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Moon Spotlight Prince Edward Island: 2012
By Andrew Hempstead. 2012
Moon Spotlight Prince Edward Islandis a 60-page compact guide covering the best of Canada's smallest province, including Charlottetown, Queens County,…
Prince County, and Cavendish. Travel writer and photographer Andrew Hempstead offers his firsthand advice on what sights are must-sees, and sightseeing highlight maps make planning your time easy. This lightweight guide is packed with recommendations on sights, entertainment, shopping, recreation, accommodations, food, and transportation. Helpful maps guide travelers through this cultivated Canadian locale. This Spotlight guidebook is excerpted fromMoon Atlantic Canada.Transforming San Antonio
By Nelson Wolff. 2008
San Antonio boasts one of the country's fastest-growing metropolitan regions, thanks to visionary personalities, key politicians, a vibrant citizenry, and…
a bit of luck. In this lively behind-the-scenes account, former mayor Nelson Wolff focuses on four major developments - the San Antonio Spurs' AT&T Arena, Toyota, the PGA Village, and the River Walk expansion - that transformed the city. This intriguing, highly readable journey through the contemporary life of one American city offers hope to all cities striving to recreate themselves.Path-breaking research on one of the most important macroeconomic policy challenges in the post-crisis world, presented in accessible languageWritten and…
researched by a team of experts from the International Monetary Fund, other policy-making institutions, and academia, this timely book looks at fiscal adjustment plans in advanced economies, comparing the planned or projected reductions in debts and deficits to the actual outcomes, and explaining why objectives were met in some cases but missed in others. An overview reveals pitfalls to avoid and lessons learned for securing successful fiscal adjustment.Written by experts in the fieldAddresses public concern about skyrocketing government debtsContains cutting edge research that changes the way we look at fiscal adjustmentPresents meticulous archival research in compelling and engaging case studiesExplores lessons learned and policy implications going forwardIncludes country coverage of all G7 and European Union economiesEducating and informing investors, economists, and the general public, this important book looks at why some attempts to curb debts and deficits succeed whereas others fail, as well as how to ensure successful fiscal adjustment in the period ahead.The Inverting Pyramid
By Omar S. Arias, Sebastian Eckardt, Miglena Abels, Johannes Koettl, Asta Zviniene, Anita M. Schwarz, Herwig Immervoll, Heinz P. Rudolph. 2014
Europe's pension systems -among the most celebrated features of its social welfare model-- face tremendous challenges. With only 11 percent…
of the world's population, Europe spends about 60 percent of global outlays on social protection, largely in pensions. In many countries, pension rules have encouraged people to retire sooner, while enjoying longer lives. Payroll taxes on a continuously expanding contributory base have financed these benefits. This model of pension provision is now being severely tested as pension systems reach maturity, while the population is aging and the labor force is starting to shrink. Measures to enable a continued tradition of providing old age security will include * raising retirement ages such that pensions are provided in the last 15 years of life, when work capacity traditionally diminishes * encouraging immigration to help fill the declining work force * rationalizing pension spending, putting priority on preventing old age poverty, and * encouraging savings to help provide the more comfortable retirement that individuals have come to expect. Some measures may be more appropriate in particular countries than others, yet undertaking all of them will likely require less drastic changes in any one of them. The specific choices will need to be discussed and agreed among each country's own population, and be accompanied by enabling changes in pension policy, tax policy, financial markets policy, and labor policy. The fundamental issue is that, with these changes, the important achievements of European social policy can withstand the demographic onslaught and continue to provide old age security for generations to come.Vancouver Special
By Charles Demers. 2009
Vancouver is at a crossroads in its history--host to the 2010 Winter Olympics and home to the poorest neighborhood in…
Canada, it is a young, multicultural city with a vibrant surface and a violent undercoat. In Vancouver Special, an alternative guidebook, writer and performer Charles Demers digs deep to examine the past, present, and future of Vancouver, shedding light on the various strategies and influences that have made the city what it is today (and what it should be). Vancouver Special is a love letter to the city, taking a no-holds-barred look at Lotusland with verve, wit, and insight.Grassroots for Hire
By Edward T. Walker. 2014
Although 'grassroots' conjures up images of independent citizen organizing, much mass participation today is sponsored by elite consultants working for…
corporations and powerful interest groups. This book pulls back the curtain to reveal a lucrative industry of consulting firms that incentivize public activism as a marketable service. Edward Walker illustrates how, spurred by the post-sixties advocacy explosion and rising business political engagement, elite consultants have deployed new technologies to commercialize mass participation. Using evidence from interviews, surveys and public records, Grassroots for Hire paints a detailed portrait of these consultants and their clients. Today, Fortune 500 firms hire them to counter-mobilize against regulation, protest or controversy. Ironically, some advocacy groups now outsource organizing to them. Walker also finds that consultants are reshaping both participation and policymaking, but unethical 'astroturf' strategies are often ineffective. This pathbreaking book calls for a rethinking of interactions between corporations, advocacy groups, and elites in politics.A Course in Public Economics
By John Leach. 2004
A Course in Public Economics, first published in 2004, explores the central questions of whether or not markets work, and…
if not, what is to be done about it. The first part of the textbook, designed for upper-level undergraduates and first-year graduate students, begins with an extended discussion of the two theorems of welfare economics. These theorems show that competitive markets can give rise to socially desirable outcomes, and describe the conditions under which they do so. The second part of the book discusses the kinds of market failure - externalities, public goods, imperfect competition and asymmetric information - that arise when these conditions are not met. The role of the government in resolving market failures is examined. The limits of government action, especially those arising from asymmetric information, are also investigated. A knowledge of intermediate microeconomics and basic calculus is assumed.Business in the Age of Extremes
By Jürgen Kocka, Hartmut Berghoff, Hartmut Berghoff Jürgen Kocka, Dieter Ziegler. 2012
This collection of essays explores the impact that nationalism, capitalism and socialism had on economics during the first half of…
the twentieth century. Focusing on Central Europe, contributors examine the role that businesspeople and enterprises played in Germany's and Austria's paths to the catastrophe of Nazism. Based on new archival research, the essays gathered here ask how the business community became involved in the political process and describes the consequences arising from that involvement. Particular attention is given to the responses of individual businesspeople to changing political circumstances and their efforts to balance the demands of their consciences with the pursuit for profit.Expansionary Fiscal Contraction
By Duncan Needham, Anthony Hotson. 2014
In its 1981 Budget, the Thatcher government discarded Keynesian counter-cyclical policies and cut Britain's public sector deficit in the depths…
of the worst UK recession since the 1930s. Controversially, the government argued that fiscal contraction would produce economic growth. In this specially commissioned volume, contributors examine recently released archives alongside firsthand accounts from key players within No. 10 Downing Street, HM Treasury and the Bank of England, to provide the first comprehensive treatment of this critical event in British economic history. They assess the empirical and theoretical basis for expansionary fiscal contraction, drawing clear parallels with contemporary debates on austerity in Europe, USA and Japan in the wake of the recent global financial crisis. This timely and thoughtful book will have broad appeal among economists, political scientists, historians and policy makers.Contracting for Bus and Demand-Responsive Transit Services: A Survey of U.S. Practice and Experience
By National Research Council. 2001
The National Academies Press (NAP)--publisher for the National Academies--publishes more than 200 books a year offering the most authoritative views,…
definitive information, and groundbreaking recommendations on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and health. Our books are unique in that they are authored by the nation's leading experts in every scientific field.Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right-and How We Can, Too
By George Lakey. 2016
Liberals worldwide invoke Scandinavia as a promised land of equality, while most conservatives fear it as a hotbed of liberty-threatening…
socialism. But the left and right can usually agree on one thing: that the Nordic system is impossible to replicate elsewhere. The US and UK are too big, or too individualistic, or too . . . something. In Viking Economics--perhaps the most fun economics book you've ever read--George Lakey dispels these myths. He explores the inner-workings of the Nordic economies that boast the world's happiest, most productive workers, and explains how, if we can enact some of the changes the Scandinavians fought for surprisingly recently, we, too, can embrace equality in our economic policy.Finance for All? Policies and Pitfalls in Expanding Access
By World Bank. 2008
Access to financial services varies sharply around the world. In many developing countries less than half the population has an…
account with a financial institution, and in most of Africa less than one in five households do. Lack of access to finance is often the critical mechanism for generating persistent income inequality, as well as slower growth. 'Finance for All?: Policies and Pitfalls in Expanding Access' documents the extent of financial exclusion around the world; addresses the importance of access to financial services for growth, equity and poverty reduction; and discusses policy interventions and institutional reforms that can improve access for underserved groups. The report is a broad ranging review of the work already completed or in progress, drawing on research utilizing data at the country, firm and household level. Given that financial systems in many developing countries serve only a small part of the population, expanding access remains an important challenge across the world, leaving much for governments to do. However, not all government actions are equally effective and some policies can be counterproductive. The report sets out principles for effective government policy on broadening access, drawing on the available evidence and illustrating with examples.The Many Faces of Corruption: Tracking Vulnerabilities at the Sector Level
By J. Edgardo Campos, Sanjay Pradhan. 2007
Corruption... How can policymakers and practitioners better comprehend the many forms and shapes that this social pandemic takes? From the…
delivery of essential drugs, the reduction in teacher absenteeism, the containment of illegal logging, the construction of roads, the provision of water and electricity, the international trade in oil and gas, the conduct of public budgeting and procurement, and the management of public revenues, corruption shows its many faces. 'The Many Faces of Corruption' attempts to bring greater clarity to the often murky manifestations of this virulent and debilitating social disease. It explores the use of prototype road maps to identify corruption vulnerabilities, suggests corresponding 'warning signals,' and proposes operationally useful remedial measures in each of several selected sectors and for a selected sample of cross cutting public sector functions that are particularly prone to corruption and that are critical to sector performance. Numerous technical experts have come together in this effort to develop an operationally useful approach to diagnosing and tackling corruption. 'The Many Faces of Corruption' is an invaluable reference for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers engaged in the business of development.Monumental Ambivalence: The Politics of Heritage
By Lisa Breglia. 2006
From ancient Maya cities in Mexico and Central America to the Taj Mahal in India, cultural heritage sites around the…
world are being drawn into the wave of privatization that has already swept through such economic sectors as telecommunications, transportation, and utilities. As nation-states decide they can no longer afford to maintain cultural properties—or find it economically advantageous not to do so in the globalizing economy—private actors are stepping in to excavate, conserve, interpret, and represent archaeological and historical sites. But what are the ramifications when a multinational corporation, or even an indigenous village, owns a piece of national patrimony which holds cultural and perhaps sacred meaning for all the country's people, as well as for visitors from the rest of the world?Corporate Warriors
By P. W. Singer. 2003
Some have claimed that ?War is too important to be left to the generals,? but P. W. Singer asks ?What…
about the business executives? Breaking out of the guns-for-hire mold of traditional mercenaries, corporations now sell skills and services that until recently only state militaries possessed. Their products range from trained commando teams to strategic advice from generals. This new ?Privatized Military Industry? encompasses hundreds of companies, thousands of employees, and billions of dollars in revenue. Whether as proxies or suppliers, such firms have participated in wars in Africa, Asia, the Balkans, and Latin America. More recently, they have become a key element in U. S. military operations. Private corporations working for profit now sway the course of national and international conflict, but the consequences have been little explored. In this book, Singer provides the first account of the military services industry and its broader implications. Corporate Warriors includes a description of how the business works, as well as portraits of each of the basic types of companies: military providers that offer troops for tactical operations; military consultants that supply expert advice and training; and military support companies that sell logistics, intelligence, and engineering. The privatization of warfare allows startling new capabilities and efficiencies in the ways that war is carried out. At the same time, however, Singer finds that the entrance of the profit motive onto the battlefield raises a series of troubling questions'for democracy, for ethics, for management, for human rights, and for national security.China 2020: How Western Business Can—and Should—Influence Social and Political Change in the Coming Decade
By Michael A. Santoro. 2000
Chinese society is plagued by many problems that have a direct impact on its current and future business and political…
environment-worker rights, product safety, Internet freedom, and the rule of law. Drawing on knowledge gained through personal interviews, documentary sources, and almost two decades of visits to China, Michael A. Santoro offers a clear-eyed view of the various internal forces--such as regionalism, corruption, and growing inequality--that will determine the direction and pace of economic, social, and political change. Of special interest is Santoro's assessment of the role of multinational corporations in fostering or undermining social and political progress. Santoro offers a fresh and innovative way of thinking about two questions that have preoccupied Western observers for decades. What will be the effect of economic reform and prosperity on political reform? How can companies operate with moral integrity and ethics in China? In China 2020, Santoro unifies these hitherto separate questions and demonstrates that moral integrity (or lack of it) by Western business will have a profound impact on whether economic privatization and growth usher in greater democracy and respect for human rights. Offering a novel vision of China's future economic and political development, Santoro rejects the conventional view that China will muddle through the next decade with incremental social and political changes. Instead he argues that China will follow one or two widely divergent potential outcomes. It might continue to progress steadily toward greater prosperity, democracy, and respect for human rights, but it is also highly likely that China will instead fall backward economically and into an ever more authoritarian regime. The next decade will be one of the most important in the history of China, and, owing to China's global impact, the history of the modern world. China 2020 describes various tectonic social and political battles going on within China. The outcomes of these struggles will depend on a number of powerful indigenous forces as well as the decisions and actions of individual Chinese citizens. Santoro strongly believes that Western businesses can-and should-influence these developments.Observations on the President's Fiscal Year 1999 Federal Science and Technology Budget
By Committee on Science, Engineering, Public Policy. 1998
Impact Evaluation of Small and Medium Enterprise Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean
By Gladys López-Acevedo, Hong W. Tan. 2011
Small and medium enterprise (SME) support programs are a common feature of industrial policy in developing countries, but one whose…
effectiveness is not well known. Governments are motivated to support SMEs both because they make up the majority of industrial enterprises and contribute substantially to GDP, employment and earnings, and because SMEs are thought to be weaker than their larger counterparts. Few governments, however, have evaluated their SME programs rigorously so there is little empirical basis for rational allocation of resources to the well performing programs. The paucity of empirical evidence from rigorous impact evaluations also presents problems for multi-lateral and bilateral donors in deciding whether or not to provide lending or aid for such policy interventions to promote SME development. This study rigorously evaluate SME programs in four Latin American countries to gain insights into which programs perform better than others, and just as important, why. These countries - Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru - cover a wide range of enterprise support programs, including training, innovation and technology upgrading, quality control, market development, export promotion and network formation. Broadly comparable panel data on enterprises is used to investigate the net impacts of these SME interventions.Risk-Based Tax Audits
By Munawer Sultan Khwaja, Rajul Awasthi, Jan Loeprick. 2011
This book serves as a toolkit on risk-based audits and brings together country experiences for implementing risk-based audit systems. Risk…
management is an important element of effective and efficient compliance management in revenue administration. It is impossible for any revenue administration to control and check every single taxpayer, and an unnecessary waste of scarce enforcement resources on routinely examining low-risk, compliant taxpayers. The opportunity costs for such roving examinations are high. Just as a private business allocates its resources to areas they feel have the most potential for generating revenues and profits, a modern revenue administration selects cases for audits using methods focused on high-risk taxpayers. This targeted focus is likely to raise higher revenue and, arguably, provide a stronger deterrence for non-compliance. Risk management techniques should not be considered to be confined to the selection of tax audit cases. It is part of a holistic and cooperative approach to enhance compliance. This is dramatically changing the way revenue administrations and taxpayers interact with each other. The effectiveness of a risk-based compliance management has been enabled by, and depends fundamentally on, the use of automated systems to: (1) gather third-party information and match with taxpayer reporting using reliable databases and a unique taxpayer identification number; (2) undertake selective checks based on risk analysis; (3) standardize payment processes (e.g., payments through banks) and accounting requirements; (4) provide assurance that the legislation and procedures are being applied uniformly; and (5) provide adequate, timely information to support management decision making and tax policy formulation.Caribbean Renewal: Tackling Fiscal and Debt Challenges
By Charles Amo-Yartey, Therese Turner-Jones. 2014
Caribbean economies face high and rising debt-to-GDP ratios that jeopardize prospects for medium-term debt sustainability and growth. This book provides…
a comprehensive analysis of the challenges of fiscal consolidation and debt reduction in the Caribbean. It examines the problem of high debt in the region and discusses policy options for improving debt sustainability, including fiscal consolidation, robust growth, and structural reforms. The book also examines empirically the factors underlying global large debt reduction episodes to draw important policy lessons for the Caribbean. It also reviews the literature on successful fiscal consolidation experiences and provides an overview of past and current consolidation efforts in the Caribbean. The book concludes that the region needs a broad and sustained package of reforms to reduce debt ratios to more manageable levels and strengthen economic resilience.