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S.H. Axilrod (Get the Book)
Axilrod (Federal Reserve staffer, 1952-86) takes on the task of explaining the system's intricacies. After an introduction covering central banking basics, he uses a question-and answer format to describe the organization, powers, objectives, and methods of the U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed). In the chapter covering instruments of monetary policy, he looks at how Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decisions adapt to market uncertainties, how open market operations avoid creating inflation, and whether monetary policy influences spending. Where there are gray areas, Axilrod offers his interpretations. His explanations often run several pages and, while not overly technical, do require readers to have some financial background. The problem comes in fulfilling the book's conflicting goals of clarifying the Fed for a broad public audience while still being of interest to professionals. The level of detail here is more than general readers will want to wade through and too little for seasoned Fed watchers. Verdict The book's likely audience is among students of finance and economics. Readers wishing the ultimate insider's take on the Federal Reserve's reaction to the 2007 financial crisis would find Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke's 2013 The Federal Reserve and the Financial Crisis a lucid and accessible account. [On October 9, Janet Yellen was nominated by President Obama to be the Fed's new chief; if confirmed, she would be the first woman in the bank's 100-year-history to hold that position. --Library Journal
by Brian J. O'Connor (Get the Book)
O'Connor, a personal finance editor and syndicated "Funny Money" columnist at the Detroit News, bases this guide on a series he wrote for the paper on coping with the Great Recession, and here conducts a 10-week experiment to cut his family's monthly living expenses by $1,000. Each category (transportation, child care) is addressed in a chapter that offers budget-trimming suggestions. The author's agile wit elevates the book above similar titles. Though O'Connor may hope to join the likes of Suze Orman, the fact that he is struggling to support his family via his newspaper writing makes him more relatable. Suggestions range from the obvious (refinancing the mortgage), to the ingenious (finding a variety of sources of affordable child care for a special-needs child). O'Connor also writes, hilariously, of cost-cutting strategies gone awry-such as roasting four on-sale whole chickens at once using budget beer. The fact that O'Connor actually succeeded in his experiment lends credibility to this funny, pragmatic guide, which will have you laughing all the way to the bank. --Publishers Weekly
Handle employee problems effectively, without getting into legal trouble. Dealing With Problem Employees provides proven techniques that will help you get employees back on track. Every workplace has occasional problems with employees. This book is packed with the legal and practical information you need to handle those problems without getting into legal trouble. It provides proven techniques—and immediate solutions. (summary)
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by Jerry Covey (Get the Book)
In Board Basics: A Primer for Nonprofit Board Members author Jerry Covey brings a fresh, new voice to the world of governance how-to with this sleek, no-nonsense primer on board fundamentals. Board Basics is written in a concise format that provides a strong foundation for beginning and experienced nonprofit board members. Written in short, direct chapters the volume provides readers with essential information and arms them with the kinds of questions and insights that generate deeper understanding of their organization and their role in governing it. If new to the board experience, this book will get you up-to-speed quickly and help you orient to the tasks, limits, and risks of your new role, while giving you the tools and processes that are indispensable for sound decision making. Even seasoned board members will benefit from this primer, as it will revisit core governance principles and invite reflection on a board's growth and development. A central theme of Board Basics is that knowledge and appropriate action are the foundation of effective leadership. Each chapter builds on this theme by providing nuts-and-bolts advice that empowers board members to appreciate and maximize their governance role, while increasing knowledge and defining the actions required to grow in their new positions. (Summary)
by Dana Ardi (Get the Book)
The alpha model boss reigning from the corner office, issuing orders, and maintaining distance is slowly being replaced as the model for business success. What works better in the information age is the beta model management by collaboration, connection, and shared power. After years of advising Fortune 500 companies, Ardi has observed the evolution from hierarchic to horizontal management. Knowledge industry startups have provided the model that more traditional companies are beginning to adopt, and Ardi furnishes ample case studies of both. But she looks beyond the contemporary business world to provide history of the evolution of labor from hunter-gatherers to farmers, from the industrial to the information age, and the impact of globalization that makes the alpha model outdated. She also looks to anthropology, biology, genetics, psychology, sociology, and information technology for the social forces that have prompted a reexamination of alpha male-dominated organizational structure. Noting the potential of higher flexibility and creativity promised by the beta model, Ardi offers solid advice on how more companies can make the switch. An insightful look at a pivotal change in business management style. --Booklist
by Kevin O'Leary (Get the Book)
Books on investing usually require a thorough understanding of how the stock market works, and can frustrate or overwhelm the lay reader. Enter O'Leary (Cold Hard Truth: On Business, Money & Life), a tremendously successful entrepreneur who moonlights as an investor on TV's Shark Tank. In his latest book, O'Leary guides readers through financial decisions big and small, challenging them to understand their relationship with money, and focus on improving that relationship. These changes, according to O'Leary, will ultimately lead to greater financial stability. The beauty of O'Leary's approach is that it's straightforward and addresses the reader's changing financial needs at different life stages, from wedding planning and marriage, to buying a new home and having kids, to midlife and retirement. He lists numerous common money mistakes that people make and how to fix them, including: drowning in credit card debt; having no emergency savings; and not knowing where to invest. O'Leary pays particular attention to raising money-savvy kids and addresses the high cost of higher education and the lower costs of retirement. Full of valuable advice imparted in a no-nonsense manner, this book will have a profound effect on how people relate to and manage their money. --Publishers Weekly
by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh (Get the Book)
Venkatesh, academic and ethnographer, lives within the underground economy in New York while studying it at the margins of the legal world. He states, The more I could penetrate the underground . . . if it was marginal, criminal or tinged with outsider status, count me in. He observes the essence of mobility, with people moving across physical space as well as reaching beyond their preordained lot in life. He finds extreme violence, which he describes as professional, nothing personal, and just business. And clearly, some of those he meets do not survive. At the same time, he observes kindness in the most unexpected places and people with so little reaching out to those with even less with remarkable loyalty and compassion. The people run businesses; they operate with a plan, seek profits and contain costs, hire, and fire while looking for new markets. Venkatesh brings to life the underground economy of New York, where rich and poor of varying ethnicities and backgrounds meet and function while they float. An enlightening book. --Booklist
S.H. Axilrod (Get the Book)
