2006, ISBN: 9780522841084

Gebundene Ausgabe

Little, Brown. Very Good. Paperback. 2006. 288 pages. <br>The economy [isn't] a bunch of rather dull statist ics with names like GDP (gross domestic product), notes Tim Harfo rd… Mehr…

Little, Brown. Very Good. Paperback. 2006. 288 pages. <br>The economy [isn't] a bunch of rather dull statist ics with names like GDP (gross domestic product), notes Tim Harfo rd, columnist and regular guest on NPR's Marketplace, economics i s about who gets what and why. In this acclaimed and riveting boo k-part expos? part user's manual-the astute and entertaining colu mnist from the Financial Times demystifies the ways in which mone y works in the world. From why the coffee in your cup costs so mu ch to why efficiency is not necessarily the answer to ensuring a fair society, from improving health care to curing crosstown traf fic-all the dirty little secrets of dollars and cents are delight fully revealed by The Undercover Economist. A rare specimen: a b ook on economics that will enthrall its readers . . . It brings t he power of economics to life. -Steven D. Levitt, coauthor of Fre akonomics A playful guide to the economics of everyday life, and as such is something of an elder sibling to Steven Levitt's wild child, the hugely successful Freakonomics. -The Economist A tou r de force . . . If you need to be convinced of the everrelevant and fascinating nature of economics, read this insightful and wit ty book. -Jagdish Bhagwati, author of In Defense of Globalization This is a book to savor. -The New York Times Harford writes li ke a dream. From his book I found out why there's a Starbucks on every corner [and] how not to get duped in an auction. Reading Th e Undercover Economist is like spending an ordinary day wearing X -ray goggles. -David Bodanis, author of Electric Universe Much w it and wisdom. -The Houston Chronicle From Publishers Weekly Nat tily packaged-the cover sports a Roy Lichtensteinesque image of a n economist in Dick Tracy garb-and cleverly written, this book ap plies basic economic theory to such modern phenomena as Starbucks ' pricing system and Microsoft's stock values. While the concepts explored are those encountered in Microeconomics 101, Harford gr acefully explains abstruse ideas like pricing along the demand cu rve and game theory using real world examples without relying on graphs or jargon. The book addresses free market economic theory, but Harford is not a complete apologist for capitalism; he shows how companies from to Whole Foods to Starbucks have g ouged consumers through guerrilla pricing techniques and explains the high rents in London (it has more to do with agriculture tha n one might think). Harford comes down soft on Chinese sweatshops , acknowledging conditions in factories are terrible, but sweatsh ops are better than the horrors that came before them, and a step on the road to something better. Perhaps, but Harford doesn't qu estion whether communism or a capitalist-style industrial revolut ion are the only two choices available in modern economies. That aside, the book is unequaled in its accessibility and ability to show how free market economic forces affect readers' day-to-day. Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevie r Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks Magazine Harford expo ses the dark underbelly of capitalism in Undercover Economist. Co mpared with Steven Levitt's and Stephen J. Dubner's popular Freak onomics (*** July/Aug 2005), the book uses simple, playful exampl es (written in plain English) to elucidate complex economic theor ies. Critics agree that the book will grip readers interested in understanding free-market forces but disagree about Harford's app roach. Some thought the author mastered the small ideas while kee ping in sight the larger context of globalization; others faulted Harford for failing to criticize certain economic theories and t o ground his arguments in political, organizational structures. E ither way, his case studies-some entertaining, others indicative of times to come-will make you think twice about that cup of coff ee. Copyright ? 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. Editorial Re views From Publishers Weekly Nattily packaged-the cover sports a Roy Lichtensteinesque image of an economist in Dick Tracy garb-a nd cleverly written, this book applies basic economic theory to s uch modern phenomena as Starbucks' pricing system and Microsoft's stock values. While the concepts explored are those encountered in Microeconomics 101, Harford gracefully explains abstruse ideas like pricing along the demand curve and game theory using real w orld examples without relying on graphs or jargon. The book addre sses free market economic theory, but Harford is not a complete a pologist for capitalism; he shows how companies from t o Whole Foods to Starbucks have gouged consumers through guerrill a pricing techniques and explains the high rents in London (it ha s more to do with agriculture than one might think). Harford come s down soft on Chinese sweatshops, acknowledging conditions in fa ctories are terrible, but sweatshops are better than the horrors that came before them, and a step on the road to something better . Perhaps, but Harford doesn't question whether communism or a ca pitalist-style industrial revolution are the only two choices ava ilable in modern economies. That aside, the book is unequaled in its accessibility and ability to show how free market economic fo rces affect readers' day-to-day. Copyright ? Reed Business Inform ation, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Fro m the Back Cover The Undercover Economist is a rare specimen: a b ook on economics that will enthrall its readers. Beautifully writ ten and argued, it brings the power of economics to life. This bo ok should be required reading for every elected official, busines s leader, and university student. --Steven D. Levitt, author of F reakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everyt hing Harford writes like a dream--and is also one of the leadin g economic thinkers of his generation. From his book I found out why there's a Starbucks on every corner, what Bob Geldof needs to learn to make development aid work properly, and how not to get duped in an auction. Reading The Undercover Economist is like spe nding an ordinary day wearing X-ray goggles. --David Bodanis, aut hor of E=mc2 and Electric Universe If you need to be convinced of the ever-relevant and fascinating nature of economics, read th is insightful and witty book by Tim Harford. Using one interestin g example after another, The Undercover Economist demonstrates ho w economic reasoning -- often esoteric and dull, but totally acce ssible in Harford's hands -- helps illuminate the world around us . Indeed, Harford's book is a tour de force. --Jagdish Bhagwati, author of In Defense of Globalization As Tim Harford demonstrat es brilliantly in this enjoyable book, the powerful underlying id eas of economics can, in the hands of the right person, illuminat e every aspect of the world we inhabit. --Martin Wolf, Associate Editor and Chief Economics Commentator, Financial Times, and auth or of Why Globalization Works Most people think economists are boring, opinionated and wrong. Tim Harford is often right, always opinionated, but never boring. He shows how economics can be use d to illuminate our everyday lives. Whether you want an explanati on of the price of a cup of coffee or of poverty in the third wor ld, Harford has it all. --John Kay, author of Culture and Prosper ity: The Truth About Markets About the Author Tim Harford is an editorial writer at the Financial Times, where he also writes th e newspaper's Dear Economist column and The Undercover Economist column, which also appears in Slate. He lives in London. About t he Author Tim Harford is an editorial writer at the Financial Tim es, where he also writes the newspaper's Dear Economist column an d The Undercover Economist column, which also appears in Slate. H e lives in London. Review Required reading. -Steven Levitt, auth or of Freakonomics A playful guide to the economics of everyday life, and as such. . . something of an elder sibling to Steven Le vitt's wild child, the hugely successful Freakonomics. -The Econo mist A book to savor. -The New York Times The Undercover Econom ist is a book you must pick up if you want a fresh perspective on how basic ideas in economics can help in answering the most comp lex and perplexing questions about the world around us. -Business Today [Harford] is in every sense consumer-friendly. His chapte rs come in bite-size sections, with wacky sub-headings. His style is breezy and no-nonsense. . . . The Undercover Economistis part primer, part consciousness raiser, part self-help manual. --Time s Literary Supplement Anyone mystified by how the world works wi ll benefit from this book - especially anyone confused about why good intentions don't, necessarily, translate into good results. -The Daily Telegraph (UK) Harford writes like a dream - and is a lso one of the leading economic thinkers of his generation. From his book I found out why there's a Starbucks on every corner, wha t Bob Geldof needs to learn to make development aid work properly , and how not to get duped in an auction. Reading The Undercover Economist is like spending an ordinary day wearing X-ray goggles. -David Bodanis, author of E=mc2 and Electric Universe Popular e conomics is not an oxymoron, and here is the proof. This book, by the Financial Times columnist Tim Harford, is as lively and witt y an introduction to the supposedly 'dismal science' as you are l ikely to read. -The Times From AudioFile This delightful behind- the-scenes look at basic economics should be required listening f or anyone who's looked up at a Starbucks menu and asked, Why am I paying four dollars for a cup of coffee? Robert McKenzie reads w ith an educated English accent that entertains as well as enchant s, and he makes a point to be both clear and challenging in his d elivery. The author's take on money is laugh-out-loud funny, and listeners who tune in for the entertainment value will find thems elves educated in the ways of the economic world. Magnificently w ritten and read, this book solves some of the mysteries of everyd ay life with wit and style. R.O. ? AudioFile 2006, Portland, Main e-- Copyright ? AudioFile, Portland, Maine Excerpt. ? Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. One Who Pays for Your Coffee ? The long commute on public transportation is a commonplace exp erience of life in major cities around the world, whether you liv e in New York, Tokyo, Antwerp, or Prague. Commuting dispiritingly combines the universal and the particular. The particular, becau se each commuter is a rat in his own unique maze: timing the run from the shower to the station turnstiles; learning the timetable s and the correct end of the platform to speed up the transfer be tween different trains; trading off the disadvantages of standing room only on the first train home against a seat on the last one . Yet commutes also produce common patterns-bottlenecks and rush hours-that are exploited by entrepreneurs the world over. My comm ute in Washington, D.C., is not the same as yours in London, New York, or Hong Kong, but it will look surprisingly familiar. Farr agut West is the Metro station ideally positioned to serve the Wo rld Bank, International Monetary Fund, and even the White House. Every morning, sleep-deprived, irritable travelers surface from F arragut West into the International Square plaza, and they are no t easily turned aside from their paths. They want to get out of t he noise and bustle, around the shuffling tourists, and to their desks just slightly before their bosses. They do not welcome deto urs. But there is a place of peace and bounty that can tempt them to tarry for a couple of minutes. In this oasis, rare delights a re served with smiles by attractive and exotic men and women-toda y, a charming barista whose name badge reads Maria. I am thinking , of course, of Starbucks. The caf?is placed, inescapably, at the exit to International Square. This is no quirk of Farragut West: the first storefront you will pass on your way out of the nearby Farragut North Metro is-another Starbucks. You find such conveni ently located coffee shops all over the planet and catering to th e same desperate commuters. The coffee shop within ten yards of t he exit from Washington's Dupont Circle Metro station is called C osi. New York's Penn Station boasts Seattle Coffee Roasters just by the exit to Eighth Avenue. Commuters through Shinjuku Station, Tokyo, can enjoy a Starbucks without leaving the station concour se. In London's Waterloo station, it is the AMT kiosk that guards the exit onto the south bank of the Thames. At $2.55 a tall cap puccino from Starbucks is hardly cheap. But of course, I can affo rd it. Like many of the people stopping at that caf? I earn the p rice of that coffee every few minutes. None of us care to waste o ur time trying to save a few pennies by searching out a cheaper c offee at 8:30 in the morning. There is a huge demand for the most convenient coffee possible-in Waterloo Station, for example, sev enty-four million people pass through each year. That makes the l ocation of the coffee bar crucial. The position of the Starbucks caf?at Farragut West is advantageous, not just because it's loca ted on an efficient route from the platforms to the station exit, but because there are no other coffee bars on that route. It's h ardly a surprise that they do a roaring trade. If you buy as muc h coffee as I do you may have come to the conclusion that somebod y is getting filthy rich out of all this. If the occasional gripe s in the newspapers are correct, the coffee in that cappuccino co sts pennies. Of course, the newspapers don't tell us the whole st ory: there's milk, electricity, cost of the paper cups-and the co st of paying Maria to smile at grouchy customers all day long. Bu t after you add all that up you still get something a lot less th an the price of a cup of coffee. According to economics professor Brian McManus, markups on coffee are around 150 percent-it costs forty cents to make a one-dollar cup of drip coffee and costs le ss than a dollar for a small latte, which sells for $2.55. So som ebody is making a lot of money. Who? You might think that the ob vious candidate is Howard Schultz, the owner of Starbucks. But th e answer isn't as simple as that. The main reason that Starbucks can ask $2.55 for a cappuccino is that there isn't a shop next do or charging $2.00. So why is nobody next door undercutting Starbu cks? Without wishing to dismiss the achievements of Mr. Schultz, cappuccinos are not in fact complicated products. There is no sho rtage of drinkable cappuccinos (sadly, there is no shortage of un drinkable ca, Little, Brown, 2006, 3, Melbourne University Press. Very Good. 6.54 x 1.4 x 10.08 inches. Hardcover. 1971. 463 pages. Rear dj has portion missing<br>Since 1962 the Australi an Dictionary of Biography has been prepared by its staff in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National Uni versity. It provides concise, informative and fascinating descrip tions of prominent men and women of this country who contributed their vision and energies to a growing nation. Each entry is pre pared by a leading scholar. The subjects come from all walks of l ife--from premiers, generals and bishops, through artists, actors and authors, farmers, engineers and schoolteachers, to prostitut es, thieves and murderers--providing a cross-section of Australia n society. This magnificent cumulative work continues to be a va luable and popular reference tool for all libraries, large and sm all. Editorial Reviews Review For consistency, interest and she er pleasure, the ADB may well be the best English-language biogra phical dictionary in the world. -Australian Historical Studies Truly a national record and a suggestive piece of social history. -Times Literary Supplement ., Melbourne University Press, 1971, 2.5<

2011, ISBN: 9780522841084

Taschenbuch, Gebundene Ausgabe

Harper Perennial, 2011. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Fine. Thrust into the unlikely role of professional "literary walking tour" guide, an expat writer provides the most irresist… Mehr…

Harper Perennial, 2011. 1st Edition . Soft cover. Fine. Thrust into the unlikely role of professional "literary walking tour" guide, an expat writer provides the most irresistibly witty and revealing tour of Paris in years. In this enchanting memoir, acclaimed author and long- time Paris resident John Baxter remembers his yearlong experience of giving "literary walking tours" through the city. Baxter sets off with unsuspecting tourists in tow on the trail of Paris's legendary artists and writers of the past. Along the way, he tells the history of Paris through a brilliant cast of characters: the favorite caf&#201;s of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce; Pablo Picasso's underground Montmartre haunts; the bustling boulevards of the late-nineteenth-century fl&#194;neurs; the secluded "Little Luxembourg" gardens beloved by Gertrude Stein; the alleys where revolutionaries plotted; and finally Baxter's own favorite walk near his home in Saint-Germain-des-Pr&#201;s. Paris, by custom and design, is a pedestrian's city&#151;each block a revelation, every neighborhood a new feast for the senses, a place rich with history and romance at every turn. The Most Beautiful Walk in the World is your guide, par excellence, to the true, off-the-beaten-path heart of the City of Lights., Harper Perennial, 2011, 5, Melbourne University Press. Very Good. 6.54 x 1.4 x 10.08 inches. Hardcover. 1971. 463 pages. Rear dj has portion missing<br>Since 1962 the Australi an Dictionary of Biography has been prepared by its staff in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National Uni versity. It provides concise, informative and fascinating descrip tions of prominent men and women of this country who contributed their vision and energies to a growing nation. Each entry is pre pared by a leading scholar. The subjects come from all walks of l ife--from premiers, generals and bishops, through artists, actors and authors, farmers, engineers and schoolteachers, to prostitut es, thieves and murderers--providing a cross-section of Australia n society. This magnificent cumulative work continues to be a va luable and popular reference tool for all libraries, large and sm all. Editorial Reviews Review For consistency, interest and she er pleasure, the ADB may well be the best English-language biogra phical dictionary in the world. -Australian Historical Studies Truly a national record and a suggestive piece of social history. -Times Literary Supplement ., Melbourne University Press, 1971, 2.5<

1971, ISBN: 0522841082

[EAN: 9780522841084], Gebraucht, sehr guter Zustand, [PU: Melbourne University Press], BIOGRAPHY, AUSTRALIA -- BIOGRAPHY DICTIONARIES, HISTORY 1945-, Jacket, 463 pages. Rear dj has portio… Mehr…

[EAN: 9780522841084], Gebraucht, sehr guter Zustand, [PU: Melbourne University Press], BIOGRAPHY, AUSTRALIA -- BIOGRAPHY DICTIONARIES, HISTORY 1945-, Jacket, 463 pages. Rear dj has portion missingSince 1962 the Australi an Dictionary of Biography has been prepared by its staff in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National Uni versity. It provides concise, informative and fascinating descrip tions of prominent men and women of this country who contributed their vision and energies to a growing nation. Each entry is pre pared by a leading scholar. The subjects come from all walks of l ife--from premiers, generals and bishops, through artists, actors and authors, farmers, engineers and schoolteachers, to prostitut es, thieves and murderers--providing a cross-section of Australia n society. This magnificent cumulative work continues to be a va luable and popular reference tool for all libraries, large and sm all. Editorial Reviews Review For consistency, interest and she er pleasure, the ADB may well be the best English-language biogra phical dictionary in the world. -Australian Historical Studies Truly a national record and a suggestive piece of social history. -Times Literary Supplement, Books<

1971, ISBN: 9780522841084

Melbourne University Press. Very Good. 6.54 x 1.4 x 10.08 inches. Hardcover. 1971. 463 pages. Rear dj has portion missing<br>Since 1962 the Australi an Dictionary of Biography has b… Mehr…

Melbourne University Press. Very Good. 6.54 x 1.4 x 10.08 inches. Hardcover. 1971. 463 pages. Rear dj has portion missing<br>Since 1962 the Australi an Dictionary of Biography has been prepared by its staff in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National Uni versity. It provides concise, informative and fascinating descrip tions of prominent men and women of this country who contributed their vision and energies to a growing nation. Each entry is pre pared by a leading scholar. The subjects come from all walks of l ife--from premiers, generals and bishops, through artists, actors and authors, farmers, engineers and schoolteachers, to prostitut es, thieves and murderers--providing a cross-section of Australia n society. This magnificent cumulative work continues to be a va luable and popular reference tool for all libraries, large and sm all. Editorial Reviews Review For consistency, interest and she er pleasure, the ADB may well be the best English-language biogra phical dictionary in the world. -Australian Historical Studies Truly a national record and a suggestive piece of social history. -Times Literary Supplement ., Melbourne University Press, 1971, 2.5<