Our national debt is now so high that most of us have stopped thinking about it, because the prospect of bringing it under control is unimaginable. We consider it a national liability and fear our children will be forced to pay for our current excesses. John Steele Gordon is a welcome antidote. In 1997, his book, Hamilton’s Blessing, offered a “biography” of the debt, making it very much a human drama while explaining the myriad, mostly positive, ways it has influenced America’s history since Alexander Hamilton first proposed the virtues of a national debt in 1792.

However, the 12 years since the book’s initial publication have been perhaps the most dramatic in the debt’s history?since it has more than doubled and continues on an ever-upward spiral. Now, more than ever, we need John Steele Gordon’s wisdom?his revised and expanded edition of Hamilton’s Blessing will put this historic expansion in perspective, allowing us to better participate in debate and discussion.

Bringing a remarkable national institution to life, Gordon offers, in the process, an original view of American history, and insight into both well- and lesser-known figures who have influenced and charted our voyage, from Hamilton to Jay Cooke to John Maynard Keynes to the present. The national debt helped rescue the Union during the Civil War and raise the nation out of the Depression?thus offering hope it may serve a similar purpose in the decades to come.

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?Despite clear danger and explicit warnings, the United States of America?distracted by short-term challenges and its own political dysfunction?is steaming toward its own collision, one with long-term debt.”
Philanthropist, businessman, and former secretary of commerce Peter G. Peterson argues that we can no longer ignore the long-term debt challenges facing our country, because our economic future depends on it. The gross federal debt now exceeds $17 trillion and it is expected to rise rapidly in the decades to come. If the growing gap between projected spending and revenues continues to widen, our federal debt is projected to soar to the highest levels in our nation’s history?more than four times its average over the past forty years. This growing debt and the associated interest costs divert resources away from important public and private investments that are critical to our global competitiveness, threatening our future economy.
Peterson has made it his life’s work to bring awareness to America’s key economic and fiscal challenges. He makes clear that if we continue to ignore America’s long-term debt, we will diminish economic opportunities for future generations, weaken our ability to protect the most vulnerable, and undermine the competitive strength of our businesses globally.
The drama-filled, economically damaging budget battles of the last few years have focused almost entirely on the short term?putting aside the more difficult, but much more important, long-term issues. Peterson offers nonpartisan analysis of our economic challenges and a robust set of options for solving our long-term debt problems. He looks at the impact of aging baby boomers, growing healthcare costs, outdated military spending, a flawed tax code, and our divided political system. And he offers hopeful, durable, and achievable solutions for improving our fiscal outlook through a mix of progrowth reform options that would reduce government spending and increase revenue, and could be phased in gradually in the years to come.
There’s still time to restore the United States as a land of opportunity. Peterson’s diagnosis and recommendations can help us confront our fiscal reality, address our long-term debt, and steer the country safely toward a more secure and dynamic economic future.

Winning your case in court is only half the battle. It’s a fact that some people hide their assets to avoid paying debts and judgments. This truly unique book will show you how to find and reach that hidden money.

Author David J. Cook is a veteran collections attorney who has been chasing down debtors for over 39 years. This colorfully written book will teach you the basics of civil remedies, real estate, finance, and sleuthing. The author outlines for you the power of the bluff and the outer parameters of threat, when a threat becomes extortion, and when you need to walk away from a situation.

This book is about collecting debts, finding assets, enforcing judgments against difficult people, or, should you be so inclined, beating out your creditors.

If you are looking for a common-sense approach to personal finance and money management, then Personal Finance For Beginners In 30 Minutes, Vol. 1 is for you! In just a half-hour, you’ll pick up practical tips and even a few tricks that will help you control spending, reduce debt, and take a smarter approach to managing your financial resources.

Personal Finance For Beginners In 30 Minutes, Vol. 1 does not feature heavy-duty financial jargon or gimmicky “easy money” schemes. Instead, the guide uses common sense, easy-to-understand language, and lots of examples to show you how to cut expenses and save more money for the things that really matter in life. Topics include:

Aligning spending with priorities Income, assets, and equity Flexible vs. fixed expenses Limiting luxury spending and online shopping How to shave thousands off of telecommunications and utility bills Cutting car costs Refinancing explained Dealing with credit card debt Online banking and alternative payment systems Using software to track expenses and budgets

The ultimate goals of Personal Finance For Beginners In 30 Minutes, Vol. 1 are to help you understand your finances, cut costs, and make sensible decisions about spending which are aligned with your life priorities. Some of the tips can help you start saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars on everything from cable TV to credit cards.

For the greater part of recorded history the most successful and powerful states were autocracies; yet now the world is increasingly dominated by democracies. In A Free Nation Deep in Debt, James Macdonald provides a novel answer for how and why this political transformation occurred. The pressures of war finance led ancient states to store up treasure; and treasure accumulation invariably favored autocratic states. But when the art of public borrowing was developed by the city-states of medieval Italy as a democratic alternative to the treasure chest, the balance of power tipped. From that point on, the pressures of war favored states with the greatest public creditworthiness; and the most creditworthy states were invariably those in which the people who provided the money also controlled the government. Democracy had found a secret weapon and the era of the citizen creditor was born. Macdonald unfolds this tale in a sweeping history that starts in biblical times, passes via medieval Italy to the wars and revolutions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and ends with the great bond drives that financed the two world wars.

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Third Book in the NYT Bestselling Series. “I tried to play a game. I tried to wield deceit as perfectly as the Hawks. But when I thought I was winning, I wasn’t. Jethro isn’t what he seems—he’s the master of duplicity. However, I refuse to let him annihilate me further.” Nila Weaver has grown from naïve seamstress to full-blown fighter. Every humdrum object is her arsenal, and sex…sex is her greatest weapon of all. She’s paid the First Debt. She’ll probably pay more. But she has no intention of letting the Hawks win. Jethro Hawk has found more than a worthy adversary in Nila—he’s found the woman who could destroy him. There’s a fine line between hatred and love, and an even finer path between fear and respect. The fate of his house rests on his shoulders, but no matter how much ice lives inside his heart, Nila flames too bright to be extinguished.

Every student wants Extra Credit! Extra Credit is not just another boring finance book. You’ll learn: • The top 10 ways credit card companies trick you. • When to use debit cards and when to use cash. • What is a credit score? • How to choose the right student loan. • The keys to succeed in college. • And much more…

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Gambling Debt is a game-changing contribution to the discussion of economic crises and neoliberal financial systems and strategies. Iceland’s 2008 financial collapse was the first case in a series of meltdowns, a warning of danger in the global order. This full-scale anthropology of financialization and the economic crisis broadly discusses this momentous bubble and burst and places it in theoretical, anthropological, and global historical context through descriptions of the complex developments leading to it and the larger social and cultural implications and consequences.

Chapters from anthropologists, sociologists, historians, economists, and key local participants focus on the neoliberal policies?mainly the privatization of banks and fishery resources?that concentrated wealth among a select few, skewed the distribution of capital in a way that Iceland had never experienced before, and plunged the country into a full-scale economic crisis. Gambling Debt significantly raises the level of understanding and debate on the issues relevant to financial crises, painting a portrait of the meltdown from many points of view?from bankers to schoolchildren, from fishers in coastal villages to the urban poor and immigrants, and from artists to philosophers and other intellectuals.

This book is for anyone interested in financial troubles and neoliberal politics as well as students and scholars of anthropology, sociology, economics, philosophy, political science, business, and ethics.

Publication supported in part by the National Science Foundation.

Contributors: 
Vilhjálmur Árnason, Ásmundur Ásmundsson, Jón Gunnar Bernburg, James Carrier, Sigurlína Davíðsdóttir, Dimitra Doukas, Níels Einarsson, Einar Mar Guðmundsson, Tinna Grétarsdóttir, Birna Gunnlaugsdóttir, Guðný S. Guðbjörnsdóttir, Pamela Joan Innes, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, Örn D. Jónsson, Hannes Lárusson, Kristín Loftsdóttir, James Maguire, Már Wolfgang Mixa, Evelyn Pinkerton, Hulda Proppé, James G. Rice, Rögnvaldur J. Sæmundsson, Unnur Dís Skaptadóttir, Margaret Willson

The essential guide to global sukuk markets worldwide

Sukuk Securities provides complete information and guidance on the latest developments in the burgeoning sukuk securities markets. Written by leading Islamic finance experts, this essential guide offers insight into the concepts, design features, contract structures, yields, and payoffs in all twelve global sukuk markets, providing Islamic finance professionals with an invaluable addition to their library. The first book to fully introduce the market, this book provides a detailed overview of the sukuk market, with practical guidance toward applying these instruments in real-world scenarios. Readers will learn how sukuk securities are regulated and the issues that arise from regulations, and gain insight into the foundation and principles of Islamic finance as applied to these instruments. Extensive tables illustrate t-test comparisons between conventional bonds and sukuk, risk factors, and the issuance of different types of sukuk securities by country to give readers a deeper understanding of the markets.

In 2010, the World Bank recommended sukuk as the best form of lending for growth in developing countries; since then, the value of new issues has grown at 45 percent per year. The market’s present size is close to US $1,200 billion, with private markets in major financial centers like London, Zurich, and New York. This book provides comprehensive guidance toward understanding and using these instruments, and working within these markets.

Get acquainted with the sukuk market, definitions, classification, and pricingLearn the different approaches to structuring and contract designDiscover how sukuk is applied, including regulations, ratings, and securitizationExamine payoff structures and suggested sukuk valuation in the context of Islamic finance principles

With the sukuk market growing the way it is, regulators, investors, and students need to fully understand the mechanisms at work. Sukuk Securities is the complete guide to the sukuk markets, with expert insight. July 2014 saw the first sukuk listing in London. Hong Kong and Seoul have also entered this niche market. Predictions are that there will be continued high growth of sukuk debt markets around the world, all providing targeted funding via sukuk contracting modes.

Tuition and fees are just the tip of the iceberg! To properly manage college costs, you need to understand the real price tag of a higher education, including hidden fees that surprise students after they enroll in a college or university. College Secrets and its companion book, College Secrets for Teens, reveal the true costs of earning a college degree – and then provides hundreds of money-saving ideas to help students and parents reduce or eliminate these expenses. In this book, you’ll discover: 22 hidden costs that college officials never talk about 24 tricks to slash in-state and out-of-state tuition costs 7 tips to keep room and board expenses under control 13 strategies to save money on books and supplies 14 lifestyle costs that students must manage wisely  6 do’s and don’ts to avoid credit card debt in college 12 steps to boost your odds of winning scholarships 15 common mistakes that reduce your financial aid … and much, much more! The College Secrets series is your roadmap to paying for college the smart way – with some sanity, truth and planning in the process, and without going broke or winding up deep in debt.