Fund-of-funds Books


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Fund-of-funds Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Fund-of-funds
David Scott's Guide to Investing In Mutual Funds (David Scott's Guide)
Published in Paperback by Houghton Mifflin (2004-05-05)
Author: David L. Scott
List price: $9.95
New price: $1.65
Used price: $1.25

Average review score:

David Scott's Guide to Investing in Mutual Funds
Helpful Votes: 14 out of 15 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-18
The author has written another superb book on investment. This book on mutual funds is fun to read, easy to understand and cuts through the fog of misunderstanding associated with mutual fund investing. It includes a detailed explanation of all the various mutual funds which includes equity, bond and money market funds. It also covers alternatives to mutual funds such as closed-end investment companies. The book provides a wealth of knowledge and is a welcome addition to my library on investing.

A Good Primer
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-25
This is another good investment primer in Scott's series. An easy read that is especially worthwhile for someone wondering what mutual funds are all about. After reading this book you may also wonder why you may be paying so much to buy and own shares of a mutual fund.

Excellent for Beginners
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-12
I have found Scott's book to be a real help in understanding how to select mutual funds. Now I know what fees to check and the type fund that best fits my needs. I have recommended this to my friends who were in the same sorry shape I was.

Basic Info
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-12
This is a concise guide for beginning investors. It is easy to understand and reasonably complete. The material is too elementary for someone experienced in mutual fund investing but just about right for someone who is about to get their feet wet.

Fund-of-funds
Foxfire 10
Published in Paperback by Anchor (1993-03-01)
Author: Inc. Foxfire Fund
List price: $16.95
New price: $9.67
Used price: $7.90

Average review score:

One of My Alltime Favorites
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-26
I have been collecting and reading the Foxfire series for several years now and I consider them as some of the best reading that I have found.I think that they are a direct link to our mountain heritage as well as American history. I have learned many skills and lost arts from these books and I would highly recommend them to anyone who has such interests.

An old 'hillbilly's' opinion
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-17
It's a great deal of fun to read about the historical needs and solutions of the Appalachian people that applies as well to my own history. There are great reminders of a simpler and maybe happier life.

Very historic and enjoyable
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-16
Both my husband and I enjoyed this book. He is from W.N.C. and enjoyed reading about areas near where he grew up. I liked it also, having lived there for four years.

WONDERFUL REFERENCE BOOK AND INTERESTING READ
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-19
The Foxfire books are a wonderful thing and we are so lucky to have them. Many of the ways, crafts, planting lore, animal lore, and as the book says "affairs of plain living" are preserved here. This particular volume includes oral histories of the Great Depression, CCC Camps and their impact on the local areaa and ecomomy, folk art, chair makeing, and of special interest to me, gourd art. This is a wonderful recording of life the way it was and probably never will be again. The book is quite well written and has faithfully recorded even the dialect of these wonderful people, from which so many of us sprung. That is a big part of the charm of these works. This book includes actual interviews with folks from that region of the country which I am sure are long dead now. Their knowledge would be completely lost without works such as this. Another generation or two and it will all be completely gone. This book will cetainly be of great interest to those, like me, who are interested in the depression era and in the CCC in particular. Thank goodness we have recordings such as this. Recommend this one highly.

Fund-of-funds
Fundraising on eBay
Published in Paperback by McGraw-Hill (2005-10-26)
Authors: Greg Holden and Jill K. Finlayson
List price: $27.95
New price: $1.86
Used price: $0.83

Average review score:

The best investment you could make for your charity or nonprofit...
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-25
I don't think I ever considered eBay a source of income for fundraising. But Greg Holden and Jill Finlayson convinced me otherwise in the book Fundraising on eBay. A valuable book that should be a "must read" for nonprofits...

Contents:
Part 1 - Mastering the eBay Marketplace - Opportunities for Nonprofits: Why eBay? A Guide for Nonprofits; eBay Fundraising Success Stories; Planning Your eBay Fundraising Event
Part 2 - Selling Donated Items: Deciding What to Sell; Deciding How to Raise Funds with eBay; Building Your Credibility - and Your Donor Base; Listing Your Items for Sale on eBay; Managing Your Auctions and Building Good Donor Relations; Advanced Selling - Using All of eBay's Sales Options
Part 3 - Leveraging eBay for the Biggest Bang: Making Your Charitable Auction a Major Event; Partnerships - Good for Bidders, Good for Partners, Great for Nonprofits; Marketing to Make the Most of Your Event; Glossary; Index

I've always mentally framed eBay as a way to sell some of your own stuff or for a business to market direct to the consumer. I wasn't even that surprised when cities and governments started using eBay to unload surplus equipment. But I never really thought about how the use of eBay could be leveraged by a nonprofit or charity to raise funds and expand the donor base. Holden and Finlayson make a strong case for using eBay to generate money for your nonprofit, and they cover all the eBay features specifically designed to assist you in this. I've probably seen those features before, but I guess I just ignored them. They also cover the traditional information on how to get set up as an eBay seller, how to price your items, etc. So even if you've never touched eBay before, you can confidently venture forth with this book and get started with little effort. All those books on how to become an eBay power seller can then be used to fine-tune your selling techniques. The abundance of real-life case studies help the reader to see that this really *can* work and has been used successfully by thousands of other groups.

Definitely a unique book in the growing collection of eBay titles, and one that could be the best investment you ever made in your cause...

Using e-Bay in a Slightly Different Way
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-13
The web is really just as a communications medium. But what a medium it is. e-Bay set up all kinds of new records as a way to get money out of the used stuff stored in your back room. In doing so, it has become a phenomonen of its own. One of the many unexpected side effects of e-Bay has been the development of on-line fund raising. Instead of working with the relatively few people in your home town or local community, e-Bay reaches some 160 million people.

The authors of this book are: ==1 -- a power seller on e-Bay, a consumate master at using e-Bay to sell all kinds of products, and

2 -- an ex-e-Bay executive who specialised in setting up new marketing areas.

The concept of raising money on e-Bay is not too different that becoming a e-Bay marketeer. However the wording that you would use in the offering, the ways you would get items to sell, and particularly the impact of having a famous name to assist make fundraising subtly different than what you would normally do. This book then is like a normal book on selling on e-Bay, but 'subtly different.'

The stories of successful campaigns, illustraing what other people have done make the book worth its cost.

Excellent Hands On Guide
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-16
Carefully researched and includes lots of information first-hand from successful sellers and nonprofits. It has a great visual layout too. Lots of illustrations and navigational aids, like Tips, Must Haves, Warnings, etc. It is an invaluable resource to get up & running on eBay in the most effective way.

A Great Book for Anyone Who is Raising Money
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-09
I purchased this book for our church group and we are quickly putting it to use. The book is very informative and demystified online fundraising. It is easy to read and follow, with great insight and simple advice. About 20 of us are going to run a holiday fundraiser on eBay using this book as our guide. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about fundraising.

Fund-of-funds
Going for the Green!: An Insider's Guide to Raising Money With Charity Golf
Published in Paperback by Emerson & Church (2008-09-15)
Author: Tom King
List price: $24.95
New price: $11.87
Used price: $14.42

Average review score:

Great info for fundraising!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2009-01-06
Having worked a couple of golf tournaments in the past, I wish this book had been available. So many things would have worked better if we had had this tool. Mr. King's down-to-earth approach makes this fundraiser look more like a "Fun" raiser.

Hole in One
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-12-04
Even if you don't know a front nine from your front steps, you can pull off a charity golf event with confidence, thanks to Tom King's thorough, charming, step-by-step book, complete with checklists.

This book is great as far as it goes. It will get you to the day and through the day with a minimum of confusion and a maximum of cash. But it's missing a chapter desperately sought by serious fundraisers: How do you -- or even can you -- convert players into true donors to your mission? A discussion of that persistent quandary would have raised my review to five stars.

How to Raise Money with Charity Golf
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-28
This book "Going For the GREEN" was sent to me by the publisher Emerson and Church for a review on my web site. Since I have played in many charity golf events and have organized Ladies Golf Tournaments I found this book very helpful and entertaining. Tom King is a Texan as I am and these charity golf events are popular in Texas. You will be able to use Tom's suggestions in many other types of charity run events. His work sheets and tips will help many volunteers who are running golf tournaments. You can raise lots of money for your charity by having people sign up to play in these fun events. You do not need to be a true golfer as most of these tournaments are scrambles so your shots may not mean much but you may get lucky and sink that very important putt. In that way you have helped a worthy cause in your neighborhood and have a good time.

Going for the Green is well worth it!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-21
For someone who is not a golf fan, I found this book to be surprisingly both entertaining and interesting. Tom King presents information that is extremely useful and practical and very easy to understand, and he does so within a style of light-heartedness and humor. I know of no fundraiser who has a lot of time on their hands, and this book is ideal as a quick and very informative read. The information is presented in a sequential and detailed enough format so that the reader will know how to do what and when and where. I highly recommend this book...if I enjoyed it, I know many others will also!

Fund-of-funds
Grantwriting Beyond the Basics: Book 1 Proven Strategies Professionals Use to Make Their Proposals Work, Book 1 (Beyond the Basics)
Published in Paperback by Portland State University (2005-03-01)
Author: Michael K. Wells
List price: $19.95
New price: $19.95
Used price: $15.99

Average review score:

My two thumbs are way up!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-14
Proven Strategies Professional Use to Make Their Proposals Work is the rare book that delivers what it promises. It looks under the hood and tweaks the writing process in an insightful and cogent way. From developing a strategic approach, to researching to establish need, to using logic models to develop your grant application, to thinking through your evaluation plan, and using your budget to tell your story -- all the grant development building blocks are here in useful detail. Michael Wells has gifted the reader with street smarts and soul. My two thumbs are way up!

A Great Book for the Experienced Grantwriter
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-24
It is rare to find a book directed towards the experienced professional. The logic model section is especially helpful for planning more complicated applications including those to federal agencies. I found the information thorough, well presented, and usable, which is refreshing in a book about writing grant applications. I also found the case study exceptional. Seeing a winning proposal is always helpful but seeing the thought process behind the writing is a great way to get the point across. No matter how long you have been writing grant proposals, you can always learn more. This book gives excellent insight into today's funding world.

Excellent Resource for Grant Professionals
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-05
Michael Well's book is an excellent resource for grant professionals who have moved beyond the basics and are interested in expanding their knowledge and professional skills.

Michael has been actively involved as a leader in the developing grants profession, and his many years of professionalism and experience are evident in this work. He covers a wide range of topics that are faced when developing grant proposals, as well as managing and tracking grants. Further, he offers excellent real-life examples and samples.

I especially found the section on developing logic models to be useful. This is an area of grant proposals that many grantwriters handle poorly, and Michael has provided clear guidance and excellent examples that will help developing grant professionals take their work to the next level.

I would definitely recommend it to grant professionals interested in moving behind "Grantsmanship 101."

A Good Place to Start
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-05-17
Although the title says that this book is to cover "Beyond the Basics," it will also serve as a good primer checklist to tell you what you need to get started. It begins with a general discussion on the rising number of nonprofits that are seeking grants from the rising number of granting organizations.

From there it goes into what it takes to make your grant fit what the grantor is looking for. It lightly covers each point of grant seeking including mundane things like accounting/budgets and the impact of various laws and IRS rulings like Sarbanes-Oxley. It also goes into what the reader is going to be looking for such as how the grant will be managed, why the foundation doesn't like to fund adminstration, operating costs and endowments, and other points.

Perhaps the most important part of the book is its discussion of where to go for more information on nearly every aspect of the grantwriting project. Many of these are web related at no cost, others such as the authors favorite books on grant writing have fairly nominal costs.

Fund-of-funds
How Mutual Funds Work (New York Institute of Finance)
Published in Textbook Binding by New York Inst of Finance (1993-06-17)
Authors: Albert J. Fredman and Russ Wiles
List price: $16.95
New price: $2.00
Used price: $0.22
Collectible price: $29.95

Average review score:

A Comprehensive and well-written book. Very enjoyable.
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2000-02-29
I have read several books on mutual funds but this one by far is the best. Fredman and Wiles cover almost every topic that you could think of: how to analyze the fund, sorting out costs, evaluating risks and much more. The authors make no assumptions about what the reader is likely to know about mutual funds and write in a manner that is both engaging and enjoyable. Also, it is not just an academic treatment of the subject matter. The reader is invited to perform his own calculations and check things out. This is accomplished in one of the concluding chapters where a mutual fund action plan is dicussed in great detail. The book is topped off with some very good sources of additional information for mutual fund investors and appendices which help the reader perform some of the calculations discussed in the book. Overall, this book makes for a good read for a beginner or even a seasoned mutual fund investor.

Mutual Funds
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-02
This is a great book to have in your library, whether it is an introduction to the topic, a refresher, or to fill in the blanks of what you already know. It discusses finance in easy-to-understand language and is great at clarifying its points. It was recommended to me by my employer, a leading financial advisor, who regularly recommends books on the subject. This is the first of many recommendations he made.

See Inside the Wrapper of Your Mutual Fund
Helpful Votes: 29 out of 29 total.
Review Date: 2000-04-28
Even though the authors are academics, this book is not bogged down with heavy, collegiate, turgid text and calculations. Rather, Fredman and colleagues have simply gone about explaining the various difficult-to-understand aspects of the mutual funds industry. This information is essential to your understanding of the various ratings and types of mutual funds.

As a securities industry manager and former regulator, I first began to use the book to become familiar with the details of such things as 12b-1 fees, expense ratios, comparative assessment of funds, features offered as sales incentives or to ease transactions (e.g. dividend reinvestment, 1035 exchanges, intra-fund familiy exchanges, etc.).

As time went on I have kept this book in my office. It has become essential to answer the occasional questions that arise and which are more detailed and technical than my memory can answer. The book has never come up short on this count.

You should also look for other publications of NYIF (New York Institute of Finance). This is formerly the publishing arm of the NYSE. The material published by NYIF is "from the horse's mouth" and right on the mark for those seeking to learn details of how the profession of finance works. Despite this, the material is never overly technical and theoretical. Rather, the material is practical day-to-day information which will wind up on your reference shelf.

An excellent introduction to the world of mutual funds.
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 1999-06-25
I read this book as a student and consequently learned far more than I expected. The language is easy to understand and the comlexity of the subject/language increases at an acceptable pace. The opinion of the book leans more towards a conservative form of investing...one should expect a decent return but not get too greedy.

Fund-of-funds
A humane economy;: The social framework of the free market
Published in Unknown Binding by Liberty Fund, Inc (1971)
Author: Wilhelm Röpke
List price:

Average review score:

A Truly Extraordinary Book
Helpful Votes: 12 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 1999-12-20
If you want a bracing look at how society should run, pick up this book. Ropke, a German who resisted Hitler during WWII and was an architect of Germany's post-war economic resurgance, writes beautifully about the value of the market economy, and about the need to undergird this economy with strong social and political institutions.

A chief value of the book is that it was first written back in 1960, and is therefore outside of the current, rather small, debate. Although some of his topics seem a little dated (communism chief among them), the underlying battle is timeless and this book is well-worth the read.

The Humane Economy: Economics as if the Individual Matters..
Helpful Votes: 13 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2003-06-29
~A Humane Economy~ is an astute treatise and insightful look at the social and political framework of the market economy. Wilhelm Röpke is a brilliant German-born economic, social and political thinker, and perhaps my favorite amongst the so called "Austrian school." He stands apart from his colleagues in that he thinks on a more humane level rejecting crude utilitarian calculations in favor of sound and prudent empirical reasoning. This brilliant German economist of the "Austrian school" stood up to the centralising and dehumanising policies of the Nazis. Röpke recognised that collectivist ideologies lay waste to civil society-destroying the intermediary institutions between individual and state. When the State acts to supplant the natural civil associations with state institutions to empower and enhance the state, it destroys the moral fabric of communities, saps the nation's economic vitality and usually leads to twin perils of centralisation and atomisation. Röpke recognized that allocating resources by the free play of supply and demand is the most humane system and as such he was champion of the market economy. He was influential over German economist Ludwig Erhard, who architected the Federal Republic of Germany's postwar economic plan, which emphasized free enterprise while effectively curtailing state controls (i.e. price fixing, rationing, and state enterprises.)

Röpke would attest that mammon is not the measure of all things. In Röpke's eyes, the intangibles-that is to say faith, family and tradition-are the things that animate life and give it meaning. Röpke recognised the limitations of the market economy. Röpke possessed a remarkable sense of prudence and conservative sobriety in his thinking as it relates to the political economy. He rejected the idea of making economists into social engineers whether in the interests of "efficiency" or "social justice." And amongst his "Austrian" colleagues like F.A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises, he brought economics to a more humane level, rejecting crude utilitarian logic in favor of more sound empirical reasoning to defend the market economy. Furthermore, he refrains from the market idolatry that is so common to libertarian apologists for the free-market these days. Libertarians frequently espouse an ideology that can be summed up as "everything in the market, nothing outside the market." (This, of course, turns Mussolini's statist mantra on its nose.) Röpke recognised something that libertarians miss with their penchant for crude utilitarian calculations and their amoral neutrality that often makes being an avowed "libertarian" indistinguishable from being a "libertine." Many libertarians content themselves writing diatribes defending the "robber barrons" of the yesteryears while praising the colossal (i.e. Wal-Mart and oil cartels.) In their efforts to defend any and everything related to "the private sector," these reductionists forget that the apparently sporadic interventions of the state often come at the behest of big business. Many capitalists" content themselves with cozy public-private partnerships that translate to steady, predictable profits and a regulated environment that drowns small business competition. Big business typically possesses a considerable advantage over their smaller competitors, because they can absorb the regulatory costs much easier and they can influence the regulators and regulations. Röpke, however, scorns the "cult of the colossal" not in demagogic rhetoric, but in the rhetoric of an economist. He likewise sees "big business" as a concomitant pillar of "big government" and its regulatory state. Röpke possessed some peculiarities in his lexicon that set in him apart from his colleagues, but his motive for such peculiarities was principled. Röpke rejected characterising socialism as a "planned economy" and he recognised that the market economy facilitated economic activity "planned" by entrepreneurs as opposed to state planners. He preferred the delineation of "market economy" to "capitalism" since what often passed for capitalism in the early twentieth century was a large interventionist welfare state in a cozy lockstep relationship with big business monopolists. This was state corporatism not capitalism. Moreover, "capitalism" was, of course, coined by its chief critic Karl Marx and while the term captures the importance of capital to the market economy, it remains rather sterile and ideological. What is more, "capitalism" typically delineates a materialistic consumerist ideology or images of big business rather than a social framework based on the market economy.

Unlike libertarians and some classical economists who too often dwell in the realm of abstract theory, Röpke possessed a gritty realism: first, he recognised that there is interplay between between political and economic processes; and he recognised the value of state intervention in prosecuting acts of force and fraud, enforcing contracts and upholding private property rights. As an economist, he could offer prescriptive wisdom on the proper and limited role of the state in the economy while elaborating upon the causes and consequences imprudent state interventions (i.e. price-fixing, inflation, production quotas, monopolies, cartels, overtaxation and overregulation.) Röpke essentially favored economic laissez-faire overseen by a night-watchmen state that exercised profound restraint in its interventionism least it hinder or even cripple a nation's potential for prosperity. Underlying Röpke's humane economy is the idea that a market economy needs a prudent civil framework, widespread distribution of property, a strong entrepreneurial middle class and emphasis on parochial traditionalism. Anyway, Röpke itinerates the need for sound monetary and fiscal policy on the part of the state. He holds that the gold standard is the only real safeguard against the vicious boom-and-bust cycles of modern capitalist society. Röpke recognised that a market economy flourishes when tradition and community guard against the centralising depredations of both the state and big business. Röpke further emphasised the principle of subsidiarity, which in Europe today seems to survive only in that beautiful alpine island of parochialism, namely Switzerland. Though, Switzerland may be losing its vitality as it is straddled by the colossal and cosmopolitan EU super-state as if it is ready to be cansumed.

In the Humane Economy, Röpke surmised that: "The market economy, and with social and political freedom, can thrive only as part and under the protection of a bourgeois system. This implies the existence of a society in which certain fundamentals are respected and color the whole network of social relationships: individual effort and responsibility, absolute norms and values, independence based on ownership, prudence and daring, calculating and saving, responsibility for planning one's own life, proper coherence with the community, family feeling, a sense of tradition and the succession of generations combined with an open-minded view of the present and the future, proper tension between individual and community, firm moral discipline, respect for the value of money, the courage to grapple on one's own with life and its uncertainties, a sense of the natural order of things, and a firm scale of values." To answer those who might sneer at this, Röpke nimbly replies, "Whoever turns his nose up at these things... suspects them of being 'reactionary'... may in all seriousness be asked what ideals he intends to defend against Communism without having to borrow from it."

John Zmirak does a wonderful job profiling the life and work of a very brilliant man. Bravo! Röpke's ideas are remarkably original, but even so are analogous to that of conservative sociologist Robert Nisbet, Anglo-Catholic distributists like Chesterton and Belloc, and the Southern agrarians. You might check out their works as well if Wilhelm Röpke interests you.

The market is not everything
Helpful Votes: 21 out of 23 total.
Review Date: 2001-05-04
One of the great errors prevalent in economics is the assumption that an economy is a kind of endogenous entity which can be understood entirely on its own terms, without reference to social, political, and psychological factors. This error is especially prevalent among those ideologues who believe that, while politics affects economics, economics never affects politics. But this is clearly not how things stand in social reality. Politics and economics exist within a complex web of causal interdependence. No attempt to impose through politics a specific brand of economics can ever hope to be successful, since waves of causation from the economic realm will ricochet back into the political realm, thus altering the original economic program.

The political right, especially in its libertarian and pro-market incarnations, has never properly understood this insight into social reality. In their polemic economic tracts, they implicitly assume that "society" or the "government" could choose at any time to adopt any economic principle it liked, regardless of the likely social or political consequences of that principle. Libertarians tend to support any economy policy which they believe will bring about greater freedom and efficiency, ignoring all the while the disastrous consequences the policy might have in the political and social realms. The great merit of Wilhelm Roepke's "Humane Economy" is that he sedulously avoids this error. Roepke is one of the few pro-market who understands that the free market does not exist in vacuo and that the market cannot be defended as a good-in-itself. In the "Humane Economy," Roepke points out that free enterprise depends on sociological, moral, and cultural factors for its maintenance and survival. The "sphere of the market, of competition, of the system where supply and demand move prices and thereby govern production, may be regarded and defended only as part of a wider general order encompassing ethics, law, the natural conditions of life and happiness, the state, politics, and power," writes Roepke. "Individuals who compete on the market and there pursue their own advantage stand all the more in need of the social and moral bonds of community, without which competition degenerates most grievously." Roepke's defense of the market rests firmly on time-tested conservative principles. He dissects the corrosive effects of mass society and social rationalism and warns against those two "slowly spreading cancers of our Western economy," "the irresistible advance of the welfare state and the erosion of the value of money, which is called creeping inflation." There are few books which detail the crisis of modern civilization in the West better than this one; and none which offer a more convincing vision of a genuinely "humane" economy.

Wilhelm Röpke, un economista ante la crisis de la cultura
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2000-07-21
Guillermo Röpke, que nace casi con el siglo XX, es uno de los representantes más acreditados del verdadero pensamiento económico, reconciliado con la reflexión ética y política. Lejos de él la tajante separación entre la economía y la política instituida por los representantes del neoliberalismo economicista. Röpke, amigo de Alexander Rüstow, cuya obra también conocía en profundidad, constituye en ejemplo superior de la manera de pensar en órdenes concretos ("Ordnungsdenken"). Ello explica, justamente, la importancia del libro cuya traducción al inglés registra el título "A Humane Economy", y cuya traducción al español, mucho más fiel al título alemán, se rotuló "Más allá de la oferta y la demanda". En efecto, ese título resume perfectamente la intención del autor, pues Röpke consideraba que la economía de mercado no lo es todo. En su opinión, esta necesita ser sostenida por un recio entramado de creencias y valores. En este sentido, resulta insólito descubrir la preocupación social de Röpke en una profesión, la de economista, demasiado preocupada por las grandes categorías científicas.

Fund-of-funds
The Cost of export subsidies: Evidence from Costa Rica (IMF working paper)
Published in Unknown Binding by International Monetary Fund, Research Dept (1991)
Author: Alexander Hoffmaister
List price:

Average review score:

Lord of the Flies - On the Open Sea
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-13

The psychological and social class undercurrents of life aboard a "Ship of the Line" at the end of the golden age of British domination of the seas is the core of this facinating trilogy. William Golding is the Nobel winning author who is best known for his first book, Lord of the Flies. His literary plunge into the depths of the age of sail during the Napoleonic wars has the same claustophobic tension of this earlier work. Told primarily in the first person, it is a voyage of self discovery of a member of the 'lower' aristocracy as he makes the long trip from England to Australia. During his voyage he is forced to question long held social, political, and personal values. Golding's ability to chart the change of his main character's pompous and self righteous view of the world to a more open and sensitive one is the internal beauty of this trilogy. I highly recommend it.

Excellent
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-09
This writer is excellent. A little difficult to read, due to "old fashioned" language used. A good insight to ocean travel in early days. Was an excellent "Masterpiece Theater" presentation on PBS! Reading the book just fills in the blanks.

A great seafaring saga
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-28
This is a fabulous, detailed and completely engrossing tale of the sea - the ships, her men and the challenges they faced as they battled weather, currents, illness and all that time and chance threw at them.

This is written in a fairly old fashioned style, which requires some attention to the writing (this is not a quick and easy summer read), but for those who loved Hormblower and the other great sagas of the sea, this is a fabulous addition to your library.

When you read this you can taste the sea spray and feel the rocking of the boat. You will become quite engrossed with the characters and their adventures, and by the end will feel that it was indeed a satisfactory use of your time, and well worth the purchase price.

Authentic
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-12
I was completely caught up in this saga of a sorry ship and its haughty, pretty much unlikable main character.
It's unusual to somehow care about a person who for most of the story is an unsympathetic snob, yet one who makes the reader root for his redemption. Would it ever happen? The book is long, but fascinating.
I guess it helped to have seen the TV version (a totally accurate rendition of the book) as I had visual images of all the characters.

Fund-of-funds
The Insider's Guide to Grantmaking
Published in Hardcover by Jossey-Bass (2000-04)
Author: Joel J. Orosz
List price: $40.00
New price: $25.00
Used price: $19.35

Average review score:

I learned more than I already knew about my own job!
Helpful Votes: 19 out of 19 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-09
I've been a grantmaker for approximately five years now. During the course of my on-the-job training, I've heard certain maxims over and over again until they've become ingrained in my mind and in my responses to applicants for grant funds -- now, after reading this book, I actually understand the philosophies behind them.

Every grantseeker who bemoans the fact that foundations don't want to fund ongoing operating expenses should read this book simply for the explanation of the difference between charity and philanthropy and where foundations fit in.

Likewise, the tips on meeting etiquette, attributes of a good grant proposal, and top four reasons proposals are denied will benefit professionals on both sides of the proposal.

Had the opportunity to see the author speak -- if you get the same opportunity, don't pass it by.

An Outstanding Contributation
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-03
Dr. Joel Orosz continues his tireless efforts on behalf of philanthropy and those interested in philanthropy in his current book.

The Insider's Guide to Grantmaking is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in seeking funds from a foundation, or anyone interested in a career in a foundation. His years of experience give both experienced and inexperienced readers a window into a sometimes-shadowy world. Orosz lets the light shine in a way that is understandable and justifiable.

This long over due body of work is a must have for everyone in the third sector and especially should be required reading for those working in and leading foundations.

Don't give away another dollar until you've read this
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2000-07-28
It's an art, it's a science, and it doesn't need to be a mystery -- since there's no academic training for a career in philanthropy (it's harder than you think!) Insider Orosz bridges the gap with this warm and rewarding User's Guide.

Outsiders will read it for its clear-cut description of philanthropy worklife and practice; insiders will find themselves affirmed or inspired. Both will enjoy the author's mix of humor and scholarship. Sure to be a classic in its field.

A Much Needed Perspective
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2000-06-26
This is a much needed look at life in foundation grant making. As a retired executive director of a corporate foundation,books such as The Corporate Contributions Handbook and Corporate Social Investing were extremely helpful to the corporate grant maker. This book is a well-thought out look at foundation reality. While it is not meant to help those seeking grants, it certainly gives the donor a window on the inside process. It will serve as a good reference for those who wish to enter this field and provides sage advice to those who have been there for some time. The historical research was a plus.

Fund-of-funds
Investing for Income
Published in Kindle Edition by McGraw Hill Text (2001-11-07)
Author: Ralph G. Norton
List price: $20.00
New price: $9.99

Average review score:

Discover how to be successful and safe investing in bond and bond funds.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-30
This book thoroughly covers all aspects of bond and bond fund investing. It is specifically for the person who wants to invest for income, for someone who is retired and needs a certain amount monthly over a lifetime, and for anyone who for whatever reason opts for a bond portfolio.

It describes all the terms used when researching bonds and it talks about all sorts of bonds and bond funds, the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Highly recommended.

Very sound techniques for investing in bonds
Helpful Votes: 15 out of 17 total.
Review Date: 1999-07-25
Ralph does a terrific job introducing the investor to the sometimes complicated world of bonds and bond mutual funds. For any investor who is looking to round out an equity portfolio with fixed income products, or who wants to invest entirely in bonds, this book is absolutely the best place to start.

All About Bonds!
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2000-06-05
I read this book cover to cover and it was an education to say the least. Looking for income strategies, I found a foundation to build off of here.

I also give it a Aaa rating!

A Triple-A Investment!
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 1999-11-25
The best guide to investing in bond funds available anywhere!

Perfect for income investors looking to increase their understanding and income potential.

Strategies are a real eye opener!


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