● The Gray Rhino: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore
By Michele Wucker
Summary via publisher (St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan)
A “gray rhino” is a highly probable, high impact yet neglected threat: kin to both the elephant in the room and the improbable and unforeseeable black swan. Gray rhinos are not random surprises, but occur after a series of warnings and visible evidence. The bursting of the housing bubble in 2008, the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, the new digital technologies that upended the media world, the fall of the Soviet Union…all were evident well in advance. Why do leaders and decision makers keep failing to address obvious dangers before they spiral out of control? Drawing on her extensive background in policy formation and crisis management, as well as in-depth interviews with leaders from around the world, Michele Wucker shows in The Gray Rhino how to recognize and strategically counter looming high impact threats.
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● Fed Power: How Finance Wins
By Lawrence Jacobs and Desmond King
Summary via publisher (Oxford University Press)
The Federal Reserve is the most powerful central bank in the world. Without its central bank, America would be subject to devastating fluctuations in currency value and chronic economic instability. To stabilize the economy, the Fed adjusts interest rates and intervenes in the economy more directly when appropriate. According to most Fed observers, it as an impartial referee exercising its independence free from political interference in order to advance the best interests of America. Its actions during the Great Recession were heroic, saving the American and indeed the world economy from a far worse fate.
Wrong.
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● The Overtaxed Investor: Slash Your Tax Bill & Be A Tax Alpha Dog
By Philip DeMuth
Summary via Amazon
Being tax-smart is now more important than ever. In our low-return environment, high taxes on investments gnaw like rats on your profits. Taxes need to be the first thing an investor considers, not an afterthought. Today you have to start with taxes. Nationally recognized investment advisor Phil DeMuth decrypts the 73,954 pages of tax code to show you where the trip-wires lie. He offers simple rules of thumb to navigate the minefield, all in sparkling English. If you aren’t playing the long game with your taxes now, you are sending a valentine to the U.S. Treasury every April 15 with a needlessly fat check attached. DeMuth shows how to safely pare your investment tax bill down to the legal minimum requirement. It adds up to a small fortune that would be better spent on your life, your family, and your retirement.
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