Why Popcorn Costs so Much at the Movies or Unlimited Power

Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies: And Other Pricing Puzzles

Author: Richard B McKenzi

Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies, And Other Pricing Puzzles unravels the pricing mysteries we encounter every day.

Have you ever wondered why all movies, whether blockbusters or duds, have the same ticket prices?
Why sometimes there are free lunches?
Why so many prices end with "9"?
Why ink cartridges can cost as much as printers?
Why merchants offer sales, coupons, and rebates?
Why long lines are good for shoppers?
Why men earn more than women, around the globe - and why they always will?

Richard McKenzie goes on to show how the 9/11 terrorists still kill Americans every day, because their attack distorted the perceived risks and relative prices of air vs. automobile travel, and jacked up both security costs and flight delays. Professor McKenzie also explores the unintended consequences of well-meaning efforts to spur the use of environmentally friendly fuels: starvation among millions of people around the world, and the destruction of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia.

How can these things be? If you think you know the answers, think again. Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies, And Other Pricing Puzzles shows you that the real reasons are sophisticated and surprising - and in Professor McKenzie's hands, both informative and entertaining.

You won't need a degree in economics to enjoy this fascinating book, just an armchair and an inquiring mind.

Table of Contents:

Preface: How Prices Matter

Ch. 1 Price And The "Law Of Unintended Consequences" 1

Ch. 2 Pricing Lemons, Views, and University Housing 29

Ch. 3 Why Sales 57

Ch. 4 Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies 79

Ch. 5 Why So Many Coupons 101

Ch. 6 Why Some Goods Are Free 113

Ch. 7 Free Printers and Pricey Ink Cartridges 143

Ch. 8 Why Movie Ticket Prices Are All the Same 159

Ch. 9 Why So Many Prices End With "9" 177

Ch. 10 The Economics of Manufacturers' Rebates 195

Ch. 11 The Psychology and Evolutionary Biology of Manufacturers' Rebates 211

Ch. 12 The Question of Queues 233

Ch. 13 Why Men Earn More on Average Than Women - And Always Will 263

Bibliography 291

Subject Index 319

New interesting book: House of Rothschild or Material World

Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement

Author: Anthony Robbins

IT'S NOT ABOUT POWER OVER OTHER PEOPLE. IT'S ABOUT POWER OVER YOURSELF!

Yes, you can do, have, achieve, and create anything you want out of life. Anthony Robbins has proved it. Robbins, the undisputed master of the magic of mind power shows you in this audio program how to harness yours. He demonstrates—passionately and eloquently—that whatever you think will be, that your state of mind determines what you can and can't do, and that all successful results can be modeled and duplicated. His enthusiasm is contagious as he shows you how to:

• Reprogram your mind in minutes to eliminate fears and phobias
• Fuel your body with spectacular health and energy
• Dramatically improve your interpersonal relationships
• Become a persuasive communicator and create instant rapport with anyone you meet
• Use the success of others to remodel yourself
• Discover the five keys to wealth and happiness
• Master the ultimate success formula

Robbins calls Unlimited Power the new science of personal achievement. You'll call it the best thing that ever happened to you.

Publishers Weekly

This is a comprehensive and intelligent success achievement program for setting and following through with personal and professional goals by the California behaviorist who popularized the method of "neurolinguistic programming'' (NLP), or control of mind over body, culminating in his trainees' barefoot jaunt over hot coals. Essential to Robbins's "Ultimate Success Formula'' are clarity of desired goals, energy, passion, persistence of action, effective communication skills and altruistic motives. His is a success prescription based on realistic and sophisticated ideology, best suited for those who have already "got what it takes'' and simply have yet to make it happen. (July 31)

Library Journal

Robbins argues that by using a new technique called neurolinguistic programming (NLP) anyone can become successful at almost anything. NLP teaches us how to communicate success to ourselves. One of the best ways to do this is to model ourselves on people who are successful: Think, act, and speak like a success and you are on the way to being one. Despite much helpful material (even regarding nutrition), this book scarcely acknowledges the limitations that exist in people's lives. Of course, the whole thrust of NLP is to learn to focus on one's power and not on one's limits. But the text is too wordyit reads like a transcript of a series of talksand it also needs more structure and organization. Though it strives to be upbeat and encouraging, Unlimited Power still leaves mixed feelings. John Moryl, Yeshiva Univ. Lib., New York

The Powell Principles or The Art of War

The Powell Principles: 24 Lessons from Colin Powell, Battle-Proven Leader

Author: Oren Harari

The key to success in any setting lies in knowing how to be an effective leader. The Powell Principles outlines the decision-making habits, success strategies, and leadership philosophies of Secretary of State Colin Powell, and provides fascinating examples of how Powell has used them to overcome numerous obstacles in his climb to the top. Filled with insights that are refreshingly honest, this concise, powerful book reveals how you can dramatically improve your leadership skills and achieve unmatched levels of professional success, while inspiring others to extraordinary performance.

Oren Harari is a professor of management at the McLaren Graduate School of Business, University of San Francisco, and author of the national bestseller Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell.

Book review: NIA Guide for Black Women or Todays Herbal Health for Women

The Art of War

Author: Sun Tzu

Complexities of meaning and historical interpretations illustrate the timelessness of Sun Tzu's treatise on war.

Library Journal

This year's crop of Penguin "Great Ideas" volumes offers another eclectic dozen works that shaped society from the ancient Greeks to the 20th century. The books are fairly no frills, but the price isn't bad. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

What People Are Saying

Tony Soprano
Been reading that-- that book you told me about. You know, The Art of War by Sun Tzu. I mean here's this guy, a Chinese general, wrote this thing 2400 years ago, and most of it still applies today! Balk the enemy's power. Force him to reveal himself. You know most of the guys that I know, they read Prince Machiabelli, and I had Carmela go and get the Cliff Notes once and -- he's okay. But this book is much better about strategy.

Samuel B. Griffith
"As a reflection of the Chinese mind, this little work is as relevant as any Confucian classic." -- Brigadier General, ret. U.S. Marine Corps, is the author of The Battle for Guadalcanal, Peking and People and People's Wars, The Chinese People's Liberation Army, and editor and translator of Mao Tse-tung: On Guerilla War.

Table of Contents:

	Preface	11
	A Note on the Translation and Pronunciation	21
	Chronology of Approximate Dynastic Periods	25
	General Introduction and Historical Background	29
	Introduction	77
	The Art of War in Translation	163
1	Initial Estimations	165
2	Waging War	171
3	Planning Offensives	175
4	Military Disposition	181
5	Strategic Military Power	185
6	Vacuity and Substance	189
7	Military Combat	195
8	Nine Changes	201
9	Maneuvering the Army	205
10	Configurations of Terrain	211
11	Nine Terrains	217
12	Incendiary Attacks	225
13	Employing Spies	229
	Tomb Texts and Lost Writings	235
	Notes to the General Introduction and Historical Background	249
	Selected Notes to the Introduction	275
	Notes to the Translation	301
	Notes to the Tomb Texts and Lost Writings	331
	Selected Bibliography	337
	Glossary	351
	Index	363

Globalization and Its Discontents or Leadership Without Easy Answers

Globalization and Its Discontents

Author: Joseph E Stiglitz

This powerful, unsettling book gives us a rare glimpse behind the closed doors of global financial institutions by the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics. Renowned academic economist Joseph E. Stiglitz served seven years in Washington, as chairman of President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and as chief economist at the World Bank. In this book, Stiglitz recounts his experiences in such places as Ethiopia, Thailand, and Russia. He finds repeatedly that the International Monetary Fund puts the interests of its "largest shareholder," the United States, above those of the poorer nations it was designed to serve. This insider's account of global economic policy will be hailed for its courage and honesty. Those seeking to understand why globalization has engendered the hostility of protesters in Seattle and Genoa will find the reasons here. While this book includes no simple formula on how to make globalization work, Stiglitz provides a reform agenda that will provoke debate for years to come.

Author Biography: Nobel Prize winner Joseph E. Stiglitz is professor of economics at Columbia University.

George Soros

A fascinating [and]... profound critique of global financial systems. Eminently readable. I could hardly put it down.

Juan Somavia

Whatever your opinions, you will be engaged by Stiglitz's sharp insights. A must read.

Nicholas Stern

He is one of the most important economists of modern times.

James K. Galbraith

This book is everyone's guide to the misgovernment of globalization. Stiglitz explains it here in plain and compelling language.

Publishers Weekly

Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winner and Columbia University economics professor, sees globalization's unrealized potential to eradicate poverty and promote economic growth. In recent years, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization have promoted world financial stability, prosperity and free trade, yet Stiglitz wonders why so many revile these organizations' programs to the point of rioting in the streets. Casting a dispassionately analytical eye at East Asia's and Russia's financial turmoil, he argues that the IMF imposed austere policies that only exacerbated each area's problems. When he finds a similar policy pattern for other countries in crisis, Stiglitz asks how a public institution can ignore growing evidence of a flawed policy and not take action or be held accountable. In answering his own question, Stiglitz blames the "market fundamentalism" that endorses the view that a "free" market solves all problems flawlessly. As Stiglitz authoritatively indicates, one-size-fits-all economic policies can damage rather than help countries with unique financial, governmental and social institutions. He calls for public institutions to reform and become more transparent and responsive to their constituents. Stiglitz shares inside information from cabinet meetings when he served on Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers and from his years as chief economist at the World Bank, divulging debates in Washington's conference rooms, naming names and raising his eyebrows at those who refuse to question certain IMF policies' repeated shortcomings. This smart, provocative study contributes significantly to the ongoing globalization debate and provides a model of analytical rigor concerning the process of assisting countries facing the challenges of economic development and transformation. (June 10) Forecast: Stiglitz's impassioned, balanced and informed book is a must-read for all interested in understanding globalization. Professors, economists and students should respond to his author tour and national media interviews, making this a strong business seller. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

An insider's account of the ill-considered effort to make a free market of the Third World, an effort that, described here, favors the rich and robs the poor. The title's echo of Sigmund Freud is shrewd, if a little misleading, for whereas Freud's great Civilization and Its Discontents was an encompassing look at the neurosis-making qualities of Western life, Stiglitz's confines itself to the workings of but two policy-making and -effecting organizations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. This he does very well. Intimately acquainted with their work-he served as an economic advisor to the Clinton administration and as the World Bank's chief economist and senior vice president-Stiglitz charges that both organizations have abandoned their original missions. "The IMF was supposed to limit itself to matters of macro-economics in dealing with a country . . . and the World Bank was supposed to be in charge of structural issues," he writes, but, with the advent of the free-market-worshipping Reagan administration, both took an activist, even imperial view that demanded that developing countries throw open their doors to capitalism. The results were often disastrous as wealth and resources flowed out of such countries and into the hands of the First World, Stiglitz writes, particularly in the case of newly democratic Russia, which, he notes sadly, "must treat what has happened as pillage of national assets, a theft for which the nation can never be recompensed." Stiglitz's prescriptions for the establishment of a truly global but more equitable economy are unabashedly Keynesian and generally convincing. They include slowing the pace of capitalist expansion until developingcountries can adjust politically and socially to new financial systems, giving more and better aid to those countries, forgiving debt-and thoroughly overhauling the World Bank, IMF, and other instruments of development. Provocative, readable, and sure to earn Stiglitz persona non grata status in certain corridors of power.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
	Acknowledgments
1	The Promise of Global Institutions	3
2	Broken Promises	23
3	Freedom to Choose?	53
4	The East Asia Crisis: How IMF Policies Brought the World to the verge of a Global Meltdown	89
5	Who Lost Russia?	133
6	Unfair Trade Laws and Other Mischief	166
7	Better Roads to the Market	180
8	The IMF's Other Agenda	195
9	The Way Ahead	214
	Notes	253
	Index	269

Interesting book: Macroeconomics or Understanding Wall Street

Leadership Without Easy Answers

Author: Ronald A Heifetz

The economy uncertain, education in decline, cities under siege, crime and poverty spiraling upward, international relations roiling: we look to leaders for solutions, and when they don't deliver, we simply add their failure to our list of woes. In doing do, we do them and ourselves a grave disservice. We are indeed facing an unprecedented crisis of leadership, Ronald Heifetz avows, but it stems as much from our demands and expectations as from any leader's inability to meet them. His book gets at both of these problems, offering a practical approach to leadership for those who lead as well as those who look to them for answers. Fitting the theory and practice of leadership to our extraordinary times, the book promotes a new social contract, a revitalization of our civic life just when we most need it.

Drawing on a dozen years of research among managers, officers, and politicians in the public realm and the private sector, among the nonprofits, and in teaching, Heifetz presents clear, concrete prescriptions for anyone who needs to take the lead in almost any situation, under almost any organizational conditions, no matter who is in charge, His strategy applies not only to people at the top but also to those who must lead without authority—activists as well as presidents, managers as well as workers on the front line.

Library Journal

Heifetz (Kennedy Sch. of Government, Harvard Univ.) presents a new theory of leadership for both public and private leaders in tackling complex contemporary problems. Central to his theory is the distinction between routine technical problems, which can be solved through expertise, and adaptive problems, such as crime, poverty, and educational reform, which require innovative approaches, including consideration of values. Four major strategies of leadership are identified: to approach problems as adaptive challenges by diagnosing the situation in light of the values involved and avoiding authoritative solutions, to regulate the level of stress caused by confronting issues, to focus on relevant issues, and to shift responsibility for problems from the leader to all the primary stakeholders. The theory is applied to an analysis of historical accounts of local, national, and international events. An innovative and thoroughgoing work; highly recommmended for graduate and undergraduate collections.-Jane M. Kathman, Coll. of St. Benedict Lib., St. Joseph, Minn.

Booknews

Heifetz (Harvard U.) offers a practical approach to leadership for those who lead as well as those who look to them for answers, drawing on research among managers, offices, and politicians in the public and private sectors. He discusses leading with and without authority, values in leadership, the roots of authority, and leaders such as Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King, and Mahatma Gandhi. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

No More Mondays or Fashion Design

No More Mondays: Fire Yourself - And Other Revolutionary Ways to Discover Your True Calling at Work

Author: Dan Miller

Is Your Job Making You “Stupid”?

Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations, once wrote that a person who spends his life performing the same repetitive tasks “generally becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human creature to become.” Wow! Now that’s not a pretty picture. Unfortunately, much of our work today consists of those boring, repetitive tasks.

But maybe you’re one of the many who have gotten caught up in thinking work is just something you do to support your weekends. Work is that necessary evil, a means to an end, or just a curse from God. You probably take your role of providing for yourself and those depending on you seriously. But you don’t expect to enjoy your work—you just do what has to be done.

Only now you’re seeing that even loyalty and dependability bring no guarantees. Lately you’ve seen coworkers who have been let go after years of faithful service. Perhaps your entire industryhas been shaken by outsourcing or changing technology. Maybe you’re tired of the long commute and being tied to your desk when you know you could make your own hours and still be productive. You may have ideas stirring that you think could create new income and time freedom.

But here comes another Monday. Maybe feeling trapped is just the reality of the way things are. Doesn’t everyone dread Mondays? Doesn’t every responsible person just bury their dreams and passions in exchange for getting a paycheck?

Absolutely not! All of us, no matter how old we are or what kind of work we’re doing, can learn to bring the sameexcitement to our jobs that we bring to whatever we love to do on our days off. I believe that each one of us can pursue work that is a reflection of our best selves—a true fulfillment of our callings.

No More Mondays will show you that meaningful work really is within your grasp. And once you’ve opened the door and seen all the exciting career opportunities that await you—whether you decide to revolutionize your current job or launch a new career altogether—you’ll find you can’t go back to the old way of working.”

From No More Mondays

For everyone who dreads going to work on Monday mornings, inspiring advice on how to find fulfilling work in an uncertain age.

Do you hate Mondays?

If so, what's keeping you at your current job?

If you said a steady paycheck and the promise of a secure retirement, then you're in for a big disappointment. In today's volatile economy, there is nothing safe about punching the clock for a job you hate.

As beloved talk-show host and bestselling author Dan Miller reveals, the only way to find true security is by following your calling and then finding or creating work that matches that calling and passion.

No More Mondays’s practical, inspirational advice speaks to people looking for guidance on how to launch a new career or business, those who want to stay in their current jobs and give the old 9-to-5 model a twenty-first-century makeover, and managers desperate to understand the way people want to work today. For all of them, Dan Miller's message is loud and clear: If you're one of those people who dread going to work on Mondays, do something about it!

Fashion Design

Author: Sue Jenkyn Jones

Fashion Design is the first book to offer readers a thorough grounding in the principles of fashion design. It describes the qualities and skills needed to become a fashion designer, examines the varied career opportunities available, and gives a balanced inside view of the fashion business today.

Table of Contents:

	Introduction
	Who this book is for	6
	How to use the book	7
	Have you got what it takes?	8
	The first steps	10
	The college syllabus	12
I	Context
	The uses of clothing	17
	The language of fashion	22
	The geography of fashion	24
	Two kinds of fashion	25
	Time and timing	28
	The fashion calendar	30
	The fashion cycle	31
	Fashion and culture	34
	Media	35
	Fashion time line	36
II	From manufacture to market
	Historical background	40
	Manufacture today	40
	Types of producer	44
	Market segmentation	47
	Types of retailer	50
	Price points	54
III	The body
	Inspiring bodies	58
	Drawing and illustration	64
	Using computers	73
	The elements of design	76
	The principles of design	80
IV	Colour and fabric
	Colour basics	88
	Fabrics	96
	Range building	106
	Fabric suppliers	108
	Fabric fairs	110
V	In the studio
	The college studio	112
	Measuring and mapping	113
	Pattern drafting	115
	Developing the pattern	118
	The toile	119
	Making the toile	120
	Markings and notches	122
	Draping on the stand	123
	Cutting the sample	125
	Sewing	126
	Fitting	127
VI	The brief
	What is a brief?	138
	Types of brief	138
	What the brief asks of you	139
	Aims and objectives	139
	Inspiration	146
	Personal creativity and style	147
	Presentation	150
	The crit	157
	Assessment	157
VII	The final collection--and beyond
	The final collection	161
	The college fashion show	161
	Student exhibitions	169
	Your portfolio	172
	Your first job	174
	Careers in fashion	177
	Writing a CV or resume	180
	The interview--some dos and don'ts	181
	Glossary	184
	Further reading & useful addresses	186
	Index	188
	Picture credits & acknowledgements	192

How to Say It at Work or The Compassionate Samurai

How to Say It at Work: Putting Yourself Across With Power Words, Phrases, Body Language, and Communication Secrets

Author: Jack Griffin

A comprehensive guide to the do's and don'ts of good communication, this book gives total training for personal success at work.

Interesting book: Kitchen Gardens or Michigan Cooking and Other Things

The Compassionate Samurai: Being Extraordinary in an Ordinary World

Author: Brian Klemmer

Become an extraordinary results-producing champion for humanity and yourself!

In life there are two types of people. The first are those who are nice, good-hearted, and compassionate but can’t make much happen. The other kind can make everything happen—they’re the creators, the go-getters, and the aggressive producers in society—however, they’re often self-centered, greedy, and unethical.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could make things happen in a really big way but not lose your integrity? The Compassionate Samurai will show you the way to produce extraordinary results in a dog-eat-dog world and still maintain the highest levels of ethics.

You’ll learn:

· How to always be satisfied and motivated regardless of your circumstances

· Why all people have freedom but very few have liberty

· What competing commitments are and how they prevent you from having what you want in life

· The secret to operating optimally in an untrustworthy environment

· How to make the shift from scarcity to abundance even if you’re knee deep in debt . . .

and much, much more!

The Works or Critical Chain

The Works: Anatomy of a City

Author: Kate Ascher

How much do you really know about the systems that keep a city alive? The Works: Anatomy of a City contains everything you ever wanted to know about what makes New York City run. When you flick on your light switch the light goes on--how? When you put out your garbage, where does it go? When you flush your toilet, what happens to the waste? How does water get from a reservoir in the mountains to your city faucet? How do flowers get to your corner store from Holland, or bananas get there from Ecuador? Who is operating the traffic lights all over the city? And what in the world is that steam coming out from underneath the potholes on the street? Across the city lies a series of extraordinarily complex and interconnected systems. Often invisible, and wholly taken for granted, these are the systems that make urban life possible.

The Works: Anatomy of a City offers a cross section of this hidden infrastructure, using beautiful, innovative graphic images combined with short, clear text explanations to answer all the questions about the way things work in a modern city. It describes the technologies that keep the city functioning, as well as the people who support them-the pilots that bring the ships in over the Narrows sandbar, the sandhogs who are currently digging the third water tunnel under Manhattan, the television engineer who scales the Empire State Building's antenna for routine maintenance, the electrical wizards who maintain the century-old system that delivers power to subways.

Did you know that the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is so long, and its towers are so high, that the builders had to take the curvature of the earth's surface into account when designing it? Did you know that the George Washington Bridge takes in approximately $1 million per day in tolls? Did you know that retired subway cars travel by barge to the mid-Atlantic, where they are dumped overboard to form natural reefs for fish? Or that if the telecom cables under New York were strung end to end, they would reach from the earth to the sun? While the book uses New York as its example, it has relevance well beyond that city's boundaries as the systems that make New York a functioning metropolis are similar to those that keep the bright lights burning in big cities everywhere.

The Works is for anyone who has ever stopped midcrosswalk, looked at the rapidly moving metropolis around them, and wondered, how does this all work?

Book review: Phosphatidylserine or Choosing a Path

Critical Chain

Author: Eliyahu M Goldratt

Powerful yet simple techniques to solve project management's toughest problems. This book teaches companies to drastically cut project development times resulting in early completion within budget and without compromising quality or specifications.

Project managers and your teams will benefit from Goldratt's techniques of how to remain focused on the few critical areas and how to prevent your attention from being divided among all of the how to prevent your attention from being divided among all of the projects' tasks and resources.

Especially useful for dealing with one of the most difficult and pressing management challenges: developing highly innovative new products.

About the Author:

One of the world's most sought after business leaders – author and educator, Dr. Eli Goldratt. Eli Goldratt had been described by Fortune Magazine as a "guru to industry" and by Business Week as a "genius." His charismatic, stimulating, yet sometimes unconventional style has captured the attention of audiences throughout the world. Eli is a true thinker who provokes others to think.

Eli Goldratt is the creator of the Theory of Constraints (TOC) and is the author of 8 books, including the business best sellers The Goal, It's Not Luck, and Critical Chain. Goldratt's Theory of Constraints is used by thousands of companies, and is taught in hundreds of colleges, universities, and business schools. His books have sold over 3 million copies and have been translated into 23 languages. Goldratt's fascinating work as an author, educator and business pioneer had resulted in the promulgation of TOC into many facets of society and has transformed management thinking throughout the world.

Harvard Business Review

This book...is valuable to two main audiences: project managers and senior managers…useful for dealing with one of the most difficult and pressing management challenges: developing highly innovative new products.

Assembly

Anyone who doesn't snap up a copy is missing a wonderful opportunity for professional and personal development.

World Aero-Engine Review

Critical Chain will revolutionize project management.

What People Are Saying

James R. Holt
Critical Chain's powerful yet simple techniques…solve project management's toughest problems.
— (James R. Holt, Professor of Engineering Management, Washington State University)