Sixty original photographs taken at locations across the globe, converted into stunning, unique digital artworks with varying degrees of abstraction. A feast for the eyes and inspiration for the imagination. (Originally released as Sights in Mind: A Fifth Stroll Through the Davmandy Collection.) The M.I.N.Digital Art Project: M(atter gives shape) I(ndescribable simplicity) N(othing in the world can subjugate it), from stanzas 51, 32, and 37 of the Tao Te Ching, translations by David Peters...

More than 81 evocative works of digital and photographic art bring out the subtle power of this fresh but authoritative reading of the Tao Te Ching, in a unique synergy of the creative and the sacred. The result is an experience that at once soothes the mind while feeding the soul.

It all begins and ends with plants. From the chance to live on this planet to the pleasure of listening to the sound of a violin—every story begins with a plant.We animals account for a paltry 0.3% of the planet's biomass while plants add up to 85%. It is obvious that every story on this planet has a plant as its protagonist. Our world is a green world; Earth is the planet of plants. And when, with just a little training, we are able to look at the world without seeing it solely as...

When States Go Broke collects insights and analysis from leading academics and practitioners that discuss the ongoing fiscal crisis among the American states. No one disagrees with the idea that the states face enormous political and fiscal challenges. There is, however, little consensus on how to fix the perennial problems associated with these challenges. This volume fills an important gap in the dialogue by offering an academic analysis of the many issues broached by these debates. Lead...

A call-to-arms from Nobel Prize–winning economist and best-selling author Paul Krugman.The Great Recession is more than four years old—and counting. Yet, as Paul Krugman points out in this powerful volley, "Nations rich in resources, talent, and knowledge—all the ingredients for prosperity and a decent standard of living for all—remain in a state of intense pain."How bad have things gotten? How did we get stuck in what now can only be called a depression? And above all, how...

In spite of its key role in creating the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, the American banking industry has grown bigger, more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever. Anchored by six megabanks whose assets amount to more than 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, this oligarchy proved it could first hold the global economy hostage and then use its political muscle to fight off meaningful reform. 13 Bankers brilliantly charts the rise to power of the ...

THE BOOK WASHINGTON DOES NOT WANT YOU TO READHow is it that politicians often enter office with relatively modest assets, but then, as investors, regularly beat the stock market and sometimes beat the most rapacious hedge funds? How did some members of Congress know to dump their stock holdings just in time to escape the effects of the 2008 financial meltdown? And how is it that billionaires and hedge fund managers often make well-timed investment decisions that anticipate events i...

A thoughtful and surprising argument for American tax reform, arguably the most overdue political debate facing the nation, from one of the most respected political and economic thinkers, advisers, and writers of our time.THE UNITED STATES TAX CODE HAS UNDERGONE NO SERIOUS REFORM SINCE 1986. Since then, loopholes, exemptions, credits, and deductions have distorted its clarity, increased its inequity, and frustrated our ability to govern ourselves. By tracing the hi...

Before 2007, economists thought that financial crises would never happen again in the United States, that such upheavals were a thing of the past. Gary B. Gorton, a prominent expert on financial crises, argues that economists fundamentally misunderstand what they are, why they occur, and why there were none in the U.S. from 1934 to 2007. Misunderstanding Financial Crises offers a back-to-basics overview of financial crises, and shows that they are not rare, idiosyncratic events ca...

In A Miracle in Waiting Paul Hellyer pulls no punches. First published in 1996 under the title Surviving the Global Financial Crisis: The Economics of Hope for Generation X Hellyer maintained that the monetarist counter-revolution has been one monumental flop and predicted in the first two paragraphs that a meltdown was inevitable.The entire book was prophetic and should be read in that context.Hellyer argued that the federal deficit is nothing but a red herring t...

America is mired in debt—more than $30,000 for every man, woman, and child. Bitter fighting over deficits, taxes, and spending bedevils Washington, D.C., even as partisan gridlock has brought the government to the brink of default. Yet the more politicians on both sides of the aisle rant and the citizenry fumes, the more things seem to remain the same.In White House Burning, Simon Johnson and James Kwak—authors of the national best seller 13 Bankers and cofounders...

Arbitration has become the dispute resolution method of choice in international transactions. This book provides the reader with immediate access to understanding the world of international arbitration, explaining how and why arbitration works. It provides the legal and regulatory framework for international arbitration, as well as practical strategies to follow and pitfalls to avoid. It is short and readable, but comprehensive in its coverage of the basic requirements, including the most ...