Boom, bust, exodus : the Rust Belt, the maquilas, and a tale of two cities

by Chad Broughton   (Get the Book)
As with many abstract concepts, globalization is best appreciated—or not—in terms of its effects. Other writers have used the products of globalization (jeans, T-shirts, etc.) to illustrate their points. Here, Broughton (senior lecturer, public policy studies, Univ. of Chicago) demonstrates the outcomes with his tale of two cities. Galesburg, IL, in America's Rust Belt, was the site of a massive Maytag plant that cranked out refrigerators in the 1990s and early 2000s. When the company hit hard times in 2004, it transferred manufacturing to its spanking-new maquila (a production operation in a free-trade zone) in Reynosa, a Mexican border city on the Rio Grande. Broughton introduces readers to workers on both sides of the border. As their daily lives, families, aspirations, and struggles come into focus, globalization puts on a very human face. Mexican workers migrate from the agrarian economy of Veracruz to the northern border maquiladoras (factory towns) in hopes of a better life—many to find they've merely escaped the shadows of feudalism for the equally dark side of capitalism. Displaced Maytag workers in Galesburg struggle to support their families in lower-wage work, prepare for other careers, or move out of town. VERDICT As the economic watchword of the millennium, globalization is a cliché. But this story reveals the truly local results of this phenomenon. Though there aren't a lot of winners on the front lines, as in any good Dickens narrative, this tale shows that the human spirit rises above would-be captors. --Library Journal

The opposite of spoiled : raising kids who are grounded, generous, and smart about money

by Ron Lieber     (Get the Book)
Next to discussions about sex and drugs, talk about money is probably the hardest for parents to have with their children. Lieber, “Your Money” columnist with the New York Times, answers sticky questions about matters ranging from allowances to student loan debt to deeper concerns about how to know when one’s children are too obsessed with money and material things. Delving into behavioral economics, Lieber advises parents to take into account the emotional aspects of money, including the role of social media in churning desires to spend. He also tackles worries about downward mobility and how to prepare children for future prospects that may not be as secure as their parents’. Through stories of families from varied geographical locales and economic classes, Lieber focuses on values and virtues to encourage in children to ensure they will not be spoiled, including generosity, patience, and perseverance. Using those virtues, Lieber guides parents in conveying the value and significance of money and how to use it wisely, how to spend and save, how to give and invest. Parents will appreciate the sound advice and broad perspective Lieber offers on this important subject. --Booklist

The hidden leader : discover and develop greatness within your company

by Scott K. Edinger      (Get the Book)Consultants Edinger and Sain explore the idea of hidden leaders: those who act like leaders regardless of their position or job description. These employees, the authors argue, are key assets, essential to the success of any company to which they belong but typically lacking the "positional power" of upper-management jobs. The book identifies four facets of this leadership style: integrity, interpersonal skills, being results oriented, and being customer focused. Edinger and Sain spend considerable ink detailing how managers can find hidden leaders and create new ones by helping their employees develop new skills. Throughout, they provide numerous worksheets and assessment tools, both in the book itself and on a number of online platforms created by the authors, closing with a checklist of traits common to hidden leaders. Debunking the myth that leadership is all about status and power, this book suggests that employees at any level can motivate those around them, drive performance, and improve an organization's bottom line. --Publisher's Weekly

Landscapes of change : innovative designs and reinvented sites

by Roxi Thoren                (Get the Book)
The nature of landscape architecture has changed, owing in part to the changes in nature, both Mother and human. As the effects of climate change are being felt and anticipated, the consequences of decades of narrowly focused economic, social, and political policies are reconfiguring how our cities, suburbs, and open spaces need to function in order to achieve maximum impact with minimum disruption. With so much at stake, today's urban planners need to rely on landscape architects as integral members of their team from the outset rather than end-stage consultants called in to add aesthetic interest to their engineered creations. By showcasing more than two dozen visually, socially, ecologically, and technically stunning sites, Thoren identifies innovative landscape interpretations that are being applied to today's most challenging infrastructure problems. She also celebrates visionary landscape architects who are creating a paradigm shift within their profession. Five types of sites are profiled, from the resurgence of ecological urbanism that incorporates and highlights natural systems within a city environment to edible landscapes that develop agricultural oases in the heart of urban food deserts. Taking readers on an intriguing international journey, Thoren eloquently profiles the vanguard of imaginative, artistic, and inspired designers who are creating an invaluable legacy for their profession and the land itself. 

Strategize to win : the new way to start out, step up, or start over in your career

by Carla J. Harris      (Get the Book)
It's not so much a new way to manage your career as it is a smart and a wise one. Well-known author (Expect to Win, 2009) and businesswoman Harris speaks from experience, and she uses that experience to give readers more than a good idea of how to sell yourself, to understand your performance and relationship currencies, and to move through change successfully. The three sections (as per her title) address millennial issues as well as those confronting Gens X and Y and baby boomers. Instead of asking what to major in for life, she recommends defining the content that is, activities and goals that the career seeker enjoys then cross-referencing that content with jobs that offer these experiences. Of course, interviews and negotiating are key subjects (do your homework, she advises, as do other experts); more important, though, is her emphasis on the kinds of internal capital employees and leaders need to build, whether it's performance- or relationship-based. The crossroads that many confront knowing when it's time to leave, being downsized, losing a sponsor, and repositioning are well handled. And just in case readers skim through the chapters, she summarizes her content in Carla's Pearls. --Booklist

by Spencer Rascoff      (Get the Book)
This title seeks to arm home buyers, sellers, and owners with the relevant data to navigate today's postrecession housing market. Coauthored by Rascoff and Humphries, the CEO and chief economist of Zillow (zillow.com), respectively, the book tackles common myths (that remodeling a kitchen gives the best bang for your buck), niche trends (Manhattan real estate prices), and other topics (what your street name says about its value). It turns (mostly) Zillow statistics into interesting and relevant housing topics. While much of the coverage is very specific, the conclusion focuses on more general information and sometimes verges on editorializing. One example is the popular mortgage interest deduction (MID). Rascoff and Humphries state that it doesn't affect most people, only those who pay federal income taxes, itemize their deductions, and currently have a mortgage (about 13 percent of people). They recommend replacing it with a first-time home buyer tax credit or cash grant; they say that this would help less affluent buyers and wouldn't need to be subsidized by Washington, as the MID is. Extensively backed up by data and well sourced, this book is written in a fast-paced, conversational manner and is easy to read. VERDICT Recommended for those interested in statistics and the housing market, or real-estate watchers seeking new ways to look at housing. --Library Journal

Social security works! : why social security isn't going broke and how expanding it will help us all

by Nancy J. Altman     (Get the Book)
If passion alone was enough to resolve public policy debates, this dense and detailed examination of the Social Security issue could single-handedly give the United States a vastly expanded social-welfare system. Altman and Kingson, a lawyer and academic, respectively, who served on the landmark 1982 National Commission on Social Security Reform, explain, with wonkish fervor, how benefits can be expanded without increasing the program's cost. "We are wealthy enough to afford a much more robust, expanded Social Security System," they proclaim, pointing out how such an expansion would help the elderly, the working poor, and the millions caring for ailing family members. The authors blame a "three-decade-long billionaire-funded campaign" against Social Security for bastardizing terms such as entitlements, whipping up unwarranted fears about the federal deficit, and obscuring the fact that the program's fundamental nature is to be "earned compensation." As with many public policy pieces written by insiders, the level of detail is hard to follow, though the intentions are clearly stated and far from unreasonable. --Publishers Weekly