Usury is a topic with a long and complex history. While it is typically understood today as the practice of charging excessive interest, this is a far cry from the meaning given to it by ancient and medieval authors, who considered the charging of any interest on a mutuum (a loan of such things as are estimated by weight, number, or measure) to be usury. Finding a thorough, coherent, and believable explanation for so monumental a difference in outlook has been nearly impossible-until now. In this provocative work, David Hunt explains and defends the traditional view that usury is a charge for something that does not exist and is therefore a form of theft. Indeed, usury begets a form of chattel slavery, since charging interest on a mutuum is an attempt to profit by treating the borrower as the lender's property.

Not only does Hunt present and clarify the classic arguments (as seen above all in St. Thomas Aquinas), he also carefully distinguishes usury from morally legitimate ways in which rent and fees may be charged. He shows how modern economists from the late seventeenth century onward misconstrue the issues at hand, leading not so much to the refutation of the old view as to a distortion and neglect of it that persists to this day.

Drawing on a wide range of economists and theologians, Hunt pierces to the heart of the usury debate, thoroughly debunking the claim of John T. Noonan that usury is a dead issue to which only to a few inveterate haters of the present order pay heed. In reality, a clear grasp of usury is crucial to understanding why many modern Westerners live in a state of financial slavery-and why this was not the inevitable result of progress but a direct consequence of subordinating moral reasoning to economic analysis.

In this book you will learn how to put on a successful event series that can generate revenue, and become either your main business, or generate leads and exposure to your main business.In this book I walk you through event planning and management fundamentals, and then explain how you can get significant growth in attendance.By the end of this event marketing and management book you will understand the best ways to make money from your events, and how to grow attendance.I welcome you to get this book, and I look forward to helping you create the best event series possible.Latest books update: May 2016In the latest update of this event marketing book I added more information on event marketing. You will now learn the event marketing that you can do to boost attendance before the event, event marketing you can do during the event to create buzz around your event on social media as it is happening, and strategies you can implement after the event to ensure that the people who attended are happiest, and are most likely to attend your upcoming events. Plus there are email marketing strategies you can implement to ensure that with every event you put on, your own email list grows larger and larger. The latest version of the book an event management checklist to help you make your events more organized, and have better promotion.What is covered in this event marketing and management book?

Event marketing - I want your events to grow, so event marketing has the biggest focus in this event marketing book.

Event planning - proper event planning is important for your overall event success. This is why you need to have a solid plan for what to do before, during and after the events, and I'll cover that in this event marketing, planning and management book.

Event management - your events will be much more likely grow and be successful if you manage them well, and new people come back and invite friends. So your events must be very high quality. This is why event management is extremely important, and I'll cover how to make your events run smoothly so that your attendees are happy.

Who this event marketing and event management book is ideally for

• Business owners who want a new way to promote their business and convert event attendees into clients
• Business owners who are looking for a new revenue stream for their business
• People starting an event series or a single event, who need to know how to run events, and how to promote events
• If you are experienced in the event industry: this event marketing book might not be ideal for you, BUT you might still find a lot of tidbits that might help you do better, and promote more effectively.

Hobby and interest group meetings

• Business events
• Festivals and music shows
• Small concerts and entertainment events
• Technology events with speakers
• Outdoor events as for hiking groups for example
• Get more people for your city tours for city guides
• Conference events (small conferences)
• Charity events
• Fundraisers
• Meetups

Get the book now, learn how to manage and promote events, and take the first step to creating your own successful events today

The essential work from the Nobel Prize-winning virtuoso of twentieth-century economics, translated to English for the first time.

Few scholars advanced the frontier of economic modeling more than French economist Maurice Allais. Allais's contributions--beyond his famous Allais's Paradox--earned him the Nobel Prize and drew comparisons to the works of Paul Samuelson and even some modern mathematical behavioral economists.

Allais's accomplishments, however, went largely unread by non-Francophone readers due to the challenge of their translation for publishers. The effects of this gap are immeasurable. As Paul Samuelson wrote, Had Allais's earliest writings been in English, a whole generation of economic theory would have taken a different course.

Economy and Interest is the milestone translation of Allais's most influential work, one whose staggering findings predate their accepted formulations by other famed economists decades later. In its sweep and technical virtuosity, Economy and Interest is certain to delight and challenge new generations of English-language readers.

A GUARDIAN POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR

'End State is absolutely superb. If you're looking for a book that is honest about the problems of the future but leaves you hopeful about solutions, then this is it' Jon Richardson

'Insightful and revealing: a brilliant exploration of how ideas currently on the edge of politics could move into the mainstream' Danny Dorling, author of SLOWDOWN

Can we reverse the mental health crisis by getting rid of Mondays?

Is it time to stop poor people being poor by... giving them money?

Can we quell the fires of populism by giving young people a say in the future?

As the shockwaves of Covid 19 continue to spread, and as the smoke clears from a year of anger and unrest, many people feel forlorn about the future.

In End State, James Plunkett argues that this can be a moment not of despair, but of historic opportunity - a chance to rethink, renew, and reform some of the most fundamental ways we organise society. In much the same way as societies emerged stronger from crises in the past - building the state as we know it today - we too can build a happier future.

James Plunkett has spent his career thinking laterally about the complicated relationships between individuals and the state. First as an advisor to Gordon Brown, then a leading economic researcher and writer, and then in the charity sector, helping people struggling at the front-line of economic change. James combines a deep understanding of social issues with an appreciation of how change is playing out not in the ivory tower, but in the reality of people's lives.

Now, in his first book, he sets out an optimistic vision, exploring nine ways in which our social settlement can be upgraded to harness the power of the digital age. Covering a dizzying sweep of geography and history, from London's 18th Century sewage systems to the uneasy inequality of Silicon Valley, it's a thrilling and iconoclastic account of how society can not only survive, but thrive, in the digital age.

End State provides a much-needed map to help us navigate our way over the curious terrain of the twenty-first century.

In his Critique of Mainstream Austrian Economics, math professor Antal Fekete concisely formulates a number of arguments, not so much against Austrian Economics, but rather in favour of them. His critique ought to be interpreted as a way of fortifying and improving on Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises and their concepts, heterodox as they were in Central Europe, before World War I. Some arguments take position against Mises who seemed locked into conclusions, inspired by unfortunate assumptions like the Quantity Theory of Money. Overcoming these limitations improves coherence in economic theory. The title should not fool the reader, the arguments are crafted against those who took Menger and Mises and hammered their concepts forcefully into mainstream of economic science. Whatever their motives, their move stunted independent development of Austrian Economic thinking. Antal Fekete sets out to correct this unfortunate situation. He feels this work should be the beginning, not the end, of a renewal in Austrian economic thinking.

Worried about the stock market? You must read this book now!

On one of his shows in the early eighties, right after his usual, Welcome my friends, welcome to my world intro, Bruce Williams, a popular talk show host of that era went right into the news of the day. I can remember as if it were yesterday, he said, In today's financial news, you can now buy a non-callable 30-year T-bond (30-year treasury bond) with a guaranteed interest rate of 14.5%. Imagine my friends, if you invest your $50,000 today you will have $2.5 million in 30 years. You don't have to invest in anything else. You don't have to buy gold, real estate or do anything fancy. I did not follow the advice, not because I did not have the cash (in fact my wife and I had close to $100,000 in the bank by that time) but because, 1) 30 years is such a long time and at that age retirement was the furthest thing from my mind, 2) the advice simply sounded too good to be true. It sounded so incredible in its simplicity, it cannot possibly work, so I thought. There must be a catch somewhere. So, I cast it off as satire, hyperbole from a talk show host always on the look-out for ratings. How wrong I was!!! Imagine my friends, had I followed this sound advice from a talk show host, with little risk, my $100,000 would have grown to $5 million in 30 years. I could have retired in my fifties, in pursuit of Marlin on my own 40-foot fishing boat off Cabo San Lucas. Instead, I squandered a big chunk of my money pursuing riskier, more exotic investments.

Though 14.5% treasuries are just now relics of bygone days along with The Wonder Years, Growing Pains and Happy Days, you can still turn $50,000 into $3.3 million by following the simple investment strategy in this book. You will not make the same mistake I made.

Fundamentally, there is nothing wrong with the investment strategy of many financial experts to buy, hold and stay the course, come hell or high water, but I believe that the component I've added to this strategy of getting out of stocks to escape the bear market that follows a recession will not add much stress and anxiety to your life.

Across the globe, professional cash, treasury, and portfolio managers, as well as government regulators, are scrutinizing Swaps - innovative, easily customized synthetic investment vehicles that permit savvy users to fine-tune interest rate and currency exposure, manage debt, hedge against geopolitical uncertainty, and dramatically enhance investment portfolio returns. Understanding Interest Rate Swaps presents a clear and compelling picture of the growing $3 trillion Swap market. This hands-on guide keeps readers immediately current with the latest, successful strategies and techniques used by today's top Swap traders and corporate users. And it takes market watchers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the global Swap bazaar, shedding critical light on questions regulators and industry insiders are currently raising about the security and future of the Swap markets. This striking new guide first explains what Swaps are, introducing key concepts and crucial market terminology. It next traces the development of today's red-hot Swaps, disclosing how they originated and grew, and sharing inside information about why financial institutions set up Swap desks and how they currently capitalize on these profitable instruments. Using diagramming techniques, the guide then walks you through a series of realistic Swap examples, building from simple plain vanilla transactions - the market's essential building blocks - to nearly two dozen other derivative interest rate products, including Swaptions, Caps, spreadlocks, floors, and collars. You'll find detailed guidelines for using foreign exchange and commodity Swaps, and discover emerging opportunities in the surging equity derivatives market. Formaximum advantage, Understanding Interest Rate Swaps delivers the systematic, empirical guidance you need to master all the methodologies and calculations used in the international Swap market. You'll learn how rates are set, how to evaluate competing quotes from traders, an

Do you dream of moving to a tropical country with a stable economy, a strategic geographical location, and a multicultural environment? Then Residence and Living in Panama: All the Frequently Asked Questions is the essential guide for you! Written by expert lawyer Giovanni Caporaso Gottlieb, with years of experience in the field of immigration and legal consultancy in Panama, this guide will provide you with detailed information on how to settle and live in Panama, answering the most common questions you may have during your relocation journey.

This book builds on research in translation studies of change in organizations and demonstrates the implications and application of these findings for managing innovation and change.

When implementing ideas into practice in order to carry out innovative change, translation is key. From strategic and leadership changes to policy and health management decisions, abstract ideas such as 'LEAN', 'CSR', 'Sustainability', 'Public-Private Partnerships', 'Clinical Pathways' and 'AI' are introduced to improve organizational processes. However, in any company and organization, miscommunication and misinterpretation can lead to these ideas being modified, added to and appropriated in ways that make them unsuccessful. This book presents a case for change ideas in organizations being translated rather than implemented and offers a profound understanding of the translation processes needed in order for this to succeed.

This vital study is a must-read for researchers, students and practitioners including change agents, general and health care managers, public servants as well as strategic managers and policy decision-makers.

Richard Westra argues that changes across the capitalist world at the turn of the 21st century put into play a global financial system which operates as a reincarnation of ancient usury.
The book reexamines the historical record to show how activities of antediluvian money lending brought Western civilization to the brink of collapse. Usury corrupted princes and kings by indulging their conspicuous consumption. It forced them to bleed their populations to fuel their possessive lust. And it fomented vicious cycles of indebtedness in the wars it compelled. Money lending to merchants spread the commercial economy that intervened between producers and consumers driving populations into debt and dispossessing them of their land.
What saved Western civilization was the rise of capitalism. Capitalism tamed the activities of money lending, and endowed them with socially redeeming value. The cost of borrowing was rationally set in money markets. Bank credit was offered in anticipation of incomes generated by its determinate use. All in all, capitalism tethered finance to expanding production of material goods and increased social wealth.
But, as the 20th century drew to a close, with capital no longer scarce as exemplified by the aimless bloating of varying categories of funds, finance again turned to its dark side. With the disarticulating of production through globalization, there existed no possibility for bloating funds to ever be converted into real capital with determinate, socially redeeming use. Instead, systemic rule changes empowered big banks, big investment firms and finance wings of giant corporations to unleash vast oceans of funds in a global orgy of money games.
However, the global financial system of casino play can only operate akin to ancient usury. Wealth for the few is expanded by expropriation and Himalayan levels of debt befalling the many! Like usurers of old the new Merchants of Venice are indifferent to how lent funds are used. And loan repayment is set arbitrarily, often exacting such a high cost that the borrower is ruined or forced to strive for the ruin of others. Big government becomes the handmaiden sweeping as much debt under the public rug as it can. Yet there is only so much in pounds of flesh left on the bones of humanity. Greece is really just the hors d'oeuvre.

Nelson Powell is an entrepreneur and businessman who's sole focus is to inspire people. Particularly, young people to reach their full potential in life. He is the CEO of Dream Chasers Apparel. Which is a lifestyle brand that encourages you to Want More, Be More, Do More. Mr. Powell also is the CEO of Dream Chasers Future. Which councils athletes and non athletes on the middle school levels. Dream Chasers Future hosts football and basketball camps and tournaments for elite athletes. With this book he will inspire you and guide you through difficult times in your life.

Loan sharks may conjure up an image of tough guys in fedoras looking to make a profit off of desperate people in dire financial straits; but in reality, lenders who advance small sums of cash at high interest rates until payday existed long before organized crime entered the trade. Today the businesses that fill this niche in the credit market prefer the name payday lenders rather than loan sharks, but most large cities are still a hotbed of usurious lending, and the landscapes are dotted with their inviting and brightly colored storefronts. Despite their more respectable name, these predatory lenders have endured through regulation, prohibition, and the rise and fall of the mob since the late 1800s. In this intriguing and accessible book, Mayer aptly assesses the consequences of high-interest lending--both for the people who borrow at such steep prices and for society as a whole. He argues that although some consumers gain from borrowing at high rates, payday lending in its modern form consistently traps many of the wage earners who pawn their postdated checks, leaving them worse off than they were before. Because payday lending regulations vary widely throughout the country, Mayer chose to focus his story on Chicago, a city that serves as a fine representative of the legacy of loan sharking. Quick Cash will engage policy analysts, economists, and regional historians, as wells as general readers interested in the fascinating story behind these unscrupulous lending operations that feed off America's current tough economic times.

2009 Reprint of the 1907 edition. Paperback, 442pp. Irving Fisher (1867-1947) was an American economist, health campaigner, and eugenicist, and one of the earliest American neoclassical economists and, although he was perhaps the first celebrity economist, his reputation today is probably higher than it was in his lifetime. Several concepts are named after him, including the Fisher equation, Fisher hypothesis and Fisher separation theorem.His most enduring intellectual work has been his theory of capital, investment, and interest rates, first exposited in his The Nature of Capital and Income (1906) and elaborated on in The Rate of Interest (1907).

Efficient Methods for Valuing Interest Rate Derivatives provides an overview of the models that can be used for valuing and managing interest rate derivatives. Split into two parts, the first discusses and compares the traditional models, such as spot- and forward-rate models, while the second concentrates on the more recently developed Market models. Unlike most of his competitors, the author's focus is not only on the mathematics: Antoon Pelsser draws on his experience in industry to explore the practical issues, such as the implementation of models, and model selection.
Aimed at people with a solid quantitative background, this book will be of particular interest to risk managers, interest rate derivative traders, quantitative researchers, portfolio and fund managers, and students of mathematics and economics, but it will also prove invaluable to anyone looking for a good overview of interest rate derivative modelling.

Bond markets differ in one fundamental aspect from standard stock markets. While the latter are built up to a finite number of trade assets, the underlying basis of a bond market is the entire term structure of interest rates: an infinite-dimensional variable which is not directly observable. On the empirical side, this necessitates curve-fitting methods for the daily estimation of the term structure. Pricing models, on the other hand, are usually built upon stochastic factors representing the term structure in a finite-dimensional state space. Written for readers with knowledge in mathematical finance (in particular interest rate theory) and elementary stochastic analysis, this research monograph has threefold aims: to bring together estimation methods and factor models for interest rates, to provide appropriate consistency conditions and to explore some important examples.

Growth in the derivatives market has brought with it a greater volume and range of interest rate dependent products. These products have become increasingly innovative and complex to price, requiring sophisticated market models that capture the full dynamics of the yield curve. A study of the evolution of interest rate modelling theory places these models in the correct mathematical context, allowing appreciation of their key assumptions, concepts and implications. The book guides the practitioner through the derivation and implementation of a variety of models that account for the characteristics and irregularities of observed term structures.

Growth in the derivatives market has brought with it a greater volume and range of interest rate dependent products. These products have become increasingly innovative and complex to price, requiring sophisticated market models that capture the full dynamics of the yield curve. A study of the evolution of interest rate modelling theory places these models in the correct mathematical context, allowing appreciation of their key assumptions, concepts and implications. The book guides the practitioner through the derivation and implementation of a variety of models that account for the characteristics and irregularities of observed term structures.

When implementing mathematical models for pricing interest rate derivatives one must address a number of practical issues such as the choice of a satisfactory model, the calibration to market data, the implementation of efficient routines, and so on. This book explains how models work and how to implement them for concrete pricing.

The 2nd edition of this successful book has several new features. The calibration discussion of the basic LIBOR market model has been enriched considerably, a discussion of historical estimation of the instantaneous correlation matrix and of rank reduction has been added, and a LIBOR-model consistent swaption-volatility interpolation technique has been introduced.

The old sections devoted to the smile issue in the LIBOR market model have been enlarged into a new chapter. New sections on local-volatility dynamics, and on stochastic volatility models have been added, with a thorough treatment of the recently developed uncertain-volatility approach.

The fast-growing interest for hybrid products has led to a new chapter, with a special focus devoted to the pricing of convertible bonds and inflation-linked derivatives.

As a teen or young adult picking your way forward through understanding financial investments, this book is specifically designed for you It is written in a straightforward and layman style language and is a reliable resource that examines the fundamentals of mutual fund investing. More and more people are looking into mutual funds to have a steady source of interest income, to save, or to help fund their retirement. In contrast to other forms of investment, mutual funds are always professionally managed by a financial expert in order to make sure that returns are maximized. Interested in learning more? This book will provide a detailed explanation of mutual funds and how to manage them in simple layman's terms that even a beginning investor can understand. You will have an understanding of the Pros and Cons of Mutual Funds. You will learn about the different types of Mutual Funds such as Money Market, Bond Funds and Stock Funds. Securing your financial future has never appeared more difficult than in today's turbulent market environment. After studying this book you will most likely be a better investor for having read this Common Sense roadmap to understanding the basics of Mutual Funds. So, if you're interested in portfolio diversification you will likely be investing in mutual funds. As such, this book offers timeless advice in building your investment portfolio. It will provide you with expert insight on how to find the best-managed funds that match your financial goals. It will help you avoid fund-investing pitfalls and maximize your chances of success.

The renaissance of Austrian economics since the seventies has led to a revival of a purely subjective pure time preference theory of interest. This theory has been developed particularly in the U.S. on the foundations of Böhm-Bawerk's agio theory. The present book critically investigates in historical sequence all known versions of the subjectivist theory of interest and offers a reformulation of the theory along essentialist lines. This reformulation is in marked conformity not only with the methodological tenets Austrian subjectivists since Menger and Mises have traditionally espoused. It is also in conformity with the understanding Böhm-Bawerk and Fisher had of their agio and impatience theories. This understanding formed the basis of their views on the social problems of interest.