Derivatives were responsible for one of the worst financial meltdowns in history, one from which we have not yet fully recovered. However, they are likewise capable of generating some of the most incredible wealth we have ever seen. This book asks how we might ensure the latter while avoiding the former. Looking past the usual arguments for the regulation or abolition of derivative finance, it asks a more probing question: what kinds of social institutions and policies would we need to put...

Banking today has become unduly complex because new forms of risk such as technological and compliance risks are evolving and growing. They amplify the fundamental risks inherent in any bank – those of credit, market, operational and liquidity. While established concepts and principles of risk management flourish, new prescribed practices such as those of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision continually unfold over the years. All in all, the discipline can appear complicated to many....

Digital transformation is happening across all industries worldwide, including in Singapore. This book seeks to provide insights on how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can embark on their own journeys of digital transformation, while at the same time remaining agile in responding to industry and consumer needs. It will outline how firms can foster a culture of business transformation to improve efficiency and productivity; elaborate on how the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digi...

Writings by the pioneering linguist Benjamin Whorf, including his famous work on the Hopi language as well as general reflections on language and meaning.The pioneering linguist Benjamin Whorf (1897–1941) grasped the relationship between human language and human thinking: how language can shape our innermost thoughts. His basic thesis is that our perception of the world and our ways of thinking about it are deeply influenced by the structure of the languages we speak. The writings c...

The market for financial derivatives is far and away the largest and most powerful market in the world, and it is growing exponentially. In 1970 the yearly valuation of financial derivatives was only a few million dollars. By 1980 the sum had swollen to nearly one hundred million dollars. By 1990 it had climbed to almost one hundred billion dollars, and in 2000 it approached one hundred trillion. Created and sustained by a small number of European and American banks, corporations, and hedg...

Technology for modifying the genotypes and phenotypes of insects and other arthropods has steadily progressed with the development of more precise and powerful methods, most prominently transgenic modification. For many insect pests, there is now almost unlimited ability to modify phenotypes to benefit human health and agriculture. Precise DNA modifications and gene drive have the power to make wild-type populations less harmful in ways that could never have been performed with previous tr...

The period since 1989 has been marked by the global endorsement of open markets, the free flow of finance capital and liberal ideas of constitutional rule, and the active expansion of human rights. Why, then, in this era of intense globalization, has there been a proliferation of violence, of ethnic cleansing on the one hand and extreme forms of political violence against civilian populations on the other?Fear of Small Numbers is Arjun Appadurai’s answer to that question. ...

In The Empire of Love anthropologist Elizabeth A. Povinelli reflects on a set of ethical and normative claims about the governance of love, sociality, and the body that circulates in liberal settler colonies such as the United States and Australia. She boldly theorizes intimate relations as pivotal sites where liberal logics and aspirations absorbed through settler imperialism are manifest, where discourses of self-sovereignty, social constraint, and value converge.For mor...

Are you sick of waking up in the middle of the night? Do you feel sleepy and unrefreshed when you wake up? If you want to get deep, rejuvenating sleep and wake up feeling refreshed every morning, "Sleep Optimization Guide: Unlocking the Secrets to Restful Nights" is the answer.This book delves deeply into the science of sleep, revealing the key elements that affect your quality of sleep, such as circadian rhythms, stress, and technology. You'll discover natural solutions that encou...

A critical synthesis of the work of Lauren Berlant, Moishe Postone, and Michael Silverstein.The Treadmill Affect draws upon the work of three University of Chicago professors, each a former program director at the Center for Transcultural Studies: literary and cultural critic Lauren Berlant, historian and social theorist Moishe Postone, and linguist Michael Silverstein. Through this intellectual synthesis, Benjamin Lee demonstrates the critical possibiliti...

Writings by a pioneering linguist, including his famous work on the Hopi language, general reflections on language and meaning, and the "Yale Report."The pioneering linguist Benjamin Whorf (1897–1941) grasped the relationship between human language and human thinking: how language can shape our innermost thoughts. His basic thesis is that our perception of the world and our ways of thinking about it are deeply influenced by the structure of the languages we speak. ...

ISMS... those things that divide & separate us. SCHISMS... those things that keep us apart & POETIC RHYTHMS... those things that bring us together... puts a smile on our faces and keeps LOVE in our Hearts. A Collection of Poetry Geared Toward the Young and the Old... Combining Old School Values and Wisdom With the Witty Wordplay of Today's Generation. If You Don't Have it, You Need To Get It... Today!