Foundations of Economics: A Beginner's Companion

Book Description

This book covers all the essential economics concepts and addresses three main areas in detail: consumption and choice, production and markets, and governement and the state.

Customer Reviews:

A good companion..........2005-10-03

I am not finished with this book yet...to this moment I am half of the way. This book reads like a good novel, it is so well written that you can not put it down!!!
All issues are fairly addressed and explained. When you can learn and have a little bit of fun reading a book...It can not get any better...
If you are not an economist ( good for you!!!) but like me , are interested in the subjet..this book is for you.

Excellent Textbook Companion.......2004-08-19

If you want to expand your intellectual horizon, then this is the book for you. If, on the other hand, you wish to slavishly follow textbook dogma, never learn about the plethora of internal problems facing neo-classical theory (aka microeconomics), or perpetuate the fantasy that economics is objective, then keep away from this book!

For each of the three areas of consumption, production and welfare theory, the book provides a review, an history, and a critique. The last section of the book looks at methodological and then sociological questions. It is a sad comment on introductory textbooks that this "companion" out performs them in every area it deals with: its review of the textbook material is more lucid and entertaining; its historical background is more informative; its critique is devastating and thought-provoking. In short, it provides average undergraduate (and graduate!) economics students with an entirely new and exciting intellectual experience.

A different approach to economics.......1998-10-17

As a atudent of economics. I have to admit that this book has a unique style. Also as a course book. t has so many things to give. (One of our professors uses this book in his courses.)

Book Description

This analysis of how and why businesses buy outside legal services provides useful insights for businesses and law firms alike. In-house legal buyers at both Fortune 100 and new economy companies provide concrete examples of how some businesses have successfully and creatively restructured their in-house legal departments and their relationships with outside law firms. Included are many examples of firms that have successfully developed business and an examination of why other law firms fail at this important task. The subtle nuances that affect legal buying decisions and the impact of corporate globalization, law firm mergers, and the advent of multidisciplinary practice groups are also explored.

Customer Reviews:

An extraordinary insight into law firm marketing process.......2002-06-07

In a realm of law firm marketing literature that so often fails to understand the unique qualities of the legal profession and how lawyers relate to their markets, this book goes more deeply and intelligently into the mindset of corporations and how they purchase legal services. Where most marketing books go into the mechanics of the marketing process and miss the point about the subtleties of the process, Smith goes to the core of the process with a kind of sophistication rarely seen in law firm marketing literature. This book is essential to every law firm that wants to understand its markets and how people buy their services.

Inside Outside: How Businesses Buy Legal Services

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Inside Outside: How Businesses Buy Legal Services
Larry Smith
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MUIEFQ

Book Description

The focus of this book is on the management of inbound call centers. Based on technical performance measures this book develops economic performance measures for different classes of telephone service numbers. Both the numbers of agents and the number of offered phones lines are decision variables in the operational personnel planning process. Since call arrivals as well as call-handling times are random in inbound call centers, this book concentrates on performance analysis and optimization using queueing models. These models may differ with respect to several features, for example, the number of customer classes, the number of differently trained agent groups, the limitation of the waiting room, or the customer's impatience. This book describes mathematical methods and algorithms to relate these decision variables to technical as well as economic performance measures.

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Enthusiastically recommended home-style recipes

And Still I Cook
Leah Chase
Manufacturer: Pelican Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Cajun & Creole | U.S. Regional | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
South | U.S. Regional | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 156554823X

Book Description

This second cookbook from Leah Chase contains reflections on life, business, family, and friends, with the recipes that bring them all together. There are special menus from organizations that have gathered at the Dooky Chase Restaurant in New Orleans for years, "off the menu" specials prepared for customers with special needs or a craving for something different, and a number of classic Creole and gourmet recipes, with every recipe guaranteed to warm the heart and nourish the soul. Recipes include her famous Gumbo z'Hab and Shrimp Clemenceau; new recipes, like the delicious Veggie Jambalaya and Rice Pancakes with Ham and Tomato-Basil Sauce; and old favorites, like Oxtail Stew and Sweet Potato Soup.

Customer Reviews:

Enthusiastically recommended home-style recipes.......2003-08-11

And Still I Cook is a recipe collection compiled from the culinary author Leah Chase's fifty years of restaurant work and cooking experience. From Baked Cheese Grits with Jalapeno Peppers; Pan-Fried Sac-A-Lait; and Rosemary Chicken; Cabbage Casserole; and Grilled Vegetables on Whole-Wheat Buns, And Still I Cook is an outstanding cornucopia of enthusiastically recommended home-style recipes offering a very special touch of taste-tested, appetite-satisfying charm.

Down in the Still Valley Farm: A phase I archeological survey of a proposed bridge replacement over Cook Brook, Lyon Road, Londonderry, Vermont : submitted to Dufresne-Henry, Inc

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Down in the Still Valley Farm: A phase I archeological survey of a proposed bridge replacement over Cook Brook, Lyon Road, Londonderry, Vermont : submitted to Dufresne-Henry, Inc
Kathleen Callum
Manufacturer: GEOARCH
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

Preface

Certainly not a typical tax course, the WiseGuides 2003 Federal Tax Course With QuickLook CD is an integrated 3-part reference system that includes a 400-page course book, a TaxExplorer "quick look " tax reference software and an extensive CPE tax library.

As a comprehensive desktop reference system for tax preparers and other tax professionals, the three parts work in concert to provide a unique tax course.

Federal Tax Course Book

The 2003 Federal Tax Course Book is a 400-page document that includes the following materials:

* Individual Income Taxes
* Sole Proprietorships and Partnerships
* Corporations (including S Corps)
* Fiduciaries, Gift Tax, and Trusts
* Ethics, Practitioner Penalty Provisions
* Exempt Organizations
* Retirement Plans
* Research Materials, Record Keeping Procedures, Collection Procedures
* Over 300 Questions with Comprehensive Answer Explanations.

TaxExplorer "quick look " CD

The TaxExplorer software is a "quick-look" tool that allows you to do basic tax research. Use TaxExplorer to solve those everyday tax problems and questions quickly and accurately. The software searches the entire WiseGuides tax library with over 80 subject areas and more than 10,000 indexed terms.

CPE Library with 4 Hours of FREE CPE

Included on the CD is the entire WiseGuides tax library consisting of 80 courses. You pick up to 4 hours of CPE for which you wish to receive CPE credit for FREE. Use the rest of the courses for free as a reference tool or complete other courses for CPE credit using one of WiseGuides discounted CPE purchase plans.

Customer Reviews:

Fast Read Investing is a Fast Learning Experience.......2000-12-11

I found this book to be extremely helpful in explaining (in simple easy-to-understand terms) the basics of stocks, mutual funds and bonds. To get someone up to speed quickly this is the book for you! A lot of valuable information is packed into this inexpensive little book.

Fastread Investing: Understand Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds and More!

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Fastread Investing: Understand Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds and More!
Rich Mintzer
Manufacturer: Adams Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MBPOI0

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Good research, but disparages capitalism

Duh

Just Kevin Phillips dribble in another book.

A Study of Tax Evasion By The Super Affluent

Muckracking Expose

The Cheating of America: How Tax Avoidance and Evasion by the Super Rich Are Costing the Country Billions--and What You Can Do About It
Charles Lewis
Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Buying of the President 2004 : Who's Really Bankrolling Bush and His Democratic Challengers--and What They Expect in Return (Buying of the President)

Financial Investigation and Forensic Accounting, Second Edition

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Release Date: 2002-04-02

Amazon.com

This book is a group project; Charles Lewis and Bill Allison are the principle authors, but they have relied on an "investigative team" that includes 19 other individuals affiliated with the Center for Public Integrity, a left-of-center research organization in Washington, D.C. What they've assembled in The Cheating of America is a muckraking survey of how the rich and powerful shirk their responsibilities: "We investigate the people and companies who have benefited most from our society and our way of life and then chosen to thumb their noses at the rest of us, by paying little or no taxes." The book is full of facts and figures, many sure to outrage. The authors identify, for instance, some 45,000 tax returns filed by people earning more than $100,000 and paying less than 7 percent of their income to the federal government--compared to millions of workers who earn much less and proportionally pay much more. (One recent IRS report counted 2,680 filers with incomes of $200,000 or more claiming they owed no taxes at all, up from just 85 in 1977.)

What makes the book succeed, however, is not its careful number crunching, but all the little stories that detail "the phenomenon of tax avoidance (that's legal), tax evasion (that's illegal), and tax 'avoision' (catch us if you can)." There are the wealthy film producers who use offshore trusts and tax shelters to hide their income, the millionaire tax evaders who renounce their U.S. citizenship in order to escape making tax payments, and the accountants who help it all happen. At times, the book feels like a long Reader's Digest article, all told in the service of an outrageous conclusion: "Many of the nation's wealthiest individuals and its largest corporations are not paying their fair share of taxes today." The Cheating of America will appeal to readers who appreciated the Center for Public Integrity's previous efforts, as well as admirers of Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele. --John J. Miller

Book Description

Charles Lewis, Bill Allison, and a team of researchers from the Center for Public Integrity -- an organization that the National Journal called "a watchdog in the corridors of power" -- investigated how millions of high-income adults and some major corporations cheat the government of billions through tax avoidance (legal), tax evasion (illegal), or tax "avoision" (catch me if you can).

Now Lewis and his team provide explosive revelations about who cheats and how they do it, from offshore banks to foreign "tax havens." Case studies of the most brazen dodgers will have taxpayers seeing red in this eye-opening report that puts the IRS on notice. Sure to enlighten and outrage, The Cheating of America is a must -- read for every citizen.

Customer Reviews:

Good research, but disparages capitalism.......2007-10-11

I profited from this book because the authors and their research staff related interesting stories of companies and their battles with the IRS using sources such as newspapers and Tax Court transcripts, and I bought a cheap used copy. The research was thorough and I skipped some of the tedious details. But, I fear that many other readers will buy into the denunciation of capitalism espoused by the authors. If you haven't already read books explaining why capitalism in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Ireland creates many more happy and prosperous people than U.S. and European socialism, then you would profit more from reading books such as "The Capitalist Manifesto" or "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal" or "The Sovereign Individual."

The authors believe that because "taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society," the U.S. should continue taxing 35% of the economy and regulating another 10-15%. Unfortunately for the U.S., Hong Kong will be as rich as the U.S. in 10 years if current trends continue, and Singapore will be as rich in 20 years. Benevolent government is a delicate balance between anarchy and despotism, and the U.S. has long since descended into an anarchic despotic state where most government activities involve gathering everyone into numerous groups who steal from everyone else; or protecting people from their own foolishness; or operating military bases in 130 countries or acting as a referee in their civil wars. The authors fail to recognize that only a minor portion of U.S. federal government activity benefits the general welfare such as protecting property ownership and other individual rights; and that a special interest group can have millions of members who benefit from government spending at others' expense.

The authors assume that since rich people own a disproportionate share of corporations, and corporations have been paying a smaller share of total taxes during the last 30 years, that the IRS should pursue corporations more energetically; and that doing so will alleviate the crushing tax burden of individuals that are not rich. They fail to recognize that not only rich people, but also many ordinary people own shares in their pension plans; and to a large extent corporations are tax collectors that transfers taxes to their customers, most of whom are ordinary people. Even corporations selling luxury items to the rich still employ workers who suffer when the IRS drives corporations to manufacture elsewhere.

The authors lament the emigration of rich Americans to countries with lower taxes and advocate enforcement of a law that would prevent emigrants from visiting the United States after they renounce citizenship. They falsely believe that rich people cannot happily live luxuriously permanently outside the U.S. and enforcement of the law barring their return would discourage many from emigrating; and refuse to recognize that rich people can enjoy many other countries. The few that would be successfully discouraged would be offset by the many who would spend their tourist money elsewhere. London has successfully attracted the spending and capital of foreign billionaires using a favorable tax structure, and the U.S. could compete by emulating the practice (and making the airport experience more enjoyable). Millions of Mexicans emigrate to the U.S., rich and poor alike, and Mexico welcomes their return not only for the tourism industry, but as a humanitarian gesture. Building a Berlin Wall around the U.S. would be as counterproductive as it was in Germany.

Duh.......2005-10-07

Of course these taxes arent being paid! We've set up a system that allows it. The more complex a tax code is, the more exemptions that are allowed the more loopholes that are available to exploit. I seriously don't know why anyone would be shocked this happens.

The ironic solution to this mess, if you truely want to solve it, is to advocate a flat tax with no exemptions (maybe one) or a national sales tax and do away with national income tax.

If your concern is about the billions being wasted by the government over 50% of our budget is non-discretionary. That means congress can't touch it through yearly appropriation. That means it grows and grows and grows uncontrollably. This spending includes wealth transfers through welfare, corporate subsidies (WEalth transfer from poor to rich), and social security (poor to rich wealth transfer) to name a few. Ironically we spend billions to protect farmers the result of which is higher price for food and then billions more on food stamps so the poor can afford the higher priced food. Society as a result is hurt.

Well over 1 trillion is wasted in this manner...

Just Kevin Phillips dribble in another book........2005-09-23

My best defense to the 5 star reviewers is that a congressman no less once said that "Taxes are a levy on ignorance." I also want to make very clear that I am against tax evasion, but wholeheartily endorse taking legal, above board tax deductions. I am sure that most legitimate business people would agree.

For the record, I have been in a zero tax bracket since 1991 and when I was an employee, was getting refunds on ssi.

By the way, how does it make you tax happy animals feel to know that your ssi contributions will never come back to you. Why do you suppose that congressmen and senators don't participate in ssi?

A Study of Tax Evasion By The Super Affluent.......2005-07-24

"The Cheating Of America: How Tax Avoidance And Evasion by the Super Rich Are Costing the Country Billions-And What You Can Do About It" by Charles Lewis, Bill Allison, et. al., is a well-researched overview of how some of America's wealthiest citizens and corporations avoid and evade taxation.

"The Cheating Of America" tells us that at least $195 billion a year in taxes isn't collected from the ultra-wealthy.

This means the amounts collected from honest affluent people, middle-class earners, and low-income people are invariably higher. If all the rich paid their taxes, it's estimated the average taxpayer wouldn't have to pay thousands of dollars per year in extra taxes to make up the tax shortfall.

While $1.5 billion in new wealth is created every day in the U.S., we learn the number of full-time workers living in poverty has increased from 459,000 in 1998 to over 2.8 million in 2001.

A few of the issues:

--American companies legally open non-U.S. corporations to hold non-U.S. profits. But, these companies often engage in illegal pricing schemes to inflate their foreign profits at the expense of U.S. profits, effectively transferring taxable income to the foreign corporation.

In the 1950's, corporate taxes comprised 27% of the tax revenue. By the 1990's, corporate taxes only made up about 10% of the federal tax revenue. That's about a 2/3 decrease in corporate taxes. Individual taxpayers must make up the difference.

--Nonprofit Organizations operating businesses. The book estimates that non-profits control $1.3 trillion in wealth. While many nonprofits are legitimate, many aren't.

The authors write: "...the precedent for using the cover of benefiting mankind to avoid taxes has a long, rich tradition. ... Howard Hughes, for example, set up the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which owned the stock of his aircraft manufacturing corporation. The nonprofit medical institute gave hardly any money to charity during his lifetime, unless one considers bankrolling the reclusive lifestyle of Hughes a charitable purpose."

Some of these nonprofits are lobbying organizations and industry promotional groups (For example, lobbying for deregulation and tax cuts).

--Corporate use of "phantom losses" from transactions that lack economic substance. The Cheating Of America does a good job of discussing the problems with international banking and how some companies create many entities to try to confuse the IRS. The secretive nature of some foreign country banks makes it nearly impossible for the IRS to obtain the records it needs to properly evaluate a business's tax situation. It's estimated that $10 billion a year in tax revenue is lost to this type of tax shelter.

For example, sometimes, some foreign bank will "loan" a wealthy individual money. That money is really taxable income in disguise. And, interest payments on the "loan" are sometimes reported as tax-deductible, if the "loan" is disguised as a mortgage or business loan.

--Wealthy individuals, renouncing American citizenship to avoid taxes, but continuing to spend hundreds of days per year in the United States. (In fairness to some of the tax ex-patriots, many also faced serious legal problems because they engaged in fraudulent activity. So, avoiding criminal prosecution or civil lawsuits could also be a motive for fleeing the U.S.)

So, what can the average American do about this? Not much. The Cheating Of America devotes a short five-page chapter to discussing what you can do. First, it points out you can't benefit from these tax-evasion schemes yourself, unless you have a lot of money.

Why can't the middle-class benefit from these methods? Because they were never designed to benefit the middle class. For example, the major source of income for most people is labor. If you work for somebody else, your wages are usually reported to the government. It's almost impossible to avoid paying taxes on money earned from work. The book does point out that many sole proprietors who deal in cash underreport their income, and the book recommends paying with a check to prevent these people from under reporting income. However, this doesn't affect most of the exceptionally wealthy.

What about depositing a small amount in a foreign bank? Your money might well disappear. These banks aren't regulated by U.S. law, and many are fronts for organized crime, terrorism, and other bad behavior.

Further, it's pointed out that the wealthiest individuals can afford the best attorneys in the world to defend them in tax court. They can tie the tax court up for 20 years with tens of thousands of documents. A few million in legal fees is chump change. And, they often purchase political influence. (A few million dollars contributed to the local community of a small country--and its officials--can do wonders for helping to avoid extradition.)

Trying to put pressure on politicians to enforce existing laws and enact laws that enforce tax fairness is one possibility. The authors say asking our politicians questions and demanding answers is a good start.

Overall, I highly recommend "The Cheating Of America: How Tax Avoidance And Evasion by the Super Rich Are Costing the Country Billions--And What You Can Do About It" to all people interested in learning about tax evasion by the rich.

Muckracking Expose.......2005-03-13

Calling this "left-wing propaganda" and other editorial commentary in some reviews really just proves the premise that as America slips into decline, the only 'wealth' being created is tax cheating schemes, along with 'no-down-payment' real estate speculating courses, and "privatization" of public property such as utilities, or government research. This book has the scoop on all the famous tax cheat schemes, and consumer warnings against get involved in them. But precious little recommendations on how to solve the problem. But the main message of the book is that making money in America is no longer about producing a product, or providing a service, but about cheating on your income tax. Pretty much the USA is on the road toward becoming a corrupt third world bananna republic, like Mexico.

Book Description

Louis Edmonds was well known for his TV soap opera roles as Dark Shadows' Roger Collins and All My Children's Langley Wallingford, but his career spanned much further than that. Working with such performers as Charlton Heston, Kaye Ballard, Joan Bennett, and Carol Burnett, he was a pioneer performer on live television in the 1950s and played numerous critically acclaimed roles on and off Broadway and on TV for five decades. Throughout his life, the gay actor battled--and conquered--depression, alcoholism, and cancer. In a revealing biography, author Craig Hamrick chronicles the life and career of this remarkable man.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful Tribute.......2003-07-19

This is a loving, lovely tribute to the late soap opera star Louis Edmonds(Dark Shadows, All My Children)Craig Hamrick, who knew Edmonds during the last 8 years of the actor's life, is clearly in love(platonically) with his subject. He tells the story of Edmonds' life in a highly readable, no holds barred manner.Edmonds was a brilliant actor whose ego might have prevented his career from progressing as far as it could have. He was also a great wit, a passionate lover who had two long term relationships, and a deeply loyal friend. Hamrick writes openly and honestly about all of this, the good, the bad and the ugly, never losing sight of his own deep affection for the man.This book will stand as a lasting tribute to Louis Edmonds' life and career. He might have been forgotten, as so many soap actors are. Thanks to Craig Hamrick, this wonderful actor will be remembered for many years to come.

Funny, touching and tenderly told.......2003-06-23

This hard-to-put down biography which is loaded with many before unknown facts about bigger-than-life performer/actor Louis Edmonds, most widely known as Roger Collins from the gothic serial Dark Shadows, is funny,touching and tenderly told by author Craig Hamrick, who became known as a friend to the actor in the latter years of his life. Yet, do not dismiss this as sugar coated fantasy, for it is told, with Louis' permission, in a forthright , no-holds-barred, bare bones manner that should earn its own praise. Hamrick has a way with laying down facts, yet not in stilted encyclopedic fashion but in a way that you actually get to know Mr. Edmonds in a more intimate light, and I for one, am deeply saddened by the fact I never had gotten the opportunity to meet this great man while he was still alive. Craig Hamrick has earned my respect as a biographer and I eagerly anticipate his next venture "Barnabas & Co" due later this summer, as well as any other literary undertaking this author may take. Kudos to him for taking me into the heart and home of one of my favorite Dark Shadows actors and making me feel as if I'd met him myself! The book is a triumph and a must for all Dark Shadows, Louis Edmonds or All My Children fans! Put this on your list for summer reading. I read it cover to cover in less than two days!

Illuminating!.......2003-04-24

Louis Edmonds' death in early 2001 robbed Dark Shadows fandom of its elder statesmen. Of all the Dark Shadows cast, Louis Edmonds at times managed, perplexingly, to simultaneously be the most ubiquitous and elusive. On one level, Louis the showman remained a distinct and vibrant personality, very much admired by fans, yet one that at times seems difficult to extracate from the vestiges of Roger Collins and a handful of humourous anecdotes. To many Dark Shadows fans, this persona is arguably as familiar as any of the characters Louis portrayed on the show.

Author Craig Hamrick does much to redress the balance with the new edition of his biography Big Lou: The Life and Career of Louis Edmonds. With a respectable period having elapsed since Louis' death, the book is able to take a more rounded look at its subject, and the results are frequently illuminating.

Unlike the first book, which took a more formal approach, the new edition is told very much through its author's eyes, and arguably as much Craig Hamrick's story at times, as it is Louis'. From the pair's initial meeting, to Louis' funeral nearly a decade later, the reader is given a very honest appraisal which doesn't attempt to reconcile the contradictions it throws up, and indeed is all the more enjoyable for doing so. Louis' faults are lain bare and the author isn't afraid to note these - for example, his recounting of Louis' pre-occupation with money and occasions of professional arrogance go a long way to explaining why he perhaps never attained the widespread success his talented deserved.

Louis himself emerges as a somewhat melancholy soul in the process, battling the twin demons of alcohol and depression. Noting a suicide attempt along the way, it adds a certain grim undertone to the exuberant public personality so many of us knew. Yet, for all the sadness depicted, there's still plenty of humour and warmth, and perhaps this is Louis' most admirable quality. Louis' final years are perhaps the saddest, yet it is during these that he hearteningly seems to find a sense of peace that had eluded him so badly in the past. Particularly poignant are his indulgement predictions of his own self-dramatised demise, which seem all the sadder when juxtaposed with the quiet exit he eventually makes.

Throughout the book are sprinkled little novelized vignettes of key moments in Louis' life, which work with mixed results. At best, they succeed in painting out Louis' journey in broad strokes, and the passage where Louis reflects on the drastic effects of his cancer surgery in particular, is particularly moving and tragic. An undoubtedly cinematic device, at times they seem forced, yet one feels it is an indulgence of which Edmonds himself would have heartily approved.

As a biography, this is an excellent work of reference and research, but on a broader level, it is a wonderful personal account of a unique performer and individual that manages to strike that rare balance between pragmatism and celebration.

Book Description

Soft Hearts and Hard Times is the true story of a little boy who’s age of awareness coincided with beginning of the Great Depression. It tells the story of how he and his family endured; and how the dismal events of the day affected them. It demonstrates how, even in the worst of times, there is still time for a boyish pleasure or two.

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