Showing results by publisher "Penguin Audio" in Economics

A fairer, healthier, more caring and sustainable society is entirely within our grasp. How do we ensure that everyone has good health and is cared for when in need? How do we provide education that allows every child to flourish? How do we ensure safety, justice and a healthy environment now and for future generations? Ultimately, she shows that solving the fundamental problems of poverty and equality would enhance the quality of life for us all.

The Secret History of Gold tells the epic tale of the world’s oldest, and most treasured, currency. From its origins in the formation of the solar system to its pivotal role in both ancient myth and modern finance, Dominic Frisby explores, with wit and brevity, how gold has defined the entire course of human civilisation.

As start-ups use technology to shape the way we live, work, and learn, they're taking on challenges in sectors like health care, infrastructure, and education, where failure is far more consequential than a humorous chat with Siri or the wrong package on your doorstep. These start-ups inevitably have to face governments responsible for protecting citizens through regulation. Love it or hate it, we're entering the next era of the digital revolution: the Regulatory Era.

The idea that people are basically driven by individualism and economic incentives and that prosperity and good societies come from top-down leadership has dominated politics for the last 30 years (from some perspectives, much longer). This book shows that the age of homo economicus and centralisation is coming to an end. Instead, Collier and Kay argue that community and mutuality will be the drivers of successful societies in the future - as they are already in some parts of the world.

Drawing on four decades of hands-on management experience, the founder of Richer Sounds argues that ethically run businesses are invariably more efficient, more motivated and more innovative than those that care only about the bottom line. He uncovers the simple tools that the best leaders use to make their businesses fair, revealing how others can follow suit. And he also delves into the big questions that modern capitalism has to answer if it is to survive and to thrive.

Since its appearance in Zuccotti Park, New York, in September 2011, the Occupy movement has spread to hundreds of towns and cities across the world. No longer occupying small tent camps, the movement now occupies the global conscience as its messages spread from street protests to op-ed pages to the highest seats of power. From the movement's onset, Noam Chomsky has supported its critique of corporate corruption and encouraged its efforts to increase civic participation, economic equality, democracy and freedom.

In the twenty years following Hu AnYan’s high school graduation, he has held nineteen different jobs. He’s been a convenience store clerk, a bicycle salesman, a security guard and a delivery driver (among many other things). He moves from city to city in China, slipping away any time the work gets too punishing or the bosses too bossy, carrying with him nothing but his copies of Chekhov and Carver. A million-copy bestseller in China, I Deliver Parcels in Beijing is Hu’s account of his life as a low-wage labourer working to live, not living to work.

There are fewer than 5000 people who can genuinely claim to be members of the British aristocracy, and yet they loom large in the popular consciousness. We're fascinated by their houses and estates, their lives and loves, their foibles and eccentricities. And we entertain the strong suspicion that, while they may be fellow citizens, they are very far from being People Like Us. In Heirs and Graces Eleanor Doughty draws on her unparalleled access to a bewildering range of dukes, duchesses, earls and others to create a vivid picture of who they are and how they tick.

Philip Bump, a reporter as adept with a graph as with a paragraph, is popular for his ability to distill vast amounts of data into accessible stories. THE AFTERMATH is a sweeping assessment of how the baby boom created modern America, and where power, wealth, and politics will shift as the boom ends. Bump helps us navigate the flood of data in which our sense of the country now drowns. He fits numbers into a narrative about who we are (including what "we" really means), how we vote, where we live, what we buy—and what predictions we can make with any confidence.

Geopolitical thought leader Ian Bremmer issues a clarion call to America: redefine your place in the world, or the world will define it for you. America's identity abroad has long been defined by the Second World War and years of Cold War struggle. But the new America has changed; its role and identity are in flux - and with them the global balance of power. In Superpower, president and founder of the Eurasia Group Ian Bremmer calls for a completely new definition of America as a superpower - one that adheres to distinct priorities and values.

BRAIN SHOTS: Not everyone has the time to listen to long recordings of their favourite books- which is where Brain Shots come in. These are ‘big ideas’ books in a bite-sized audio format- taken complete and unabridged from the ebook edition.

These stories are about the people who make our lives run every day—and yet we barely think of them. Laskas spent weeks in an Ohio coal mine and on an Alaskan oil rig; in a Maine migrant labor camp, a Texas beef ranch, the air traffic control tower at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, a California landfill, an Arizona gun shop, the cab of a long-haul truck in Iowa, and the stadium of the Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleaders. All are part of hidden America, and you will be amazed by what Laskas tells you about them.

It’s the Middle Class, Stupid! confirms what we have all suspected: Washington and Wall Street have really screwed things up for the average American. Work has been devalued. Education costs are out of sight. Effort and ambition have never been so scantily rewarded. Political guru James Carville and pollster extraordinaire Stan Greenberg argue that our political parties must admit their failures and the electorate must reclaim its voice, because taking on the wealthy and the privileged is not class warfare—it is a matter of survival.

Sensational books like Freakonomics have shown how human behaviour follows predictable patterns. But how do you take these radical ideas and apply them to your business? How do you make money from them? Secrets of the Moneylab sets out what business can learn from the findings of the new economics and social psychology. It shows how you can shape desires, use incentives and reduce risks to consistently improve the bottom line.

Economic theories and models shape our everyday lives. They are relied on by politicians when tax rises or cuts are being considered. They inform debates about everything from bonuses for CEOs to minimum wage rates, to the level of job protection enshrined in law. They determine what levels of tobacco or petrol duty are charged and influence government approaches to issues as diverse as obesity and climate change. But are policy makers right to be so slavishly reliant on them? Tom Bergin is sceptical, and he subjects eight of the most prevalent economic mantras to close scrutiny.

When Gene Sperling was in charge of coordinating economic policy in the Obama White House, he found himself surprised when serious people in Washington told him that the Obama focus on healthcare was a distraction because it was “not focused on the economy.” How, he asked, was the fear felt by millions of Americans of being one serious illness away from financial ruin not considered an economic issue? Too often, Sperling found that we measured economic success by metrics like GDP.

By focusing on corporations rather than people, we've put our faith in empty trends and brand-focused window dressing. Why should those responsible for our current crisis be trusted to fix it? In Accountable, authors Michael O'Leary and Warren Valdmanis offer a blueprint for everyone to take responsibility for using their economic power as consumers, as investors, as employees and as voters to trigger a fundamental shift away from an economy that is unethical, unfair and destructive to our environment and institutions.

Ah, money. We all use it, but most of us feel like we don't 'get' it. Enter: a personal finance book you’ll actually want to read. With absolutely no judgement or jargon, The Book of Money breaks down big, complex topics into bite-sized chunks.

In today’s data-driven world, maths is a weapon wielded by banks, insurance companies, tech firms, and government agencies. These organizations use sophisticated algorithms to calculate odds, make predictions, uncover patterns, manage risk, and optimize actions. And they treat you as another number to crunch along the way. Robin Hood Maths explains the mathematical methods these companies and agencies use to manipulate and profit off of you.

Britain’s last deep coalmine closed in 2015, yet just fifty years ago the mining industry was a juggernaut, employing over 250,000 workers. Combining new personal interviews with extensive archival research, Emily P. Webber illuminates the extraordinary history of the industry once considered the backbone of Britain.