Bank Problems: A Global Perspective (Research in Financial Services: Private and Public Policy)

Book Description

The papers in this volume were presented at three invited sessions at the annual meetings of the Western Economic Association in San Diego, California on July 8-10, 1999. The comments by delegates were also presented at that time and are included in the volume.

The theme of the sessions was "Bank Problems: A Global Perspective." As has been well documented in previous volumes in this series, serious banking problems have plagued the large majority of countries globally be they industrial, emerging or transition economies. The problems arose because of both market failures and regulatory or government policy failures. The costs of these problems in terms of reduction in real output, misallocations of both real and financial resources, and transfer payments and cross-subsidies, particularly from taxpayers to protected stakeholders in failed banks, have been large and burdensome. Thus, a better understanding of the causes of the problems in both the private and government sectors and their potential solutions is a prerequisite for avoiding, or at least minimizing repetitions in the future. The papers in this volume contribute to this effort and add to our storehouse of knowledge. The emphasis on global in the title is reinforced by including papers by authors from Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States.

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Do You See What I See: A Diversity Tale for Retaining People of Color (Essential Knowledge Resource)
Janice Fenn , and Chandra Goforth Irvin
Manufacturer: Pfeiffer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0787978787

Book Description

Do You See What I See? offers leaders, managers, and human resource professionals a unique and practical resource for understanding the behavioral subtleties and nuances that affect the retention of people of color within organizations. Through the imaginative use of a fable, authors Janice Fenn and Chandra G. Irvin are able to show different points of view of leaders, managers, and newly recruited POC. In the fable a mirror comes to life and offers insightful reflections that help executives and managers understand what it takes to retain POC in a highly competitive marketplace. Step by step the authors clearly show what happened, what should have happened, conclusions that were drawn, and conclusions that should have been drawn. The fable offers the opportunity for leaders and managers to identify and address similar issues in their real life organizations.

Book Description

The Hubble Space Telescope is the largest, most complex, and most powerful observatory ever deployed in space, designed to allow astronomers to look far back into our own cosmic past with unprecedented clarity. Yet from its launch in 1990, when it was discovered that a flawed mirror was causing severe "myopia" and sending fuzzy images back to Earth, the HST has been at the center of a controversy over who was at fault for the flaw and how it should be fixed. Now Chaisson, a former senior scientist on the HST project, tells the inside story of the much heralded mission to fix the telescope. Drawing on his journals, Chaisson recreates the day-to-day struggles of scientists, politicians, and publicists to fix the telescope and control the political spin. Illustrated with "before and after" full-color pictures from the telescope and updated with a new preface, The Hubble Wars tells an engaging tale of scientific comedy and error.

In this new edition, coming at the half-way point in the HST's planned mission of fifteen years, Chaisson has brought the Hubble story up-to-date by sorting out the spectacular from the mundane contributions the HST has made to our knowledge of the Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, and the distant galaxies of deep space.

Customer Reviews:

Good background read on HST.......2007-01-07

Frankly, I enjoyed the atsropolitics perspective of the Hubble Space Telescope [HST] but several people that were associated with the project I have spoken dispute elements of the book on a factual basis. Nonetheless, I see facts as being taken from where one stands especially in political science and the art of spin. For anyone doing an overview study of the Hubble Space Telescope, this book should be among those to be read for insight to the early development issues associated with a 'Big Science' project. The HST has, fortunately, been a significant instrument in astronomy the past decade or so. Hopefully the 2008 service mission will extend its life several more years leaving more to the HST story to be told with many more pictures and words to be written as to its astronomical observations.

20-20 Vision.......2004-04-12

Chaisson has effectively been made a nonperson at NASA (one scientist tangentially involved in the Hubble program told me that he "believed" that Chaisson had been a "janitor or maintenance man"), which implies that he's on to something.

Reading this book will teach you something essential about organizational politics, something that is often revealed, but never corrected, and so must always be relearned. It will also make it clear why -- assorted automated go-carts to the contrary -- we're not going to Mars or anywhere else in the near future, at least not with this outfit.

A Great Novel.......2003-01-04

``Hubble Wars'' is a great exciting read, but unfortunately it has little to do with anything that really happened. Chaisson's tone reads like that of a classic self-serving political memior, ``I was there. I saw everything. It's a shame that the fools didn't listen to me, because I alone knew what to do.'' In truth, Chaisson gets the details completely wrong in many places, fails to understand what people were really doing to save the mission, and represents a privileged vantage point that he in fact did not have. I have yet to meet anyone who had anything to do with the Hubble who considers this book to be a fair or accurate history. Chaisson's tone is vividly clear in the summary chapter in which he judges the profoundly successful 1993 repair mission to having fallen far short. There is a great history of the Hubble to be written, but this is not it.

A great read!.......2000-02-18

An excellent book! It really shows what goes on down in the bowels of another government agency. Really well done. It's really amazing how the press can be lead on by the PR machine and how the PR machine doesn't even know what it's doing in a field a s specific as astrophysics and astronomy. It's really a wonder how hubble even got off the ground, let alone, work. Now, it is finally giving us some really good science and will hopefully continue to do so until the end of its operational life.

Great reading for anyone interested in astronomy.......1999-02-20

If you've ever wondered what went wrong, and more importantly, what went right with the Hubble Space Telescope, this is a book for you. The author describes many of his personal experiences and gives us folks on the outside a peek at how professional astronomers work. Also, he corrects some of the errors that were made by the newsmedia in the early days of the project

Book Description

This book is the definitive reference on phase-transfer catalysis (PTC), written by the three foremost industrial and academic PTC experts in the world. Phase-Transfer Catalysis, the first practical guide to performing PTC in industry, includes key information and analyses found in no other publication. It will be a valuable resource for synthetic organic chemists, polymer chemists, process chemists, developmental chemists, and chemical engineers in academia and industry. Organic process chemists seeking greater process flexibility, reduced manufacturing costs and pollution, and easier compliance with environmental regulations will find it an indespensable reference. The book provides a thorough introduction to the fundamentals of PTC as a synthetic organic chemistry technique, including reaction mechanisms, selectivity, rates and kinetics. It gives specific guidelines on how to optimize catalyst, solvent, base, hydration, and more, based on reaction characteristics. The section on applications includes nucleophilic displacement reactions, oxidation and reduction reactions, and such special topics as insoluble PTC (triphase catalysis), polymerization, chiral catalysis, applications in environmental and analytical chemistry, and transition metal co-catalyzed PTC. Throughout the book, PTC applications in key industries are discussed--including organic chemicals, polymers, pharmaceuticals, agrichemicals, monomers, petrochemicals, flavors and fragrances, additives, dyes, and specialty chemicals.

Customer Reviews:

Authoritative and comprehensive........1997-09-02

Covers the subject very well. However: There is repetition throughout the book indicating that the three authors didn't coordinate their contributions. The chapters are unsigned. Graphics are sometimes of poor quality, especially toward the end. Many spelling and typo errors. Equation 7-1 is missing and in its place there was left a note to the author reminding him to insert it. The book was obviously not proofread or edited. Being a stickler for perfect spelling and appearance, I found these problems distracting.

Phase-transfer Catalysis : Fundamentals, Applications, and Industrial Perspectives

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Phase-transfer Catalysis : Fundamentals, Applications, and Industrial Perspectives
C.M. Starks
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUIKSM

Book Description

In a work that will interest researchers in ecology, genetics, botany, entomology, and parasitology, Warren Abrahamson and Arthur Weis present the results of more than twenty-five years of studying plant-insect interactions. Their study centers on the ecology and evolution of interactions among a host plant, the parasitic insect that attacks it, and the suite of insects and birds that are the natural enemies of the parasite. Because this system provides a model that can be subjected to experimental manipulations, it has allowed the authors to address specific theories and concepts that have guided biological research for more than two decades and to engage general problems in evolutionary biology.

The specific subjects of research are the host plant goldenrod (Solidago), the parasitic insect Eurosta solidaginis (Diptera: Tephritidae) that induces a gall on the plant stem, and a number of natural enemies of the gallfly. By presenting their detailed empirical studies of the Solidago-Eurosta natural enemy system, the authors demonstrate the complexities of specialized enemy-victim interactions and, thereby, the complex interactive relationships among species more broadly. By utilizing a diverse array of field, laboratory, behavioral, genetic, chemical, and statistical techniques, Abrahamson and Weis present the most thorough study to date of a single system of interacting species. Their interest in the evolutionary ecology of plant-insect interactions leads them to insights on the evolution of species interactions in general. This major work will interest anyone involved in studying the ways in which interdependent species interact.

Customer Reviews:

Life outlook altering!!! Stunning!.......1999-06-23

This ecological masterpiece is essential to our research here at Bucknell University. Their work with the ball-gall fly and goldenrod is methodical and illustrates the details of the plant/animal interaction. This is a must read for anyone interested in plant-insect interactions! M.B and L.Y.

Book Description

Alone on the endless red-sand desert in the Australian outback, tracking Varanus giganteus, the perentie lizard that grows to be more than six feet long . . . for desert rat Eric Pianka, such adventures have led to a satisfying, if unusual, way of life, as well as a distinguished career as a field biologist. In The Lizard Man Speaks, Pianka recounts more than thirty years of adventures in reptile studies. He tells of "lizarding" in the North American deserts, the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa, and the Great Victoria Desert in Western Australia. His vivid imagery draws the reader into a world where lions lurk in the darkness beyond a gecko hunter's lights, where being stranded by car trouble miles from the last outpost is a constant danger, and where the wilderness still deserves to be called wild. Along the way, Pianka provides much general information about lizard ecology, the fire succession cycle, and the interaction of humans with the landscape. And he reveals the springs of his own determined spirit and love of solitude, describing a near-fatal boyhood accident and its shaping and character-building effect on the life that followed.

Customer Reviews:

Great for anyone interested in herpetology, field studies, or an fascinating life story of an interesting man.......2007-03-03

I am a college student studying organismic biology. I am taking an ecology class this semester and our text is by Eric Pianka. Herpetology is one of my passions so when I found out Pianka was a "lizard man" I did some research and came upon this book. It turned out to be everything I hoped it would be. The book is written in a manner that engages the reader; you will be held captive as he writes about his childhood experiences and methods of lizarding.

a student from Connecticut.......2000-02-24

Eric pianka is one of the finest ecologists in the world. His excitement and passion for these animals is evident throughout the book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who i interested in ecology an field biology.

a must read book if you are pursuing your career in ecology........2000-02-15

I am so glad that I had bought this book from Half prize book store and had a chance to read. It helped me to understand the diversity of the lizards within and between the continents of northern America, Australia, and Africa. It also helped me to understand a lot about lizard natural history. The author of this book deserves a lot of credit for his hard work and dedicated service in bringing up so much knowlede about the lizards to the mankind.

A must read for anyone interested in lizards or ecology........1996-08-02

Erik Pianka is one of the worlds finest ecologists. His passion for lizard ecology is infective. By the end of book you will feel like you know and have worked with Pianka. His story shows what field biologists are all about.

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"Hook Man Speaks" but who cares?
very sweet and funny
Too much was missing...
a quick and gentle read
Funny and hopeful

Hook Man Speaks
Matt Clark
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

The Hook Man-the nightmare of romantic teens on Lovers Lanes from coast to coast-is an enduring and frightening urban legend. But what if he had a name? Fears of his own? What if he was real? He is. In this funny, touching, and completely unpredictable novel, Matt Clark lets everyone in on a dark secret in American pop culture, and gives the Hook Man a heart-and a voice-like no other in contemporary fiction.

"Part picaresque, part urban folklore, part bildungsroman, and like no other novel I've ever read. Deftly written, funny, at times heartbreaking." (Josh Russell, author of Yellow Jack)

"Inspired strangeness." (Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng)

"Clark's writing is illuminated by a child's sadness and by a young man's sensual hunger...a terrific book." (Andrei Codrescu, author of The Blood Countess)

"The gracious humanity of his Hook Man will earn Matt Clark a spot among the most beguiling characters in fiction." (Elizabeth Gilbert, author of The Last American Man and Pilgrims)

Customer Reviews:

"Hook Man Speaks" but who cares?.......2002-04-22

Stilled by cancer at the age of thirty-one, Matt Clark leaves us only one book through which we can judge his literary talents. There is little question that Mr. Clark possessed a love for language and a tart, skewed sense of humor. Yet his novel, "Hook Man Speaks" is terribly disappointing. Using the promising techinque of describing life through an archtypical figure of terror's eyes, Clark's work is neither illuminating, satirical nor compelling. "Hook Man Speaks" is bland, boring and banal. Save both your money and your time; select something else, anything else, to read.

Save the clearly delightful descriptive writing, Clark sadly fails at every goal he has set for himself. Cross-cutting narratives serve little purpose but to disrupt an already weak story line. Unbelievable in and of himself, the Hook Man interacts with a series of characters so one-sided and unbelievable that they, and not he, are the objects of the reader's disappointment. Particularly obnoxious is Professor Brautigan, whose literary purpose is to permit readers an "undersanding" of the Hook Man; instead, this character embodies practically every stereotype of a frustrated, irrelevant university scholar. When Mr. Clark permits the reader to glimpse into the childhood of the Hook Man, he entices us with the possibility of compassion. That hope is wrenched away abruptly as the author determines to stultify his reading audience with pathetically implausible encounters with axe murderers and a woman whose feet allegedly were gnawed off by rats while eating Kentucky Fried Chicken.

No reviewer enjoys casting aspersions on the talent of artists whose lives were cut short by disease or disaster. Yet, since Berkley Books has chosen to publish this work posthumously and other noted writers (including Darin Strauss and Elizabeth Gilbert) have gushed praise over "Hook Man," my criticism of the novel may become as irrelevant as what I consider the work to be itself.

very sweet and funny.......2002-03-12

this book is was so much fun to read. it's perfect to read on the subway or bus on your way to/from work. i actually looked forward to my daily trips on public transportation! it's light, engaging and very funny. he also has a wonderful ability to create visual images through language without being flowery or verbos. it's a shame matt clark died so young. i would have looked forward to his development as a novelist.

Too much was missing..........2002-03-09

In this book Mr. Clark attempts to attach real faces and exeriences to those characters of urban legand we have all heard over and over again. While centering primarily on the "Hook Man" who sneaks up and scares young lovers in their cars at various lover's lanes across the country, we encounter other such legends as the Kentucky Fried Rat lady, the Axe Man, the Vanishing Hitchhiker and a few others. We learn their "real" stories. They are just normal people who had an experience that was blown out of proportion, told over and over with embellishments added until they reach their legendary status.

Having studied urban legands in a college folklore class I was enraptured by the thought of all this book could be when I picked it up off the shelf. With such an already interesting subject matter and the opportunity to let the imagination to run wild, it seemed like this would be an excellent read. It fell short of the mark and the only reason I can think of for this is that it was just too short. The characters were very underdeveloped and there were too many loose ends all over the place. Had this book been fleshed out more and some of the unanswered questions addressed, Hook Man Speaks would definately meritted a five star rating from this reader.

a quick and gentle read.......2002-02-28

Hook Man Speaks is a gentle story about the man behind the urban myth--you know= lovers parked in a deserted lane, tapping on the window, girl freaks out, guy gets mad, they drive off, get home and there's a hook on the car door handle. This is the "story behind the myth". Told in a diary/flashback method this story was a fast read with a lot of heart. It's the tale of a handicaped man and his struggle to love and to be loved. The only reason I can't rate it a 5, is because the character of the professor ( hook man's only friend)did not seem as rounded. I am genuinely saddened by the death of the author, Matt Clark; were he still living, I feel he would have become a bestselling author with much to offer.

Funny and hopeful.......2001-12-08

If you've ever parked your Ford along a dark road and then spent some heated time in the backseat with your sweetie, then this book will add to your thrill. Clark has taken the myth of the dreaded Hook Man who has tortured many young lovers and given him a life complete with personal history and a sweet love story. Other urban mythical characters are included to round out the story.

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