Book Description
A love story that embraces the business and economic issues of the day?
The Invisible Heart takes a provocative look at business, economics, and regulation through the eyes of Sam Gordon and Laura Silver, teachers at the exclusive Edwards School in Washington, D.C. Sam lives and breathes capitalism. He thinks that most government regulation is unnecessary or even harmful. He believes that success in business is a virtue. He believes that our humanity flourishes under economic freedom. Laura prefers Wordsworth to the Wall Street Journal. Where Sam sees victors, she sees victims. She wants the government to protect consumers and workers from the excesses of Sam's beloved marketplace.
While Sam and Laura argue about how to make the world a better place, a parallel story unfolds across town. Erica Baldwin, the crusading head of a government watchdog agency, tries to bring Charles Krauss, a ruthless CEO, to justice. How are these two dramas connected? Why is Sam under threat of dismissal? Will Erica Baldwin find the evidence she needs? Can Laura love a man with an Adam Smith poster on his wall? The answers in The Invisible Heart give the reader a richer appreciation for how business and the marketplace transform our lives.
Customer Reviews:
A love story for the `Free-Market Romantic.' .......2007-09-08
I always thought that free-market enthusiasts got an unfair shake when it came to `Matters of the Heart" (free-marketers get a bad shake on almost everything, but especially this.) For too long, `love' and `caring' have been concepts monopolized by the John Lennon's and Michael Moore's of the world. Now, Russell Roberts has formed a romance that finally does justice to the romantic `Free-marketer.'
The story follows Sam Gordon, an economics teacher and a passionate supporter of free-markets, and Laura Silver, and equally passionate professor of literature (who-by the way- is the `anti-Gordon' when it comes to markets.)
Perchance these two meet in the subway, and not so surprising considering there viewpoints, a debate ensues. Despite very different opinions, they find they enjoy each others company.
There is also a nice parallel story about Charles Krauss, a corrupt CEO of a pharmaceutical company, and Erica Baldwin, an employee at the `Office of Corporate Responsibility', who is trying to bring him down. There is a pleasant surprise concerning this story-line (which, for any who know about Russell Roberts, feels odd), which I won't ruin.
All this cumulates to the end where, after many debates, politics, and courting, it all comes down to a very satisfying ending. It is fair to say that this story is about two main things: Love and Economics; but I don't want to imply that the characters are forgotten, each character Robert's develops is suitably complex, the characters feel real and sincere, as does their romance.
What is so delightful about this book is the breezy and fluid way in which it is written; Robert's moves from international economic theory, to relationships, to politics and scheming, all without missing a beat.
The portrayal of the characters is also a strong point. People with different viewpoints are not seen as villains in the context of the book; Robert's makes a point that Sam and Laura are really like-minded people, despite there different viewpoints.
`The Invisible Heart', is a play on Adam's `Invisible Hand', which is the metaphor used to explain the way a natural economy is able to create complex systems with no central control. Just like the play on words implies, `the invisible heart' refers to the way a free-economy naturally helps the poor, sick and unable, all without coercion. It also has a double meaning, in describing the `heart' of economists and those who believe in free-markets. At one point a character describes economists as `a grim lot, only concerned with money', this book dispenses with that notion.
Roberts is incredibly fair-minded (though not `equality-minded.'). He makes points about the environment, charity, and admits that free-markets sometimes hurt people. Robert's doesn't sugarcoat anything, but displays it in its full context.
My favorite part of the book is Sam's final speech. For too long people have been holding on to the misconception that economics is only about money, this has never been true; an economic `value' can not be measured in a purely monetary way, `matters of the heart', or human motivation, needs, and wants; are the biggest part of economics, not the transfer of goods or services. At one point Sam proclaims, "The purpose of life is to live as richly as possible", a statement which is not about money, one that I think most would agree with.
With Roberts's first novel, `The Choice', he entertained me, with this novel; he has earned a loyal reader. Some say `write what you know', others say, `write what your passionate about', in this case Roberts has done both; his knowledge and passion for the subject matter and the characters comes out in every page, which makes for an incredibly enjoyable read.
My college students love it.......2007-05-24
I assigned this book for my introductory microeconomics college course. When I asked my students if I should assign it again in future classes they shouted "Yes!" This book provides a very intuitive understanding of the benefits of free markets. It is an easy read and I strongly recommend other intro micro instructors assign this book at the beginning of the semester.
The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance.......2007-01-11
This is the best book i've read on economics. It's very easy to read and it has a lot of good economics.
Should be required reading for anyone who votes or reads newspapers........2006-11-27
As a believer in the massive power of the free market to do good things in our world, it's very hard to explain to non-believers that you aren't a heartless jerk. Russ Roberts does exactly that in this very readable account of a fictional high school Economics teacher making that very case to a fictional English teacher that he is starting to like.
The story provides the framework for a very solid explanation of free-market economics and how it really does do more good for a larger number of people than any other system if we are willing to let it. What is often seen as uncaring or unfeeling to an outsider is often just the opposite while the actions of the "caring" often have the opposite impact of what they intended.
This book should be required reading for Americans. It shows the system that brought America to greatness in all of its glory and it shows it to be the greatest tool in the world for helping the unfortunate. At a time when we seem set on the idea of abandoning the free-market principles that have brought us so far so fast, this book is more important than ever. That and you get a cool plot twist thrown into the mix as a bonus.
Give this one a try. Very highly recommended.
Day-to-day economics.......2006-11-20
This romance is a very reasonable and simple introduction to economics and it shows how people misinterpret the basics of this science. The heroes are a high school economics teacher and a literature teacher, which have and involving dialogue throughout the romance.
The book goes against common prototypes of economists, which are commonly taken for elitists and egoist cold blooded people. Economy itself is presented as a day-to-day subject rather than a bank manager's specialty. Roberts was also very fortunate in his choice (and presentation) of subjects for discussion in the book.
The book is amusing and it is worth for both non-economists and economists. The former will learn some basics about economics, and the later will find it a funny mirror of day-to-day discussions about economy at school, home, and everywhere.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from American Economist, published by Omicron Delta Epsilon on September 22, 2002. The length of the article is 639 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance. (Book Review).
Author: Roger L. Adkins
Publication:
American Economist (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2002
Publisher: Omicron Delta Epsilon
Volume: 46
Issue: 2
Page: 91(1)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Regulation, published by Cato Institute on September 22, 2001. The length of the article is 1106 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Roberts' free-market romance. (In Review).(The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance) (book review)
Author: Thomas A. Firey
Publication:
Regulation (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2001
Publisher: Cato Institute
Volume: 24
Issue: 3
Page: 77(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) on July 12, 2002. The length of the article is 482 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Un romance liberal. (políticamente incorrecto).(The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance, libro)(TT: Romancing liberalism. (Politically incorrect).)(TA: book The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance)(Artículo Breve)(Columna)
Author: Lorenzo Bernaldo de Quirós
Publication:
Epoca (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 12, 2002
Publisher: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
Page: 79(1)
Article Type: Artículo Breve, Columna
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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Managing Information: Core Management
Diana Bedward , and
John Stredwick
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The authors focus on the following topics:
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Core Competencies in Managing Healthcare Information
Various
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As the official study guide for the HIMSS Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS) examination, this is the definitive source for key definitions, strategies, and issues faced by professionals in the field. It includes:
- Case studies, followed by sample tests and an answer explanation section
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Industrial and Commercial Applications of Smart Structures Technologies: 2-4 March 1999 Newport Beach, California (Proceedings of Spie Volume 3674 : Smart Structures and Materials 1999)
Manufacturer: SPIE-International Society for Optical Engine
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ASIN: 0819431486 |
Book Description
WILEY-INTERSCIENCE PAPERBACK SERIES
The Wiley-Interscience Paperback Series consists of selected books that have been made more accessible to consumers in an effort to increase global appeal and general circulation. With these new unabridged softcover volumes, Wiley hopes to extend the lives of these works by making them available to future generations of statisticians, mathematicians, and scientists.
"The body of theory presented [in this book] is a completely interdisciplinary, integrated synthesis of theory, methods and data from ecology, economics, public policy, the history of various resources, and a wide array of topics in applied mathematics and operations research. The level of treatment is very thoughtful, penetrating, and innovative. The coverage of relevant material is extremely comprehensive?"
--The Quarterly Review of Biology
"Overall, this is an appealing work for students and professionals, and is certain to remain as one of the key works in natural resource analysis."
--Mathematical Reviews
Mathematical Bioeconomics: The Optimal Management of Renewable Resources, Second Edition serves as an introduction to the theory of biological conservation, including a wealth of applications to the fishery and forestry industries. The mathematical modeling of the productive aspects of renewable-resource management is explained, featuring both economic and biological factors, with much attention paid to the optimal use of resource stocks over time. This Second Edition provides new chapters on the theory of resource regulation and on stochastic resource models, new sections on irreversible investment, game-theoretic models, dynamic programming, and an expanded bibliography.
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Mathematical Bioeconomics: The Optimal Management of Renewable Resources, 2nd Edition
Colin W. Clark
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0471508837 |
Book Description
An introduction to the theory of biologial conservation, including a wealth of applications to the fishery and forestry industries. The mathematical modeling of the productive aspects of renewable-resource management is explained, including both economic and biological factors, with much attention paid to the optimal use of resource stocks over time. The Second Edition includes new chapters on the theory of resource regulation and on stochastic resource models, new sections on irreversible investment, game-theoretic models, dynamic programming, and an expanded bibliography.
Product Description
US SAILING developed this book in partnership with the American Red Cross to help you become a more confident and accomplished sailor. Start Sailing Right is a fantastic primer for anyone with an urge to get out on the water - and a reference guide for a lifetime. It offers one practical, usable tip after another and profuse use of large, clear diagrams, making sailing understandable and putting the new sailor at ease.
Customer Reviews:
The Beginner Sailor's Standard.......2005-11-23
I have been a sailor for 12 years, and I'm only 18 right now! This book is the standard for beginning sailors, endorsed and associated with the US Sailing Association. I started out with it when I was 6 yeasr old, and I still reference it today. One doesn't learn to sail per se, he becomes a sailor. The only way to do that is to have a sequential education and gain years of experience. Buy this book, find a competent instructor (who will probably insist you have this book) and give it a few years, and you WILL be a sailor.
Start Sailing Right!.......2003-07-14
If sailing is a new sport for you then this is a "must-have" book. I have reviewed several how-to-sail books/pamplets and this book is by far the best. The illustrations are excellent (the best I've seen) and plentiful. The book is also very comprehensive. If you are an experienced sailor and are looking for a book to improve your racing skills, then this is not the a book for you. The book also has videos that go along with the text.
This is THE new "learn to sail" textbook.......1999-05-22
The US Red Cross and The US Sailing Association use this book as the newly revised mainstay of their program which is probably the most advanced in the world. I want to link this book to my "Learn to Sail" website, because it's the main book we use too. So where's the picture?
Peter Capotosto Commodore Taal Lake Yacht Club
Product Description
The importance of acquiring the skills and knowledge to operate your boat safely and proficiently cannot be underestimated. This book will help your become a more knowledgable operator, addressing outboard and inboard engines, preparation and planning, boathandling, onboard systems, weather, tides, currents, basic navigation, emergencies, trailering and many other topics.
Customer Reviews:
Necessary!.......2007-09-18
I am a freshman instructor, so I know first hand how sheltered my students are when they first come to college. After reading "Cool Like Me" by Alexander in my old reader, most of my students believed that the author was "racist," which is a horrible misunderstanding. Freshmen cannot, literally, think outside the box. They need readings like these to open their eyes and begin to think critically. I am now going to use this book in my class, and I encourage other freshmen composition teachers to follow.
Not a book for your average Joe American.......2007-07-19
First of all, I can't believe all the people who are leaving negative ratings for this book for being BIASED. HELLO?? This book is BIASED? How about mainstream America? We live in an extremely BIASED society and this book attempts to challenge, and even subvert such biased cultural/social norms that continue to empower the upper-class White males while marginalizing the rest--lower-middle class, minorities, women, homosexuals, etc--the powerless, the voiceless, and the deprived. We live in a patriarchal society that attempts to keep its hegemonic social/cultural structure in order to maintain this "BIASED" order and this book is trying to UNDO such ways of thinking, and clearly not trying to perpetrate such biases itself. If you can call the voices of marginalized people "BIASED," you should definitely go back to college and take some more classes in sociology, literature, ethnic studies, and women's studies, and hopefully you will learn to use YOUR OWN critical thinking abilities to view this world, not simply regurgitating what has been taught by previous "teachers." This book is not lashing out against ALL dominant groups, but rather, pointing to the underlying social, cultural, and racial problems in our society that clearly do exist. As the editors of this text aptly writes, in order to be able to appreciate the contents of this book you must acknowledge the simple fact that "institutionalized forms of oppression such as racism and sexism clearly exist" in our society. If you believe that we live in a "color-blind" society where everyone has equal rights and opportunities to succeed, you must be living on a different planet or simply closing your eyes, ears, and hearts to all the problems that exist in our society today. This book is NOT meant for those of you who believe that we live in a Utopian society. But if you're ready to start thinking "critically," even if it means undoing the things that you've been taught from K-12th grade..you're in for a great ride. This text is not a book against "White" people by leftists- now that'll be a simple, dualistic way of thinking. This society is much more complex and intricate and in order to move forward, you must transcend such binaries. If you can't see that from this book..please keep your ignorant comments to yourselves.
On a brighter note, this text is filled with interesting and eye-openining articles and I plan on teaching this in my own freshman composition class. We have a very diverse campus here in Southern California with people from all over the world (all of different colors, backgrounds, and social class) and I believe that it is important for college students to learn to transcend all the boundaries that has been placed by those in power. There is nothing wrong with hearing voices from historically silenced and oppressed people and if you're resistant to such idea, do not bother opening this book because you will get nothing out of it.
As a college instructor, this book WILL require careful planning, revising, and even altering lesson plans as you move into the quarter/semester to best suit your students' needs and expectations. You may run into some resistance and there may be some heated debates that arise from certain discussions depending on the backgrounds of your students. But if you're an instructor like me, who wishes to empower students rather than stifle their growths as individuals by putting yourself (the "teacher")at the center of your curriculum, I believe that this book is a great start. Of course it's always much easier to teach your students what to think and how to think by agreeing with the status quo---but does that actually help your students to "think critically" and "read analytically"?? I would think not.
One star is too much for this book!.......2006-12-03
I took a class and was required to read this book. It was the worst book I have ever HAD to read! I struggled to finish the reading assignments. This book was so biased I couldn't believe it. Once again America is the root of all evil, and the white man is the devil. The authors need to take another look at America, and see that there is some good going on here! Only someone that is so miserable and bitter would believe (or write) this book. They had nothing good to say about America...if it is so bad here, why don't they move (and take along anyone that agrees with them).
Maybe it's just me...........2005-06-08
I'm confused by the reviewers who label this book as leftist propaganda. Sure, it has essays by Michael Moore, Susan Faludi and others who have raised a few hackles, but these articles can be placed in context with other articles both in the textbook itself and on the online guide.
I am using this book in a comp course, and I have to say that from my years of teaching, many students *do* need to have a few hackles raised, to be challenged in their beliefs, at least at my predominantly white middle class college....
Even if you disagree with some of the viewpoints presented in this textbook (and if you didn't disagree with ANY of them, then it really would be a politicalthink primer, wouldn't it?), isn't one of the goals of teaching composition to teach *critical thinking and reading*? My students seem to have no problem either with being 'brainwashed' into the alleged left wing ideology of the book, or with picking apart the obvious snowjobs. They are excited to read articles that are somewhat relevant to their lives, and from people who are currently big (Moore, Medved, Kilbourne, Tannen) in their fields. Most of my students have had 18 years of experience being brainwashed by the media, and this book offers plenty of choices of opinions, and plenty of *different ones* that the students really have to think for themselves.
Oh, and for the record, I'm a Republican. Extra weird how *I* don't see the vast liberal conspiracy in this book.
A great text for challenging students to think critically..........2005-01-21
I have used this book several times now, and while I have had a few neo-conservative students (like those writing the more scathing comments here) who have initially bristled at the more left-leaning readings, those same students are happy to find that voices from their world (i.e. Michael Medved, Danielle Crittenden) are also represented. In fact, these students have left my class stating that the book surprised them, got them to think about these issues from different perspectives. While it certainly didn't turn them into activists for the left, it did get them to think more critically about the propaganda they are fed from ALL sides of the political spectrum, and it also helped them to decipher solid argument from fallacy-driven writing.
The reason I chose to use this book was that I wanted a text that gracefully integrated voices from a multitude of class, race, gender, and political standpoints. This text does just that. We don't just hear from dead white guys and a few token voices of color and gender. Rather, we hear from people of all different lived experiences--everyone from Dan Rather to June Jordan.
The editors also include some helpful tips for using this book in a composition classroom, which many instructors who are wary of using such controversial material will find useful.
Most composition instructors want to help their students think for themselves, to avoid simply parroting what their favorite pundits and talk radio hosts say, and this book, by challenging what we consider norms in our culture, helps to accomplish that by challenging American cultural myths from all sides of the political and social spectrum. However, if you don't like your class discussions to become heated, and if you are scared of ruffling students' feathers, I would recommend a different book. Actually, The Arlington Reader provides a number of similar readings with a much less politically-charged context.
Overall, however, I find this book to be a gem amidst the many cultural readers out there.
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Mission West: Journey of Mystery and Adventure to the Edge of the World
Ron Langenus
Manufacturer: Wolfhound Press (IE)
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0863272398 |
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