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The End of Automobile Dependence
by Jeffrey Kenworthy Peter NewmanCities will continue to accommodate the automobile, but when cities are built around them, the quality of human and natural life declines. Current trends show great promise for future urban mobility systems that enable freedom and connection, but not dependence. We are experiencing the phenomenon of peak car use in many global cities at the same time that urban rail is thriving, central cities are revitalizing, and suburban sprawl is reversing. Walking and cycling are growing in many cities, along with ubiquitous bike sharing schemes, which have contributed to new investment and vitality in central cities including Melbourne, Seattle, Chicago, and New York. We are thus in a new era that has come much faster than global transportation experts Peter Newman and Jeffrey Kenworthy had predicted: the end of automobile dependence. In The End of Automobile Dependence, Newman and Kenworthy look at how we can accelerate a planning approach to designing urban environments that can function reliably and conveniently on alternative modes, with a refined and more civilized automobile playing a very much reduced and manageable role in urban transportation. The authors examine the rise and fall of automobile dependence using updated data on 44 global cities to better understand how to facilitate and guide cities to the most productive and sustainable outcomes. This is the final volume in a trilogy by Newman and Kenworthy on automobile dependence (Cities and Automobile Dependence in 1989 and Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence in 1999). Like all good trilogies this one shows the rise of an empire, in this case that of the automobile, the peak of its power, and the decline of that empire.
The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness
by Todd RoseAre you above average? Is your child an A (or a C) student? Is your employee an introvert or an extrovert? Every day we are measured against the yardstick of averages, judged according to how closely we resemble it or how far we deviate from it. The assumption that metrics comparing us to an average--like development milestones, GPAs, personality assessments, standardized test results, and performance review ratings--reveal something meaningful about our potential is so ingrained in our consciousness that we rarely question it. That assumption, says Harvard's Todd Rose, is spectacularly--and scientifically--wrong.In The End of Average, Rose shows that no one is average. Not you. Not your kids. Not your employees or students. This isn't hollow slogan-eering--it's a mathematical fact with enormous practical consequences. But while we know people learn and develop in distinctive ways, these unique patterns of behaviors are lost in our schools and businesses which have been designed around the mythical "average person." For more than a century, this average-size-fits-all model has ignored our individuality and failed at recognizing talent. It's time to change that.Weaving science, history, and his experiences as a high school dropout, Rose brings to life the untold story of how we came to embrace the scientifically flawed idea that averages can be used to understand individuals and offers a powerful alternative: the three principles of individuality. The jaggedness principle (talent is never one- dimensional), the context principle (traits are a myth), and the pathways principle (we all walk the road less traveled) help us understand our true uniqueness--and that of others--and how to take full advantage of individuality to gain an edge in life.This powerful book will forever change how you see averages and talent.Praise for The End of Average " Todd Rose shows that everything we think we know about 'average' performance is wrong. In fact, our one-dimensional understanding of achievement--our search for the average score, average grade, average talent--has seriously underestimated human potential. This book is readable, enlightening, and way above average."--DANIEL H. PINK, author of To Sell Is Human and Drive " Fascinating, engaging, and practical. Todd Rose dispels the myth that our success can be divined by a simple number or average, whether a grade, a score in a standardized test, or a ranking at work. The End of Average will help everyone--and I mean everyone--live up to their potential."--AMY CUDDY, professor at Harvard Business School and author of Presence" Todd Rose has achieved a rare feat: he is both provocative and right. He overturns our fundamental assumptions about talent, and offers an empowering way to re-think the world. With exciting stories, fresh data, and bold ideas, this book is far better than average."--ADAM GRANT, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take and Originals " Consistently mind-blowing!"--Dan Heath, coauthor of the New York Times bestsellers Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive" Todd Rose's thought-provoking book challenges the explanatory power of the everyday term 'average,' opening our minds to new ways of conceptualizing human variation and human potentials."--HOWARD GARDNER, author of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed " In the midst of a war for talent, we miss huge opportunities to find it. This stunning book shows how almost all the measures we use reduce complicated individuals to one-dimensional beings. As a result, we overlook how talent, context, and disposition fold together to create individual uniqueness. I couldn't put this book down."--JOHN SEELY BROWN, independent cochair of Deloitte's Center for the Edge and coauthor of The Social Life of Information, The Power of Pull, and The New Culture of Learning
The End of Bias: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias
by Jessica NordellThe End of Bias is a transformative, groundbreaking exploration into how we can eradicate unintentional bias and discrimination, the great challenge of our age.Unconscious bias: persistent, unintentional prejudiced behavior that clashes with our consciously held beliefs. We know that it exists, to corrosive and even lethal effect. We see it in medicine, the workplace, education, policing, and beyond. But when it comes to uprooting our prejudices, we still have far to go.With nuance, compassion, and ten years' immersion in the topic, Jessica Nordell weaves gripping stories with scientific research to reveal how minds, hearts, and behaviors change. She scrutinizes diversity training, deployed across the land as a corrective but with inconsistent results. She explores what works and why: the diagnostic checklist used by doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital that eliminated disparate treatment of men and women; the preschool in Sweden where teachers found ingenious ways to uproot gender stereotyping; the police unit in Oregon where the practice of mindfulness and specialized training has coincided with a startling drop in the use of force.Captivating, direct, and transformative, The End of Bias: A Beginning brings good news. Biased behavior can change; the approaches outlined here show how we can begin to remake ourselves and our world. Includes illustrated charts
The End of Big: How the Digital Revolution Makes David the New Goliath
by Nicco MeleHow seemingly innocuous technologies are unsettling the balance of power by putting it in the hands of the masses - and what a world without "big" will mean for all of us.In TheEnd of Big, social media pioneer, political and business strategist, and Harvard Kennedy School faculty member Nicco Mele offers a fascinating, sometimes frightening look at how our ability to stay connected - constantly, instantly, and globally - is dramatically changing our world.Governments are being upended by individuals relying only on social media. Major political parties are seeing their power eroded by grassroots forces through online fund-raising. Universities are scrambling to preserve their student populations in the face of less expensive, more accessible online courses. Print and broadcast news outlets are struggling to compete with citizen journalists and bloggers. Our traditional institutions are being disrupted in revolutionary ways, some for the better. But, as Nicco Mele argues, the benefits of new technology come with unintended consequences. In The End of Big, Mele examines:- How fringe political forces enter the mainstream and gain traction using everyday technology - with the enormous potential to undermine central power- What happens when investigative journalism is replaced by ad hoc bloggers, mobile video, and instantaneous tweets...and whether they challenge or simply enable power- Why Web-based micro-businesses are outcompeting major corporations, and what innovations will alter the way we work, own things, and pay for goods and services- The collapse of traditional party politics, and the rise of a new kind of democracy, one which could produce dynamic and effective leaders...or demagogues- How citizen initiatives can replace local and state government functions, such as safety regulations, tax collection, and garbage pickup, and do so cheaper, faster, and betterMele argues that unless we exercise caution in our use of these new technologies, we risk a dark and wildly unstable future, one in which our freedoms and basic human values could be destroyed rather than enhanced. Both hopeful and alarming, The End of Big is a thought-provoking, passionately argued book that offers genuine insight into the ways we are using technology, and how it is radically changing our world in ways we are only now beginning to understand.
The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives
by Jonathan MalesicGoing beyond the how and why of burnout, a former tenured professor combines academic methods and first-person experience to propose new ways for resisting our cultural obsession with work and transforming our vision of human flourishing. Burnout has become our go-to term for talking about the pressure and dissatisfaction we experience at work. But because we don’t really understand what burnout means, the discourse does little to help workers who are suffering from exhaustion and despair. Jonathan Malesic was one of those workers, and to escape he quit his job as a tenured professor. In The End of Burnout, he dives into the history and psychology of burnout, traces the origin of the high ideals we bring to our dismal jobs, and profiles the individuals and communities who are already resisting our cultural commitment to constant work. In The End of Burnout, Malesic traces his own history as someone who burned out of a tenured job to frame this rigorous investigation of how and why so many of us feel worn out, alienated, and useless in our work. Through research on the science, culture, and philosophy of burnout, Malesic explores the gap between our vocation and our jobs, and between the ideals we have for work and the reality of what we have to do. He eschews the usual prevailing wisdom in confronting burnout ("Learn to say no!" "Practice mindfulness!") to examine how our jobs have been constructed as a symbol of our value and our total identity. Beyond looking at what drives burnout—unfairness, a lack of autonomy, a breakdown of community, mismatches of values—this book spotlights groups that are addressing these failures of ethics. We can look to communities of monks, employees of a Dallas nonprofit, intense hobbyists, and artists with disabilities to see the possibilities for resisting a "total work" environment and the paths to recognizing the dignity of workers and nonworkers alike. In this critical yet deeply humane book, Malesic offers the vocabulary we need to recognize burnout, overcome burnout culture, and find moral significance in our lives beyond work.
The End of Business as Usual
by Brian SolisIt's a new era of business and consumerism-and you play a role in defining it Today's biggest trends-the mobile web, social media, real-time-have produced a new consumer landscape. The End of Business As Usual explores this complex information revolution, how it has changed the future of business, media, and culture, and what you can do about it. "To be successful in business, you need to see what others don't. Start with this book. Someone's going to do it, why not you?" -Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Chairman of HDNet "Innovation has always changed the business landscape. People expect to access information anywhere, anytime, and on any device. Collaborative, cloud, and video technologies are leading this change. As Mr. Solis correctly writes, companies have to lead this change, not follow. " -John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, Inc. "Winning the hearts and minds of customers with new media experiences will turn them into your most valuable sales force. Solis's book is the map to unleash this treasure. " -Peter Guber, author of Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story "Your customers will share their experiences both good and bad. Now that everyone is connected, it's amplified and incredibly influential. This book will help you rethink your vision and mission to survive in a new era of digital Darwinism. " -Mark Burnett, Television Executive Producer
The End of Charity: Time for Social Enterprise
by Nic Frances Maryrose CuskellyThe book leads us through the author's principles of social entrepreneurship. Charity can never deliver a just and sustainable world. The market can be a tool for delivering a range of values besides profit.
The End of Cheap China
by Shaun ReinAn exposé on how the rise of China will affect the American way of lifeThe End of Cheap China is a fun, riveting, must-read book not only for people doing business in China but for anyone interested in understanding the forces that are changing the world.Many Americans know China for manufacturing cheap products, thanks largely to the country's vast supply of low-cost workers. But China is changing, and the glut of cheap labor that has made everyday low prices possible is drying up as the Chinese people seek not to make iPhones, but to buy them. Shaun Rein, Founder of the China Market Research Group, puts China's continuing transformation from producer to large-scale consumer - a process that is farther along than most economists think - under the microscope, examining eight megatrends that are catalyzing change in China and posing threats to Americans' consumption-driven way of life.Rein takes an engaging and informative approach to examining the extraordinary changes taking place across all levels of Chinese society, talking to everyone from Chinese billionaires and senior government officials to poor migrant workers and even prostitutes. He draws on personal stories and experiences from living in China since the 1990s as well as hard economic data. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of China's transformation, from fast-improving Chinese companies to confident, optimistic Chinese women to the role of China's government, and at the end breaks down key lessons for readers to take away.The End of Cheap China shows:How rising labor and real estate costs are forcing manufacturers of cheap Chinese products to close, relocate, or move up the value streamHow a restructuring economy moving away from exports to domestic consumption, and rising incomes will create opportunities for foreign brands to sell products in China rather than just producing thereHow Chinese consumption will build pressure on the global commodities markets, causing both inflation and friction with other nationsHow China's economic transformation spells the end of cheap consumption for AmericansChina's days as a low cost production center are numbered. The End of Cheap China exposes the end of America's consumerist way of life and gives clear advice on how companies can succeed in the new world order.
The End of Cheap China, Revised and Updated
by Shaun Rein"REIN MASTERFULLY CAPTURES WHERE [CONSUMERS] HAVE BEEN AND WHERE THEY DREAM OF GOING." --FORTUNEPRAISE FOR THE END OF CHEAP CHINA"Brilliantly written." --Financial Times"Rein combines elegant writing and methodical research. Years of working in China have given him access to important players. Incisive interviews with billionaires, business executives, government officials, and migrant workers guide the pulse of the narrative . . . essential reading." --USA Today"Engaging. Full of vivid anecdotes from Chinese billionaires to senior party officials and even prostitutes. For any foreigners thinking about doing business in the Middle Kingdom, The End of Cheap China is a good place to start." --Reuters"Must-read." --Consulting Magazine"A lively read." --Straits Times"An inside look." --Industry Week"Compelling, engaging, informative." --The Cayman Islands Journal"Lively, well-written book." --South China Morning Post"Engaging, highly readable style with real-life examples from vast catalog of China research. For good measure, Rein wedded into China's elite, marrying the granddaughter of 1980s Politburo chairman Marshal Ye Jianying" --Asia Times
The End of Competitive Advantage
by Rita Gunther Mcgrath Alex GourlayAre you at risk of being trapped in an uncompetitive business?Chances are the strategies that worked well for you even a few years ago no longer deliver the results you need. Dramatic changes in business have unearthed a major gap between traditional approaches to strategy and the way the real world works now.In short, strategy is stuck. Most leaders are using frameworks that were designed for a different era of business and based on a single dominant idea-that the purpose of strategy is to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Once the premise on which all strategies were built, this idea is increasingly irrelevant.Now, Columbia Business School professor and globally recognized strategy expert Rita Gunther McGrath argues that it's time to go beyond the very concept of sustainable competitive advantage. Instead, organizations need to forge a new path to winning: capturing opportunities fast, exploiting them decisively, and moving on even before they are exhausted. She shows how to do this with a new set of practices based on the notion of transient competitive advantage.This book serves as a new playbook for strategy, one based on updated assumptions about how the world works, and shows how some of the world's most successful companies use this method to compete and win today.Filled with compelling examples from "growth outlier" firms such as Fujifilm, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Infosys, Yahoo! Japan, and Atmos Energy, The End of Competitive Advantage is your guide to renewed success and profitable growth in an economy increasingly defined by transient advantage.
The End of Copycat China: The Rise of Creativity, Innovation, and Individualism in Asia
by Shaun ReinChina's changing course, and sustainable success requires a shift in strategy The End of Copycat China helps business executives and investors understand how China's economy is shifting from one based on heavy investment to one on services and consumption by providing insight that help shape effective strategy. Drawing from over 50,000 interviews with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, private equity investors, private Chinese companies, and multinationals, this book describes how Chinese firms are increasingly focused on innovation rather than copying what worked in America and how consumers are evolving with their hopes, dreams and aspirations. China's growth model of the last three decades is becoming increasingly ineffective, as relying on heavy investment and exports is becoming less and less feasible. Fifty percent of China's growth in 2013 stemmed from consumption, the government is establishing a Free Trade zone in Shanghai and ending the dominance of state-owned enterprises. This book provides a roadmap for companies and investors looking to navigate these changes and capture emerging trends, with deep insight and practical guidance on what innovation looks like in the new China. Survey the development of innovation taking place in China's economy, from an insider's perspective Consider the changes that must take place to shore up the broken growth model Examine the consumer trends emerging in the midst of rapid market evolution Understand how China's rise will impact its neighbors like Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Cambodia China's dramatic shift toward consumption presents a tremendous opportunity for foreign business, but traditional tactics are outdated at best, financially fatal at worst, as local competitors focus on innovation and move up the value chain and as consumers look for new brands and categories to spend money on. New strategies are needed to keep pace with the changing regulatory and consumer environments, and "business as usual" won't get very far. The End of Copycat China is the business guide to this emerging market, with expert guidance from the inside.
The End of Corporate Imperialism
by C. K. Prahalad Kenneth LieberthalHundreds of millions of people in China, India, Indonesia, and Brazil are eager to enter the marketplace. Yet multinational companies typically pitch their products to emerging markets' tiny segment of affluent buyers, and thus miss out on much larger markets further down the socioeconomic pyramid-which local rivals snap up. By applying the authors' recommendations, you can position yourself to compete innovatively in developing countries-and to unlock major new sources of revenue for your business. Since 1922, Harvard Business Review has been a leading source of breakthrough management ideas-many of which still speak to and influence us today. The Harvard Business Review Classics series now offers readers the opportunity to make these seminal pieces a part of your permanent management library. Each highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world-and will have a direct impact on you today and for years to come.
The End of Corporate Social Responsibility: Crisis and Critique
by Peter Fleming Marc V. JonesProviding a much-needed critique of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice and scholarship, this book seeks to redress CSR advocacy, from a political and critical perspective. <P><P> A strident approach backed up by extensive use of case studies presents the argument that most CSR-related activity aims to gain legitimacy from consumers and employees, and therefore furthers the exploitative and colonizing agenda of the corporation. By examining CSR in the context of the political economy of late capitalism, the book puts the emphasis back on the fact that most large corporations are fundamentally driven by profit maximization, making CSR initiatives merely another means to this end. Rather than undermining or challenging unsustainable corporate practices CSR is exposed as an ideological practice that actually upholds the prominence of such practices. <P> As CSR gathers momentum in management practice and scholarship, students in the fields of CSR, business ethics, and strategy, will find this text a useful companion to counter received wisdom in this area.
The End of Country
by Seamus McgrawThe End of Country is the compelling story about the epic battle for control of one of the richest natural gas deposits the world has ever known: the Marcellus Shale, worth more than one trillion dollars. In a remote northeastern corner of Pennsylvania, an intense conflict begins, pitting the forces of corporate America against a community of stoic, low-income homesteaders, determined to acquire their fair share of the windfall--but not at the cost of their values or their way of life. Though the natural gas is extracted through a controversial process known as hydrofracking, many couldn't resist the offer to lease their land in exchange for the promise of untold riches.For years, this part of the world was invisible to all but the farmers, urban transplants, and small landholders who called it home. But journalist Seamus McGraw, a native of the region whose own mother was one of the first to receive a leasing offer, opens a window on a stiff-necked group of Pennsylvanians as they try, with little guidance or protection from the state or anyone else, to balance the promise and the peril of this discovery. Along the way, McGraw introduces us to a host of colorful characters, from a gas company land agent with a Green Beret to a wizened quarryman with an old coonhound, a .22 rifle, and an unerring sense of right and wrong who leads a personal crusade to police the gas company's operations.The cutthroat dash by petrodollar billionaires to secure drilling leases will make some poor residents rich, and put the entire community at risk of having its land tainted by toxic chemicals and its water supply contaminated by gas. Above all, it will test the character of everyone in the community as they fight against "the end of country."Rich with a sense of place and populated by unforgettable personalities, The End of Country is a tale of greed, hubris, and envy, but also of hope and family--and the land that binds them all together.From the Hardcover edition. of greed, hubris, and envy, but also of hope and family--and the land that binds them all together.From the Hardcover edition.
The End of Detroit: How the Big Three Lost Their Grip on the American Car Market
by Micheline MaynardAn in-depth, hard-hitting account of the mistakes, miscalculations and myopia that have doomed America’s automobile industry. In the 1990s, Detroit’s Big Three automobile companies were riding high. The introduction of the minivan and the SUV had revitalized the industry, and it was widely believed that Detroit had miraculously overcome the threat of foreign imports and regained its ascendant position. As Micheline Maynard makes brilliantly clear in THE END OF DETROIT, however, the traditional American car industry was, in fact, headed for disaster. Maynard argues that by focusing on high-profit trucks and SUVs, the Big Three missed a golden opportunity to win back the American car-buyer. Foreign companies like Toyota and Honda solidified their dominance in family and economy cars, gained market share in high-margin luxury cars, and, in an ironic twist, soon stormed in with their own sophisticatedly engineered and marketed SUVs, pickups and minivans. Detroit, suffering from a “good enough” syndrome and wedded to ineffective marketing gimmicks like rebates and zero-percent financing, failed to give consumers what they really wanted—reliability, the latest technology and good design at a reasonable cost. Drawing on a wide range of interviews with industry leaders, including Toyota’s Fujio Cho, Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn, Chrysler’s Dieter Zetsche, BMW’s Helmut Panke, and GM’s Robert Lutz, as well as car designers, engineers, test drivers and owners, Maynard presents a stark picture of the culture of arrogance and insularity that led American car manufacturers astray. Maynard predicts that, by the end of the decade, one of the American car makers will no longer exist in its present form.
The End of Diversity As We Know It: Why Diversity Efforts Fail and How Leveraging Difference Can Succeed
by Martin N. DavidsonThe idea for this book came to Martin Davidson during a disarmingly honest conversation with a CEO he worked with. "Look," the executive said, clearly troubled. "I know we can get a diverse group of people around the table. But so what? What difference does it really make to getting bottom-line results?" Answering the "so what?" led Davidson to explore more deeply how companies typically manage diversity. He saw there were serious problems. Companies weren't effectively building diversity into their larger business strategy. Also, the emphasis on common differences like gender, age, race, and sexual orientation was inter- fering with the ability to identify less obvious differences that have more impact on a business. And traditional diversity efforts were often hindering the professional development of the very people they were designed to help. In his book, Davidson explains how what he calls Leveraging DifferenceTM turns persistent diversity problems into solutions that drive business results. Difference becomes a powerful source of sustainable competitive advantage instead of a distracting mandate handed down from HR. To leverage difference, Davidson argues, leaders must tackle three challenges. First, they must identify and hire for the differences most important to achieving organizational goals, even if the differences aren't the obvious ones. Second, leaders must help employees work together to understand the ways these differences matter to the business. And finally, leaders must roll up their sleeves and experiment with how to use these relevant differences to get things done. Davidson provides several examples of how organizations leverage subtle differences like culture, thought, and personality as well as more noticeable differences like race and gender. Ultimately this is a leadership book, not a diversity book. Actively leveraging difference, rather than reactively managing diversity, can be what distinguishes an ordinary organization from an extraordinary one.
The End of Economic Man: The Origins of Totalitarianism
by Peter DruckerIn The End of Economic Man, long recognized as a cornerstone work, Peter F. Drucker explains and interprets fascism and Nazism as fundamental revolutions. In some ways, this book anticipated by more than a decade the existentialism that came to dominate the European political mood in the postwar period. Drucker provides a special addition to the massive literature on existentialism and alienation since World War II. The End of Economic Man is a social and political effort to explain the subjective consequences of the social upheavals caused by warfare.Drucker concentrates on one specific historical event: the breakdown of the social and political structure of Europe which culminated in the rise of Nazi totalitarianism to mastery over Europe. He explains the tragedy of Europe as the loss of political faith, resulting from the political alienation of the European masses. The End of Economic Man is a book of great social import. It shows not only what might have helped the older generation avert the catastrophe of Nazism, but also how today's generation can prevent another such catastrophe. This work will be of special interest to political scientists, intellectual historians, and sociologists.The book was singled out for praise on both sides of the Atlantic, and is considered by the author to be his most prescient effort in social theory.
The End of Economics (Routledge Frontiers Of Political Economy Ser. #Vol. 4)
by Michael PerelmanMost economic theory assumes a pure capitalism of perfect competition. Even when it is recognized that this does not exist, many politicians and captains of industry pay a great deal of lip service to the idea of the market. This book goes beyond the rhetoric to explore how, even in the United States, the most capitalist of all countries, the marke
The End of Energy Obesity
by Keith Hollihan Peter TertzakianPraise For The End of Energy Obesity "Peter Tertzakian has succeeded once again. He outlines a visionary approach to meeting the serious challenges of the world's projected population growth, continued economic growth, and increasing living standards. This book is a clarion call to policymakers, business leaders, and energy consumers everywhere." --Guy Caruso, Senior Advisor, CSIS, Washington, D.C. (former Administrator, U.S. Energy Information Administration) "Peter Tertzakian is one of the great energy thinkers of our time. In this compelling book, he examines the factors that will drive global energy demand and addresses the critical energy issue of our time: How can mankind bring its ever-growing demand for energy under control?" --Hal Kvisle, CEO, TransCanada Corporation "Anyone interested in understanding the forces that drive conflict and instability when it comes to energy should read Peter Tertzakian's important book, The End of Energy Obesity. Mr. Tertzakian makes it clear that the road ahead is difficult but not impossible. For those interested in how to attack the energy problem today for a better future, this is a must-read book." --General John P. Abizaid (Ret.), former Combatant Commander, U.S. Central Command, and member of the SAFE Energy Security Leadership Council "The End of Energy Obesity is a fresh look at a pressing problem . . . thought-provoking writing that's a must-read for those concerned about the way forward for the industrialized world." --The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Defence and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, Government of Canada "Peter Tertzakian's prose is fun to read, and the analogies are so apt. For anyone concerned about how we go on an energy diet, this book is a must-read." --Matthew R. Simmons, Chairman, Simmons & Company International, author of Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy "This book explores the critical role networked IT solutions play in changing the way energy is used and delivered. The network truly becomes a platform for monitoring and managing energy consumption in a much more efficient way, and we expect the benefits to accelerate as the network becomes more pervasive. Tertzakian shows the reader how networked collaboration technologies such as TelePresence can enable powerful, face-to-face interactions while reducing our energy appetite and carbon footprint." --John Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco
The End of Enlightenment: Empire, Commerce, Crisis
by Richard Whatmore'A brilliant and revelatory book about the history of ideas' David Runciman 'Fascinating and important' Ruth Scurr The Enlightenment is popularly seen as the Age of Reason, a key moment in human history when ideals such as freedom, progress, natural rights and constitutional government prevailed. In this radical re-evaluation, historian Richard Whatmore shows why, for many at its centre, the Enlightenment was a profound failure.By the early eighteenth century, hope was widespread that Enlightenment could be coupled with toleration, the progress of commerce and the end of the fanatic wars of religion that were destroying Europe. At its heart was the battle to establish and maintain liberty in free states – and the hope that absolute monarchies such as France and free states like Britain might even subsist together, equally respectful of civil liberties. Yet all of this collapsed when states pursued wealth and empire by means of war. Xenophobia was rife and liberty itself turned fanatic.The End of Enlightenment traces the changing perspectives of economists, philosophers, politicians and polemicists around the world, including figures as diverse as David Hume, Adam Smith, Edmund Burke and Mary Wollstonecraft. They had strived to replace superstition with reason, but witnessed instead terror and revolution, corruption, gross commercial excess and the continued growth of violent colonialism.Returning us to these tumultuous events and ideas, and digging deep into the thought of the men and women who defined their age, Whatmore offers a lucid exploration of disillusion and intellectual transformation, a brilliant meditation on our continued assumptions about the past, and a glimpse of the different ways our world might be structured - especially as the problems addressed at the end of Enlightenment are still with us today.
The End of Ethics and A Way Back
by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch Jordan D. MamorskyBestselling author and professor Ted Malloch calls for real financial reform to restore confidence and fairness to a broken systemFrom Ponzi schemes to the credit crisis to the real estate bubble, the financial industry seems to have lost its way on the road to riches. As private greed continues to undermine the public good, one might wonder what ever happened to business ethics. And how can we reform the global financial system to benefit everyone, rather than just the very lucky few? In The End of Ethics and the Way Back, the bestselling author of Doing Virtuous Business teams up with attorney and Yale University Postdoctoral Fellow, Jordan Mamorsky to examine the most recent failures of business virtue, prudence, and governance--from Bernie Madoff to Jon Corzine and MF Global--before offering a set of structural and holistic solutions for our current ethical crisis in global finance.Features compelling case studies that reveal the saturation of economic vice in global financeSuggests structural reforms to the global financial system that would increase confidence among consumers and encourage ethical behavior among finance professionalsWritten by Ted Malloch, author of the bestseller Doing Virtuous Business with attorney Jordan MamorskyIdeal for financial regulators, business students and academics, and professionals in the finance industry
The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Game Forever
by Teri AginsA Wall Street Journal reporter’s account of the radical transformation of the fashion industry, “filled with insider details” (Library Journal).The time when fashion was defined by French designers whose clothes could be afforded only by the elite has ended. Now designers take their cues from mainstream consumers and creativity is channeled more into mass-marketing clothes than into designing them. In The End of Fashion, Wall Street Journal reporter Teri Agins astutely explores this seminal change, laying bare all aspects of the fashion industry from manufacturing, retailing, and licensing to image making and financing. Here as well are fascinating insider vignettes that show Donna Karan fighting with financiers, the rivalry between Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, and the commitment to haute couture that sent Isaac Mizrahi’s business spiraling.“The End of Fashion rips into the seamy underbelly of a world where marketing is king, and often the emperor has no clothes.” —Vanity Fair“Essential reading not just for ‘fashionistas,’ but anyone interested in how business really works—or fails—in this dizzying world of art, culture, entertainment, and finance.” —James B. Stewart, Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times–bestselling author of Unscripted“Compelling.” —Publishers Weekly “It ought to be required reading for people who think they might like to be clothing designers.” —The New York Times
The End of Finance: Capital Market Inflation, Financial Derivatives and Pension Fund Capitalism (Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy)
by Jan ToporowskiThis volume develops an original critique of the belief that the present era of finance, where finance markets dominate contemporary capitalist economies, represents the best possible way of organising economic affairs. In fact, it is argued, the ensuing economic instability and inefficiency create the preconditions for the end of the dominance of finance. The End of Finance develops a theory of capital market inflation rooted in the work of Veblen, Kalecki, Keynes and Minsky, demonstrating how it disinclines productive activity on the part of firms, provides only short-term conditions that are propitious for privatisation and distorts monetary policy in the long-term. The author examines the role of pension fund schemes and financial derivatives in transmitting capital market inflation and provides a nuanced analysis of the contradictory role they play in the financial system. Capital market inflation is also examined in its historical context and compared with past inflations, in particular the South Sea and Mississippi Bubbles, which spawned the first financial derivatives, and the first privatisations. This broad historical vision allows us to see these forms of inflation as temporary and provisional in character.
The End of Food
by Paul RobertsPaul Roberts, the best-selling author of The End of Oil, turns his attention to the modern food economy and finds that the system entrusted to meet our most basic need is failing. In this carefully researched, vivid narrative, Roberts lays out the stark economic realities behind modern food and shows how our system of making, marketing, and moving what we eat is growing less and less compatible with the billions of consumers that system was built to serve. At the heart of The End of Food is a grim paradox: the rise of large-scale food production, though it generates more food more cheaply than at any time in history, has reached a point of dangerously diminishing returns. Our high-volume factory systems are creating new risks for food-borne illness, from E. coli to avian flu. Our high-yield crops and livestock generate grain, vegetables, and meat of declining nutritional quality. While nearly one billion people worldwide are overweight or obese, the same number of people—one in every seven of us—can&’t get enough to eat. In some of the hardest-hit regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, the lack of a single nutrient, vitamin A, has left more than five million children permanently blind. Meanwhile, the shift to heavily mechanized, chemically intensive farming has so compromised soil and water that it&’s unclear how long such output can be maintained. And just as we&’ve begun to understand the limits of our abundance, the burgeoning economies of Asia, with their rising middle classes, are adopting Western-style, meat-heavy diets, putting new demands on global food supplies. Comprehensive in scope and full of fresh insights, The End of Food presents a lucid, stark vision of the future. It is a call for us to make crucial decisions to help us survive the demise of food production as we know it. Paul Roberts is the author of The End of Oil, which was a finalist for the New York Public Library's Helen Bernstein Book Award in 2005. He has written about resource economics and politics for numerous publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Harper&’s Magazine, and Rolling Stone, and lectures frequently on business and environmental issues.