Black Market Billions

Black Market Billions blows the lid off the world's fastest-growing illicit industry: organized retail crime. Hitha Prabhakar reveals how criminals with ties to terrorist groups around the world are committing huge product thefts, and using the profits to fund terrorist acts. Prabhakar connects the dots and follows the money ... from consumers "dying for a deal" to terrorist cells eager to do the killing.

New York Times Bestseller: The shadowy world of “off the books” businesses—from marijuana to migrant workers—brought to life by the author of Fast Food Nation. America’s black market is much larger than we realize, and it affects us all deeply, whether or not we smoke pot, rent a risqué video, or pay our kids’ nannies in cash. In Reefer Madness, the award-winning investigative journalist Eric Schlosser turns his exacting eye to the underbelly of American capitalism and its far-reaching influence on our society. Exposing three American mainstays—pot, porn, and illegal immigrants—Schlosser shows how the black market has burgeoned over the past several decades. He also draws compelling parallels between underground and overground: how tycoons and gangsters rise and fall, how new technology shapes a market, how government intervention can reinvigorate black markets as well as mainstream ones, and how big business learns—and profits—from the underground. “Captivating . . . Compelling tales of crime and punishment as well as an illuminating glimpse at the inner workings of the underground economy. The book revolves around two figures: Mark Young of Indiana, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his relatively minor role in a marijuana deal; and Reuben Sturman, an enigmatic Ohio man who built and controlled a formidable pornography distribution empire before finally being convicted of tax evasion. . . . Schlosser unravels an American society that has ‘become alienated and at odds with itself.’ Like Fast Food Nation, this is an eye-opening book, offering the same high level of reporting and research.” —Publishers Weekly

2009 RUSA Outstanding Business Reference Business in today′s world is increasingly diverse. Undertaking commerce, even by an individual, can mean working globally through a welter of new media with opportunities of all kinds rapidly appearing. The boundaries, scope, content, structures, and processes of a business activity can morph into completely different ones in the course of a project. Contemporary businesses, and certainly future businesses, find it incumbent upon them to fit within the requirements of environmental and economic sustainability of the others who inhabit our world. With more than 1,000 entries, the Encyclopedia of Business in Today′s World is packed with essential and up-to-date information on the state of business in our world. Not only does it reflect where business is, it also conveys the trajectory of business farther into the 21st century. These four volumes provide clear overviews of the important business topics of our time, ranging from culture shock to currency hedging, political risk, offshoring, and transnational corporations. The wealth of topics represent an integrated vision by the editor of a perplexity of functions, technologies, and environmental factors. Key Features Provides insight into the development and current business situation globally through articles on many individual countries Examines the processes, responsibilities, and ethics of business in the global market Offers entries written by experts from diverse fields Includes an appendix that looks at World Trade Organization statistics Presents a vast range of topics, including key companies, business policies, regions, countries, dimensions of globalization, economic factors, international agreements, financial instruments, accounting regulations and approaches, theories, legislation, management practices and approaches, and much more Key Themes Competitive Forces Countries Corporate Profiles Cultural Environments Economics of International Business Economic Theories of International Business Ethics, Corruption, and Social Responsibility Export/Import Strategies Foreign Direct Investment Globalization and Society Human Resource Management International Accounting International Finance International Monetary System International Trade Legal and Labor Issues Management and Leadership Manufacturing and Operations Marketing Political Environments Regional Economic Integration Supranational and National Organizations The Encyclopedia of Business in Today′s World serves as a general, nontechnical resource for students, professors, and librarians seeking to understand the development of business as practiced in the United States and internationally.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In the final book of his astonishing career, Carl Sagan brilliantly examines the burning questions of our lives, our world, and the universe around us. These luminous, entertaining essays travel both the vastness of the cosmos and the intimacy of the human mind, posing such fascinating questions as how did the universe originate and how will it end, and how can we meld science and compassion to meet the challenges of the coming century? Here, too, is a rare, private glimpse of Sagan’s thoughts about love, death, and God as he struggled with fatal disease. Ever forward-looking and vibrant with the sparkle of his unquenchable curiosity, Billions & Billions is a testament to one of the great scientific minds of our day. Praise for Billions & Billions “[Sagan’s] writing brims with optimism, clarity and compassion.”—Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel “Sagan used the spotlight of his fame to illuminate the abyss into which stupidity, greed, and the lust for power may yet dump us. All of those interests and causes are handsomely represented in Billions & Billions.”—The Washington Post Book World “Astronomer Carl Sagan didn’t live to see the millennium, but he probably has done more than any other popular scientist to prepare us for its arrival.”—Atlanta Journal & Constitution “Billions & Billions can be interpreted as the Silent Spring for the current generation. . . . Human history includes a number of leaders with great minds who gave us theories about our universe and origins that ran contrary to religious dogma. Galileo determined that the Earth revolved around the Sun, not the other way around. Darwin challenged Creationism with his Evolution of Species. And now, Sagan has given the world its latest challenge: Billions & Billions.”—San Antonio Express-News “[Sagan’s] inspiration and boundless curiosity live on in the gift of his work.”—Seattle Times & Post-Intelligencer “Couldn’t stay awake in your high school science classes? This book can help fill in the holes. Acclaimed scientist Carl Sagan combines his logic and knowledge with wit and humor to make a potentially dry subject enjoyable to read.”—The Dallas Morning News