economy. The essays in this book focus on coercion arising from the operation of the fiscal system, a major part of the public sector. Collective choices on fiscal matters emerge from and have all the essential characteristics of social interaction, including the necessity to force unwanted actions on some citizens. This was recognized in an older tradition in public finance which can still serve as a starting point for modern work. The contributors to the volume recognize this tradition, but add to it by using contemporary frameworks to study a set of related issues concerning fiscal coercion and economic welfare. These issues range from the compatibility of an open access society with the original Wicksellian vision to the productivity of coercion in experimental games.

This second edition of the 'Reference Guide' is a comprehensive source of practical information on how countries can fight money laundering and terrorist financing. Aimed at helping countries understand the new international standards, it discusses the problems caused by these crimes, the specific actions countries need to take to address them, and the role international organizations play in the process. The 'Reference Guide' is a valuable tool for establishing effective regimes to successfully prevent, detect, and prosecute money laundering and terrorist financing.

Over the last decade, commentaries and research on urban tourism precincts have predominantly focused on: their role in the tourism attractions mix; their physical and functional forms; their economic significance; their role as a catalyst for urban renew

The productivity of a business exerts an important influence on its financial performance. A similar influence exists for industries and economies: those with superior productivity performance thrive at the expense of others. Productivity performance helps explain the growth and demise of businesses and the relative prosperity of nations. Productivity Accounting: The Economics of Business Performance offers an in-depth analysis of variation in business performance, providing the reader with an analytical framework within which to account for this variation and its causes and consequences. The primary focus is the individual business, and the principal consequence of business productivity performance is business financial performance. Alternative measures of financial performance are considered, including profit, profitability, cost, unit cost, and return on assets. Combining analytical rigor with empirical illustrations, the analysis draws on wide-ranging literatures, both historical and current, from business and economics, and explains how businesses create value and distribute it.

This book explains in detail corporate restructuring through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). It critically examines all functions that must be performed in completing an M&A transaction, as well as domestic and cross-border M&As, international finance, and multinational financial management. Given the increasing importance of China as the second largest economy in the world and Chinese companies' growing merger and acquisition activities globally, the authors devote the last two chapters of the book to China's outward foreign direct investment, cross-border M&A activities, and include case studies regarding Chinese foreign direct investment. The authors provide detail-oriented tasks including developing a strategy for merger or acquisition, finding a target, conducting due diligence, valuing the target company, conducting negotiations, and satisfactorily meeting the most challenging phase of an M&A transaction-to integrate the acquiring and acquired companies.

There is now a remarkably strong consensus among academics and professional economists that central banks should adopt explicit inflation targets and that all key monetary policy decisions, especially those concerning interest rates, should be made with a view to ensuring that these targets are achieved. This book provides a comprehensive review of the experience of inflation targeting since its introduction in New Zealand in 1989 and looks in detail at what we can learn from the past twenty years and what challenges we may face in the future. Written by a distinguished team of academics and professional economists from central banks around the world, the book covers a wide range of issues including many that have arisen as a result of the recent financial crisis. It should be read by anyone concerned with better understanding inflation targeting and its past, present and future role within monetary policy.

This collection of case-studies showcases the experiences of ten intriguing entrepreneurial ventures from emerging markets in the Arab world (Egypt, the UAE, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia).Readers will receive an in-depth insight on a variety of localized strategic, managerial, marketing, and innovative approaches and practices, which create unique challenges and opportunities in a region undergoing rapid political, social, and economic transformations. The unique case-studies address different stages within the exciting entrepreneurial cycle, from start-up to growth, sustainability, and international expansion.This casebook is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to know more about launching and sustaining a business within developing Arab economies, as well as being an effective teaching tool for disciplines related to new venture management and entrepreneurship.

Strategic corporate finance? This sounds like a paradox at first. After all, corporate finance means responding to the financial markets. Strategy, on the other hand, aims to change and shape the environment in the long term. Lately, though, more and more managers and investors appear to be breaking the laws of the capital market. At the same time, corporations are discovering new ways to not just react to the capital markets, but to actively shape them. The authors show that these violations are not isolated occurrences, but part of a paradigm shift. If companies want to stay successful in changing markets, they have to take a strategic approach to corporate finance. The authors use practical examples to demonstrate how this can be achieved. This book is intended not only for corporate finance experts, but also for students interested in the latest developments on the financial markets.

Environmental finance, particularly energy efficiency and renewable energy (EERE) finance, can and should serve as an interface to other sub-sectors of financial sector promotion such as microfinance, housing finance or agricultural finance. For example, existing clients of financial institutions include small and medium-sized enterprises and households, and these are often suffering from high energy prices or have no access to sustainable energy supply. At the same time, these clients are vulnerable to extreme weather events, and often hit hardest by the impact of climate change. There are many other examples which show that the financial sector has an enormous potential to support "green" investments. In order to tap this potential on a sustainable basis, it is important to have a sound understanding which role financial institutions can and should play. This book provides a blend of well-founded professional and scientific perspectives on the potential of Environmental finance in developing and transition countries.

The CityForm consortium's latest book, Dimensions of the Sustainable City, is the first book to report on an empirical multi-disciplinary study specifically designed to address urban sustainability. Drawing together the various dimensions of sustainability - economic, social, transport, energy and ecological - the book examines their relationships both to each other and to urban form. The book investigates the sustainability dimensions of cities through a series of projects based on a common list of elements of urban form, and which draw on the consortium's latest research to review the sustainability issues of each dimension. The elements of urban form include density, land use, location, accessibility, transport infrastructure and characteristics of the built environment. The book also addresses issues such as adapting cities, psychological and ecological benefits of green space and sustainable lifestyles, each presenting a critical review of the relevant literature followed by an empirical analysis presenting the key results. Based on studies across five UK cities, the book draws out findings of relevance to sustainable cities worldwide. As well as an invaluable reference to researchers in sustainable planning and urban design, the book will provide a useful text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses and for policy makers dealing with these issues. The CityForm consortium is a multi-disciplinary group of researchers from five universities funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council from 2003-07.

The second edition of Corporate Finance retains its clear and user friendly writing style to cover all of the latest research and topic areas most pertinent to Corporate Finance courses outside the United States. This new edition sees updated discussions on Bond and Interest Rate Risk, Risk Statistics, Behavioural Finance, Financial Distress and Public Debt.

This bestselling and thoroughly classroom-tested textbook is a complete resource for finance students. A comprehensive and illustrated discussion of the most common empirical approaches in finance prepares students for using econometrics in practice, while detailed case studies help them understand how the techniques are used in relevant financial contexts. Worked examples from the latest version of the popular statistical software EViews guide students to implement their own models and interpret results. Learning outcomes, key concepts and end-of-chapter review questions (with full solutions online) highlight the main chapter takeaways and allow students to self-assess their understanding. Building on the successful data- and problem-driven approach of previous editions, this third edition has been updated with new data, extensive examples and additional introductory material on mathematics, making the book more accessible to students encountering econometrics for the first time. A companion website, with numerous student and instructor resources, completes the learning package.

Since 1980, nearly every country has been affected by serious financial distress or systemic financial crises. Resolution of such crises requires a complex mix of macroeconomic and financial sector policies. One important element in the resolution of such

This is part two of a two-volume work presenting a comprehensive treatment of the finite-dimensional variational inequality and complementarity problem. It details algorithms for solving finite dimensional variational inequalities and complementarity problems. Coverage includes abundant exercises as well as an extensive bibliography. The book will be an enduring reference on the subject and provide the foundation for its sustained growth.

This is part one of a two-volume work presenting a comprehensive treatment of the finite-dimensional variational inequality and complementarity problem. It covers the basic theory of finite dimensional variational inequalities and complementarity problems. Coverage includes abundant exercises as well as an extensive bibliography. The book will be an enduring reference on the subject and provide the foundation for its sustained growth.

his book emphasizes the applications of statistics and probability to finance. The basics of these subjects are reviewed and more advanced topics in statistics, such as regression, ARMA and GARCH models, the bootstrap, and nonparametric regression using splines, are introduced as needed. The book covers the classical methods of finance and it introduces the newer area of behavioral finance. Applications and use of MATLAB and SAS software are stressed. The book will serve as a text in courses aimed at advanced undergraduates and masters students. Those in the finance industry can use it for self-study.

At last, a right up-to-the-minute volume on a topic of huge national and international importance. As governments around the world battle voter apathy, the need for new and modernized methods of involvement in the polity is becoming acute. This work provides information on advanced research and case studies that survey the field of digital government. Successful applications in a variety of government settings are delineated, while the authors also analyse the implications for current and future policy-making.

The editor has assembled a stellar group of experts to address such topics as: accounting reform in Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Armenia, Serbia, China, and Spain; accounting education and development of the accounting profession in several transition economies; and corporate governance issues in the developing world.

International Documents on Environmental Liability brings together 30 official full-text documents in the field of international environmental liability into an easily accessible, practical handbook; details the work of the International Law Commission on this topic; and provides the latest versions of international liability conventions and their statuses – including the latest on: (1) 2003 UNECE Kyiv Liability Protocol; (2) 2004 EC Directive on Environmental Liability; (3) 2005 Antartica Liability Annex. The authors’ combined capacity as an academic, policy advisor, and practitioner have helped bring forth a publication that reflects their experience of being involved in the development, negotiations and implementation of environmental liability regimes at both an international and European level.