Credit-history Books

This book makes very interesting reading not only as a text book, but as general reading material. It makes the reader think about how communication is affected by culture and opens the mind to deeper thoughts about who we are.

This lexica-typ book covers 293 prison films including cast, technical listings, story and comments. As it is a softcover reprint of the 1991 publication all prison-films of the last 10 years are missing ("The Green Mile", "Shawshank Redemption" etc.) which is a kind of sad. Unfortunately european prison-films are missing at all. Trash-Cultmovies from the in europe so popular WIP-Film-Genre (Women in Prison)like "Women in Cellblock 9", "Barbed Wire Dolls" aka "Frauengefängnis" or the "Greta" and "Ilsa"-Films ("Ilsa, She Wolf of the S.S.") feat. Dyanne Thorne are not mentioned at all - but very important for this genre. Most of the european exploitation-directors like Jess Franco, Bruno Mattei, Joe D'Amato or Erwin C. Dietrich have made one or more contributions to this subgenre.
Further most of the POW-Films (Prisoner of War) are missing ("Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" or "Camp On Blood Island")
In order to obtain 5 * this films should have been included in this reference book.
If you want to read more see: "Captured on Film - the Prison Movie" by Bruce Crowther (ISBN 07134 61152)

OK, let me state first - who is Mr. Soros and who's me - to make a critics there. But.
I was hesitating to write this, but I truly want, that if you are reading this review, you are making the decision, whether to get the book on your shelf or no.
1. I had read a lot of books, will read more, but such an EGO driven book is a one I face first time. Mr. Soros is trying to prove something to someone. Me, my, I, me, my father, I, me, us........... It's like a da ja vu, once you are at the end of book.
2. Mr. Soros is very good at telling us WHAT HAPPENED, and WHY it happened, saying that subprime crisis will lead to trouble (of course saying - but I knew it, but I knew it..lalala... all are dumb, all are stupid only me knew it).
3. All the time Mr. Soros is trying to prove, that he is not ONLY a SUCCESSFUL SPECULATOR (if you my reader stil are in doubt who is a winner, I will call all chapter as "SUCCESSFUL SPECULATOR"), byt he also a Philosopher, and as any extrapolated to cosmos ego driven maniac he is placing his name near a all antique Greek philosophers and more contemporary ones. In that way Mr. Soros is devoting a whole chapter to his cloudy Theory of Reflexivity, which says a lot words, a lot of everything, but it can e said in 2 words - you can not predict future events based on past because the knowledge of people are not absolute, and they behave as social creatures.
4. Well, yeah, great. So, what we do? If you say, that we scroll the economy factbooks and recycle them at nearest garbage bin what next?
5. Next is at the end of book. Mr. Soros is proudly announcing that he is going short US bonds (now biggest rally in history), and long on China stocks (hardest hit of equity markets last year).
6. Oh, you still think Mr. Soros write book not for his ego, but you my friend?
How about this - I am citing - "I will not write anything about Russian market because I do not want invest here"

After reading George Soros' book, The New Paradigm for Financial Markets, I can imagine him tracking us down, asking, "Can you hear me now?" Much of this new book revisits and explains again his earlier work, The Alchemy of Finance, and his theory of reflexivity. Under his theory, there is constant interaction between the objective dimension of cognitive analysis, and the subjective component of trying to beat other investors by taking particular actions. In both books he makes the case for imperfect markets, arguing against the prevailing theory of market equilibrium. Soros suggests that we would be well served if we worked toward a better understanding of the human condition. We are sorely mistaken if we think financial markets can be captured and understood solely by mathematics. He notes that the recent cycles of bubbles and bust prove his theory. The 162 pages of this book are well worth reading, and it's always interesting to listen to what a billionaire has to say.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

The first half of the book talks about philosophy. He could have just put in one chapter and the reader would have got the point. The second half of the books talks about the financial market. An average read.

I believe this quote from Ch. 8 expresses what Soros really thinks, as opposed to the many subtle to blatant distortions of some of the reviewers:

"Clearly an unleashed and unhinged financial industry is wreaking havoc with the economy. It needs to be reined in. Credit creation is by its nature a reflexive process. It needs to be regulated to prevent excess. We must remember, however, that regulators are not only human but also bureaucratic. Going overboard with regulations could severely impede economic activity...Credit availability not only fosters productivity but also flexibility and innovation. Credit creation should not be put in a straight jacket. The world is full of uncertainty, and markets can adjust to changing conditions much better than bureaucrats. At the same time, we must recognize that markets do not just passively adjust to changing circumstances but also actively contribute to shaping the course of events. They may create instabilities and uncertainties that make their flexibility so valuable. Markets should be given the greatest possible scope compatible with maintaining economic stability."

This book's point could have been made in one paragraph on a BLOG. The rest of the book is a waste of cellulose fibers. Soros is a brilliant investor who has an interesting theory that markets do not tend to equilibrium but are significantly effected by human emotion. Thus there is a bubble effect. There ya go - save your money for the book. The rest is just ramblings. If he were to do any real analysis it would have been worth the time to read.

It would be interesting to bring Milton Friedman back from the dead and have him and Soros on a 4 hour TV special to argue their points. Soros is clearly in conflict with Friedman and clearly in conflict with Bush administration shock politics (Naomi Klein) and clearly in keeping with the Obama socialist movement. Soros idea is a 'cheerleader in the bleechers' for the current wave of change in the US.

The version of Keynes' "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" published by Signalman Publishing is the best one for the Kindle because it is specially formatted for easy navigation using your Kindle. Students will especially appreciate using this with your Kindle because you don't have to read it straight through. You can do word lookup and also use the hyperlinked Table of Contents.

Every economist that wants to get some understanding of the current crisis must read the general theory of Keynes. Not only is it highly relevant but also well written.

The BN edition has errors in the equations, errors that make the book incomprehensible. Find another edition of Keynes's General Theory.

This version is virtually unreadable, due to its terrible formatting, which clearly no one bothered to even glance at after some kind of machine translation from another format.

This book is a lesson in garbage in, garbage out. Keynes starts with numerous false assumptions, and follows them to their false conclusions. Keynes has been proven wrong time and again, not only through the texts of much better economic writers (Hayek, Rothbard, Mises), but also through the plain facts of history.

Keynes' book reads like through the looking glass, where down is up, and everyone is drunk at a mad tea party. Keynes' ideas are precisely what will (and already have) lead society to economic failure and misery. The current financial crisis is only the latest in examples of why Keynes was wrong.

1. Systematic bank collapse is a failure of one bank transmitted by a chain reaction among interconnected institutions, both financial and non-financial, the domino affect.

2. Systematic bank collapse can be aided by the failure of one bank can causing a reassessment evaluation of other similar institutions, the spillover affect.

3. Systematic bank collapse can be the result of oxogenous shock, such as, natural disease or disaster, of such magnitude; the large scale events disrupt all production processes.

4. It is important to distinguish between insolvent banks from those with temporary liquidity problems.

5. Systematic risk refers to the risk or probability of breakdowns in the entire system. Profile of a breakdown involves a clustering of bank failure due to high correlation; an event having an affect on the entire system; and risk associated with banks loaning money to other banks and these loans not being publicly known. Banks are interconnected through inte-rbank loans, loans, and payment system clearings. The losses may exceed the capital of the associated bank. Collectively, it may exceed the capital of the FDIC insurance. The complexity of the unknown creates panic where the investor starts to speculate on what other unknown he is not aware. Rather than identify the real risk he assumes all parties are guilty and sacrifices the innocent banks.

6. The smaller a bank, the more leveraged it's capital asset ratio becomes, and the more likely that it is to be driven into insolvency. The smaller bank fails earlier on the transmission change and transmits the losses located later on the chain. The speed of the domino affect is fast.

7. Spillover beings as the failure of one large financial institution or non financial firm and generates uncertainty about the values of other units potentially subject to the same shock. The risk potential is scrutinized more carefully to determine the potential for loss. Similar profiles are reevaluated and suffer reassessment shock. The banks may temporarily suspend all loans and not loan at any rate, an action representing runaway from any unit with potential risk. This is herd mentality. During the sorting out period, there will be fire-sale driven changes in quantities (flows) and interest rates are likely to overshoot the equilibrium levels, intensifying the liquidity problem.

8. Banks manage risk by increasing interest rates, monitor counter-parties more closely, accept better collateral, and having sufficient collateral to absorb risk shock.

9. US Banks have had minimal government ownership.

10. The loss of the largest two banks would cause 15 bank failures with 3% of the total banks assets, if the loss rate exceeded 65%. 65% is exceeding high for resolved banks in the US.

11. When Illinois Continental defaulted, it had 2,300 other banks holding deposits at or loaned funds to Continental, FDIC fully protected all the creditors.

12. Macro failures in banking are usually due to shortcomings in government monetary or fiscal policy. The FDIC has proven effective to preventing runs on the bank.

13. It has been the practice of the FDIC to rescue big banks. The depositors are held harmless for loss. The "too big" to fail doctrine applied when banks failure would jeopardize the entire financial system. The FDIC attempts to protect small depositors at small banks by selling them to bigger banks. Small banks could not be rescued as they did not fit the "too big" to fail classification.14. During the Continental Illinois bank rescue, regulators paid off depositors and bondholders fearing, not to do so, would cause loss of confidence in the American Financial system. "Too Big" to fail financial or non financial institutions had to be determined by the FDIC, Fed, and Treasury.

14. In 1984, there were eighty bank failures. Hundreds of millions of dollars in loans were stuck in Latin America (Brazil and Argentina) The worst banking crisis since the great depression.

15. All the S&L in Arizona had failed by 1990.

16. Interstate banking legislation may have helped banking in Arizona. Initially, small banks in Arizona were opposed. They argued that bankers from California and New York would come into their state, take out the local deposits, and ship the money to Brazil and Argentia. Real Estate was moving higher. Five out six of the largest banks received buyout offers.

Seidman uses the above quote in the chapter where he apportions blame for the S&L fiasco. This book contains a lot of entertaining passages, and considering it is a book about finance written by an accountant, that in itself makes the book unusual.

I found the book to be well written, and very up-front about the authors biases. It was refreshing that the hidden agenda was right out in the open for everyone to inspect, just the way the author maintains that good government should operate. As Seidman states in his introduction:

"Why write about these experiences?" Of course, I share the goals of most memoirists: to immortalize my contribution to society; even scores with my enemies; provide financial security for my old age, confirm the taxpayers worst suspicions about their government; and generally leave a record of my adventures for the benefit of future historians".

Now that the USA is starting up RTC II (named TARP), this treasure is sure to rise on AMAZON's sales list (those who know nothing of the past are doomed to repeat it). Sure to be on every Beltway Wonk's bedside shortly.

Seidman's excellent explication of the S&L crisis and the activities of the Resolution Trust Corporation are filled with wonderful wry observations, like this:

"My friends, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the full faith and credit of the FDIC and the U.S. government stands behind your money at the bank. But the bad news is that you, my fellow taxpayers, stand behind the U.S. government."

The whole RTC game was simply a duration play, unwinding short (less than 30 years) and borrowing long (issuing 30 year US bonds), and Seidman walks us through the technicals of that obvious play.

Seidman is not as bad as Larry Summers in the smug-self-satisfied brilliant observer, but at times he is pretty close. He is certain of his analysis, but truth is the daughter of time and some of his observations have since been proven to be opinion, not fact.

Still, an excellent read in these bizarre times.

Thinks he knows everything. Full of hot air.

Boy, there's a lot in this book, but not a lot about credit cards or even consumer credit. I learned that Dail-a-Porn lasts 57 seconds, how truckers negotiate prices from prostitutes on CB radio, and that a certain woman who doesn't find Arabian-nights themed hotel rooms sexy prefers bondage games. But what is the point: that credit lets people buy things, that credit cards let people borrow to buy, that a card rather then currency removes a fetish for retaining money, or that a card encourages annonymity? Don't truckers pay hookers in cash anyway?

This is a messy pastiche of the author's previous academic paper, the type of sociology that consists of recounting the scripts of ads then telling readers what the advertisers were really trying to say, and lots of academic sounding references. Freud, Marx, Weber, Veblen,Maury Povich,and Foucalt have all been included in that festive intellectual name- dropping style.

The world of consumer credit offers many cultural and real financial implications. Credit cards, their marketing, social significance, and consumer utilization are areas not usually covered in both social and economic contexts. This book offers a view that credit is a part of everyday life. In addition, analysis offered in this study portrays consumer credit as both a positive and negative force in our society. The analysis of historical development, marketing, cultural values and facilitation of consumer spending would suffice as an adequate analysis. But the view of the credit card industry as dependent upon issuing more plastic after consumer bankruptcy is important. We get the idea that credit cards are facilitators for middle class lifestyles and continuance of the economic system. This book clearly builds upon the early assumptions and gives us a wider view of the socio-economic playing field related to the influence of credit card utilization.

Because I'm a cinema student hoping to become a director, I was given this little book by someone who laughed when she gave it to me. Because I thought she was playing some kind of trick on me--we often have arguments about what's good and what's bad in film--I put it aside and didn't come on to it until a week or so ago when I was moving. Since it is so mercifully brief, I sat down to read it while I waited for movers--nothing else was around to read. I understood why my friend had laughed--it is one of the silliest of the zillion or so books that appear each year, each author purporting to be an authority on film, and very few of them with any sort of valuable credentials--like Kipan; written what film? directed what film? He thinks screenwriters are the "authors" of films and drags out a few shaky examples that suit him. As film moves into new territory--e.g., filmed graphic novels--the collaborative process has never been clearer, or more exciting with possiblities. Kipan's little book might be compared to a "manifesto" that claims the dancer is the author of a ballet, the pianist the author of the symphony! Certainly, a screenwriter is a major player in the development of film--several writers contribute constantly--as is the director, the producer, the actors and actresses, the extras. These books appearing with regularity are simply maifestations of ego--not "manifestos". People watch films, read about films, and so here's yet another nonsensical contribution. What arrogant nonsense.

A little book which seeks to prove one thing: that it is writers, not directors, who govern the quality of a film. The auteur theory is turned on its head by David Kipen who argues succinctly that writers do not deserve to be as undertrodden as they are.

However, and I know this is a gross generalisation, in a business as money and marketing-oriented as the movie business I think that the 'little guy' is always going to find himself at the bottom of the food chain.

A friend in my directors workshop gave me this little book to see what I thought of it. I thought he was recommending it because it was good, even helpful in our field. It isn't. It's a totally naive and not even an original take on the function of screenplays on a finished film. I doubt that Kepen has been actively involved with film-making. If he had, he'd know that the final script is a collaborative effort and that to find the "auteur" involved is so difficult that, often, writers sue for credit. I thought at first that Kepen was satirizing the state of the screenwriter, but he's not. He's just added muddle to the situation of what makes a movie.

While it's true this volume is merely an essay disguised as a book, and while it might be argued Kipen seeks, unfortunately, to replace one imbalance (directors overrated in importance) with another (screenwriters receiving equally undue prominence), there's no denying the author has taken aim at a distortion found in many film schools and among practicing critics. This is the idea that film is essentially the selection and arrangement of visual images conceived in a director's head. As one reviewer puts it on this very page, "the language of film is images, not words." But such a view is a patent fallacy: film after all isn't ballet, and even the silents used dialogue cards. In any honest assessment of movies, their verbal element does not deserve such demotion.
Kipen seems to have aroused that angry dismissal which suggests he's put his finger on some received ideas people are loath to reexamine. It's easier to blame the messenger.

If you have a bias that favors directors you will not enjoy this book. If you are interested in reading an interesting book that sets forth a plausable theory, then read this book. You will enjoy it.

I wanted to learn more about the asbestos problem and the bankruptcy filing of John-Mansville since I knew someone who had lung problems from asbestos. I heard about this book and got it. This is the first thing that I have read that really helped me to understand what happened when Mansville, the biggest asbestos company went bankrupt. The book is clear and explains complicated bankruptcy cases to the lay person. Now, I finally understand why people with asbestosis ended up going through years of delay in BANKRUPTCY court of all places! What is most amazing is how people who get asbestos end up being treated like "unsecured creditors" as if they lent their life to the corporation like a bank loan! Truly amazing.

The author should have stuck with sociology or at least taken an accounting class before writing this book. Overall, the book is what you would expect from a sociologist writing about business.

I read this book for a college class. I expected it to be boring because it was about bankruptcy but instead it was really interesting... The cases do come alive and you realize bankruptcy means something different than you thought it did. This book has me interested in taking bankruptcy classes in law school, something I thought I'd never do!

This book is not about the financial aspects of bankruptcy and it is not about how to turn around companies. It is about the politics of major corporate bankruptcies. It is clearly written and well documented. It is amazing how prescient the book is given what has happened at WorldCom and at Enron. For anyone that is interested in politics and the ways that Chapter 11 can be used as a strategy, this book is the best. If you want to understand why some huge companies might actually CHOOSE bankruptcy and gain some advantages by doing so, check out this book.

This is without a doubt, the most uninsightful book I've ever laid eyes on. The book reads like a freshman term paper written in short order. It is clear the book was written without objectivity and any depth in understanding of finance. The book was also originally published in 1992 (or sooner). Save your money.

What a strange, lopsided book this is! Intended as a description of SF TV shows of the 1950s, it devotes 60 pages to "Adventures of Superman," hardly SF though the main character is from another planet! But the really important programs get from about 10 pages ("Space Patrol" and "Tom Corbett Space Cadet") to less than one! The seminal "Captain Video" gets only 6 pages. There is a bit of info here I haven't seen elsewhere and most of the info is accurate, but at the price, only libaries are going to be buying this. You don't need it.

This books is valuable whether your debt problems stem from overuse of consumer credit cards or not. It is packed with wise advice and actual case histories of people who have done a turnaround financially. The best case study is that of the author himself -- a fast-track CPA enjoying one mortgage, two cars, and multiple credit cards. Somehow his training didn't give him a clue as to why he couldn't pay his monthly bills. One day he had to move himself (and wife and kids) back in with his parents. The ten principles (mostly derived from Bible study) that he used to climb out of the hole are well-explained, and the book includes helpful forms and strategies for achieving financial stability. This is a good, practical self-help book, and the Christian perspective is interesting too.