Business Within Limits

The book explores the Deep Ecology perspective and Buddhist Economics for transforming business toward a more ecological and human form. It argues that ecology and ethics provide limits for business within which business is legitimate and productive. By transgressing ecological and ethical limits business activities become destructive and self-defeating. Today's business model is based on and cultivates narrow self-centeredness. Both Deep Ecology and Buddhist Economics point out that emphasizing individuality and promoting the greatest fulfillment of the desires of the individual conjointly lead to destruction. Happiness is linked to wholeness, not to personal wealth. We need to find new ways of doing business, ways that respect the ecological and ethical limits of business activities. Acting within limits provides the hope and promise of contributing to the preservation and enrichment of the world.

The book explores the Deep Ecology perspective and Buddhist Economics for transforming business toward a more ecological and human form. It argues that ecology and ethics provide limits for business within which business is legitimate and productive. By transgressing ecological and ethical limits business activities become destructive and self-defeating. Today's business model is based on and cultivates narrow self-centeredness. Both Deep Ecology and Buddhist Economics point out that emphasizing individuality and promoting the greatest fulfillment of the desires of the individual conjointly lead to destruction. Happiness is linked to wholeness, not to personal wealth. We need to find new ways of doing business, ways that respect the ecological and ethical limits of business activities. Acting within limits provides the hope and promise of contributing to the preservation and enrichment of the world.

"We fail to mandate economic sanity," writes Garrett Hardin, "because our brains are addled by...compassion." With such startling assertions, Hardin has cut a swathe through the field of ecology for decades, winning a reputation as a fearless and original thinker. A prominent biologist, ecological philosopher, and keen student of human population control, Hardin now offers the finest summation of his work to date, with an eloquent argument for accepting the limits of the earth's resources--and the hard choices we must make to live within them. In Living Within Limits, Hardin focuses on the neglected problem of overpopulation, making a forceful case for dramatically changing the way we live in and manage our world. Our world itself, he writes, is in the dilemma of the lifeboat: it can only hold a certain number of people before it sinks--not everyone can be saved. The old idea of progress and limitless growth misses the point that the earth (and each part of it) has a limited carrying capacity; sentimentality should not cloud our ability to take necessary steps to limit population. But Hardin refutes the notion that goodwill and voluntary restraints will be enough. Instead, nations where population is growing must suffer the consequences alone. Too often, he writes, we operate on the faulty principle of shared costs matched with private profits. In Hardin's famous essay, "The Tragedy of the Commons," he showed how a village common pasture suffers from overgrazing because each villager puts as many cattle on it as possible--since the costs of grazing are shared by everyone, but the profits go to the individual. The metaphor applies to global ecology, he argues, making a powerful case for closed borders and an end to immigration from poor nations to rich ones. "The production of human beings is the result of very localized human actions; corrective action must be local....Globalizing the 'population problem' would only ensure that it would never be solved." Hardin does not shrink from the startling implications of his argument, as he criticizes the shipment of food to overpopulated regions and asserts that coercion in population control is inevitable. But he also proposes a free flow of information across boundaries, to allow each state to help itself. "The time-honored practice of pollute and move on is no longer acceptable," Hardin tells us. We now fill the globe, and we have no where else to go. In this powerful book, one of our leading ecological philosophers points out the hard choices we must make--and the solutions we have been afraid to consider.

Following modern executives as they push themselves to thelimits in life and in business In To the Limits, adventure writer Jim Clash examines thephenomenon of corporate leaders and millionaires who test theirlimits through high-end, risky adventure-and links the life andbusiness lessons they have learned along the way. Based on hispopular column in Forbes, Clash details his own exotic adventuresand includes anecdotes from high-profile, daredevil executives whoshare his passion for adventure-from flying to the edge of space84,000 feet up (Dennis Tito, Chief Executive of WilshireAssociates), to climbing 20,000-foot mountain peaks (TimothyForbes, Chief Operating Officer of Forbes, Inc.), to racingopen-wheel cars (Mark Patterson, Vice Chairman of Credit SuisseFirst Boston), to swimming at the North Pole (Geoffrey Kent, ChiefExecutive of Abercrombie & Kent). Clash's dramatic narrativealso explores the powerful connection between extreme success inbusiness and in life, and covers topics such as risk-taking,testing personal limits, and dealing with decision-makingresponsibilities. James M. Clash (New York, NY) covers mutual funds forForbes magazine and writes a popular column called "The Adventurer"for Forbes Global. An avid wilderness enthusiast, he is a Fellow inthe Explorers Club who has undertaken a number of unforgettablechallenges-he has climbed the Matterhorn, ridden in a MiG jetfighter at two-and-a-half-times the speed of sound, driven Indycars at upwards of 180 mph, climbed virgin mountains in Antarctica,and has visited the North Pole twice. Clash has also interviewedlegendary adventurers such as Buzz Aldrin, Sir Roger Bannister, SirEdmund Hillary, and four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears-all ofwhom are included in this book.

Decades of research and discussion have shown that the human population growth and our increased consumption of natural resources cannot continue – there are limits to growth. This volume demonstrates how we might modify and revise our economic systems using nature as a model. The book describes how nature uses three growth forms: biomass, information, and networks, resulting in improved overall ecosystem functioning and co-development. As biomass growth is limited by available resources, nature uses the two other growth forms to achieve higher resource use efficiency. Through a universal application of the three ‘R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle, nature thus shows us a way forward towards better solutions. However, our current approach, dominated by short-term economic thinking, inhibits full utilization of the three ‘R’s and other successful approaches from nature. Building on ecological principles, the authors present a global model and futures scenario analyses which show that implementation of the proposed changes will lead to a win-win situation. In other words, we can learn from nature how to develop a society that can flourish within the limits to growth with better conditions for prosperity and well-being.

The story of the founder and CEO of TicketCity who talks about the importance of work/life balance as part of any successful life.

Maximize your bottom line with the nation's most trusted small business tax guide J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2018 is the small business owner's ultimate guide to a money-saving, stress-free tax season. Providing straightforward advice from the nation's most trusted tax expert on small business taxes, this book gives you the answers you need quickly, with clear, concise guidance. Updated and expanded to cover new and changing tax law, this edition also includes an e-supplement covering the latest developments from Congress and the IRS to keep you fully up-to-date. A complete listing of all available business deductions and credits helps you identify those you qualify for, and includes critical information on dollar limits, recordkeeping requirements, and how to actually take the write-off—all the way down to which line on which form. Organizational and planning strategies help you get through the process quickly and with fewer headaches, and this year's changes to the tax laws are explained in terms of how they affect your filing. Keeping up with the intricacies of tax law and filing is a full-time job—but it's not your full-time job. You have a business to run. This book gives you the guidance you need in the time that you have so you can get taxes out of the way and get back to work. Learn which expenses qualify for deductions—and which ones don't Adopt a more organized recordkeeping system to streamline the filing process Explore small-business-specific strategies for starting or closing a business, running a sideline business, and operating in multiple businesses Decode the various forms and worksheets correctly with step-by-step guidance Review obligations for the 'other taxes,' including payroll and excise taxes Every year, millions of small business owners overpay their taxes because they lack the time and expertise to make tax-sensitive business decisions throughout the year only to learn that it's too late to act when it comes to tax time. Now you can put your money back where it belongs—in your business. J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2018 helps you take wise actions during the year and tells you how to file completely and accurately while maximizing your bottom line.