Business & economics

What you don't know about economics can hurt you--now more than ever. This easy-to-understand guide answers all the questions you need to know to secure your financial future, such as:

• What does it mean to my paycheck when the Fed lowers or raises interest rates?
• What's the difference between bonds, securities, and derivatives--and which should I invest in now?
• What does Keynesian economics have to do with my savings?

Economics has been called the "dismal" science. But it doesn't need to be gloomy or impenetrable. This book is an essential guide for anyone who wants to understand where the economy is today, where it's going, and what it means for the rest of us.

Even after the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, America is still beset by the depredations of an oligarchy that is now bigger, more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever. Anchored by six megabanks—Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley—which together control assets amounting, astonishingly, to more than 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, these financial institutions (now more emphatically “too big to fail”) continue to hold the global economy hostage, threatening yet another financial meltdown with their excessive risk-taking and toxic “business as usual” practices. How did this come to be—and what is to be done? These are the central concerns of 13 Bankers, a brilliant, historically informed account of our troubled political economy.
 
In 13 Bankers, Simon Johnson—one of the most prominent and frequently cited economists in America (former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT, and author of the controversial “The Quiet Coup” in The Atlantic)—and James Kwak give a wide-ranging, meticulous, and bracing account of recent U.S. financial history within the context of previous showdowns between American democracy and Big Finance: from Thomas Jefferson to Andrew Jackson, from Theodore Roosevelt to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They convincingly show why our future is imperiled by the ideology of finance (finance is good, unregulated finance is better, unfettered finance run amok is best) and by Wall Street’s political control of government policy pertaining to it.
 
As the authors insist, the choice that America faces is stark: whether Washington will accede to the vested interests of an unbridled financial sector that runs up profits in good years and dumps its losses on taxpayers in lean years, or reform through stringent regulation the banking system as first and foremost an engine of economic growth. To restore health and balance to our economy, Johnson and Kwak make a radical yet feasible and focused proposal: reconfigure the megabanks to be “small enough to fail.”
 
Lucid, authoritative, crucial for its timeliness, 13 Bankers is certain to be one of the most discussed and debated books of 2010.

Increasingly, employers today are using a tough new kind of interview to evaluate candidates and determine how well they think on their feet. To be successful in these new competency-based interviews, job seekers must be prepared with situation-specific examples that highlight the accomplishments, knowledge, and abilities they have that employers need. Featuring a plethora of sample questions and winning answers. This indispensable guide features fill-in-the-blank exercises readers can use to prepare themselves to demonstrate sought-after competencies and wow potential employers. It's a powerful book no job seeker should be without.

Being a teenager is both wonderful and challenging. In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, author Sean Covey applies the timeless principles of the 7 Habits to teens and the tough issues and life-changing decisions they face. In an entertaining style, Covey provides a step-by-step guide to help teens improve self-image, build friendships, resist peer pressure, achieve their goals, get along with their parents, and much more. In addition, this book is stuffed with cartoons, clever ideas, great quotes, and incredible stories about real teens from all over the world. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens will engage teenagers unlike any other book.

An indispensable book for teens, as well as parents, grandparents, and any adult who influences young people, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens is destined to become the last word on surviving and thriving as a teen and beyond.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, "THE SOCIAL NETWORK"

Exuberant and revealing, The Accidental Billionaires is a fast-paced, inside look at a story of fortune gained and innocence lost, and how a company that was created to bring people together ultimately tore two friends apart.
 
In 2003, Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg were Harvard undergrads and best friends looking for a way to stand out among the university’s elite and competitive student body. Then one lonely night, Zuckerberg hacked into the campus computer system to pull off a prank that crashed Harvard’s network. This stunt almost got him expelled, but it also inspired Zuckerberg to create Facebook, the social networking site that has since revolutionized how people around the world communicate. With Saverin’s funding their small start-up quickly went from their college dorm room to Silicon Valley. But different ideas about Facebook’s future tested Zuckerberg and Saverin’s relationship, which then spiraled into out-and-out warfare. Soon, the collegiate exuberance that marked their collaboration fell prey to the adult world of venture capitalists, lawyers, and big money.

Forget everything you think you know about strength, strategy and success. This brilliant adaptation of the ancient masterpiece The Art of War shows women how to use Sun Tzu’s philosophy to win in every aspect of life.

Would you like to transform your weaknesses into strengths? Succeed at work without compromising your ethics? Integrate your style and personal philosophy into every action you take? If so, this book is for you. In The Art of War for Women, bestselling author Chin-Ning Chu brings the eternal wisdom of philosopher-general Sun Tzu to women looking to gain a better understanding of who they are – and, more importantly, who they want to be.

In the West, when we think of war, we imagine battle, casualties, brutality. But Sun Tzu, the man who wrote the Art of War some 2,500 years ago, was Chinese, and the Chinese think of war differently than we do in the West. In their view, war does not revolve around fighting. It is about determining the most efficient way of gaining victory with the least amount of conflict.

That’s why Sun Tzu’s Art of War is particularly appropriate for women. Let’s face it, as intelligent and accomplished as we may be, there are very few of us who are comfortable with direct confrontation or situations where our triumph means someone else’s defeat. We are natural negotiators and problem solvers; most of us prefer win-win situations to those in which winner-takes-all.

But there is another reason The Art of War is particularly appropriate for us. Although Sun Tzu’s book is about the application of strategies, every one of those strategies begins with having a deep understanding of the people and the world around us. They also require us to understand ourselves – our strengths and weaknesses, our goals and fears. In other words, the aim is not to apply a series of rules coldly and dispassionately, but rather to integrate ourselves and our unique talents into the strategies we will employ.

This is not a feel-good book. (But you will feel good after reading it.) It is not a motivational book. (But you will be motivated to achieve what you want, once you are done.) Ultimately, its purpose it to provide women with the strategies we all need to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of our goals and dreams.

Sun Tzu’s Art of War is the most influential book on strategy ever published, selling tens of millions of copies worldwide in several editions. Written by one of today’s foremost authorities on Sun Tzu, The Art of War for Women is sure to become a classic in its own right.