Ron Paul's Revolution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired

By Brian Doherty        Find This Book

"Paul, a congressman from Texas, has political views that are not exactly in alignment with either of the two major parties. He takes what is generally considered a liberal position on the war on drugs and war in the Middle East but a decidedly conservative stance on ending income taxes, the IRS, and the Federal Reserve. An obstetrician and air force veteran, Paul is a follower of libertarians, most prominently F. A. Hayek. Doherty, himself a libertarian and the author of This Burning Man (2004), met Paul during his first run for the presidency in 1988 under the Libertarian Party banner and portrays a man who is difficult to define politically and who is frank and honest to the point of political suicide. In a debate with Rudy Giuliani during the 2008 presidential contest, Paul called the 9/11 terrorist attack a reaction to the provocation of American involvement in the Middle East. Noting Paul's enormously diverse followers, Doherty compares Paul to Barry Goldwater and Eugene McCarthy as he argues that Paul and his free-market liberation ideals will have a lasting impact on American politics."   (Booklist)

Modern New York: The Life and Economics of a City

By Greg David        Find This Book
"In this well-documented book, former Crains New York Business editor and current columnist David presents Wall Street as the possible driver of New Yorks future prosperity despite its periodic booms and busts. Although the myth of manufacturing persists among those enamored of the citys past, high costs and clogged transport weigh on the sectors prospects, while higher education, film and television production, and a revived tech sector offer greater prospects for job creation and enhance the citys allure for young people. The financial field still rules the roost: If Wall Street is permanently restructured, New York will simply be less wealthy. In October 2007, the peak for financial industry employment, the state comptroller reported that each job in Wall Street created another 3.2 jobs in the economy 2 in the city and 1.2 elsewhere, mostly in the suburbs. Davids review of policies and personalities shaping New Yorks past and future offers insights into Wall Streets leadership of the global financial industry, but leaves unexamined possible overseas challenges, neglecting to address prospects that New Yorks intellectual base could fuel the growth of high-value-added manufacturing locally. Nonetheless, his cautious claim that Wall Street may save the city again as it has done so often in modern New York may quiet market detractors"  (Publishers Weekly)

Talking Back to Facebook: The Common Sense Guide to Raising Kids in the Digital Age

"Common Sense Media founder Steyer (The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media's Effect on Our Children, 2002) addresses common concerns of many parents in managing the online lives of their children. Keeping track of the privacy and security aspects of social-media accounts can feel like a shell game for even the most astute Internet user. This seems especially true with regard to Facebook, whose enormous membership of 800 million users, coupled with their erratic shifting of privacy settings, has changed Mark Zuckerberg's college-dorm project into a potentially dangerous destination for millions of teenagers. Computer and Internet education in elementary schools has given young people a formidable working knowledge of technology that often outpaces that of their parents--and of their own ability to judge the safety of what personal information they put on the Internet. Steyer is well positioned to write cogently on this subject. As a parent and founder of an organization working to empower Internet consumers to protect themselves, he brings a pragmatic approach to managing adolescent Internet activity. Recognizing the likely futility of "banning the Internet" for today's kids, the author instead focuses on educating parents about "R.A.P."--relationships, attention/addiction problems and privacy--with case-study examples and concrete suggestions on appropriate guidelines to set for children organized by age groups. The approach includes recognizing and building on the positive aspects of social media, which will help minimize the negative aspects. Some of Steyer's recommendations are bigger-picture suggestions--e.g., challenging elected officials to take a serious look at updating the nation's privacy laws. A useful, nuts-and-bolts handbook for concerned parents."  (Kirkus Reviews)  Check Our Catalog

The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto

By Tavis Smiley
"Record unemployment and rampant corporate avarice, empty houses but homeless families, dwindling opportunities in an increasingly paralyzed nation--these are the realities of 21st-century America, land of the free and home of the new middle class poor. Award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West, one of the nation's leading democratic intellectuals, co-hosts of Public Radio's "Smiley & West," now take on the "P" word--poverty."The Rich and the Rest of Us" is the next step in the journey that began with "The Poverty Tour: A Call to Conscience." Smiley and West's 18-city bus tour gave voice to the plight of impoverished Americans of all races, colors, and creeds. With 150 million Americans persistently poor or near poor, the highest numbers in over five decades, Smiley and West argue that now is the time to confront the underlying conditions of systemic poverty in America before it's too late.By placing the eradication of poverty in the context of the nation's greatest moments of social transformation-- such as the abolition of slavery, woman's suffrage, and the labor and civil rights movements--ending poverty is sure to emerge as America's 21st -century civil rights struggle.As the middle class disappears and the safety net is shredded, Smiley and West, building on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., ask us to confront our fear and complacency with 12 poverty changing ideas. They challenge us to re-examine our assumptions about poverty in America--what it really is and how to eliminate it now."  (Publisher Description)  Check our Catalog

The Great Divergence: America's Growing Inequality Crisis and What We Can Do about It

By Timothy Noah
"In this comprehensive, fair-minded, and lucid account, based on his award-winning articles for Slate, New Republic columnist Noah examines growing income inequality in the U.S., where for 33 years, the wealthy have acquired a growing share of the nationas income while the middle class saw its share shrink. Noah synthesizes work by economists, sociologists, and political scientists to explain the phenomenon to nonexperts. He shows how income inequality first came to be measured in the early 20th century, and relates the perspectives of scholars and politicians at a time when the share of the nationas income going to the wealthy either shrank or remained stable during the 1930s through the late 1970s, before powerfully reversing course in the 1980s. Noah studies the contributing factors (immigration, the shortage of better-educated workers, trade with low-wage nations, globalization, the fall of the labor movement, and government policy), and considers the vast changes in the corporate and financial industry that led to a agrossly misshapena wage structure, where a CEO now makes 262 times more than the average worker. While this affects many industrialized democracies, income inequality is far greater in the U.S., resulting in a less upwardly mobile society. Noah makes a convincing and passionate case for why rising inequality harms a working democracy, and suggests sensible, though not always politically viable, solutions."  (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles

By Ruchir Sharma
"Sharma, prominent emerging-markets investor, offers his tour of the world in search of investments, providing facts and figures that guide his firm's investment decisions; he spends a week each month in a particular emerging-market country kicking the tires to understand the economic and political forces. We learn about breakout nations that have many competitors, but only a few win: The rare breakout nations . . . beat the game by growing faster than rivals in their own income class and if per capita income is under $5,000 it competes with rivals in that class for beating expectations and . . . peers. He concludes that China is too big and middle-aged to keep growing at previous rates, and its slowdown will move India into the top growth spot. Nevertheless, he explains why he gives India only a 50-50 chance as a breakout nation; Brazil's and Russia's stars will dim. All will not agree with Sharma, but he provides valuable perspective for investors and all others who seek to understand today's global world."  (Booklist)  Check Our Catalog

The Richer Sex: How the New Majority of Female Breadwinners Is Transforming Sex, Love and Family

By Liza Mundy
"Nearly 40 percent of married women in the U.S. earn more than their husbands. They exemplify a trend that has been increasing and promises major changes in the economy, the workplace, and the home. In the future, women will make the major decisions in corporate America and at home as they wield their greater spending power and authority at work. How will men react? Mundy interviewed women and men of various backgrounds, across the U.S. and abroad, to establish that the trend has caught many off guard. Having grown up expecting that the man would be the major breadwinner, those in higher-earning-woman couples are adjusting to a new reality. Mundy profiles couples coping with higher-earning women and stay-at-home dads to show how role reversal has strained some relationships and strengthened others. She explores the reasons behind the trendthe decline of male-dominated job sectors; the rising education of womenand the ultimate impact on greater society. With women earning more than men, will we value money less and childrearing more? Will the war between the sexes escalate? A fascinating look at a trend that promises major social changes."  (Booklist)   Check Our Catalog