How does the US make sense of its elite educational system, given that it seems to be at odds with core American values, such as equality of opportunity or upward mobility? Sophie Spieler explores scholarly and journalistic investigations, self-representational texts, and fictional narratives revolving around the Ivy League and its peers in order to understand elite education and its peculiar position in American cultural discourse. Among the book's most surprising and groundbreaking insights is the tenacity and adaptability of meritocratic ideology across all three sub-discourses, despite its fundamental incompatibility with the American educational system.
Sophie Spieler explores scholarly and journalistic investigations, self-representational texts, and fictional narratives revolving around the Ivy League and its peers in order to understand elite education and its peculiar position in American cultural discourse.
A heartwarming series of stories and practical wisdom on entrepreneurship and wealth in the vein of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, written by a financially independent father for his ambitious son. Soon after he opened his vineyard for business many years ago, the Wealthy Gardener noticed a puzzling fact. Everyone wanted money, but only a few people managed to accumulate it. The reason, he realized, is that most people focus on short term gains instead of achieving lasting wealth. As he grew old and aware of his dwindling time on this Earth, the Wealthy Gardener began to share his hard-earned wisdom with the financially troubled in his community, patiently mentoring those who asked for his practical advice on the ways of prosperity. The parable of the Wealthy Gardener is far more than an admonishment to earn more or spend less; it is about timeless principles. As his lessons reveal, financial freedom is a means to power and control over our lives. Without money, we are subject to the demands and whims of others. With money, we are sheltered from the storm, and we can extend that shelter to our loved ones. Poised to become an intimate financial classic, The Wealthy Gardener will inspire readers to find their own noble purpose and relieve their money worries once and for all. No matter your income level, skillset, or unique economic disadvantages, the lessons in this book will show you the path forward. All you need is the will to work, the desire to succeed, and the motivation to learn.
The Wealthy Code book is about a story of how a very wealthy man shared with the author the practical secrets to becoming wealthy. The story reveals the code the wealthy use and unveils the details of the code. It allows readers to understand wealth, to build wealth, and ultimately, to become wealthy. This simple, easy-to-understand book walks the reader through advanced and powerful concepts that can help you become wealthy. REVIEWS: "A masterpiece! The Wealthy Code continues where the others leave off!" Jim Britt, Peak Performance Coach, Author of Do This. Get Rich! "I have read hundreds of books on becoming wealthy. This tops them all. Brilliant!" Willie Hooks, CEO of Million Dollar Coaching "Absolutely amazing! I use the same secrets to generate double-digit returns for my investors. Now the secret is out!" John Taylor, CEO & Investment Manager, NorCal Capital Management
"This book cuts through the conventional wisdom and ideologies that hide the true implications of globalization - and reveals a pragmatic path to a hopeful future."--Jacket.
We are well aware of the rise of the 1% as the rapid growth of economic inequality has put the majority of the world’s wealth in the pockets of fewer and fewer. One much-discussed solution to this imbalance is to significantly increase the rate at which we tax the wealthy. But with an enormous amount of the world’s wealth hidden in tax havens—in countries like Switzerland, Luxembourg, and the Cayman Islands—this wealth cannot be fully accounted for and taxed fairly. No one, from economists to bankers to politicians, has been able to quantify exactly how much of the world’s assets are currently hidden—until now. Gabriel Zucman is the first economist to offer reliable insight into the actual extent of the world’s money held in tax havens. And it’s staggering. In The Hidden Wealth of Nations, Zucman offers an inventive and sophisticated approach to quantifying how big the problem is, how tax havens work and are organized, and how we can begin to approach a solution. His research reveals that tax havens are a quickly growing danger to the world economy. In the past five years, the amount of wealth in tax havens has increased over 25%—there has never been as much money held offshore as there is today. This hidden wealth accounts for at least $7.6 trillion, equivalent to 8% of the global financial assets of households. Fighting the notion that any attempts to vanquish tax havens are futile, since some countries will always offer more advantageous tax rates than others, as well the counter-argument that since the financial crisis tax havens have disappeared, Zucman shows how both sides are actually very wrong. In The Hidden Wealth of Nations he offers an ambitious agenda for reform, focused on ways in which countries can change the incentives of tax havens. Only by first understanding the enormity of the secret wealth can we begin to estimate the kind of actions that would force tax havens to give up their practices. Zucman’s work has quickly become the gold standard for quantifying the amount of the world’s assets held in havens. In this concise book, he lays out in approachable language how the international banking system works and the dangerous extent to which the large-scale evasion of taxes is undermining the global market as a whole. If we are to find a way to solve the problem of increasing inequality, The Hidden Wealth of Nations is essential reading.
The history of nations is a history of haves and have-nots, and as we approach the millennium, the gap between rich and poor countries is widening. In this engrossing and important new work, eminent historian David Landes explores the complex, fascinating and often startling causes of the wealth and poverty of nations. The answers are found not only in the large forces at work in economies: geography, religion, the broad swings of politics, but also in the small surprising details. In Europe, the invention of spectacles doubled the working life of skilled craftsmen, and played a prominent role in the creation of articulated machines, and in China, the failure to adopt the clock fundamentally hindered economic development. The relief of poverty is vital to the survival of us all. As David Landes brilliantly shows, the key to future success lies in understanding the lessons the past has to teach us - lessons uniquely imparted in this groundbreaking and vital book which exemplifies narrative history at its best.
The strengths and failures of the American college, and why liberal education still matters As the commercialization of American higher education accelerates, more and more students are coming to college with the narrow aim of obtaining a preprofessional credential. The traditional four-year college experience—an exploratory time for students to discover their passions and test ideas and values with the help of teachers and peers—is in danger of becoming a thing of the past. In College, prominent cultural critic Andrew Delbanco offers a trenchant defense of such an education, and warns that it is becoming a privilege reserved for the relatively rich. In describing what a true college education should be, he demonstrates why making it available to as many young people as possible remains central to America's democratic promise. In a brisk and vivid historical narrative, Delbanco explains how the idea of college arose in the colonial period from the Puritan idea of the gathered church, how it struggled to survive in the nineteenth century in the shadow of the new research universities, and how, in the twentieth century, it slowly opened its doors to women, minorities, and students from low-income families. He describes the unique strengths of America’s colleges in our era of globalization and, while recognizing the growing centrality of science, technology, and vocational subjects in the curriculum, he mounts a vigorous defense of a broadly humanistic education for all. Acknowledging the serious financial, intellectual, and ethical challenges that all colleges face today, Delbanco considers what is at stake in the urgent effort to protect these venerable institutions for future generations.
The “good jobs” of the past are almost gone. Today, many university graduates face unemployment while others face underemployment. Ken Coates and Bill Morrison explore the death of the “good job,” and the role that universities have played in the disconnect between career fantasies and realities.
Uncover the secret to financial success with advice from self-made millionaire Felix Dennis. Felix Dennis is an expert at proving people wrong. Starting as a college dropout with no family money, he created a publishing empire, founded Maxim magazine, made himself one of the richest people in the UK, and had a blast in the process. How to Get Rich is different from any other book on the subject because Dennis isn’t selling snake oil, investment tips, or motivational claptrap. He merely wants to help people embrace entrepreneurship, and to share lessons he learned the hard way. He reveals, for example, why a regular paycheck is like crack cocaine; why great ideas are vastly overrated; and why “ownership isn't the important thing, it’s the only thing.”
