‘Thomas Jefferson - The Art of Power,’ by Jon Meacham. Fifteen Steps to Corporate Feudalism by Dennis Marker, One Standard Press. ‘The Signal and the Noise,’ by Nate Silver. Inferno - The World at War, 1939-1945 - By Max Hastings - Book Review. ‘Thomas Jefferson - The Art of Power,’ by Jon Meacham. Todd Gipstein/National Geographic — Getty Images Stock Montage/Getty Images Drafting the Declaration: from left, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, John Adams and Roger Sherman. In our time, presidential historians have been reaching back even further, to the founders, either in search of lessons useful for current debates or to re-examine the characters and leadership of those colossal figures in ways that can help clarify our own preoccupations. Thus, Joseph Ellis (in 1993) and David McCullough (in 2001), reviving John Adams, who had fallen into disrepute (in part because of the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts), depicted him as a farsighted statesman whose conservative instincts could be held up as a counterexample to the destructive passions of the Clinton and Bush years.
Some recastings of the founders have been so original or counterintuitive as to alter their current reputations. Few are better suited to this uplifting task than Meacham. Reader (1000+) Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy: Raghuram G. Rajan: 9780691146836: Amazon.com. Government, Geography, and Growth.
According to the economist Daron Acemoglu and the political scientist James Robinson, economic development hinges on a single factor: a country's political institutions. More specifically, as they explain in their new book, Why Nations Fail, it depends on the existence of "inclusive" political institutions, defined as pluralistic systems that protect individual rights. These, in turn, give rise to inclusive economic institutions, which secure private property and encourage entrepreneurship. The long-term result is higher incomes and improved human welfare. What Acemoglu and Robinson call "extractive" political institutions, in contrast, place power in the hands of a few and beget extractive economic institutions, which feature unfair regulations and high barriers to entry into markets.
To continue reading, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Register now to get three articles each month. As a subscriber, you get unrestricted access to ForeignAffairs.com. Have an account? The Coming Jobs War by Jim Clifton, Gallup Press | NOOK Book (eBook), Hardcover. A good perspective Most seasoned managers have heard the adage "you can't manage what you don't measure". Clifton makes a strong case that the problem in many of our companies, our cities and indeed in our nation, the problem is we are measuring the wrong stuff. We measure economic data, not behavioral data. If we are to suceed in the coming decades we need to focus our efforts on providing what people want not what they did. Clifton uses extensive, but simple to understand data, to make the case that what people want is a good, stable job.
Was this review helpful? ‘Double Cross,’ by Ben Macintyre. Imperial War Museum The Allies deployed pigeons to pass on secret intelligence. His first book, “Forgotten Fatherland,” excavated the story of Nietzsche’s sister and her founding of Nueva Germania, a racially pure colony of vegetarian anti-Semites in Paraguay. Macintyre then went on to Adam Worth, the master thief who inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation of the Holmesian supervillain Professor Moriarty. More recently, Macintyre has turned his attention to World War II, in particular the spy-versus-spy drama (and comedy) of British efforts to bamboozle the Germans.
First, Macintyre exposed the antics of Agent Zigzag — in reality, one Eddie Chapman, safecracker, boulevardier and double (maybe triple) operative. Next came the story of Operation Mincemeat, when the British used a corpse handcuffed to a briefcase full of fake documents to hoodwink the Nazis into believing the Allies would not invade Sicily in 1943. A gem, we may say, “Double Cross” certainly is, albeit flawed. Steve Jobs. Cronkite. The Passage Of Power.