To-Read List

On the to-read list:

People-First Economics: Making a Clean Start for Jobs, Justice and Climate

No one could have predicted-or planned-the revolution that we're in. For it is a revolution--not just a temporary aberration or passing hurricane. Capitalism as we know it is falling about our ears, and the world will never be the same again.

Perverse as it may sound, this is a tremendous opportunity for the human race. It's a chance to alter our relations to each other and to the planet. People-First Economics looks at what the crash means and could mean for us all. It's about economics--and about a lot more. It's about radical changes that are social, moral, ecological, and philosophical, too--changes that are already beginning to happen.

In a series of plain-speaking contributions, David Ransom brings together exciting and radical activists and thinkers, such as Naomi Klein, Walden Bello, and Susan George, to set the agenda for "economic democratization." Launching New Internationalist's World Changing imprint, People-First Economics covers everything from the green revolution and feminist economics to what we can learn from history and a ten-step economic detox. In doing so, it provides the opportunity to rethink what really matters in life.

The Real World Economic Outlook: The Legacy of Globalization - Debt and Deflation

Real World Economic Outlook is a yearly publication that reviews issues in the global economy from a different, radical and more realistic perspective. In stark contrast to the output of other institutions like the IMF and World Bank, this annual report is written in an accessible way, informing and offering alternative analyses of the global economy to a wide audience. With contributions from high profile and leading thinkers, it sets out to integrate economic, environmental, and gender themes to transform mainstream economic thinking and offer alternative analyses and solutions. Real World Economic Outlook will appear annually with changing themes. This year's is globalization's true legacy: debt deflation. Globalization is examined not as a spontaneous event of economic and technological combustion, but as a deliberate strategy to place finance at the centre of our communities whether local, national or global. The legacy of this strategy has proved disastrous for the environment but also for many millions of individuals, corporations and governments.

Globalization's other great achievement falling prices for wages, goods and services, will make it more difficult for individuals, households, governments and corporations to repay their growing debts. They have collectively been lured into a quagmire of debt and deflation. Worse, a finance centred economy has led to a dramatic increase in human inequality both within and between countries. This edition analyzes the foundations of globalization, explores how it works in different parts of the world, explains the impact, and suggests alternative approached. DANI RODRIK JOSEPH STIGLITZ HERMAN DALY GITA SEN ZO RANDRIAMO JOS OCAMPO JOMO KS JAYATI GHOSH JANET BUSH ERINC YELDAN DEAN BAKER MICHAEL HUDSON ROBERT WADE PETER WARBURTON

It Could Happen Here: America On The Brink

The severe economic downturn has been blamed on many things: deregulation, derivatives, greedy borrowers, negligent lenders. But could there be a deeper problem that is so severe, so long-lasting, and so dangerous that it makes these problems look like minor swerves in the road? Could we be facing an existential challenge to the promise of America, and to our system of government?

Inequality in America has reached historical highs. Throughout human history, this level of disparity has proven intolerable, almost always leading to political upheaval. Though many believe that America will never face a second revolution, that our politics are stable, in It Could Happen Here, Yale School of Management senior faculty fellow Bruce Judson makes the case that revolution is a real possibility here, driven by a thirty-year, unprecedented rise of inequality through six presidencies, three Fed chairmen, three recessions, and many years of expansion.

The last time inequality rivaled current levels was in 1928, just before the Crash and the Great Depression. Today we are in worse shape, divided into a tiny plutocracy of super-rich, on the one hand, and a fragile, indebted, unprotected "former middle class" on the other. As Judson shows, revolutions can occur suddenly, as happened with the Soviet Union's 1991 dissolution, and America today exhibits the central precursors to a collapse-extreme economic inequality and an increasingly impoverished middle class. He makes the most disturbing case yet for why our economics are leading us inevitably toward a devastating crisis.When Franklin Roosevelt faced a similar situa-tion, he was saved by World War II. This time, the conflict may be at home, not abroad.

I.O.U.: Why Everyone Owes Everyone And No One Can Pay

The wildest story in the world these days is not fiction, it's what's really happening all around us as the world's global economy has gone into freefall. How did we get here? What does it all mean? How could so many smart people be so dumb and believe their own hype? Accessibly, cleverly, and with mordant humour, Lanchester trots the globe in search of the answers to these questions - to Iceland, the scene of catastrophic bank collapse, to Hong Kong, the city of his birth built at the altar of free-market capitalism, to the high-stakes leveraging of Wall Street and to the tragedy of lost homes in small-town America. And in his capable hands, we see and understand what went wrong and why. Lanchester believes that this crisis gives us an opportunity to bring about much-needed change and that a stonger and more compassionate system can emerge from the wreckage.

Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire

Acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson ranges across the entire history of America''s foreign entanglements and delves into all the dimensions of American power -- military, economic, cultural, and political. The result is a book whose conclusions are as convincing, and troubling, as they are original. Ferguson demonstrates that America has always been an empire in denial and shows the fateful consequences of its special brand of imperialism. He examines the challenges to the United States from its principal rivals, the European Union and China, and offers a compelling analysis of the connection between the country''s domestic economic health and its foreign affairs -- the bottom line of imperialism, American style. "Colossus" is a peerless reckoning with American power that should be read by any thinking citizen of this unspoken empire

The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future

In 2030, as 77 million baby boomers hobble into old age, walkers will outnumber strollers; there will be twice as many retirees as there are today but only 18 percent more workers. How will Social Security and Medicare function with fewer working taxpayers to support these programs? According to Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns, if our government continues on the course it has set, we''ll see skyrocketing tax rates, drastically lower retirement and health benefits, high inflation, a rapidly depreciating dollar, unemployment, and political instability. The government has lost its compass, say Kotlikoff and Burns, and the Bush administration''s spending and tax policies have charted a course straight into the coming generational storm.

Kotlikoff and Burns take us on a guided tour of our generational imbalance: There's the "fiscal child abuse" that will double the taxes paid by the next generation. There's also the "deficit delusion" of the under-reported national debt. And none of this, they say, will be solved by any of the popularly touted remedies: cutting taxes, technological progress, immigration, foreign investment, or the elimination of wasteful government spending. Kotlikoff and Burns propose bold new policies, including meaningful reforms of Social Security and Medicare, that are simple, straightforward, and geared to attract support from both political parties.

The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide: The Smartest Money Moves to Prepare for Any Crisis

If you want to continue your lifestyle AND make smart money moves, then The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide is the book for you. Saving money and profiting means understanding the many aspects of life where problems can strike, and this book will be your guide. In the face of disaster it is better to plan than panic. A bulletproof plan will protect you from the disastrous surprise of a mishap-from shakeups in the stock market to the next oil crisis to fires and floods.

Author Sean Brodrick of Weiss Research reveals the simple things you can do that will help you prepare and profit in this changing economic landscape. The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide is your tool to understanding a myriad of key concepts.

Offers practical advice for overcoming some of the worst possible disasters

Contains in-depth information on protecting yourself, your family, and your assets from uncontrollable events

Details money saving strategies that will help you get through the difficult times
The time to plan for any crisis is before it happens. The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide is filled with the tips and tools you''ll need to survive potential disasters and save money during tough times.