Fund-of-funds Books

This book examines the development of tax legislation from a comparative law perspective, an area in which very little of a general nature has previously been written. Based on the experience of the IMF Legal Department in assisting many developing and transition countries to draft tax legislation, it comprises contributions by tax experts from around the world.

This useful guide aims to identify the legal issues that arise in the drafting of tax laws and to examine the various solutions which have been devised in national legislation. A comparative tax law bibliography and a bibliography of the national tax laws of IMF member countries are included in appendix.

Its practical nature and the general scope of its discussion will make it a valuable tool not only for officials in developing and transition countries and their advisors, but also for students, academics and practitioners with an interest in comparative tax law.

Table of Contents

Preface. Acknowledgements. Table of Tax Laws Cited. Introduction.Part 1. 1. Tax Legislative Process, Richard K. Gordon and Victor Thuronyi. 2. Legal Framework for Taxation, Frans Vanistendael. 3. Drafting Tax Legislation, Victor Thuronyi. 4. Law of Tax Administration and Procedure, Richard K. Gordon. 5. Regulation of Tax Professionals, Victor Thuronyi and Frans Vanistendael. 6. Value-Added Tax, David Williams. 7. VAT Treatment of Immovable Property, Sijbren Cnossen. 8. Excises, Ben J.M. Terra. 9. Tax on Land and Buildings, Joan M. Youngman. 10. Taxation of Wealth, Rebecca S. Rudnick and Richard K. Gordon. 11. Social Security Taxation, David Williams. 12. Presumptive Taxation, Victor Thuronyi. 13. Adjusting Taxes for Inflation, Victor Thuronyi. Part 2. Introduction to the Income Tax. 14. Individual Income Tax, Lee Burns and Richard Krever. 15. The Pay-As-You-Earn Tax on Wages, Koenraad van der Heeden. 16. Taxation of Income from Business and Investment, Lee Burns and Richard Krever. 17. Depreciation, Amortization, and Depletion, Richard K. Gordon. 18. International Aspects of Income Tax, Richard J. Vann. 19. Taxation of Enterprises and Their Owners, Graeme S. Cooper and Richard K. Gordon. 20. Taxation of Corporate Reorganizations, Frans Vanistendael. 21. Fiscal Transparency, Alexander Easson and Victor Thuronyi. 22. Taxation of Investment Funds, Eric M. Zolt. 23. Income Tax Incentives for Investment, David Holland and Richard J. Vann. Comparative Tax Law Bibliography. Bibliography of National Tax Laws of IMF Member Countries. Index. About the Authors

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im astudent in univeasity i wish to instolletionthis book

I was the editor and publisher of this book, and wrote some of the stories. These are first-person recollections of dangerous Air Force projects, written by the participants. All proceeds go for college tuition for Wright Field airmen and Officer's children. Order from Amazon. Penn Leary

I am the editor of this book. It is available for $24.00 postpaid. Call 937-848-4210 Penn Leary

Theory and History aims at explaining social and economic evolution. Evolution is by its very nature unpredictable. Hegel and Marx believed in their own omniscience. Marx stood outside of history and (allegedly) saw how the historical process would unfold. Of course, Marx did not describe the actual workings of the future workers paradise. But Marx "knew" where we are headed. As such, Mises is criticizing the determinism of Historicism, and Marxism in particular. True evolution is unpredictable, particularly if it is the result of action based on free will. Indeed, the existence of free will is incompatible with any theory of history that proceeds in stages.

Theory and History is a first rate critique of Historicist type socialism. This book does differ in tone from some of Mises' earlier works. By 1957 professional economists had moved away from Marxism and towards `Market Socialism'. The Market Socialists (Lange, Lerner, Dickinson, Taylor, Durbin) were not historicists, so they do not belong in this book. Mises was obviously still troubled by Marxism in the 1950's. The general public was still open to the influence of Marxist ideas. Hence Mises wrote a book critiquing Marxist/Historicist ideas that is short and relatively easy (as compared to his other books).

Theory and History is an excellent work, well reasoned and clearer than many of his other writings. You can learn much from this book, even if you have read his other works. Marxian state socialism is now dead, but the "ideology of equal wealth and income" that Mises attacks in this book is alive and well. Theory and History therefore is more than relevant in the twenty-first century. It is vitally important in the defense of free and prosperous societies.

Ludwig von Mises wrote four masterpieces: THE THEORY OF MONDEY AND CREDIT, SOCIALISM, HUMAN ACTION, and THEORY AND HISTORY. THEORY AND HISTORY was published in 1957 and is the easiest of the four books, and a good starting point to understand the philosophical underpinnings of Mises' thought.

THEORY AND HISTORY is an outstanding work on the methodology of the social sciences. As usual, Mises uses economics and sociology to criticize all varieties of leftism. The starting point for von Mises is the acting individual. Man acts rationally to achieve certain ends. What appears to be collective action is simply the action of numerous individuals. Based on this, Mises shows that collectivist theories fail to take into account the essentially individualist nature of human action. Marx claimed to be a scientist of the inevitable forces of human action, yet he inconsistently involved himself in day-to-day politics. Engles went so far as to say that had Napoleon died when he was young, history would have produced another Napoleon. Mises then discusses theories of history such as those advanced by Buckle, Spengler, and Toynbee.

One of the most exciting things about reading von Mises is how socialist fallacies fall page after page. Not only does he refute their fallacies, but he has a way of seeing right through them. For example, how can one criticize modern capitalist society for being "materialistic'" when it allows the common man to attend Beethoven concerts?

Von Mises dealt with methodology in THE ULTIMATE FOUNDATION OF ECONOMIC SCIENCE, EPISTEMOLOGICAL PROBLEMS OF ECONOMICS, and HUMAN ACTION.

This book is good for the reader and everyone else in the room. 2000 questions is enough question to have your own fun trivia games with friends or anyone.

Having this book at my party made all the difference. my friends just love the excitement and the suspension that comes with the questions. I highly recommend it.

If you invest in mutual funds this book is guaranteed to worry you. Easy to read with lots of lists and charts and inside information on the pitfalls of mutual funds. This book has saved me thousands.

Read why 80% of all mutual funds fail to even match the market, let alone "Beat the Market". After reading this book you will buy nothing but index funds.

That's all I now own. Mutual funds are passe.

I spend a lot of time reading about hedge fund regulations and I give this book a thumbs up. I even promote it through my website as a great book for those who need to learn a lot about hedge fund regulations.

Richard Wilson

Not only is this a bible of hedge fund regulation, it is a good introduction to US securities regulation, private placements, and blue sky laws, as it is more clearly written, user friendly, and succinct than most law treatises. It has a lot of breath, and just enough depth so that you find your answers without getting too bogged down. One of the best "hit the hot spots" securities law books I have ever owned. Other treatises usually vague and useless and just regurgitate the statute itself without actually explaining - this one actually analyzes without being too pedantic. Practice-oriented.

This is a course, not a book. I ended up dramatically improving my confidence and skills in mutual fund investing. The course was fun, interactive, and has an instructor giving additional information. It's much better than plowing through a financial book.

The author gave me information on all four major rating services: Lipper, S&P, Morningstar and ValueLine. He showed me that they're not all the same and why. In one example, two of the services rated the same fund "Average" while the other two rated the fund "Above Average."

One of the best things was the Personal Risk Profile by Dr. Droms that tells you how to allocate among the fund categories based upon your own risk tolerance.

Great course which helped me immensely.

Understanding Mutual Funds is the only interactive course on mutual funds that's both fun and educational.

Your instructor for this course is from Lipper, a Reuters company - you've probably heard of them. They don't sell mutual funds - they rate them, over 100,000 of them, so they are probably the world's top experts on mutual funds.

You'll learn the different kinds of funds; equity, bond, hedge, index, sector, real estate, money market and so forth, how funds charge for what they do, how to spot red flags that should be an indicator to sell and how the four major ratings services, Lipper, Morningstar, Standard and Poor's and Value Line, don't all agree even on the same fund!

We've even included an interactive questionnaire that gives you your own risk tolerance profile that you can match up to an asset allocation profile developed by Dr. Bill Droms an asset manager and professor of Finance at Georgetown University.

Now you can be a successful mutual fund owner AND sleep better by knowing which funds belong in your own portfolio based on your own personal tolerance for risk.

William R. Nordstrom
Publisher
Understanding Mutual Funds

This is a great book for anyone who contributes to charities. I don't think that all charities are bad, but you do have to think about where you contribute.

An interesting point brought up in this book is that any organization considered "charitable" is immune from careful scrutiny - questioning their activities is akin to an attack on the poor sick or needy themselves. So for congress or the public to investigate any kind of wrongdoing or excess is difficult.

The book also details how the big charities use guilt and emotion to get people to contribute money, how some such as the American Cancer Society try to suppress alternative research, and how much of the "profits" go to the execs who work there, as there is a lack of accountability at these types of organizations.

That being said, it reinforced my belief that charities such as Heifer International are the way to spend my charitable dollars since they focus much more on the underlying cause to a problem than on chasing a "cure". Give money to them and it will buy an animal for an impoverished family, who can then use it's milk for food as well as income, and give away it's offspring to other families in need. It's self-perpetuating and lasts virtually a lifetime.

On the other hand, give money to the American Cancer Society, and it will likely be spent on a needy executive to fly around the country and tell us that a cure is "just around the corner".

"Unhealthy Charities: Hazardous to Your Health and Wealth" is a damning indictment on America's most "prestigious" health charities. While these charities are quick to award themselves with glowing accolades, the authors document numerous examples of inefficiency, inappropriate and improper spending, suppressing or ignoring promising research into "unconventional" modes of disease treatment, and an incestuous, tightly-knit network of executives and researchers who direct funds towards research and projects that support the charities' own preconceived ideologies and goals.

The book focuses on the "Big Three" charities--the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association. It describes how these and other health charities spend much time and money on things that have nothing to do with research and aid to disease victims--like crying poor and pleading for donations when they are in fact hoarding hundreds of millions in money, real estate, cars, stocks & bonds, paying their top staff 6-figure salaries, holding 'conferences' at luxurious hotels, exaggerating the benefits of their programs, exaggerating the amount spent on research and public education, enlisting government support to drive out smaller competing charities, using donations to fund further education for medical professionals even though they are amongst the highest income earners in the US and are more than capable of funding their own further eduction (as most other professions must do)--and on and on.

The only flaw is that the authors seriously seem to believe that all these flaws occur despite charities having the "best of intentions". The very real possibilty that these charities are just another arm of our corrupt, profit-obsessed, drug-centered sickness industry does not seem to occur to them.

Nonetheless, it still reveals much that health charities would prefer we did not know...

"Unlocking the Cash in Your Company" is an excellent eye-opener and guide for business owners and managers in search of a new understanding of how to generate a stronger cash flow, get a bigger bang for their working capital, and fund profitable growth without putting any (additional) debt on the balance sheet. In fact, anybody dealing in some form or another with business financing and being unaware of or somewhat unfamiliar with the Factoring process and its rewards will greatly enjoy this book and vastly benefit from its contents.

If we believe that in today's markets information and knowledge are some of the most valuable competitive advantages, then the ultimate question is "can anyone in business really afford not to read this book?"

The book brilliantly illustrates and explains the numerous benefits of Factoring from the client's perspective. In a completely unbiased, matter-of-fact fashion, it provides all novices to Factoring with everything they need to know to make an informed decision as to whether Factoring is right for their business and how to ensure they are getting the most out of it.

Starting with a thorough explanation of Factoring, its background, and history, the reader quickly understands what Factoring can do for a business and how it can be achieved. The book also demonstrates the differences between Factoring and other forms of business financing and clears up the myths and mistakes so often associated with Factoring.

It provides invaluable guidance on how to find the right Factor, what features to look for, and what questions to ask. In a step-by-step manual-style format, it takes the reader through the entire process of how to start, how to sign up, how to proceed, and of course, how to finally reap the great rewards that Factoring can provide to their business.

From a Factor perspective, the sections on "what to look for in a Factor and what questions to ask" are most helpful, since they keep the Factors "honest" and help level the playing field. If clients are well informed, this information should ensure high quality standards in our industry. It should also be a catalyst to a successful factoring relationship as a result of proper expectation management. Informed clients are always the best clients.

From a client perspective, these sections are equally very helpful, but depending on the client's familiarity with Factoring, the sections on what Factoring is (also in comparison to other financing instruments) and on faulty assumptions and mistakes may even be more helpful to them and to our industry overall.

No matter how strong any factual and rational product benefit (of Factoring) may be for any given business, building the emotional platform and making people comfortable with the idea of Factoring is invaluable. And nobody does it like Jeff Callendar!

The fact that clients gain a clear view on what Factoring is, how it works, how to find the right partner, and how to avoid the common mistakes, is priceless. It paves the road to mutually successful Factoring relationships and rewards. Business is not done by companies but by people. And since the best foundation for successful business is a good relationship between the business partners, this is probably the single most valuable contribution of the book.

As with all of Jeff's publications, the writing style is clear and concise. It's straight to the point and factual, which facilitates the reading and understanding. It's a real matter-of-fact, hands-on guide for any type of client, written in a style that even suits people who may have never heard of Factoring. It conveys the big picture, yet it's detailed and precise, without being too technical or confusing. In short, it couldn't be any clearer.

It's definitely another "must read" for any novice to our industry and for anybody who wants "to do it right".

Although perhaps mainly intended for business owners/managers, everybody who is somewhat unfamiliar with our industry will greatly benefit from it and come to appreciate the beauty behind the process and the vast benefits to a business.

The book will make business owners/managers, brokers, factors, and related professionals like bankers, accountants, lawyers, etc. more familiar with the world of factoring and - more importantly - how it's done right and how clients will be able to benefit from this financing instrument beyond what they might have believed was possible.

That makes it a great contribution to the world of business financing and to our entire industry. It's without doubt another invaluable addition to Jeff's entire series of books on Factoring. Thank you Jeff! You've done it again!

"Unlocking the Cash in Your Company" is an excellent eye-opener and guide for business owners and managers in search of a new understanding of how to generate a stronger cash flow, get a bigger bang for their working capital, and fund profitable growth without putting any (additional) debt on the balance sheet. In fact, anybody dealing in some form or another with business financing and being unaware of or somewhat unfamiliar with the Factoring process and its rewards will greatly enjoy this book and vastly benefit from its contents.

If we believe that in today's markets information and knowledge are some of the most valuable competitive advantages, then the ultimate question is "can anyone in business really afford not to read this book?"

The book brilliantly illustrates and explains the numerous benefits of Factoring from the client's perspective. In a completely unbiased, matter-of-fact fashion, it provides all novices to Factoring with everything they need to know to make an informed decision as to whether Factoring is right for their business and how to ensure they are getting the most out of it.

Starting with a thorough explanation of Factoring, its background, and history, the reader quickly understands what Factoring can do for a business and how it can be achieved. The book also demonstrates the differences between Factoring and other forms of business financing and clears up the myths and mistakes so often associated with Factoring.

It provides invaluable guidance on how to find the right Factor, what features to look for, and what questions to ask. In a step-by-step manual-style format, it takes the reader through the entire process of how to start, how to sign up, how to proceed, and of course, how to finally reap the great rewards that Factoring can provide to their business.

From a Factor perspective, the sections on "what to look for in a Factor and what questions to ask" are most helpful, since they keep the Factors "honest" and help level the playing field. If clients are well informed, this information should ensure high quality standards in our industry. It should also be a catalyst to a successful factoring relationship as a result of proper expectation management. Informed clients are always the best clients.

From a client perspective, these sections are equally very helpful, but depending on the client's familiarity with Factoring, the sections on what Factoring is (also in comparison to other financing instruments) and on faulty assumptions and mistakes may even be more helpful to them and to our industry overall.

No matter how strong any factual and rational product benefit (of Factoring) may be for any given business, building the emotional platform and making people comfortable with the idea of Factoring is invaluable. And nobody does it like Jeff Callender!

The fact that clients gain a clear view on what Factoring is, how it works, how to find the right partner, and how to avoid the common mistakes, is priceless. It paves the road to mutually successful Factoring relationships and rewards. Business is not done by companies but by people. And since the best foundation for successful business is a good relationship between the business partners, this is probably the single most valuable contribution of the book.

As with all of Jeff's publications, the writing style is clear and concise. It's straight to the point and factual, which facilitates the reading and understanding. It's a real matter-of-fact, hands-on guide for any type of client, written in a style that even suits people who may have never heard of Factoring. It conveys the big picture, yet it's detailed and precise, without being too technical or confusing. In short, it couldn't be any clearer.

It's definitely another "must read" for any novice to our industry and for anybody who wants "to do it right".

Although perhaps mainly intended for business owners/managers, everybody who is somewhat unfamiliar with our industry will greatly benefit from it and come to appreciate the beauty behind the process and the vast benefits to a business.

The book will make business owners/managers, brokers, factors, and related professionals like bankers, accountants, lawyers, etc. more familiar with the world of factoring and - more importantly - how it's done right and how clients will be able to benefit from this financing instrument beyond what they might have believed was possible.

That makes it a great contribution to the world of business financing and to our entire industry. It's without doubt another invaluable addition to Jeff's entire series of books on Factoring. Thank you Jeff! You've done it again!

Also available in a hardcover edition (0865975205, $20.00) Virginia Political Economy is a collection of selected works by Gordon Tullock which have been compiled, edited, and provided with an informative introduction by Charles K. Rowley (Duncan Black Professor of Economics at George Mason University) and is the first of a proposed ten volume series showcasing Tullocks' published academic papers and essays as selected from twenty-three books and several hundred articles and papgers produced by Tullock between 1954 and 2002. Chapters offer an in-depth exploration of such issues as the problems of majority voting, issues associated with redistributive policies, the problem of social cost, bioeconomics, and much more. A scholarly, rational, and well-presented voice of insight into difficult quandaries of state government and fiscal policy.

Volume One of the selected works of Gordon Tullock contains many important essays. The most famous article here is "The Welfare Costs of Tariffs, Monopoly, and Theft". This article founded the modern rent seeking literature. The Transitional Gains Trap is another interesting article in the same section, but less well known. Tullock also wrote seminal articles on voting/demand revelation, bureaucracy, revolution, social costs, inheritance, and legal procedures. Tullock has few peers in terms of his creativity and insight. This volume is important because it reprints articles that for the most part get far too less attention. Given the technical nature of this book, it will not be a best seller, but it should be read by economists and political scientists.