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The Rise of the Sharing Economy: Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities of Collaborative Consumption
by Pia A. Albinsson B. Yasanthi PereraThis is the ultimate source for anyone who wants a comprehensive view of how the sharing economy began and how it may fundamentally change capitalism across the globe.The Rise of the Sharing Economy: Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities of Collaborative Consumption examines the business phenomenon of the sharing economy, giving readers a thorough analysis of this up-and-coming sector. The book presents a detailed historical perspective of sharing and cooperatives, followed by a discussion of societal factors—predominantly technology—that have facilitated the fast growth of collaborative consumption businesses. Additional chapters offer progressive perspectives on how companies can further commercialize sharing.Written for undergraduate and graduate students studying the collaborative market and for those with entrepreneurial aspirations, this book provides important insight about technology facilities sharing, peer-to-peer lending, grassroots social entrepreneurial efforts, the economics of the sharing economy, legal and public policy issues, and more.
The Rise of the Curator Class: Changing the Way We Buy, Sell, and Make Everything
by Steffon DavisPairing "big ideas" in marketing with the popular activity of content curation, The Rise of the Curator Class positions curation as a "humanization" movement that is restructuring the internet.Curation is set to overturn the $2.2 trillion global creative industry, revolutionizing how we create, market, and discover content. In the era of content overload and fake news, in which everything to buy, listen to, read, or watch is available online, there is one group of people who have learned to thrive in this climate of superabundance: the curator class, whose influence and power grows as more people look to them as guides.This new curator class is rewriting traditional curation, tackling the overload and making sense of it for others. In the past, curation was available to an elite few. Now, internet platforms such as Pinterest, Spotify, and Twitter empower hundreds of millions of people to curate their ideas for anyone who may be interested, revolutionizing how content is marketed and sold. The Rise of the Curator Class explains how curation is disrupting internet commerce as consumer trust moves farther away from traditional brands and closer to the curators who lead tastes, and it equips readers to think critically about how curation can work for them.
Revaluing the Federal Workforce: Defending America's Civil Servants
by Anthony StanfordThis insider's perspective on the federal workforce demystifies the myth of the underworked and overcompensated employee, examines workers' daily challenges, and considers the future of government work and its workers.Since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, federal employees—unlike any other segment of the American worker—have dealt with the reality that their workplaces are potential targets. Additionally, this workforce deals with public scrutiny and a prevailing opinion that federal employees are obsolete and inept. This unprecedented study attempts to dispel ill-informed speculation about our nation's civil servants by providing a thorough examination of the differences—and similarities—between the private and federal employment sectors.Himself a 30-year veteran of government work, Anthony Stanford explores the challenges unique to this group, including the impact of political posturing, the bureaucratic red tape preventing progressive change, and the tensions and security concerns stemming from terrorist threats. Chapters cover topics such as the fallacy of the underworked employee, performance measurements that impede performance and threaten the mission of some federal agencies, the obstacles that prevent federal managers from effectively dealing with personnel issues, and strategies for altering the public perception of the federal workforce. Written in an engaging and accessible style, the book allows readers to learn what it is really like to work for the federal government.
Recognizing Women's Leadership: Strategies and Best Practices for Employing Excellence
by Tiffani LennonAccording to recent data on women leaders across all major sectors in the United States, women are outperforming men but earning less and still hitting the glass ceiling. This book uncovers the best practices to remedy these inequities, optimize performance, and benefit both genders.In compiling and analyzing 2011–2012 data on women leaders across all major sectors in the United States, author Tiffani Lennon, JD, uncovered proof that women are outperforming men—yet salaries and positional leadership roles are disproportionate to the performance and accomplishments of women in nearly all sectors. Recognizing Women's Leadership: Strategies and Best Practices for Employing Excellence presents a comprehensive look at agencies and organizations with the smallest pay gap and the largest percentage of female positional leaders to reveal best practices and strategies that ensure gender parity and optimal business performance, including impact, revenue, and efficacy.The study examined in this book included approximately 1,500 for-profit companies, not-for-profit businesses, and other organizations and associations throughout the country to establish the number of women leaders among the top echelon in each industry. Researchers also calculated leadership performance by identifying the frequency with which women received industry distinctions and awards, were top revenue generators, and achieved best-sellers list status, among other sector-specific criteria. The ramifications of the study's findings portend the future of the United States as a global competitor and as such need to be part of the public discourse surrounding the state of the American economy.
Recessions and Depressions: Understanding Business Cycles
by Todd A. KnoopThis book offers an examination of the empirical data of business cycles, the theories that economists have developed to explain them, and major case studies of recessions and depressions both in the United States and internationally.When it first appeared in 2004, the first edition of Recessions and Depressions: Understanding Business Cycles offered readers an expertly guided tour through fundamental business cycle theories and the latest research on pivotal market failures. In the aftermath of the events of the 2008 economic crisis, Knoop offers an extensively updated new edition.As before, the second edition offers clear explanations of classical and Keynesian economic theory and how each has moved in and out of favor from the early 20th century to the present. It then provides detailed studies of major business-cycle downturns in the United States, from the Great Depression and postwar recessions to the "new" economy of the 1990s, the 2001 recession, and in an all-new chapter, the 2008 global financial crisis. The book also features an exhaustive update of statistical data, plus coverage of recent international crises in Argentina and Japan, and a new chapter on what we do and don't know about business cycles.
Real-World Decision Making: An Encyclopedia of Behavioral Economics
by Morris AltmanThe first and only encyclopedia to focus on the economic and financial behaviors of consumers, investors, and organizations, including an exploration of how people make good—and bad—economic decisions.Traditional economic theories speculate how and when people should spend money. But consumers don't always behave as expected and often adopt strategies that might appear unorthodox yet are, at times, more effective than the rule prescribed by conventional wisdom. This groundbreaking text examines the ways in which people make financial decisions, whether it is because they are smart but atypical in their choices … or just irrational decision makers.A leading authority on behavioral economics, Morris Altman and more than 150 expert contributors delve into key concepts in behavioral economics, economic psychology, behavioral finance, neuroeconomics, experimental economics, and institutional economics to help inform economic models based on reality, not theory. Through 250 informative entries, the book explores various aspects of the subject including decision making, economic analysis, and public policy. In addition to introducing concepts to readers new to the subject, the book sheds light on more advanced financial topics in a manner that is objective, comprehensive, and accessible.
The Real College Debt Crisis: How Student Borrowing Threatens Financial Well-Being and Erodes the American Dream
by William Elliott III Melinda K. LewisIs it still worth it for low-income students to attend college, given the debt incurred? This book provides a new framework for evaluating the financial aid system in America, positing that aid must not only allow access to higher education, but also help students succeed in college and facilitate their financial health post-college.Higher education plays a critical role in the economy and society of the United States, creating a ladder of economic opportunity for American children, especially for those in poverty. Unfortunately, higher education today increasingly reinforces patterns of relative privilege, particularly as students without the benefit of affluent parents rely more and more on student loans to finance college access. This book presents penetrating new information about the fiscal realities of the current debt-based college loan system and raises tough questions about the extent to which student loans can be a viable way to facilitate equitable access to higher education.The book opens with relevant parts of the life stories of two students—one who grew up poor and had to take on high amounts of student debt, and another whose family could offer financial help at critical times. These real-life examples provide invaluable insight into the student debt problem and help make the complex data more understandable. A wide range of readers—from scholars of poverty, social policy, and educational equality to policymakers to practitioners in the fields of student financial aid and financial planning—will find the information in this text invaluable.
The Puzzle of the American Economy: How Changing Demographics Will Affect Our Future and Influence Our Politics
by Mark A. PisanoThis book explains how sweeping demographic changes have resulted in the ineffectiveness of recent monetary and fiscal policies, and it identifies corrective actions that will start to reverse the trends of low economic growth and widespread government deficits.The field of demographics does not focus on the economic impacts and the funding issues resulting from demographic change. Similarly, economics does not take into account demographic changes. The omissions in both fields are negatively impacting the nation: income reductions caused by demographic changes that have not been accounted for are so large that current fiscal policies are not able to mitigate them. The Puzzle of the American Economy: How Changing Demographics Will Affect Our Future and Influence Our Politics exposes the factors that are undermining the nation's prospects for improving the rate of economic growth and keeping up with citizens' needs for government-provided services.Author Mark A. Pisano explains the hidden drag on the economy that has led to the ineffectiveness of recent monetary and fiscal policies, how uncertainty in economic policymaking is affecting America politically as well as at the individual household level, and why those who are adversely impacted are becoming politically disaffected. He also presents an agenda for corrective individual action. Readers will understand how the results of changes in demographics will last for decades and extend beyond the United States to many developed countries—particularly Japan and nations in Europe—as well as to some developing countries. The book will be of value to students studying macro and micro economics; those in public policy at all levels of government, public administration, and governmental budgeting; and anyone attempting to understand the current dilemma in economic policymaking and our disjointed political process.
Putting Your Values to Work: Becoming the Leader Others Want to Follow
by Matthew R. FairholmExplains how anyone who learns the power of vision, voice, vectors, and values in the lives of those around them can be an outstanding leader.The direct result of the author's experience in teaching leadership and conducting management training sessions for professional organizations, this book describes four fundamental ideas that explain how and why people are compelled to follow: Values, Vision, Vector, and Voice. Together, these concepts form the essence of leadership and inform the steps necessary to inspire others to follow. The accessible, easy-to-read chapters differentiate leadership from management, connect the views and choices of followers with the definition and essential tasks of leadership, and link the "Four Vs" to tried and true concepts in leadership theory while drawing contrasts to conventional management wisdom.
Public Economics in the United States [3 volumes]: How the Federal Government Analyzes and Influences the Economy [3 volumes]
by Steven PaysonThis comprehensive explanation of the U.S. government's role in economics will be an eye-opener for anyone who wants to understand exactly what the government does—and doesn't do—in this most critical area.Most people, including many economists, are not aware of the great variety of crucial tasks and invaluable analyses undertaken by government economists. This three-volume set will fill that gap with an all-encompassing overview of the major economics-related work the government performs across all of its agencies and offices. With 45 chapters written by 61 leading experts, the work covers every major topic in government economics, including such diverse areas as monetary policy, defense spending, social assistance, international trade, antitrust, and environmental protection. In addition to entries by those who teach economics, the compendium also features candid observations from government insiders to help readers grasp how things really work. But readers will not only gain insight into specific fields and topics, they will also be able to better understand the big picture and how its pieces fit together. This unique and far-reaching set often challenges conventional wisdom even as it presents a novel synthesis of the government's research, analysis—and actions.
Psychology for Business Success [4 volumes]: [4 volumes]
by Michele A. PaludiThis comprehensive, four-volume work presents practical, up-to-date recommendations in areas impacting all job applicants and employees, including work/life balance, diversity management, performance, recruitment, training programs, and employee conflict.This four-volume set uniquely integrates legislation, management theories, and social science research to cover a variety of human resource management topics, such as leadership and managerial styles, generational conflict in the workplace, techniques for evaluating employee performance, and workplace violence. In addition, best practices for policies, investigation procedures, and implementing training programs are covered—all information that can result in dramatic improvements in the workplace environment and business success.Every recommendation in this set is reflective of—as well as responsive to— the needs of employees. The overall objective of the work is to provide readers with effective management strategies to work strategically, ethically, honestly, and effectively with people. Additionally, the contents emphasize the importance of gaining an understanding of the strategic influences on managing people—for example, documenting the connections between business and psychological strategies like effective listening.
Proposal Planning & Writing
by Jeremy T. Miner Kelly C. Ball-StahlNo matter whether you are approaching public or private sponsors, this thorough and detailed step-by-step guide will enable you to plan and write winning proposals.Grantseeking is always a competitive process. As organizational needs outstrip resources, groups turn to grants as a means of strengthening their financial footing while pursuing their missions. This book draws on the authors' three decades of grantseeking experiences in writing successful proposals, conducting grant workshops nationwide, reviewing government and foundation proposals, and critiquing application guidelines for grantmakers to lead readers through the process of planning and writing successful proposals. The authors first provide practical strategies for project planning, including identifying sponsors, matching grantseeker needs to sponsor priorities, and qualifying prospects through pre-proposal contacts. The authors then guide users systematically through proposal writing, including introducing a template for letter proposals to private foundations and corporations, describing the primary elements of government proposals, and providing tips for constructing a realistic budget. This advice as well as the key questions to answer before you begin writing; actual proposals that were declined, with rejection reasons; and complete sample letter proposals comprised in this volume will help both beginning and experienced grantseekers to better plan and develop fundable projects.
Projecting Enthusiasm: The Key to Dynamic Presentations for Professionals
by Robert T. TauberRegardless of your profession as a teacher, doctor, writer, or business associate, every presentation is a performance. To know your material is important, but to project your enthusiasm for the subject is just as vital to engage your audience.Research supports that presenters who boast an enthusiastic flair best engage, inform, and motivate their audiences. Dr. Robert Tauber uses his expertise to train you in the most effective presentation tools, with a joyful touch.Delivering a set of performance skills proven to deliver palpable results, Projecting Enthusiasm will teach you how to integrate suspense and surprise, humor, props, voice animation, creative entrances and exits, and more into your next performance. This book won't try to rewrite your speech or bombard you with intimidating critiques. Instead, you will learn that the passion you present gives your message an essential meaning and makes your audience value it as one worth listening to. Projecting Enthusiasm harnesses the exuberant, creative, and informative elements you want to bring to your next presentation and shows you how to do it.
Privatize This?: Assessing the Opportunities and Costs of Privatization
by Richard McGowanThis book offers an expert examination of the ideology and motives behind the privatization or the nationalization of an industry, based on real case studies.Is it always more effective and less expensive to use taxpayer dollars to engage private companies rather than have the government run enterprises itself? Do consumers always benefit from the privatization of services? What happens when privatization stops being an abstract, theoretical debate and is actually put to the test in the real world? Privatize This? Assessing the Opportunities and Costs of Privatization is the place to find out.Privatize This? provides a clear, easy-to-apply model for evaluating the pros and cons of the privatization process and then puts the model to work in examining nine real-world case studies—ranging from Spain's privatization of its cigarette industry to Pennsylvania's "state store system" for selling liquor. Throughout, the book focuses on the central issues of privatization—profit versus public good, protection from fraud and waste—while also showing how the recent economic upheaval has changed public opinion and public policy on privatization.
The Press in American Politics, 1787–2012
by Patrick NovotnyFrom the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and the fight for ratification of the Constitution in the pages of America's newspapers through the digital era of 24/7 information technologies and social media campaigns, this book tells the story of the press as a decisive and defining part of America's elections, parties, and political life.The Press In American Politics, 1787–2012 supplies a far-reaching and fast-moving historical narrative of the decisive and defining moments in U.S. politics as told through the history of America's press, beginning from the emergence of the press in American politics during the 1787 Constitutional Convention through to 21st-century campaigning that utilize "big data" and harness the power of social networking. Suitable for general readers with an interest in the history of American elections and political campaigns and students and academic scholars studying the press and American politics, the book tells the story of "the press"—collectively, some of the most familiar institutions in American news, broadcasting, and technology—as a defining part of America's elections, political parties, and political life. Author Patrick Novotny examines topics such as the expansion of the press into the Western territories and states in the early 19th century, the growing independence of the press after the Civil War, the early history of wireless communication, the emergence of radio and television as powerful media, and the daunting challenges newspapers face in the Internet era.
Present Like a Pro: The Modern Guide to Getting Your Point Across in Meetings, Speeches, and the Media
by Carl HausmanHighly accessible, full of memorable examples, and at times amusing, this book presents ten powerful techniques for getting your point across in all venues—including new media.In today's world, nearly everyone, including business professionals and executives, salespeople, teachers, authors, and entrepreneurs—in short, anyone who needs to put an idea before others—needs strong presentation and persuasion skills. Moreover, just as important as traditional public speaking skills is the ability to present effectively via various media. Today's presentation is just as likely to be given over Skype or on YouTube as in a room, before a live audience.Present Like a Pro shares the expertise of a veteran presenter who knows what is demanded in today's marketplace and has lectured publicly, appeared on television, and testified before Congress. The straightforward, step-by-step instructions provide a sensible "plan of attack" for preparing and presenting. The ten techniques give readers the ability to simplify the challenge of presenting, to understand what works, and to develop an effective strategy for solving any presentation problems not directly covered in the book. Author Carl Hausman addresses all of the common problems for those new to presenting or working in a new environment, such as overcoming stage fright, injecting humor and wit into a presentation while delivering credible expertise, and winning over an inattentive, skeptical, or hostile audience.
The Praeger Handbook of Community Mental Health Practice [3 volumes]: [3 volumes]
by Doreen Maller, Doreen Maller and Kathy LangsamThis expansive, three-volume set addresses the complexities of interconnectivity, therapeutic capacity, and the competencies needed in order to provide sophisticated and integrated community mental health care—both in the United States and within a global community.The Praeger Handbook of Community Mental Health Practice provides an essential framework that will serve university educators, students, new practitioners, and experienced therapists alike as they adapt to new approaches to community mental health and respond to changing laws governing mental health provision across state, national, and global levels.Volume one considers the structures, challenges, and expectations of community mental health, familiarizing readers with key issues such as service delivery, funding, and key models of intervention and care. Volume two provides an in-depth exploration of the specific issues of working with populations that participate in and benefit from community mental health services, including addiction, school-based services, juvenile and adult justice, and veteran's services. In Volume three, the contributors address specific needs, considerations, and concerns relevant to working in the global community, including disaster services, trauma, working with children, and providing training in international settings.
Practical Marketing for the Academic Library
by Stephanie Espinoza Villamor Kimberly ShotickThis down-to-earth book offers practical marketing solutions for reaching students, faculty, and administration in community college and university libraries, based on real-world examples of team-based communication and practice.In an age in which federal funding for libraries is being cut, libraries of every size and type must prove their value. Practical Marketing for the Academic Library offers academic librarians approachable methods for marketing to students, faculty, and administration, and it also inspires them to attempt new structures for marketing initiatives, including encouraging existing staff to form teams with wide ranges of skills. Librarians from all academic libraries, including at community colleges, can incorporate these ideas even when budgets are tight and staff is limited. While there are many books on library marketing, few specifically cover the diversity within academic institutions and the student body as well as how to target marketing to faculty and administrations. Villamor and Shotick approach library marketing from diverse perspectives and teach readers how to increase student engagement, assess library programs, and connect library marketing to the goals of the overall institution.
Power and Restraint: The Moral Dimensions of Police Work
by Michael Feldberg Howard S. Cohen Monica M. MollThoroughly revised and updated, this edition of the classic casebook on police ethics explores the moral complexities of situations faced by law enforcement officers every day across the United States.This updated edition of Power and Restraint maintains its place as a leading set of standards for evaluating police behavior. It extends our understanding of the basis of police accountability by grounding it in principles of the social contract and constitutional democracy. It applies the standards of fair access, public trust, public safety first, role discipline, and neutral professionalism to a variety of modern policing situations that help identify best practices and increase understanding of the challenges of policing in 21st-century America.Power and Restraint first locates itself in the context of other significant studies by scholars from various disciplines on moral issues in police work. Next, it establishes a foundation for moral evaluation of police work grounded in social contract theory as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Third, the authors generate five standards derived from the social contract for judging the actions of police. In the second half of the book, the reader is asked to apply these standards to a variety of typical but morally ambiguous policing situations.
Poverty in the United States: A Documentary and Reference Guide (Documentary and Reference Guides)
by John R. Jr.This collection of documents contextualizes the ways in which Americans have addressed the evolving challenges of poverty throughout U.S. history. Each document is accompanied by an analysis that both summarizes its content and considers its impact.Poverty has always been a part of the fabric of American life, and this installment in the Documentary and Reference Guides series fills the gaps left by most educational treatments of the subject, beginning with an examination of poverty at the state and local levels as it was during the early 19th century.A federal plan for addressing poverty was not devised until Franklin Delano Roosevelt launched the New Deal in the 1930s. As these 70 chronologically arranged documents illustrate, the unfinished business of the New Deal, interrupted by World War II, culminated in new legislation during John F. Kennedy's New Frontier and Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty; progress, however, fell victim to the Vietnam War, ushering in decades of rollbacks under presidents of both parties. Noted scholar and librarian John R. Burch Jr. provides thorough coverage of these and contemporary events throughout which poverty has endured, including the Great Recession of 2008–2009, the minimum wage debate, and the Affordable Care Act and attempts to repeal it.
Pop Goes the Decade: The Eighties (Pop Goes the Decade)
by Thomas HarrisonThis fascinating overview of popular culture in the 1980s describes the decade of excess that resulted from the social, political, and economic conditions of the time, documenting why so many milestones in entertainment, arts, and technology occurred the 80s.Popular culture in the United States in the 1980s—as reflected in film, television, music, technology, and art—serves to illustrate the general feeling of American citizens during this decade that the sky was the limit, and the only thing better than "big" was "bigger." This title provides readers with an engaging, in-depth study of the 1980s and supplies the larger historical and social context of popular culture in an era when the extraordinary seemed normal and all the rules were being rewritten.The book's wide scope includes the concepts, fashions, foods, sports, television, movies, and music that became popular in the 1980s. Readers will see how specific elements of the decade, such as visual art and architecture, reflect the sense of change in the 1980s, often through excessive displays of expression that helped further movements into the avant-garde. The technological advances, entertainment developments, and "game changers" that were essential to establishing the popular culture of the decade are highlighted, as is the trend of how personal expression in the 80s began to penetrate a wider segment of American culture, spanning across all ages. The book also calls attention to the standout events and individuals who influenced society in the 1980s, with emphasis on the figures who intentionally used pop culture as an avenue for change as well as the influences from the 1980s that are still felt today.
The Politics of Loopholes: The Improbable Prospects for U.S. Tax Reform
by John F. WitteWhat are the implications and likelihood of reform of the income tax system in the United States—specifically, the expansion and scope of the tax "expenditure" (loophole) system embedded in the income tax codes? This book details the tax system that now provides for more than 200 tax expenditures, highlighting the potential lost tax dollars.Income tax policy and politics is an inherently complex and potentially confusing topic. This book makes the tax loophole system understandable for those without in-depth knowledge about taxes. It explains what our tax system looks like, why it is set up as it is, and what effects it has on raising revenue (and thus deficits) and the furtherance of other policy goals. Additionally, it explains why, despite popular and political desires, a significant overhaul of the tax system is very unlikely to be enacted: because tax expenditures (otherwise known as loopholes) benefit all Americans in some way and are supported as policy by both political parties.Written by John F. Witte, an established expert in tax policy and policy analysis, the book provides a balanced viewpoint that discusses the implications of reform of the income tax system in the United States, demonstrates the range of individuals who are affected by various provisions, and identifies what effects loopholes have on policy goals. Readers will see how both political parties are responsible for the creation and expansion of various loopholes, understand why many of these provisions make sound policy sense, and grasp how the tax code is affected by political desires and policy goals.
The Politics of Cancer: Malignant Indifference
by Wendy N. CobbThis book examines the politics of cancer, explains how our government is intrinsically tied to cancer research efforts, and documents how major political actors make cancer policy and are influenced in their decision making by political, social, scientific, and economic variables.Is whether we contract cancer—and whether we survive the disease, if we get it—largely just a result of good versus bad luck, or are these outcomes regarding cancer tied to the policies and actions of our federal government? Cancer-treating drug development and approval is overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, billions of dollars of federal money are devoted towards cancer research, and exposure of citizens to potentially cancer-causing environments or chemicals is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, all of these factors can be affected by the political motivations of our most powerful politicians.The Politics of Cancer: Malignant Indifference analyzes the policy environment of cancer in America: the actors, the political institutions, the money, and the disease itself, identifying how haphazard U.S. government policy toward cancer research has been and how the president, Congress, government bureaucracies, and even the cancer industry have failed to meet timelines and make the expected discoveries. Whitman Cobb examines funding for the National Cancer Institute and the roles of the executive, Congress, policy entrepreneurs, and the bureaucracy as well as that of the state of cancer science. She argues that despite the so-called "war on cancer," no strategic, comprehensive government policy has been imposed—leading to an indecisive cancer policy that has significantly impeded cancer research. Written from a political science perspective, the book enables readers to gain insight into the realities of science policy and the ways in which the federal government is both the source of funding for much of cancer research and often deficient in setting comprehensive and consistent anti-cancer policy. Readers will also come to understand how Congress, the president, the bureaucracy, and the cancer industry all share responsibility for the current state of cancer policy confusion and consider whether pharmaceutical companies, for-profit cancer treatment hospitals, and interest groups like the American Cancer Society have a personal incentive to keep the fight alive.
The Political Economy of Electricity: Progressive Capitalism and the Struggle to Build a Sustainable Power Sector (Energy Resources, Technology, and Policy)
by Mark CooperProviding critical insights that will interest readers ranging from economists to environmentalists, policymakers, and politicians, this book analyzes the economics and technology trends involved in the dilemma of decarbonization and addresses why aggressive policy is required in a capitalist political economy to create a sea change away from fossil fuels.The environmental damage across the globe is a result of the success of capitalist industrialism—250 years of carbon pollution resulting from consumption of fossil fuels to drive the economy and the worldwide aspiration to ever-increasing levels of economic development. But capitalism has also produced the tools to solve the problems it has created in the form of a technological revolution in low-carbon renewables, distributed resources, and intelligent systems to integrate supply and demand. This book comprehensively examines the political economy of electricity and analyzes the challenge of transforming today's electricity sector to meet the dual goals of decarbonization and development expressed in the Paris Agreement.Author Mark Cooper defines the dilemma of development and decarbonization as the great challenge facing the electricity industry and documents how the economic resources costs of a 100 percent-renewable portfolio has declined to the point that decarbonization can pay for itself, making the low-carbon renewable technologies that enable desired environmental and public-health benefits an easy sell. He identifies the substantial benefit of increasing use of information, communications, and advanced control technologies; shows how targeted innovation could speed the transition by a decade or two and lower the overall cost of the transition by as much as half; and explains why the flexible, multi-stakeholder approach of the Paris Agreement is the correct approach.
Police on a Pedestal: Responsible Policing in a Culture of Worship
by Terrell CarterThis book provides readers with insight into the intellectual, emotional, and social challenges experienced by law enforcement personnel while simultaneously challenging readers to understand the need to hold law enforcement responsible when they violate legal codes of conduct.Relationships between law enforcement and minority cultures in the United States have historically been filled with tension. These relationships continue to be strained due to multiple high-profile shootings of unarmed minorities by police officers. Outrage over these incidents has launched local and national demonstrations protesting police brutality and militarization of law enforcement. Such demonstrations have also renewed conversations about the inherent value of black and brown lives.One of the main questions facing our nation is "What needs to occur for there to be peace between minority cultures and law enforcement?" Exploring some of the historic reasons for the divisions between law enforcement and minority cultures, this book is informed by the author's experiences growing up as a black child in St. Louis, MO, where he ultimately served simultaneously as a pastor of an urban congregation and as an officer who patrolled two of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. Writing from his experiences, the author illuminates the temptations officers regularly face when interacting with minority cultures. He also provides solutions that faith-based communities can adopt to help law enforcement to do their jobs in more equitable ways.