New and Best-Selling Titles

• Social Justice and the Urban Obesity Crisis: Implications for Social Work Delgado, Melvin Social Justice and the Urban Obesity Crisis: Implications for Social Work
  Abstract:

  Urban America is in the midst of an obesity crisis caused by more than just biology and diet. A number of economic, cultural, and contextual factors are causing this epidemic, which can create chronic health conditions for those least able to manage them. Despite scholars’ best efforts to tackle the issue, the problem persists, largely because its social and economic drivers are so subtle and systemic. By considering urban obesity through a social justice lens, this book is the first to help social workers and others develop targeted interventions for truly effective outcomes.

  Melvin Delgado focuses on urban obesity in populations of color—among the hardest hit in the United States—and dissects the issue from individual, family, group, community, and policy perspectives. After an overview surveying the history of urban obesity in communities of color, anti-obesity policies and programs, and the role of social work in addressing this threat, Delgado moves through the social, ecological, environmental, and spatial aggravators of urban obesity, such as the food industry’s nefarious advertising strategies, which promote unhealthy choices and behaviors; the failure of local markets to provide good food options; the lack of safe spaces in which to exercise; and the paucity of heath education. He analyzes recent, national statistics in terms of obesity among various groups; explores the connection between foodstamps and obesity; and reveals the financial and social consequences of this issue for society as a whole. Delgado concludes with recommendations for effective health promotion programs, such as youth-focused interventions, community gardens, and community-based food initiatives, and a unique consideration of urban obesity in relation to acts of genocide and the integrity of national defense.

  Authors: Delgado, Melvin
• What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars Moynihan, Brendan; Paul, Jim What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars
  Abstract:

  Jim Paul’s meteoric rise took him from a small town in Northern Kentucky to Governor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, yet he lost it all—his fortune, his reputation, and his job—in one fatal moment of excessive economic hubris. In this honest, frank analysis, Paul and Brendan Moynihan revisit the events that led up to Paul’s disastrous decision and examine the psychological factors behind bad financial practices in a number of economic sectors.

  The book begins with the unbroken string of successes that helped Paul achieve a jet-setting lifestyle and land a key spot with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It then describes the circumstances leading up to Paul’s $1.6 million loss and the essential lessons he learned from it—primarily that, although there are as many ways to make money in the markets as there are people participating in them, there are very few ways to produce a loss. People lose money in the markets either because of errors in their analysis or because of psychological barriers preventing the application of analysis. While all analytical methods have some validity and make allowances for instances in which they do not work, psychological factors can keep an investor in a losing position, causing him to abandon one method for another when the first fails. Paul and Moynihan’s cautionary tale concludes with strategies for avoiding loss, tied to a simple framework for understanding, accepting, and dodging the dangers of investing, trading, and speculating.

  Authors: Paul, Jim; Moynihan, Brendan
• The Quest for Security: Protection Without Protectionism and the Challenge of Global Governance Joseph E. Stiglitz and Mary Kaldor The Quest for Security: Protection Without Protectionism and the Challenge of Global Governance
  Abstract:

  The essays in this collection boldly confront the quest for security arising out of the social, economic, environmental, and political crises and transformations of our century. Joseph E. Stiglitz and Mary Kaldor begin with an expansive, balanced analysis of the global landscape and the factors contributing to the growth of insecurity. While earlier studies have touched on how globalization has increased economic insecurity and how geopolitical changes may have contributed to military insecurity, this volume looks for some common threads: in a globalized world without a global government, with a system of global governance not up to the tasks, how do we achieve security without looking inward and stepping back from globalization? In each of their areas of expertise, contributors seek answers to questions about how we achieve protection of those people who are most insecure without resorting to economic, military, or mafia protectionism.

  Some have suggested that the turmoil in the eurozone “proves” the deficiencies in the welfare state. This book argues that the superior performance of the Scandinavian countries arises from their superior systems of social protection, which allow their citizens to undertake greater risk and more actively participate in globalization. Others suggest that we can address terrorism or transnational crimes through the strengthening of borders or long distance wars. This book develops the proposition that such approaches have the opposite effect and that only through spreading the kind of human security experienced in well-ordered societies can these dangers be managed.

  This book also examines how these global changes play out not only in the relations among countries and the management of globalization but at every level of our society— most importantly in our cities, especially with increasing urbanization. It explores the potential for cities to effectively ensure personal security, promote political participation, and protect the environment.

  Authors: Joseph E. Stiglitz and Mary Kaldor
• The Truth About Girls and Boys: Challenging Toxic Stereotypes About Our Children Barnett, Rosalind C.; Rivers, Caryl The Truth About Girls and Boys: Challenging Toxic Stereotypes About Our Children
  Abstract:

  Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C. Barnett are widely acclaimed for their analyses of women, men, and society. In The Truth About Girls and Boys, they tackle a new, troubling trend in the theorizing of gender: that the learning styles, brain development, motivation, cognitive and spatial abilities, and “natural” inclinations of girls and boys are so fundamentally different, they require unique styles of parenting and education.

  Ignoring the science that challenges these claims, those who promote such theories make millions while frightening parents and educators into enforcing old stereotypes and reviving unhealthy attitudes in the classroom. Rivers and Barnett unmake the pseudoscientific rationale for this argument, stressing the individuality of each child and the specialness of his or her talents and desires. They recognize that in our culture, girls and boys encounter different stimuli and experiences, yet encouraging children to venture outside their comfort zones helps them realize a multifaceted character. Educating parents, teachers, and general readers in the true nature of the gender game, Rivers and Barnett enable future generations to transform if not transcend the parameters of sexual difference.

  Authors: Rivers, Caryl; Barnett, Rosalind C.
• Truth, Errors, and Lies: Politics and Economics in a Volatile World Kolodko, Grzegorz W. Truth, Errors, and Lies: Politics and Economics in a Volatile World
  Abstract:

  Grzegorz W. Kolodko, one of the world's leading authorities on economics and development policy and a key architect of Poland's successful economic reforms, applies his far-reaching knowledge to the past and future of the world economy, introducing a framework for understanding our global situation that transcends any single discipline or paradigm.

  Deploying a novel mix of scientific evaluation and personal observation, Kolodko begins with a brief discussion of misinformation and its perpetuation in economics and politics. He criticizes the simplification of complex economic and social issues and investigates the link between developments in the global economy and cultural change, scientific discoveries, and political fluctuations. Underscoring the necessity of conceptual and theoretical innovation in understanding our global economic situation, Kolodko offers a provocative study of globalization and the possibility of coming out ahead in an era of worldwide interdependence. Deeply critical of neoliberalism, which sought to transfer economic control exclusively to the private sector, Kolodko explores the virtues of social-economic development and the new rules of the economic game. He concludes with a look at our near and distant future, questioning whether we have a say in its making.

  Authors: Kolodko, Grzegorz W.
• The Most Important Thing Illuminated: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor Marks, Howard The Most Important Thing Illuminated: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor
  Abstract:

  Howard Marks’s The Most Important Thing distilled the investing insight of his celebrated client memos into a single volume and, for the first time, made his time-tested philosophy available to general readers. In this edition, Marks’s wisdom is joined by the comments, insights, and counterpoints of four renowned investors and investment educators: Christopher C. Davis (Davis Funds), Joel Greenblatt (Gotham Capital), Paul Johnson (Nicusa Capital), and Seth A. Klarman (Baupost Group).

  These experts lend insight into such concepts as “second-level thinking,” the price/value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. Marks also adds his own annotations, expanding on his book’s original themes and issues. A new chapter addresses the importance of reasonable expectations, and a foreword by Bruce C. Greenwald, called “a guru to Wall Street’s gurus” by the New York Times, speaks on value investing, productivity, and the economics of information.

  ***

  Howard Marks, the chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, is renowned for his insightful assessments of market opportunity and risk. After four decades spent ascending to the top of the investment management profession, he is today sought out by the world's leading value investors, and his client memos brim with insightful commentary and a time-tested, fundamental philosophy. Now for the first time, all readers can benefit from Marks's wisdom, concentrated into a single volume that speaks to both the amateur and seasoned investor.

  Informed by a lifetime of experience and study, The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career. Utilizing passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas, Marks teaches by example, detailing the development of an investment philosophy that fully acknowledges the complexities of investing and the perils of the financial world. Brilliantly applying insight to today's volatile markets, Marks offers a volume that is part memoir, part creed, with a number of broad takeaways.

  Marks expounds on such concepts as "second-level thinking," the price/value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. Frankly and honestly assessing his own decisions--and occasional missteps--he provides valuable lessons for critical thinking, risk assessment, and investment strategy. Encouraging investors to be "contrarian," Marks wisely judges market cycles and achieves returns through aggressive yet measured action. Which element is the most essential? Successful investing requires thoughtful attention to many separate aspects, and each of Marks's subjects proves to be the most important thing.

  Authors: Marks, Howard
• Creative Strategy: A Guide for Innovation Duggan, William Creative Strategy: A Guide for Innovation
  Abstract:

  William Duggan’s 2007 book, Strategic Intuition, showed how innovation really happens in business and other fields and how that matches what modern neuroscience tells us about how creative ideas form in the human mind. In his new book, Creative Strategy, Duggan offers a step-by-step guide to help individuals and organizations put that same method to work for their own innovations.

  Duggan’s book solves the most important problem of how innovation actually happens. Other methods of creativity, strategy, and innovation explain how to research and analyze a situation, but they don’t guide toward the next step: developing a creative idea for what to do. Or they rely on the magic of “brainstorming”—just tossing out ideas. Instead, Duggan shows how creative strategy follows the natural three-step method of the human brain: breaking down a problem into parts and then searching for past examples to create a new combination to solve the problem. That’s how innovation really happens.

  Duggan explains how to follow these three steps to innovate in business and any other field as an individual, a team, or a whole company. The crucial middle step—the search for past examples—takes readers beyond their own brain to a “what-works scan” of what others have done within and outside of the company, industry, and country. It is a global search for good ideas to combine as a new innovation. Duggan illustrates creative strategy through real-world cases of innovation that use the same method: from Netflix to Edison, from Google to Henry Ford. He also shows how to integrate creative strategy into other methods you might currently use, such as Porter’s Five Forces or Design Thinking. Creative Strategy takes the mystery out of innovation and puts it within your grasp.

  Authors: Duggan, William
• Investing: The Last Liberal Art, Second Edition Hagstrom, Robert G. Investing: The Last Liberal Art, Second Edition
  Abstract:

  Robert G. Hagstrom is one of the best-known authors of investment books for general audiences. Turning his extensive experience as a portfolio manager at Legg Mason Capital Management into valuable guidance for professionals and nonprofessionals alike, he is the author of six successful books on investment, including The Warren Buffett Way, a New York Times best-seller that has sold more than a million copies.

  In this updated second edition of Investing: The Last Liberal Art, Hagstrom explores basic and fundamental investing concepts in a range of fields outside of economics, including physics, biology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and literature. He discusses, for instance, how the theory of evolution disrupts the notion of the efficient market and how reading strategies for literature can be gainfully applied to investing research. Building on Charlie Munger’s famous “latticework of mental models” concept, Hagstrom argues that it is impossible to make good investment decisions based solely on a strong knowledge of finance theory alone. He reinforces his concepts with additional data and a new chapter on mathematics, and updates his text throughout to reflect the developments of the past decade, particularly the seismic economic upheaval of 2008. He has also added a hundred new titles to the invaluable reading list concluding the book.

  Authors: Hagstrom, Robert G.
• The Economists' Voice 2.0: The Financial Crisis, Health Care Reform, and More Edlin, Aaron S.; Stiglitz, Joseph E. The Economists' Voice 2.0: The Financial Crisis, Health Care Reform, and More
  Abstract:

  The Economists’ Voice: Top Economists Take On Today’s Problems featured a core collection of accessible, timely essays on the challenges facing today’s global markets and financial institutions. The Economists’ Voice 2.0: The Financial Crisis, Health Care Reform, and More is the next installment in this popular series, gathering together the strongest essays published in The Economist’s Voice, a nonpartisan online journal, so that students and general readers can gain a deeper understanding of the financial developments shaping their world.

  This collection contains thirty-two essays written by academics, economists, presidential advisors, legal specialists, researchers, consultants, and policy makers. They tackle the plain economics and architecture of health care reform, its implications for society and the future of the health insurance industry, and the value of the health insurance subsidies and exchanges built into the law. They consider the effects of financial regulatory reform, the possibilities for ratings reform, and the issue of limiting bankers’ pay. An objective examination of the financial crisis and bank bailouts results in two indispensable essays on investment banking regulation after Bear Stearns and the positives and negatives of the Paulson/Bernanke bailout. Contributors weigh the merits of future rescues and suggest alternative strategies for addressing the next financial crisis. A final section examines a unique array of topics: the stability of pension security bonds; the value of a carbon tax, especially in fostering economic and environmental sustainability; the counterintuitive perils of net neutrality; the unforeseen consequences of government debt; the meaning of the Google book search settlement; and the unexploited possibilities for profit in NFL overtime games.

  Authors: Edlin, Aaron S.; Stiglitz, Joseph E.
• Interest Rate Swaps and Other Derivatives Corb, Howard Interest Rate Swaps and Other Derivatives
  Abstract:

  The first swap was executed over thirty years ago. Since then, the interest rate swaps and other derivative markets have grown and diversified in phenomenal directions. Derivatives are used today by a myriad of institutional investors for the purposes of risk management, expressing a view on the market, and pursuing market opportunities that are otherwise unavailable using more traditional financial instruments. In this volume, Howard Corb explores the concepts behind interest rate swaps and the many derivatives that evolved from them.

  Corb’s book uniquely marries academic rigor and real-world trading experience in a compelling, readable style. While it is filled with sophisticated formulas and analysis, the volume is geared toward a wide range of readers searching for an in-depth understanding of these markets. It serves as both a textbook for students and a must-have reference book for practitioners. Corb helps readers develop an intuitive feel for these products and their use in the market, providing a detailed introduction to more complicated trades and structures. Through examples of financial structuring, readers will come away with an understanding of how derivatives products are created and how they can be deconstructed and analyzed effectively.

  Authors: Corb, Howard