The Big Problem Of Small Change

The Big Problem of Small Change offers the first credible and analytically sound explanation of how a problem that dogged monetary authorities for hundreds of years was finally solved. Two leading economists, Thomas Sargent and François Velde, examine the evolution of Western European economies through the lens of one of the classic problems of monetary history--the recurring scarcity and depreciation of small change. Through penetrating and clearly worded analysis, they tell the story of how monetary technologies, doctrines, and practices evolved from 1300 to 1850; of how the "standard formula" was devised to address an age-old dilemma without causing inflation. One big problem had long plagued commodity money (that is, money literally worth its weight in gold): governments were hard-pressed to provide a steady supply of small change because of its high costs of production. The ensuing shortages hampered trade and, paradoxically, resulted in inflation and depreciation of small change. After centuries of technological progress that limited counterfeiting, in the nineteenth century governments replaced the small change in use until then with fiat money (money not literally equal to the value claimed for it)--ensuring a secure flow of small change. But this was not all. By solving this problem, suggest Sargent and Velde, modern European states laid the intellectual and practical basis for the diverse forms of money that make the world go round today. This keenly argued, richly imaginative, and attractively illustrated study presents a comprehensive history and theory of small change. The authors skillfully convey the intuition that underlies their rigorous analysis. All those intrigued by monetary history will recognize this book for the standard that it is.

"The most useful guide to getting things done since Getting Things Done." --Adam Grant, author of Give and Take Learn how small behavioral changes can lead to major personal and professional self-improvement Whether trying to lose weight, save money, get organized, or advance on the job, we’re always setting goals and making resolutions, but rarely following through on them. According to longtime Wall Street technology strategist Caroline Arnold, the “big push” strategy of the New Year’s resolution is designed to fail, because it broadly pits our limited willpower stores against an autopilot of entrenched behaviors and attitudes that is far more powerful. To change ourselves permanently, we need to focus our self-control on precise behavioral targets and overwhelm them. Small Move, Big Change is Arnold’s guide to turning broad personal goals into meaningful and discrete behavioral changes that lead to permanent improvement. Providing scores of engaging real-world examples and new scientific findings, she shows us that while the traditional resolution promises rewards on a distant “someday,” microresolutions work because they reward us today by instantly altering our routines and, ultimately, ourselves.

A Small Book about a Big Problem by biblical counselor and psychologist Edward T. Welch guides readers to look carefully at how their anger affects them and others through short, daily meditations. In a fifty-day reading plan journey, Welch unpacks anger while encouraging and teaching readers to respond with patience to life's difficulties. This biblically wise resource is a useful tool for pastors, counselors, and lay helpers who are working with people who struggle with a short fuse. In A Small Book about a Big Problem, Welch invites readers to consider how everyone can find anger in their actions and attitudes, but Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is the only one who can empower his people to grow in patience, peace, and wholeness. How many times today have you been irritated? Frustrated? Anger is so common—yet it also hurts. It not only leaves a mark on us, but it also leaves a mark on others. The wounds we inflict on ourselves and others because of anger—loss of intimacy, trust, security, and enjoyment in our closest relationships—give us compelling reasons to look closely at our anger and lift our eyes to Christ.

A new movement is afoot that promises to save the world by applying the magic of the market to the challenges of social change. But in this hard-hitting, controversial exposé, Michael Edwards shows that business is ill-equipped to attack the causes of poverty, inequality, violence, and discrimination. Achieving fundamental social transformation requires cooperation rather than competition, collective action more than individual effort, and support for long-term, systemic solutions instead of immediate results. With a vested interest in the status quo, business can promise only limited advances: small change. It's time to turn away from the false promise of the market and reassert the independence of global citizen action.

It's the little things in life that make a big difference! Replace a soft drink with water at just one meal-say, lunch. Over the course of a year, you will drink approximately forty gallons more water, avoid consuming up to 50,000 calories, and save as much as $500. Indeed, just as the stray coins you toss into a jar each evening gradually build into an amount you can use to actually purchase something sub-stantial, small changes-of any kind-can really add up! In Small Change, husband-and-wife writing team Susan and Larry Terkel offer readers a gentle yet powerful program for making significant changes in their lives based on three simple principles: - Small changes are easier than big makeovers. (Each week add just one private dinner with your mate to your schedule and see your relationship improve by leaps and bounds.) - Small changes add up to big benefits over time. (Smile just a little each day and, over time, watch your stress levels decrease, your immune system grow stronger, and your relationships prosper.) - Small changes are more consistent with human nature and evolution. (After all, in the end, the tortoise did beat the hare.) With an emphasis on daily habits, and some simple recipes for improving them, this wise little book outlines a fresh perspective on the timeless quest for sustainable self-improvement and a (relatively painless!) pathway to a better you.

Foundational introduction to the concept that organizations create major impacts by making small changes.

This book provides an innovative look at our global energy supply as if it were a single portfolio of assets through which we can generate wealth, while mitigating climate change.

Winner of the 2014 Christian Book of the Year Award "I'M TOO BUSY!" We've all heard it. We've all said it. All too often, busyness gets the best of us. Just one look at our jam-packed schedules tells us how hard it can be to strike a well-reasoned balance between doing nothing and doing it all. That's why award-winning author and pastor Kevin DeYoung addresses the busyness problem head on in his newest book, Crazy Busy — and not with the typical arsenal of time management tips, but rather with the biblical tools we need to get to the source of the issue and pull the problem out by the roots. Highly practical and super short, Crazy Busy will help you put an end to "busyness as usual."