2 comments about Estimating & Bidding For Buildiers & Remodelers: Estimating And Bidding For Builders And Remodelers.

1. Now in a fully updated and significantly expanded fourth edition, Richard Langedyk's Estimating & Bidding For Builders & Remodelers includes the National Home Estimator CD-Rom (which includes a 45-minute interactive multimedia tutorial). An essential instructional reference for professionals needing to accurate scope out and reliably estimate the cost of building new structures and/or remodeling existing structures, Richard Langedyk (Senior Instructor for Construction Estimating Institute of America, Sarasota, Florida) draws upon more than twenty-two years of professional experience to show how to avoid common estimating mistakes, determine both labor and material costs, and put in a bid that is expert in both quality and appearance. Estimating & Bidding For Builders & Remodelers is a practical, accessible, superbly organized, comprehensive, and "user friendly" workbook which should be on the personal reference shelf of every professional building contractor.



2. I originally discovered this book on Craftsman's website along with HUNDREDS of other industry-specific titles and software but ultimately bought from Amazon because of PRICE (Amazon's price is about $20 below Craftsman's and the free super saver shipping clinched it!)
   
   Being new to estimating,I really enjoy the no-fail system that puts every number and calculation right at my fingertips. I was nervous about screwing up the first estimate but once I got used to the National Estimator software, it got really easy, really fast! And, since this program is point and click, there is no need to be a computer geek to use it. If you can use a keyboard and print a page, you can use this software.
   
   One caveat here though - the edition that Amazon is shipping includes the 2006 National Estimator disk. Updating from craftsman's website only updates the 2006 figures NOT 2008, but one call (or email) to Craftsman will have the new disk on its way to you. I received a call back from Craftsman first thing the following morning after requesting the updates and the disk was overnighted immediately.

No comments about Death of the Guilds: Professions, States, and the Advance of Capitalism, 1930 to the Present.

4 comments about Challenge of Third World Development, The (4th Edition).

1. I had to read this book for an undergraduate course on the politics of the developing world. It can be difficult to read at times if the reader does not have some understanding of the developing world or the theories that surround their slow development into modernity. Overall it is an wonderful text for building a knowledge base and an excelllent reference tool.



2. Handelman provides what the third world has to deal with to become industrialized democracies. He foucses on underdevelopment, democratic changes. religion and politics, ethnic conflict, women in development, agrarian reform, and rapid uranization among other topics. THe book was published recently so it even has some information about 9-11 and its impact.

   Good source for third world development.




3. This was my text for an undergraduate sociology course. Handelman did an exceptional job in presenting the multiple inter-related facets that complicate the development of Third World nations. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the plight of these countries. My only disappointment was his underlyng premise that democracy is the answer. I suspect that is the belief in most of Western society. However, I am not convinced.



4. This is an extremely dry book. There are no maps (which is hard to believe for a political science book/text) and the charts Handelman uses are irrelevant. The writing style is frustrating to follow. Every section is out of chronological order.
   My biggest peeve of this book is that Handelman doesn't provide his own research. He basically paraphrases other works and combined them all into a book. Its a cop out way of writing a political science book. None of his ideas are his and he lacks critical analysis necessary for a good political science text.
   For example, Handelmann associates modernization with westernization however this isn't necessarily accurate. Many countries modernize without westernizing. To be fair, many of these same countries do absorb few western qualities but after the initial modernization process, they shed any western values. In fact, this produces a sharper anti-western sentiment as these modernized countries believe that westernization is not a necessary component of modernization. Handelmann does not distinguish between modernization and westernization- it is too favorable an argument that lacks critical analysis. Basically, Handelmann is one lazy dude trying to make a quick buck! Don't buy this book. I had it for a political science course and I wanted to throw it in the trask after reading every chapter. If you have to read it for a course then critically analyze Handelmann's arguments because they are all flawed- bonus participation points~

2 comments about Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe: A World of Difference (Rodolfo DeBenedetti Lectures).

1. Absolutely fascinating, very thorough discussion of the reasons why the US and Europe have such different approaches to social welfare policy. The presentation is systematic and extremely detailed, with data to support every point and reject competing hypotheses. It is compact and easy to read, though the writing style is a bit dry. I found the book very very useful, and I haven't encountered anything else that fills this intellectual niche so well.



2. I used this book for two courses as a freshman at Princeton University. One of them was a seminar on politics of economic inequality, the other one - an introductory comparative politics course. This book provides a good introduction to explaining political outcomes in terms of socio-economic interests (as opposed to just culture or institutional arrangements). The argument of the book is fairly interesting and well-developed: the size of the welfare state depends highly on racial fractionalization of the population and political institutions (federalism, checks and balances, winner-take-all electoral system) which are the result of a historical interplay of socio-economic interests. The discussion of the historical context (e.g. the "entrepreneurial" use of racial hatred to fight against redistributive policies) and possible counterarguments are both well done. Furthermore, this book debunks some myths such as the notion that upward social mobility is higher in the US than in Europe.
   
   However, it is not without its problems. It gets fairly dry and repetitive sometimes. The arguments themselves are not flawless either. Alesina and Glaeser imply that the reason for the large welfare state in Western Europe is the strength of the left and the labor movement, while in reality the welfare state in Western Europe was largely built by right-wing parties (the Consevatives in the UK, Gaullists in France and Christian Democrats in Germany). The attempt to argue in terms of "the right" and "the left" often backfires, too, since it is not always possible to clearly draw the line. Nevertheless, this is a solid and thought-provoking book.

No comments about The Economic Implications of Aging Societies: The Costs of Living Happily Ever After.

No comments about Financing Energy Efficiency: Lessons from Brazil, China, India, and Beyond.

1 comments about Handbook Of Markets And Economies: East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand.

1. Handbook of markets and economies: East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand. ed. by Anthony Pecotich and Clifford J. Shultz II. M.E. Sharpe, 2006. 712p bibl index afp ISBN 0-7656-0972-X, $139.95 . Reviewed in 2006jun CHOICE. * More from M.E. Sharpe *
   Particularly over the last few decades, significant economic and social progress has increased the importance of Asian markets and economies relative to other regions of the world. Although progress has been somewhat erratic and has not affected all nations to the same degree, some observers see the possibility of a gradual shift in power from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The upward struggles of Asian economies, including Australia and New Zealand, as well as their potential for further development, are captured in this work, which draws the expert insights of 39 contributors into a single volume via the editing of Pecotich (Univ. of Western Australia) and Shultz (Arizona State Univ.). The challenging task of instilling coherence into disparate contributions was aided by utilizing a common framework of eight systems in examining each country: natural environment/geography, political, economic, social, knowledge, educational, executive, and marketing. The framework was employed, as circumstances permitted, as a guide through the 18 chapters, each covering a single country in the region. Chapters contain extensive references, and statistical data were condensed into tables where appropriate. Those seeking marketing, economic, and cultural information relative to Pacific nations will find this handbook a convenient and accessible resource. Summing Up: Recommended. Public, academic (lower-division undergraduate and up), and professional collections. -- W. C. Struning, emeritus, Seton Hall University

No comments about World Economic Outlook, April 2008: Housing and the Business Cycle (World Economic Outlook).

1 comments about Fast Food/Slow Food: The Cultural Economy of the Global Food System (Society for Economic Anthropology Monographs).

1. I am the editor of this book, so this is not an unbiased review by any means. This is indeed a collection of academic papers, presented at a conference, which were edited to make them work together as a book. I worked very hard to make sure the papers are free of jargon and are written in a style which should be accessible to any educated reader.
   
   It is no news that there are some serious problems with our global food system. Not only are there a lot of hungry people on the planet (still over a billion), but now the number of severely overweight humans is about equal to the number who go to bed hungry at least a few times a week. Farmers everywhere are in trouble, and the quality of the food we are all eating is questionable at best. So what is the answer? How do we fix it?
   
   The Slow Food movement has a very attractive answer, and they have been effective in getting a lot of people to think about the alternatives to mass-produced factory foods, about returning to food of high quality made by people who care. Most of the authors in this book are sympathetic to the goals of slow food. But that does not mean we should suspend our critical thinking either, and many of us wonder if slow food is really another 'Arts and Crafts' movement, if it really addresses the needs of poor people and problems of justice and cultural diversity.
   
   So the papers in this book ask tough questions, and in the end we try to redefine the issue. Quality food is more than an issue of slow vs fast.

1 comments about The Social Construction of Free Trade: The European Union, NAFTA, and Mercosur.

1. Duina does well by going in-depth to explain how specific products' trade status is affected by Mercosur. Mercosur - the less discussed of the modern customs unions / trade blocks.