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J.K. Lasser's New Rules for Estate and Tax Planning (J.K. Lasser #52)

A complete guide to planning an estate under today's tax rules When it comes to your estate--no matter how big or small it may be--you shouldn't leave anything to chance. Proper planning is necessary to protect both your assets and your heirs. Estate Planning Law Specialist Harold Apolinsky and expert financial planner Stewart Welch III know this better than anyone else, and in the Revised and Updated Edition of J.K. Lasser's New Rules for Estate and Tax Planning, they offer valuable advice and solid strategies to help you plan your estate under today's tax rules as well as preserve your wealth. Packed with up-to-the-minute facts, this practical resource covers important issues, such as: * How new legislation will impact inheritances and trusts * Estate and generation-skipping tax planning * The role of wills, executors, and trusts * Treatment of charitable contributions * The do's and don'ts of gifting * Life insurance and retirement planning Filled with in-depth insights and expert advice, this book will show you how to efficiently arrange your estate today so that you can leave more to those you care about tomorrow.

J.K. Lasser's New Rules for Estate and Tax Planning (J.K. Lasser #22)

Planning Your Estate Under the New Tax Law is Easy with J. K. Lasser The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 will affect numerous aspects of your financial life-none more important than how you plan your estate. This new tax law includes the first major estate tax revision in over twenty years. Use J.K. Lasser's New Rules for Estate and Tax Planning to learn how the rules have changed and what you can do now to effectively plan your estate. Learn what the new law means for you and your family, and find out how to use it to keep what has taken a lifetime to accumulate. With this book, you'll understand: * The repeal of the Estate Tax * Wealth-transfer exemption * How the new legislation will impact trusts and inheritances * The role of wills, executors, guardianship, and trusts * Treatment of charitable contributions J.K. Lasser-Practical Guides for All Your Financial Needs Please visit our Web site at www.jklasser.com

Environmental Impacts of Mountaineering: A Conceptual Framework (SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science)

This book investigates the consequences of mountaineering (hiking, trekking, climbing) on the natural environment. These consequences are divided into three groups: 1) transformations caused by the mountaineer’s, or other people’s, stay in a mountaineering region; 2) transformations caused by the mountaineer’s travel (movement) through a mountaineering region, with the consideration of the ground type (rock, rock and grass, grass, residual soil, snow, ice), and 3) transformations caused by the use of mountaineering equipment. Each of the three groups are examined individually for their direct interference with the environment, i.e. caused by the main activities of climbing, trekking and hiking (both for elite and mass mountaineering) and their indirect interference caused by auxiliary activity (mainly in the case of mass mountaineering). Auxiliary activity includes guide services, transport of equipment, use of base camp facilities and the delivery of artificial support equipment, and supports the main activity. The consequences of mountaineering on the natural environment are characterized in terms of individual components of the environment (land relief, soil, vegetation, fauna, and landscape) and location/zone of mountaineering activity (hiking, trekking or climbing zone). Because of the connections and interdependence between particular components of the environment (biotic and abiotic), only preservation of each of them can bring the desired effect – a reduction in the negative impact of mountaineering. This book presents comprehensive research outcomes and serves as a platform for more detailed, future studies.

Mountaineering Adventure Tourism and Local Communities: Social, Environmental and Economics Interactions

This timely book explores how hiking, trekking and climbing mountains, increasingly popular leisure activities, can stimulate change and create opportunities for sustainable development. Using empirical evidence from interviews held in the Himalayas combined with a theoretical grounding, it focuses on the socio-economic and environmental issues of the impact of mountaineering adventure tourism on local communities.Chapters highlight the progressive stages of the host–guest interactions between local communities and tourists, moving from initial, indirect and final tourism development, and the unique sociocultural phenomena these create. The book examines how, with a planned and systematic approach, mountaineering can be a key factor in promoting an overall improvement in local people’s quality of life through initiatives in economic development and environmental conservation. It offers a look towards the future to create sustainable tourism development in mountain regions.This is an invigorating read for adventure tourism and human geography scholars, particularly with the blend of theory and first-hand studies of local impacts of mountain tourism. It will also be an interesting read for industry representatives, policy makers and professionals in the field.

Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems: 11th International Conference, KES 2007, Vietri sul Mare, Italy, September 12-14, 2007, Proceedings, Part II (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #4693)

Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems: 11th International Conference, KES 2007, Vietri sul Mare, Italy, September 12-14, 2007, Proceedings, Part I (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #4692)

This book is part of a three-volume set that constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, KES 2007. Coverage in this first volume includes artificial neural networks and connectionists systems, fuzzy and neuro-fuzzy systems, evolutionary computation, machine learning and classical AI, agent systems, and information engineering and applications in ubiquitous computing environments.

Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems: 11th International Conference, KES 2007, Vietri sul Mare, Italy, September 12-14, 2007, Proceedings, Part III (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #4694)

Der Mythos der Revolution

Der moderne Mythos der Revolution lautet, dass das Volk sich gegen seine Herrscher erhebt und sie durch bessere ersetzt, wenn das Maß an Unterdrückung zu groß wird. Diese auf Karl Marx zurückgehende Idee ist aber zu einfach und zugleich zu schön, um wahr zu sein. Vielmehr hängt es von vielfältigen und oft zufällig gegebenen Bedingungen ab, ob sich größere Teile der Bevölkerung zu Massenprotesten zusammenfinden und ob das in der Folge eine Revolution auslöst. Noch einmal unsicher ist, ob sich anschließend ein besseres Regime etabliert. Die Bedingungen für eine Revolution fügen sich daher nicht zwangsläufig zusammen, wenn der Grad an Unterdrückung steigt.Das Buch führt die Leser auf Basis der modernsten gesellschaftswissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse durch die Welt von Massenprotesten, Aufständen, Revolten und Revolutionen und bleibt dabei stets leicht nachvollziehbar und unterhaltsam. Stück für Stück werden Mosaiksteine zu einem Bild zusammengefügt, welches den Mythos der Revolution entzaubert, aber zugleich tiefe Einsichten in die Logik politischer Macht bietet. Eingebettet wird die Reise durch die Welt der Revolutionen in ausführlich geschilderte historische Beispiele, vor allem aus dem 20. Jahrhundert.

Kompendium der Wirtschaftstheorie und Wirtschaftspolitik I: Mikroökonomik

Das Kompendium liefert einen umfassenden Überblick über die zentralen Bereiche der Volkswirtschaftslehre. Die einzelnen Beiträge haben jeweils die Länge eines vollständigen Vorlesungsskripts und umfassen die wesentlichen Inhalte eines Bachelorstudiengangs der Volkswirtschaftslehre. Alle Beiträge sind so konzipiert, dass sie unabhängig von den anderen gelesen und verstanden werden können. Gleichzeitig wird über Querverweise auf Zusammenhänge mit den anderen Themen verwiesen. Themen sind: Mikroökonomik, Industrieökonomik, Internationaler Handel, Institutionen, Umweltökonomie, Wirtschaftskreislauf und gesamtwirtschaftliches Rechnungswesen, Makroökonomik, Instabilitäten, Wachstum und Entwicklung, Geld und Kredit, Währung und internationale Finanzmärkte, Theorie der Wirtschaftspolitik, Wettbewerbspolitik, Regulierung, Arbeitsmarkt und Sozialpolitik.Der erste Band des Kompendiums beschäftigt sich mit dem Gebiet der Mikroökonomik.Band II und Band III des Kompendiums widmen sich den Themengebieten Makroökonomik und Wirtschaftspolitik und sind ebenfalls erhältlich.

Kompendium der Wirtschaftstheorie und Wirtschaftspolitik II: Makroökonomik

Das Kompendium liefert einen umfassenden Überblick über die zentralen Bereiche der Volkswirtschaftslehre. Die einzelnen Beiträge haben jeweils die Länge eines vollständigen Vorlesungsskripts und umfassen die wesentlichen Inhalte eines Bachelorstudiengangs der Volkswirtschaftslehre. Alle Beiträge sind so konzipiert, dass sie unabhängig von den anderen gelesen und verstanden werden können. Gleichzeitig wird über Querverweise auf Zusammenhänge mit den anderen Themen verwiesen. Themen sind: Mikroökonomik, Industrieökonomik, Internationaler Handel, Institutionen, Umweltökonomie, Wirtschaftskreislauf und gesamtwirtschaftliches Rechnungswesen, Makroökonomik, Instabilitäten, Wachstum und Entwicklung, Geld und Kredit, Währung und internationale Finanzmärkte, Theorie der Wirtschaftspolitik, Wettbewerbspolitik, Regulierung, Arbeitsmarkt und Sozialpolitik. Der zweite Band des Kompendiums beschäftigt sich mit dem Gebiet der Makroökonomik. Band I und Band III des Kompendiums widmen sich den Themengebieten Mikroökonomik und Wirtschaftspolitik und sind ebenfalls erhältlich.

Kompendium der Wirtschaftstheorie und Wirtschaftspolitik III: Wirtschaftspolitik

Das Kompendium liefert einen umfassenden Überblick über die zentralen Bereiche der Volkswirtschaftslehre. Die einzelnen Beiträge haben jeweils die Länge eines vollständigen Vorlesungsskripts und umfassen die wesentlichen Inhalte eines Bachelorstudiengangs der Volkswirtschaftslehre. Alle Beiträge sind so konzipiert, dass sie unabhängig von den anderen gelesen und verstanden werden können. Gleichzeitig wird über Querverweise auf Zusammenhänge mit den anderen Themen verwiesen. Themen sind: Mikroökonomik, Industrieökonomik, Internationaler Handel, Institutionen, Umweltökonomie, Wirtschaftskreislauf und gesamtwirtschaftliches Rechnungswesen, Makroökonomik, Instabilitäten, Wachstum und Entwicklung, Geld und Kredit, Währung und internationale Finanzmärkte, Theorie der Wirtschaftspolitik, Wettbewerbspolitik, Regulierung, Arbeitsmarkt und Sozialpolitik. Der dritte Band des Kompendiums beschäftigt sich mit dem Gebiet der Wirtschaftspolitik.Band I und Band II des Kompendiums widmen sich den Themengebieten Mikroökonomik und Makroökonomik und sind ebenfalls erhältlich.

Synthesis and Analysis Methods for Safety and Reliability Studies

This book originates from the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Synthesis and Analysis Methods for Safety and Reliability Studies held at Sogesta Conference Centre, Urbino, Italy, 3-14 July 1978. The Institute, co-directed by Prof. E.J. Henley and Dr. G. Volta, was attended by 67 persons from twelve countries. The focus of the Institute was on theoretical and applied aspects of reliability and risk analysis methodologies. The Institute was composed of lectures, workshops and gu~ded discussions. From the large quantity of written material that was used and produced during the Institute, a number of papers introducing the most relevant research results and trends in the field have been selected. The papers have been edited, partly rewritten and rearranged in order to obtain in the end an integrat­ ed exposition of methods and techniques for reliability analysis and computation of complex systems. The book is divided into four sections which correspond to fairly homogeneous areas from a methodological point of view. Each section is preceded by an introduction prepared by the Editors which aims at helping the readers to put in perspective and appre­ ciate the contribution of each paper to the subject of the section.

Concentrating Photovoltaics (Green Energy and Technology)

This book is a concise review of the current status and future prospects of concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) technology. Starting with a summary of the current technical and economic status of CPV technology, it identifies the factors that hold CPV back in the commercial market. The main technical areas considered are solar cells, tracking and optics. The solar cells section focuses on spectrum splitting systems, which offer potentially higher efficiency than multi-junction cells with reductions in the manufacturing constraints that lead to high costs. It also offers a brief survey of the latest developments in spectral splitting alongside a discussion of the advances in solar cell manufacturing that aid the development of such systems. Further, it examines electrical design principles for spectral splitting systems that can improve the spectral stability of these systems’ performance. The section on tracking includes a description of tracking integration with an update of the review published in Nature, presenting the latest advances in the field and focusing on surveying conceptual approaches rather than providing an exhaustive description of the literature. The optics section explores 3D printing and other emerging methods of fabricating optics for both prototype and large-scale production, as well as new classes of concentrators, particularly those based on novel photonic materials such as angular filters. Lastly, the authors consider the impact that environmental factors have on the performance of CPV in non-standard environments before concluding with a discussion of the combinations of technologies that they anticipate will most effectively boost CPV in the commercial market.

Management Accounting for Beginners (Routledge Focus on Business and Management)

Accounting skills are increasingly important in many walks of life. In education, these skills are becoming vital beyond business, accounting and economics students; in work, accounting is no longer an outsourced specialism across all sectors. This concise book provides readers with a primer on accounting which focuses on its uses for managers. Beginning with the basics of financial accounting, the main part of the book focuses on the more applicable role and use of management accounting. Topics covered include budgeting, break-even analysis, performance measurement, and investment appraisal. Features to aid understanding include worked activities; discussion points and numerical example with answers. With additional online resources for further study, this unique and focused text will be welcomed by all those looking to develop an employable competency in accounting and finance.

Management Accounting for Beginners (Routledge Focus on Business and Management)

Accounting skills are increasingly important in many walks of life. In education, these skills are becoming vital beyond business, accounting and economics students; in work, accounting is no longer an outsourced specialism across all sectors. This concise book provides readers with a primer on accounting which focuses on its uses for managers. Beginning with the basics of financial accounting, the main part of the book focuses on the more applicable role and use of management accounting. Topics covered include budgeting, break-even analysis, performance measurement, and investment appraisal. Features to aid understanding include worked activities; discussion points and numerical example with answers. With additional online resources for further study, this unique and focused text will be welcomed by all those looking to develop an employable competency in accounting and finance.

The Fight For Time: Migrant Day Laborers and the Politics of Precarity (Studies in Subaltern Latina/o Politics)

In today's precarious world, working people's experiences are strangely becoming more alike even as their disparities sharpen. The Fight for Time explores the logic behind this paradox by listening to what Latino day laborers say about work and society. The book shows how migrant laborers are both exception and synecdoche in relation to the precarious conditions of contemporary work life. As unauthorized migrants, these workers are subjected to extraordinarily harsh treatment - yet in startling ways, they also epitomize struggles that apply throughout the economy. Juxtaposing day laborers' descriptions of their desperate circumstances and dangerous work with theoretical accounts of the forces fueling insecurity, The Fight for Time illuminates the temporal contradictions that define precarity today. The book taps the core intellectual current among day labor groups - Paulo Freire's popular-education theory - to craft an original "critical-popular" approach for understanding the points of connection between the ways that day laborers view their lives and scholarly analysis of precarious work-life writ large. The result is a temporally attuned and politically bracing perspective on neoliberal crises, the work ethic in the era of affective and digital labor, the intensifying racial governance of public spaces, the burgeoning deportation regime, and the growth of occupational safety and health hazards. The accounts of the day laborers in this book are rich with potential to catalyze social critique among migrant workers - and clarify the terms on which mass-scale opposition to precarity can occur. Such opposition would demand restoration of workers' stolen time, engage in a fight for the city, challenge the conditions under which aversion to financial risk puts workers into physical danger, and foment the refusal of work. We can look to the urban worker centers where this radically democratic politics of precarity is taking root to understand what types of organizations have the potential to wage the fight for time and enable broad mobilization in the face of precarity: worker centers for all working people.

FIGHT FOR TIME SSLP C: Migrant Day Laborers and the Politics of Precarity (Studies in Subaltern Latina/o Politics)

In today's precarious world, working people's experiences are strangely becoming more alike even as their disparities sharpen. The Fight for Time explores the logic behind this paradox by listening to what Latino day laborers say about work and society. The book shows how migrant laborers are both exception and synecdoche in relation to the precarious conditions of contemporary work life. As unauthorized migrants, these workers are subjected to extraordinarily harsh treatment - yet in startling ways, they also epitomize struggles that apply throughout the economy. Juxtaposing day laborers' descriptions of their desperate circumstances and dangerous work with theoretical accounts of the forces fueling insecurity, The Fight for Time illuminates the temporal contradictions that define precarity today. The book taps the core intellectual current among day labor groups - Paulo Freire's popular-education theory - to craft an original "critical-popular" approach for understanding the points of connection between the ways that day laborers view their lives and scholarly analysis of precarious work-life writ large. The result is a temporally attuned and politically bracing perspective on neoliberal crises, the work ethic in the era of affective and digital labor, the intensifying racial governance of public spaces, the burgeoning deportation regime, and the growth of occupational safety and health hazards. The accounts of the day laborers in this book are rich with potential to catalyze social critique among migrant workers - and clarify the terms on which mass-scale opposition to precarity can occur. Such opposition would demand restoration of workers' stolen time, engage in a fight for the city, challenge the conditions under which aversion to financial risk puts workers into physical danger, and foment the refusal of work. We can look to the urban worker centers where this radically democratic politics of precarity is taking root to understand what types of organizations have the potential to wage the fight for time and enable broad mobilization in the face of precarity: worker centers for all working people.

Entrepreneurship and the Sustainable Development Goals (Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship Research #8)

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) were launched in 2015, as a global agenda for addressing the multiplicity of social and environmental challenges that face communities around the world. But what role might entrepreneurship play in reaching these goals? In the first book of its kind, Entrepreneurship and the Sustainable Development Goals will encourage you to think about the critical role that entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs might play in supporting sustainable development. More than twenty authors from across Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe explore a fascinating mix of enterprises and sustainable development initiatives to illustrate the capacity of entrepreneurship as the engine for transforming our world and overcoming the diverse nature of these global challenges. Structured into three provocative sections this book explores: • Social change and entrepreneurship through the lens of the SDGs; • Organisational practices and innovation towards the SDGs; • Entrepreneurship, gender equality and empowerment towards the SDGs Journey through the stories of tribal enterprises in India, to cacao framers in Ghana, small and medium sized businesses in Greece, social enterprises in Kenya, Zambia and the USA and many others to see the powerful force that entrepreneurship can be for promoting poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

Entrepreneurship and the Sustainable Development Goals (Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship Research #8)

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) were launched in 2015, as a global agenda for addressing the multiplicity of social and environmental challenges that face communities around the world. But what role might entrepreneurship play in reaching these goals? In the first book of its kind, Entrepreneurship and the Sustainable Development Goals will encourage you to think about the critical role that entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs might play in supporting sustainable development. More than twenty authors from across Africa, Asia, North America, and Europe explore a fascinating mix of enterprises and sustainable development initiatives to illustrate the capacity of entrepreneurship as the engine for transforming our world and overcoming the diverse nature of these global challenges. Structured into three provocative sections this book explores: • Social change and entrepreneurship through the lens of the SDGs; • Organisational practices and innovation towards the SDGs; • Entrepreneurship, gender equality and empowerment towards the SDGs Journey through the stories of tribal enterprises in India, to cacao framers in Ghana, small and medium sized businesses in Greece, social enterprises in Kenya, Zambia and the USA and many others to see the powerful force that entrepreneurship can be for promoting poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

Entrepreneurship, Institutional Framework and Support Mechanisms in the EU

Over recent decades a variety of tools, regulations, and funding and support schemes have been developed in the EU to promote and enhance entrepreneurial activities. However, research supporting entrepreneurial activities in the EU remains under-researched. Entrepreneurship, Institutional Framework and Support Mechanisms in the EU aims to shed some light on the important and yet crucially under-explored interactions between entrepreneurship, institutions and support mechanisms within the EU. This collective volume sets the foundations of a comprehensive discussion which focuses on the determinants of boosting EU entrepreneurship in local, regional, national and supranational levels. With its scope will extend to all major, relevant and interrelated aspects, Entrepreneurship, Institutional Framework and Support Mechanisms in the EU provides a go-to source of current thinking in this area.

Women as Producers and Consumers of Tourism in Developing Regions (Non-ser.)

Tourism has become the world's largest industry, according to the World Tourism Organization; no surprise when one considers that it incorporates the world's oldest profession. In some developing regions, such as the Caribbean or the South Pacific, tourism is the primary sector in which significant economic growth takes place. In other regions, including areas of Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and formerly communist eastern Europe, tourism is just beginning to take off. In all of these areas, tourism's impact has been decidedly mixed. Nowhere is this more visible than in the context of women's roles in tourism. The contributors demonstrate the many ways in which gender determines the roles they play as both tourists and providers of tourism as product and service. A valuable contribution to tourism studies, women's studies, and the literature of economic development.The premises of this unique collection of research are that women's roles in tourism are gendered, just as are their other roles in gendered societies; that tourism affects women differently than it affects men; and that women themselves are affected in different ways by tourism depending on such factors as race, region, and class (leisured consumer vs. working producer, or guest vs. host). The contributors cover theoretical perspectives, including those provided by feminists and economic development analysts; women's roles in tourism in the mature industries of the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific; women's roles in the less-developed tourist destinations of the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and eastern Europe; and implications for the future of economic development policy and of gender relations in tourism.

Banking on Words: The Failure of Language in the Age of Derivative Finance

In this provocative look at one of the most important events of our time, renowned scholar Arjun Appadurai argues that the economic collapse of 2008—while indeed spurred on by greed, ignorance, weak regulation, and irresponsible risk-taking—was, ultimately, a failure of language. To prove this sophisticated point, he takes us into the world of derivative finance, which has become the core of contemporary trading and the primary target of blame for the collapse and all our subsequent woes. With incisive argumentation, he analyzes this challengingly technical world, drawing on thinkers such as J. L. Austin, Marcel Mauss, and Max Weber as theoretical guides to showcase the ways language—and particular failures in it—paved the way for ruin. Appadurai moves in four steps through his analysis. In the first, he highlights the importance of derivatives in contemporary finance, isolating them as the core technical innovation that markets have produced. In the second, he shows that derivatives are essentially written contracts about the future prices of assets—they are, crucially, a promise. Drawing on Mauss’s The Gift and Austin’s theories on linguistic performatives, Appadurai, in his third step, shows how the derivative exploits the linguistic power of the promise through the special form that money takes in finance as the most abstract form of commodity value. Finally, he pinpoints one crucial feature of derivatives (as seen in the housing market especially): that they can make promises that other promises will be broken. He then details how this feature spread contagiously through the market, snowballing into the systemic liquidity crisis that we are all too familiar with now. With his characteristic clarity, Appadurai explains one of the most complicated—and yet absolutely central—aspects of our modern economy. He makes the critical link we have long needed to make: between the numerical force of money and the linguistic force of what we say we will do with it.

Banking on Words: The Failure of Language in the Age of Derivative Finance

In this provocative look at one of the most important events of our time, renowned scholar Arjun Appadurai argues that the economic collapse of 2008—while indeed spurred on by greed, ignorance, weak regulation, and irresponsible risk-taking—was, ultimately, a failure of language. To prove this sophisticated point, he takes us into the world of derivative finance, which has become the core of contemporary trading and the primary target of blame for the collapse and all our subsequent woes. With incisive argumentation, he analyzes this challengingly technical world, drawing on thinkers such as J. L. Austin, Marcel Mauss, and Max Weber as theoretical guides to showcase the ways language—and particular failures in it—paved the way for ruin. Appadurai moves in four steps through his analysis. In the first, he highlights the importance of derivatives in contemporary finance, isolating them as the core technical innovation that markets have produced. In the second, he shows that derivatives are essentially written contracts about the future prices of assets—they are, crucially, a promise. Drawing on Mauss’s The Gift and Austin’s theories on linguistic performatives, Appadurai, in his third step, shows how the derivative exploits the linguistic power of the promise through the special form that money takes in finance as the most abstract form of commodity value. Finally, he pinpoints one crucial feature of derivatives (as seen in the housing market especially): that they can make promises that other promises will be broken. He then details how this feature spread contagiously through the market, snowballing into the systemic liquidity crisis that we are all too familiar with now. With his characteristic clarity, Appadurai explains one of the most complicated—and yet absolutely central—aspects of our modern economy. He makes the critical link we have long needed to make: between the numerical force of money and the linguistic force of what we say we will do with it.

Banking on Words: The Failure of Language in the Age of Derivative Finance

In this provocative look at one of the most important events of our time, renowned scholar Arjun Appadurai argues that the economic collapse of 2008—while indeed spurred on by greed, ignorance, weak regulation, and irresponsible risk-taking—was, ultimately, a failure of language. To prove this sophisticated point, he takes us into the world of derivative finance, which has become the core of contemporary trading and the primary target of blame for the collapse and all our subsequent woes. With incisive argumentation, he analyzes this challengingly technical world, drawing on thinkers such as J. L. Austin, Marcel Mauss, and Max Weber as theoretical guides to showcase the ways language—and particular failures in it—paved the way for ruin. Appadurai moves in four steps through his analysis. In the first, he highlights the importance of derivatives in contemporary finance, isolating them as the core technical innovation that markets have produced. In the second, he shows that derivatives are essentially written contracts about the future prices of assets—they are, crucially, a promise. Drawing on Mauss’s The Gift and Austin’s theories on linguistic performatives, Appadurai, in his third step, shows how the derivative exploits the linguistic power of the promise through the special form that money takes in finance as the most abstract form of commodity value. Finally, he pinpoints one crucial feature of derivatives (as seen in the housing market especially): that they can make promises that other promises will be broken. He then details how this feature spread contagiously through the market, snowballing into the systemic liquidity crisis that we are all too familiar with now. With his characteristic clarity, Appadurai explains one of the most complicated—and yet absolutely central—aspects of our modern economy. He makes the critical link we have long needed to make: between the numerical force of money and the linguistic force of what we say we will do with it.

Banking on Words: The Failure of Language in the Age of Derivative Finance

In this provocative look at one of the most important events of our time, renowned scholar Arjun Appadurai argues that the economic collapse of 2008—while indeed spurred on by greed, ignorance, weak regulation, and irresponsible risk-taking—was, ultimately, a failure of language. To prove this sophisticated point, he takes us into the world of derivative finance, which has become the core of contemporary trading and the primary target of blame for the collapse and all our subsequent woes. With incisive argumentation, he analyzes this challengingly technical world, drawing on thinkers such as J. L. Austin, Marcel Mauss, and Max Weber as theoretical guides to showcase the ways language—and particular failures in it—paved the way for ruin. Appadurai moves in four steps through his analysis. In the first, he highlights the importance of derivatives in contemporary finance, isolating them as the core technical innovation that markets have produced. In the second, he shows that derivatives are essentially written contracts about the future prices of assets—they are, crucially, a promise. Drawing on Mauss’s The Gift and Austin’s theories on linguistic performatives, Appadurai, in his third step, shows how the derivative exploits the linguistic power of the promise through the special form that money takes in finance as the most abstract form of commodity value. Finally, he pinpoints one crucial feature of derivatives (as seen in the housing market especially): that they can make promises that other promises will be broken. He then details how this feature spread contagiously through the market, snowballing into the systemic liquidity crisis that we are all too familiar with now. With his characteristic clarity, Appadurai explains one of the most complicated—and yet absolutely central—aspects of our modern economy. He makes the critical link we have long needed to make: between the numerical force of money and the linguistic force of what we say we will do with it.