Books about Targeting from Amazon.com

Who should be first in line for kidney transplants--the relatively healthy or the severely ill? Should chronic troublemakers be allowed to remain in public housing? Should perpetually disruptive students stay in classes where they can prevent other children from learning? Prominent legal scholar Peter H. Schuck and leading economist Richard J. Zeckhauser take on such vexing policy dilemmas in Targeting in Social Programs: Avoiding Bad Bets and Removing Bad Apples.

Schuck and Zeckhauser present a rigorous framework for analyzing many of the difficult choices facing policymakers. Most social programs seek to help "bad draws"--unfortunate, often low-income individuals. Poor targeting of scarce resources, however, often undermines both the effectiveness of those policies and their political support. Many policy failures occur when officials allocate these scarce resources to two groups of bad draws: "bad bets," who will derive substantially less benefit from the resources than would other bad draws, and "bad apples," whose behavior in the program imposes significant costs on other recipients. The authors show how to identify bad bets and bad apples, and how to treat them in ways that promote the greater public good.

This tough-minded book raises the right questions, those that society ignores at its peril, particularly to its less fortunate members. The answers it provides and reforms it suggests,though rarely easy and sometimes incomplete, will point social policy in the right direction.

This comprehensive pronunciation text encourages students to set their own learning agenda and practice in and outside the classroom The text uses a communicative approach and clear explanations to build pronunciation awareness and provides extensive practice for all aspects of pronunciation.

Iran and the United States are on a collision course. David Barsamian presents the perspectives of four experts on Iran who discuss the 1953 CIA coup and the rise of the Islamic regime, Iran's internal dynamics and competing forces, relations with Iraq and Afghanistan, and the consequences of US policy.

Ervand Abrahamian authored Iran Between Two Revolutions.

Noam Chomsky's most recent book is Failed States.

Nahid Mozaffari edited the The PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature.

David Barsamian's books include Imperial Ambitions with Noam Chomsky and Original Zinn with Howard Zinn.

Appendices by Dr. Joseph Mercola (mercola.com) and Dr. Garth Nicolson (Institute for Molecular Medicine)

Definitions of terms

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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE CONSULTING YOUR DOCTOR!

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A research scientist and former arthritis sufferer outlines a proven treatment that could banish your arthritis pain forever. This well-documented study presents evidence that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other chronic illnesses are caused by microbial infection. When the infection triggers allergic reactions, it appears that the body's immune system has turned on itself. Once the cause of the infection and allergies are identified and removed, arthritis symptoms will decrease and likely disappear as long as the body's collective systems remain in balance.

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IN THIS BOOK YOU WILL DISCOVER:

-- Actions of microorganisms that cause RA-mycoplasmas, mycobacteria, molds, spirochetes (e.g., Lyme), viruses, bacteria and their L-forms;
-- Their role in other chronic illnesses with arthritis-like symptoms such as Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome;
-- Online authoritative medical information and support organizations;
-- The best Internet sites to research health, drugs, treatments, and disease;
-- What diagnostic tests are available and where to get them;

AND LEARN WAYS TO:
-- Recognize and suppress pathogenic microorganisms;
-- Destroy or eliminate the toxins they produce;
-- Control the allergies that trigger RA reactions;
-- Strengthen the immune system using natural, non-toxic methods;
-- Locate a health care professional to work with you.

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Conventional RA treatments include toxic drugs that reduce painful symptoms but do not treat the root cause, namely, bacterial infection. An immune system weakened by drugs (e.g., antidepressants or antihistamines), improper diet, stress, and multiple infections is unable to produce the quantity and quality of natural antibodies to stave off new attacks. This book describes the steps necessary to:

-- Identify, attack, and remove the cause(s) of the infection(s);
-- Neutralize pathogen-generated wastes (toxins and harmful enzymes);
-- Flush these wastes from the body; and
-- Restore the body's systems to normal, healthy function.

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Until recently, testing methods to identify these microorganisms precisely and to prescribe effective treatments have not been available. Traditional treatments with immunosuppressing drugs often breed stronger, more resistant bacterial organisms, which mutate and grow, overwhelming the immune system's resources. Undiagnosed food and chemical allergies can also amplify the severity of arthritis symptoms. In this book, both the lay reader and physician will find an effective course of treatment possibly leading to a cure for RA and other chronic illnesses with arthritis-like symptoms..
Price: $8.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Downes examines several historical cases: British counterinsurgency tactics during the Boer War, the starvation blockade used by the Allies against Germany in World War I, Axis and Allied bombing campaigns in World War II, and ethnic cleansing in the Palestine War. He concludes that governments decide to target civilian populations for two main reasons--desperation to reduce their own military casualties or avert defeat, or a desire to seize and annex enemy territory. When a state's military fortunes take a turn for the worse, he finds, civilians are more likely to be declared legitimate targets to coerce the enemy state to give up. When territorial conquest and annexation are the aims of warfare, the population of the disputed land is viewed as a threat and the aggressor state may target those civilians to remove them. Democracies historically have proven especially likely to target civilians in desperate circumstances.

In Targeting Civilians in War, Downes explores several major recent conflicts, including the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Civilian casualties occurred in each campaign, but they were not the aim of military action. In these cases, Downes maintains, the achievement of quick and decisive victories against overmatched foes allowed democracies to win without abandoning their normative beliefs by intentionally targeting civilians. Whether such "restraint" can be guaranteed in future conflicts against more powerful adversaries is, however, uncertain.

During times of war, democratic societies suffer tension between norms of humane conduct and pressures to win at the lowest possible costs. The painful lesson of Targeting Civilians in War is that when these two concerns clash, the latter usually prevails..
Price: $25.91 [Notify me when price goes down.]

How should governments and central banks use monetary policy to create a healthy economy? Traditionally, policymakers have used such strategies as controlling the growth of the money supply or pegging the exchange rate to a stable currency. In recent years a promising new approach has emerged: publicly announcing and pursuing specific targets for the rate of inflation. This book is the first in-depth study of inflation targeting. Combining penetrating theoretical analysis with detailed empirical studies of countries where inflation targeting has been adopted, the authors show that the strategy has clear advantages over traditional policies. They argue that the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank should adopt this strategy, and they make specific proposals for doing so.

The book begins by explaining the unique features and advantages of inflation targeting. The authors argue that the simplicity and openness of inflation targeting make it far easier for the public to understand the intent and effects of monetary policy. This strategy also increases policymakers' accountability for inflation performance and can accommodate flexible, even "discretionary," monetary policy actions without sacrificing central banks' credibility. The authors examine how well variants of this approach have worked in nine countries: Germany and Switzerland (which employ a money-focused form of inflation targeting), New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Israel, Spain, and Australia. They show that these countries have typically seen lower inflation, lower inflation expectations, and lower nominal interest rates, and have found that one-time shocks to the price level have less of a "pass-through" effect on inflation. These effects, in turn, are improving the climate for economic growth. The authors warn, however, that the success of inflation targeting depends on operational details, such as how the targets are defined and when they are announced. They also show that inflation targeting is not a panacea that can make inflation perfectly predictable or reduce it without economic costs.

Clear, balanced, and authoritative, Inflation Targeting is a groundbreaking study that will have a major impact on the debate over the right monetary strategy for the coming decades. As a unique comparative study of what central banks actually do in different countries around the world, this book will also be invaluable to anyone interested in how economic policy is made.