The Great Brain Reforms


Book Description

This fifth book in the series is a great combination of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Terrible Two series, and is perfect for fans of Roald Dahl. It's summer vacation, and J. D. is determined to reform his older brother Tom, a.k.a. the Great Brain, from his money swindling ways for good.




The Great Brain at the Academy


Book Description

This fourth book in the series is a great combination of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Terrible Two series, and is perfect for fans of Roald Dahl. Everyone knew that Tom Fitzgerald, better known as the Great Brain, would get into trouble when he went off to boarding school at the strict Catholic Academy for Boys. But no one--including Tom--knew just how much! Whether he's running an illegal candy store or earning a reputation as the fastest potato peeler, Tom's great brain never faltersm while his money-making schemes rise to new heights!




The Great Brain Is Back


Book Description

This classic trickster is back again, and he's up to no good in his eighth and final book of the series. Great mix of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Terrible Two series, and is perfect for fans of Roald Dahl. Tom D. Fitzgerald--better known as The Great Brain--has turned thirteen, and pretty Polly Reagan has put a spell on him. But when it comes to swindling his younger brother J. D., and all the other kids in Adenville, Tom hasn't changed a bit. The Great Brain is back one more time, and he's at the top of his form with his money-making schemes and getting into big trouble. As always, life is more exciting when this brain's around!




The Great Brain Does it Again


Book Description

In turn-of-the-century Mormon Utah, Tom's great brain comes up with eight more schemes, most of them concerned with earning money.




Me and My Little Brain


Book Description

This third book in the series is a great combination of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Terrible Two series, and is perfect for fans of Roald Dahl. Tom a.k.a. the Great Brain, is off to boarding school. Now his little brother, J.D., is free to follow in Tom's ingenious, conniving, and profitable footsteps. All of J.D.'s attempts at turning a profit fail miserably, and he soon realizes that he just doesn't have that crafty Great Brain knack. But when his younger brother is kidnapped, J.D. finds that his little brain may not be so ordinary after all . . .




Mamma’s Boarding House


Book Description

Mamma always had a way of treating everyone as a member of her own family, of giving warmth and comfort and love to people who had known little but loneliness and misfortune. And in the rugged Utah town of Adenville in the early years of this century, there were many who needed her compassion and generosity. So when Papa died and her own children were grown, it was natural for Mamma to open her home to others. Among her boarders were Sarah Martin, angular and tight-lipped, a schoolteacher who took to smoking cigars to win the man she loved...Alonzo Strang, a retired sea captain whose last heroic voyage was in a rowboat...the fastidious faro dealer, Floyd Thompson, who started going to church again so that he could stay at Mamma’s dining table...Mr. Hackett, Papa’s successor as editor of the Advocate, a bachelor so solitary he had almost forgotten how to live with others...and Judge Gibson, competing against the memory of a dead man for Mamma’s love. Continuing his family reminiscences from the best-selling Papa Married a Mormon, John D. Fitzgerald presents a spirited picture of a frontier community. Adenville was a town where a gunfighter shot out his last battle strapped to a lamppost...where the townspeople singing Rock of Ages saved a man from being lynched...where a red-headed artist won his sweetheart in a mad chase across the Utah desert...and where honest conniving staved off an Indian raid. There are moments of suspense as the townspeople rescue a child from his deranged grandfather...moments of hilarity as a pig named Beatrice the Beautiful plays the part of Cupid...moments of terror as a vicious bully menaces the entire town...and many scenes of warm and affectionate family life in Mamma’s boarding house. A poignant, humorous and exciting saga, illuminated by Mamma’s radiant generosity and tolerance, Mamma’s Boarding House is a worthy successor to the highly-praised Papa Married a Mormon.




The State Strikes Back


Book Description

China's extraordinarily rapid economic growth since 1978, driven by market-oriented reforms, has set world records and continued unabated, despite predictions of an inevitable slowdown. In The State Strikes Back: The End of Economic Reform in China?, renowned China scholar Nicholas R. Lardy argues that China's future growth prospects could be equally bright but are shadowed by the specter of resurgent state dominance, which has begun to diminish the vital role of the market and private firms in China's economy. Lardy's book arrives in timely fashion as a sequel to his pathbreaking Markets over Mao: The Rise of Private Business in China, published by PIIE in 2014. This book mobilizes new data to trace how President Xi Jinping has consistently championed state-owned or controlled enterprises, encouraging local political leaders and financial institutions to prop up ailing, underperforming companies that are a drag on China's potential. As with his previous book, Lardy's perspective departs from conventional wisdom, especially in its contention that China could achieve a high growth rate for the next two decades—if it reverses course and returns to the path of market-oriented reforms.




Now You See It


Book Description

"As scholarly as [it] is . . . this book about education happens to double as an optimistic, even thrilling, summer read." —The New York Times A brilliant combination of science and its real-world application, Now You See It sheds light on one of the greatest problems of our historical moment: our schools and businesses are designed for the last century, not for a world in which technology has reshaped the way we think and learn. In this informed and optimistic work, Cathy N. Davidson takes us on a tour of the future of work and education, introducing us to visionaries whose groundbreaking ideas will soon affect every arena of our lives, from schools with curriculums built around video games to workplaces that use virtual environments to train employees.




Unlikely Partners


Book Description

Unlikely Partners recounts the story of how Chinese politicians and intellectuals looked beyond their country’s borders for economic guidance at a key crossroads in the nation’s tumultuous twentieth century. Julian Gewirtz offers a dramatic tale of competition for influence between reformers and hardline conservatives during the Deng Xiaoping era, bringing to light China’s productive exchanges with the West. When Mao Zedong died in 1976, his successors seized the opportunity to reassess the wisdom of China’s rigid commitment to Marxist doctrine. With Deng Xiaoping’s blessing, China’s economic gurus scoured the globe for fresh ideas that would put China on the path to domestic prosperity and ultimately global economic power. Leading foreign economists accepted invitations to visit China to share their expertise, while Chinese delegations traveled to the United States, Hungary, Great Britain, West Germany, Brazil, and other countries to examine new ideas. Chinese economists partnered with an array of brilliant thinkers, including Nobel Prize winners, World Bank officials, battle-scarred veterans of Eastern Europe’s economic struggles, and blunt-speaking free-market fundamentalists. Nevertheless, the push from China’s senior leadership to implement economic reforms did not go unchallenged, nor has the Chinese government been eager to publicize its engagement with Western-style innovations. Even today, Chinese Communists decry dangerous Western influences and officially maintain that China’s economic reinvention was the Party’s achievement alone. Unlikely Partners sets forth the truer story, which has continuing relevance for China’s complex and far-reaching relationship with the West.




The Great American Housing Bubble


Book Description

The definitive account of the housing bubble that caused the Great Recession—and earned Wall Street fantastic profits. The American housing bubble of the 2000s caused the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression. In this definitive account, Adam Levitin and Susan Wachter pinpoint its source: the shift in mortgage financing from securitization by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to “private-label securitization” by Wall Street banks. This change set off a race to the bottom in mortgage underwriting standards, as banks competed in laxity to gain market share. The Great American Housing Bubble tells the story of the transformation of mortgage lending from a dysfunctional, local affair, featuring short-term, interest-only “bullet” loans, to a robust, national market based around the thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage, a uniquely American innovation that served as the foundation for the middle class. Levitin and Wachter show how Fannie and Freddie’s market power kept risk in check until 2003, when mortgage financing shifted sharply to private-label securitization, as lenders looked for a way to sustain lending volume following an unprecedented refinancing wave. Private-label securitization brought a return of bullet loans, which had lower initial payments—enabling borrowers to borrow more—but much greater back-loaded risks. These loans produced a vast oversupply of underpriced mortgage finance that drove up home prices unsustainably. When the bubble burst, it set off a destructive downward spiral of home prices and foreclosures. Levitin and Wachter propose a rebuild of the housing finance system that ensures the widespread availability of the thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage, while preventing underwriting competition and shifting risk away from the public to private investors.