Headline

Buzz Newsroom - Latest Headline News
$1.99
Great snippets of the headlines from the best sites. It kinda organizes the best stories from the best sites, what's breaking, what's hot, what's the buzz really. im a fan of the blog, so its great to get this on this kindle.

Headlines and Deadlines: The Hits of A-Ha [Region 2]
$9.48
This DVD is a collection of the band's earlier hits. A-HA changed their sound to use less keyboards and more piano and acoustic guitar in the 90's. There are a couple of live videos included. The band sound amazing. The lead singer sounds just as good live as he does in the studio. In fact, he can hold long notes at various ranges!!
Don't miss the video collection of this very talented band.
I give Headlines and Deadlines a 5 star rating.

Please be sure that you have a multi region player for this A-HA DVD.

Economic Policy Beyond the Headlines
$22.00
George P. Shultz is one of the most distinguished government officials in U.S. history, but this book was a bit of a disappointment. It was first published during the 1970s, and much of its material deals with that era. The contents of the 1998 second edition do not appear to have been updated. E.g., the chapter on tax policy does not mention the tax reforms implemented during the 1980s, or the 1990 and 1993 tax increases (ch. 3). The chapter on income security does not include the 1983 Social Security amendments or the welfare reform of the 1990s (ch. 5). There is no mention of NAFTA in the chapter on international trade (ch. 7), and no mention of the National Economic Council in the chapter on the apparatus of economic policy making (ch. 8).

Substantively, there is not much with which to quibble. The federal budget process is too cumbersome for fiscal stabilization policy to be effective (ch. 2). Simplification of the tax code is economically desirable but politically unlikely (ch. 3). Price controls are ineffective as a means of controlling inflation (ch. 4). The "crazy quilt" (p. 88) of existing income security programs would benefit from being replaced by a negative income tax as proposed by Milton Friedman (ch. 5). During the 1970s, the world switched from a fixed to a floating exchange-rate system (ch. 6). Free trade leads to higher standards of living than does protectionism (ch. 7). Organization affects policy decisions, but continual reorganization does not substitute for them (ch. 8). Government intervention, e.g. with energy policy, thwarts the self-correcting mechanisms of free markets (ch. 9). Government's most effective economic policy is to provide a stable framework within which markets can operate (ch. 10).

The authors' main focus is the Keynesian trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Clearly, economic theory and policy have both progressed since the book was first published. New edition or not, its material has simply become out of date. The only apparent addition to the 1998 version of the book is one new chapter, which would have worked better if the authors had published that separately elsewhere.

Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines
$16.95
All I can say is WOW.

I read the book.
I skimmed the reviews.

To me, many of the (1-3 star) posters simply missed the point in their rush to defend their current beliefs.

IMO, the author did an admirable job of "simplifying" the physics involved in a number if important areas impacting our lives today. I appreciate the effort, and feel like I learned a little. That said, I certainly didn't always agree with the methods used to (over?) simplify important areas. The area I felt most needed better analyses involved nuclear waste disposal.

Only a minority of people read books at all (much less books aimed at educating them). For that reason, personally, I wouldn't mind if it were the LAW that in order to be allowed to vote, you had to read (or listen to) certain books. This book might be one of them.

Highly recommended.