The Forever Crisis

This book is an introduction to complex systems thinking at the global governance level. It offers concepts, tools, and ways of thinking about how systems change that can be applied to the most wicked problems facing the world today. More than an abstract argument for complexity theory, the book offers a targeted critique of today’s highest-profile proposals for improving the governance of our environment, security, finance, health, and digital space. It suggests that we should spend less effort and resources on upgrading existing institutions, and more on understanding how they (and we) relate to each other. The volume will be essential reading for public policymakers, NGOs and think tanks, foreign policy experts, government officials, and global decision-makers.

The Legends of Tomorrow enter the fray in this epic conclusion to the Crossover Crisis trilogy The Flash and his friends have defeated Anti-Matter Man, but the race to save the multiverse is far from over. As a threat looms large at the end of Time itself, Barry, his Kryptonian allies, and the Green Arrow seek help from the leading experts on time travel, the Legends of Tomorrow. Meanwhile, Cisco has been taken by a mysterious figure—and Owlman’s plans for Madame Xanadu come to a thrilling head. Picking right up where Supergirl’s Sacrifice left off, this action-packed adventure brings the Crossover Crisis to a dramatic conclusion beyond the end of the universe.

A concise new history of the United States revealing that crises--not unlike those of the present day--have determined our nation's course from the start In A Nation Forged by Crisis, historian Jay Sexton contends that our national narrative is not one of halting yet inevitable progress, but of repeated disruptions brought about by shifts in the international system. Sexton shows that the American Revolution was a consequence of the increasing integration of the British and American economies; that a necessary precondition for the Civil War was the absence, for the first time in decades, of foreign threats; and that we cannot understand the New Deal without examining the role of European immigrants and their offspring in transforming the Democratic Party. A necessary corrective to conventional narratives of American history, A Nation Forged by Crisis argues that we can only prepare for our unpredictable future by first acknowledging the contingencies of our collective past.

A collection of incisive investigations into the ways that 21st-century British theatre works with - and through - crisis. It pays particular attention to the way in which writers and practitioners consider the ethical and social challenges of crisis. Anchored in an interdisciplinary approach that draws from sociology, cultural theory, feminism, performance and philosophy, the book brings multi-faceted ideas into dialogue with the diverse aesthetics, practices and themes of a range of theatrical work produced in Britain since 2005. Topics discussed include: Ageing Austerity Gender Migrancy Multiculturalism Aesthetics Companies discussed include: Theatre Uncut Lost Dog Camden People's People Lung Brighton People's Theatre Phosphoros Theatre Playwrights discussed include: Jez Butterworth Caryl Churchill Tim Crouch Vivienne Franzmann James Graham debbie tucker green Ella Hickson Charlene James Lucy Kirkwood Simon Longman Cordelia Lynn Simon Stephens Jack Thorne Chris Thorpe Gloria Williams Building on recent publications in the area and engaging in dialogue with them, Crisis, Representation and Resilience considers how crisis is being re-thought and re-orientated through theatrical performance and the ways theatre invites us to respond to the many challenges of the contemporary times.

In this expansive and provocative new work, Michael Dango theorizes how aesthetic style manages crisis—and why taking crisis seriously means taking aesthetics seriously. Detoxing, filtering, bingeing, and ghosting: these are four actions that have come to define how people deal with the stress of living in a world that seems in permanent crisis. As Dango argues, they can also be used to describe contemporary art and literature. Employing what he calls "promiscuous archives," Dango traverses media and re-shuffles literary and art historical genealogies to make his case. The book discusses social media filters alongside the minimalism of Donald Judd and La Monte Young and the television shows The West Wing and True Detective. It reflects on the modernist cuisine of Ferran Adrià and the fashion design of Issey Miyake. And, it dissects writing by Barbara Browning, William S. Burroughs, Raymond Carver, Mark Danielewski, Jennifer Egan, Tao Lin, David Mitchell, Joyce Carol Oates, Mary Robison, and Zadie Smith. Unpacking how the styles of these works detox, filter, binge, or ghost their worlds, Crisis Style is at once a taxonomy of contemporary cultural production and a theorization of action in a world always in need of repair. Ultimately, Dango presents a compelling argument for why we need aesthetic theory to understand what we're doing in our world today.

Essential reading for managers and leaders based on Deming’s famous 14 Points for Management This is the classic and deeply influential work on business management, leadership, problem solving, and quality control, reissued for readers today Translated into 12 languages and continuously in print since its original publication in 1982, this highly influential framework presents the foundations for a completely transformational way to lead and manage people, processes, and resources. According to Deming, American company management’s failure to plan for the future brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to: • stay in business • protect investment • ensure future dividends • provide more jobs through improved product and service In simple, direct language, Deming explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them. This edition includes a foreword by Deming’s grandson, Kevin Edwards Cahill, and Kelly Allan, business consultant and Deming expert. “Long-term commitment to new learning and new philosophy is required of any management that seeks transformation. The timid and the fainthearted, and the people that expect quick results, are doomed to disappointment.” —W. Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis

An up-close look at the fixed income market and what lies ahead Interweaving compelling, and often amusing, anecdotes from author Simon Lack's distinguished thirty-year career as a professional investor with hard economic data, this engaging book skillfully reveals why Bonds Are Not Forever. Along the way, it provides investors with a coherent framework for understanding the future of the fixed income markets and, more importantly, answering the question, "Where should I invest tomorrow?" Bonds Are Not Forever chronicles the steady decline in interest rates from their peak in the 1980s and the concurrent drop in inflation during that period. Lack explains how those two factors spurred a dramatic growth in borrowing among both governments and individuals. Along the way, Lack describes how a financial industry meant to provide capital needed to drive productivity and economic growth became disconnected from Main Street and explores the grave economic, social, and political consequences of that disconnect. Provides practical solutions for avoiding the risk of falling bond markets and guaranteed negative real returns on savings Explains how the bursting of the real estate bubble in 2007–2008 led to massive borrowing by governments as they attempted to offset a sharp fall in economic activity Details how the trends of exploding debt and a financial sector that has grown much bigger than it needs to be have dramatically changed the game for savers Offering a uniquely intimate, yet analytically thorough look at the coming fixed income crisis, Bonds Are Not Forever is must reading for investment professionals, as well as retail investors and their advisors.

Intelligent investigative writing meets experiential journalism in this important look at one of North America’s most voraciously invasive species Politicians, ecologists, and government wildlife officials are fighting a desperate rearguard action to halt the onward reach of Asian Carp, four troublesome fish now within a handful of miles from entering Lake Michigan. From aquaculture farms in Arkansas to the bayous of Louisiana; from marshlands in Indiana to labs in Minnesota; and from the Illinois River to the streets of Chicago where the last line of defense has been laid to keep Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, Overrun takes us on a firsthand journey into the heart of a crisis. Along the way, environmental journalist Andrew Reeves discovers that saving the Great Lakes is only half the challenge. The other is a radical scientific and political shift to rethink how we can bring back our degraded and ignored rivers and waterways and reconsider how we create equilibrium in a shrinking world. With writing that is both urgent and wildly entertaining, Andrew Reeves traces the carp’s explosive spread throughout North America from an unknown import meant to tackle invasive water weeds to a continental scourge that bulldozes through everything in its path.