No comments about Innovation and Social Learning: Institutional Adaptation in an Era of Technological Change.

No comments about Brazil - Equitable, Competitive, Sustainable: Equitable, Competitive, Sustainable.

4 comments about Wall Street Capitalism: The Theory of the Bondholding Class.

1. If you want to try to understand what's going on in the financial markets, especially the role played by the Fed, then this is the book to read. Extremely stimulating, with interesting statistics to firm up the author's arguments.



2. This book explains why the health of the stock market is not equivalent to the health of the economy. The Wall Street bull has transferred enoumous amounts of wealth from the bottom 95% to the top 5% of the population. The result is an economy that is producing goods and services at a rate that is well below its capacity to produce, reducing the standard of living of all but those few who are winning the speculative Wall Street lottery. The book is written in an engaging style with plenty of data to back up the claims. A very important book for a very crucial time in the economic history of the US.



3. The past decade of financial euphoria has slowly built in the public's mind the myth of the "millionaire next door," and the belief that democratic redistribution, through capital markets accessible to all, existed. This book, owing to a thorough analysis of the US capital markets, definitely draws an accurate and realistic picture of who the real "winners" are. The answer is explosive and the statements fully backed up with data. If you want to have a better understanding of how the Fed, the government, and the markets have been creating this "dream come true," this book is definitely a must read.



4. This excellent, accessible, and extremely well documented integration of the economics, administrative infrastructure and politics of the economy is a must read. Canterbery clearly deflates current politically correct talking point that Dubyah's skewed tax cut is in any meaningful way related to "capital formation". With only 5% of the transactions in the stock and bond market attributable to the "primary" capital raising markets (i.e. IPOs and new treasury debt) the churning of the remaining 95% of the secondary market is the "overhead" that's necessary to achieve "efficient" pricing for capital. That's like a shop owner who has to sustain $95 in operating overhead to keep his store open in order to make $5 in sales.

   Witty, insightfully integrative and deadly accurate, this is a must read.

No comments about Transatlantic Policymaking in an Age of Austerity: Diversity and Drift (American Governance and Public Policy).

No comments about Business Strategies in Transition Economies (International Business series).

No comments about New Foundations of Cost-Benefit Analysis.

1 comments about Closing the Circle: Democratization and Development in Africa.

1. This was a very brief and very interesting book, it shed some light on why it seems that Africa is unable to right itself in any major efforts. Many of the thoughts I had with regard to Africa as to why, and when and what, these were cleared up. It is a very short book that covers a great deal of material quickly.

2 comments about Estimating & Bidding For Buildiers & 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 Comparative Performance of U.S. Econometric Models.

No comments about Emerging Capital Markets in Turmoil: Bad Luck or Bad Policy?.