"This is the colorful and dramatic biography of two of America's most controversial entrepreneurs: Moses Louis Annenberg, 'the racing wire king, ' who built his fortune in racketeering, invested it in publishing, and lost much of it in the biggest tax evasion case in United States history; and his son, Walter, launcher of TV Guide and Seventeen magazines and former ambassador to Great Britain."--Jacket.
Prevailing economic theory presumes that agents act rationally when they make decisions, striving to maximize the efficient use of their resources. Psychology has repeatedly challenged the rational choice paradigm with persuasive evidence that people do not always make the optimal choice. Yet the paradigm has proven so successful a predictor that its use continues to flourish, fueled by debate across the social sciences over why it works so well. Intended to introduce novices to rational choice theory, this accessible, interdisciplinary book collects writings by leading researchers. The Limits of Rationality illuminates the rational choice paradigm of social and political behavior itself, identifies its limitations, clarifies the nature of current controversies, and offers suggestions for improving current models. In the first section of the book, contributors consider the theoretical foundations of rational choice. Models of rational choice play an important role in providing a standard of human action and the bases for constitutional design, but do they also succeed as explanatory models of behavior? Do empirical failures of these explanatory models constitute a telling condemnation of rational choice theory or do they open new avenues of investigation and theorizing? Emphasizing analyses of norms and institutions, the second and third sections of the book investigate areas in which rational choice theory might be extended in order to provide better models. The contributors evaluate the adequacy of analyses based on neoclassical economics, the potential contributions of game theory and cognitive science, and the consequences for the basic framework when unequal bargaining power and hierarchy are introduced.
"Born in Vienna, Alfred Bader fled to England at the age of fourteen, ten months before the outbreak of World War II. Although a Jewish refugee from the Nazis, he was interned in 1940, along with other 'enemy aliens', and sent to a Canadian prisoner-of-war camp." "Obtaining his release in 1941, he was accepted at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where he studied engineering chemistry. There followed a fellowship in organic chemistry at Harvard. He worked in Milwaukee as a research chemist for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company and in 1951 co-founded Aldrich, which today, as Sigma-Aldrich, is the world's largest supplier of research chemicals." "He spent forty years building Aldrich's distinctive reputation, and the extraordinary story of how he was eventually thrown off the board of Sigma-Aldrich will be of key interest to people in the chemical industry worldwide, as well as to students of business." "After leaving Sigma-Aldrich, he continued a fruitful career as an art collector and dealer, and he has some very pertinent and amusing things to say about his experiences in the art world."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Contains reports from the U.S. Department of State on approximately 200 countries around the world, discussing issues such as politics, geography, defense, and trade. Includes information for travelers on health and disease, immigration requirements, transportation, and other topics.
