Dont Fall For It

Learn financial and business lessons from some of the biggest frauds in history Why does financial fraud persist? History is full of sensational financial frauds and scams. Enron was forced to declare bankruptcy after allegations of massive accounting fraud, wiping out $78 billion in stock market value. Bernie Madoff, the largest individual fraudster in history, built a $65 billion Ponzi scheme that ultimately resulted in his being sentenced to 150 years in prison. People from all walks of life have been scammed out of their money: French and British nobility looking to get rich quickly, farmers looking for a miracle cure for their health ailments, several professional athletes, and some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. No one is immune from getting deceived when money is involved. Don’t Fall For It is a fascinating look into some of the biggest financial frauds and scams ever. This compelling book explores specific instances of financial fraud as well as some of the most successful charlatans and hucksters of all-time. Sharing lessons that apply to business, money management, and investing, author Ben Carlson answers questions such as: Why do even the most intelligent among us get taken advantage of in financial scams? What make fraudsters successful? Why is it often harder to stay rich than to get rich? Each chapter in examines different frauds, perpetrators, or victims of scams. These real-life stories include anecdotes about how these frauds were carried out and discussions of what can be learned from these events. This engaging book: Explores the business and financial lessons drawn from some of history’s biggest frauds Describes the conditions under which fraud tends to work best Explains how people can avoid being scammed out of their money Suggests practical steps to reduce financial fraud in the future Don’t Fall For It: A Short History of Financial Scams is filled with engrossing real-life stories and valuable insights, written for finance professionals, investors, and general interest readers alike.

Read Josh Sundquist's posts on the Penguin Blog. One moment Josh Sundquist was your typical energetic and inquisitive nine year- old boy. The next, his entire life changed when he was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a particularly virulent cancer strain that would eventually claim Josh's left leg. Told in a wide-eyed, winning, heartbreaking voice, Just Don't Fall is the story of the boy Josh was and of the young man he became. His story begins in a small, close-knit Southern town, where his father-an aspiring pastor questioning his faith, and his mother-- homeschooling an ever- growing brood of children-struggle to make ends meet. Josh journeys through a dizzying array of hospitals and eventually lands at a pivotal place: the nearby mountain, where he makes his first attempt to ski. It is on the slopes, and later, on the race course, that Josh's world bursts wide open in a way no one could have ever anticipated. The inspiration to ski, however, and to become a champion, is not all that Josh has to contend with- there is adolescence to navigate, the transition from homeschool to public high school, and girls. There is an increasingly turbulent and difficult home life, with another cancer scare, a wayward brother, and dwindling finances to pay for training. Finally, there is the wild, bumpy road to the Paralympics in Turin, with a misanthropic coach, training in the Rockies, and a timeless friendship with a charismatic, imposing Brooklyn buddy named Ralph. Through it all, Josh is forced to question his abilities, his sanity, his will, his faith in himself, and his faith in God. Because of, not despite, these myriad obstacles in his path, Josh is able to achieve a genuine grace: the grace to risk failure and to succeed. It is the grace of a young boy becoming a man and of a champion realizing his greatest dream. Josh Sundquist shows us with charm, humility and remarkable strength that even if we fall, this inner grace can lift us up and carry us over the many mountains we all must face.

He's given her one rule to follow. Will it be the only rule she can't help but break? Claire Chase has had nothing but trouble finding 'the one.' Sick and tired of Claire's obsession with the perfect man, her friends challenge her to take a break from her search for Mr Perfect and have some fun. But when Claire decides to pursue her brother's best friend, the man who is the complete opposite of everything she thinks she wants, they know she's headed for trouble.

This is the story of a young boy growing up in the West Kerry Gaeltacht in the 1940s and 1950s. It describes the fun and games of his schooldays, his accordion playing for ceilis as a teenager, his emigration to London unknown to his parents, his meeting up with his brother and working there, his further emigration to Chicago and his marriage and eventual return to Ireland. Maidhc Dainin describes how the musicians he played with in Chicago lost their hearts and minds in the music. He describes piano playing, accordion playing and fiddle playing and the music (and the craic!) is resonant from his descriptions. Maidhc Dainin's Irish is colloquial, conversational and without any airs and graces.

They swiped right for fun, but instead found a love they never expected Tired of disappointing dates with men, Dakota is convinced true love has passed her by. But when her lesbian friends convince her to include women in her dating app options, she instantly hits it off with NYPD detective Jack. Although Jack makes it clear relationships aren't her thing, Dakota's warmth and charm prove irresistible. Soon, what was meant to be just a one-night stand turns into an intoxicating affair neither saw coming. When deeper feelings emerge, Jack's emotional walls go up. Can she and Dakota turn their undeniable connection into something more, or will their different backgrounds and painful past experiences get in the way? I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You is a tender yet steamy story about risking your heart again to find your unexpected soulmate. Grab your copy of this sizzling one-night-to-forever sapphic romance now!

What she knows may save his people. Or destroy them. Vampire Mythicals Book 4 Still depressed after the death of her best friend, Joanie Alekhine finds herself lost. Everything was changing, and she was caught in the middle, with no place to be. Her boss doesn’t trust her to do the job. Her friends treat her like she’s glass and will shatter at any moment. And then the prince calls. Prince Maksim needs help. And he knows of one person who can help him. As a dragon prince, he has duties to live up to for his clan. Yet he’s not ready to marry and align his dwindling clan with another, stronger clan. His clan would lose everything if he did. But if he pretends to be involved with someone highly inappropriate, like a certain sexy female vampire, he should be able to postpone any obligations for a bit longer. When Joanie agrees to return and be his fake lover, she thinks the change of scenery might help her mood. That, or the spying on the other dragon clans, to see what she can learn. What she knows could change the dragon’s way of life. Can she trust Maksim with her knowledge? Or will he take it and run?

The handsome Navy SEAL was my entire world one summer. But he never wanted anything serious. So what happens when he finds out that I’ve had his baby? Kyle O’Shea likes to keep things casual, especially when it comes to women. Fun, fancy-free, and female are his three favorite words. But when a beautiful brunette tells him she’s had his son, his world comes crashing down. Claire never expected to get pregnant by a gorgeous Navy SEAL. The curvy girl wanted to have some fun, and when she finds out she’s expecting, her world falls apart. Will she and Kyle make a family together? Or will the Navy SEAL never know his son? Hey Readers – If you love a man in uniform, then Kyle O’Shea will knock your socks off. Our hero meets his match in the sassy, feisty Claire because our curvy girl gives as good as she gets. Of course, there’s a happily ever after for our couple, and a secret baby too. Enjoy! Cassandra

That night, Johnson, the master of Joe's family, pinned her against the couch"Angeline, you have to be aware that marriage means a man and a woman have to fulfill their obligations, right?""Our marriage is just a contract""A contract also means legal responsibilities, Angeline You can't escape from this"Angeline was the 'vicious adopted daughter' who had hurt the family that brought her upIn her life, there were only three things she regretted the mostFirst, on the night her mother died, she begged the wrong person, which made her lose her virginity for nothing and suffer four years in jailSecond, when she was released from prison, she lost her liver to take revenge on her father's family, and then attracted Charles, who was Andy's boyfriend at the timeThird, she shouldn't have fallen in love with that man and put herself in danger"One day I finally learned to cherish Then I looked back, only to find that some things were gone and could never be found again" This is Book 2 of Don't Fall in Love with Me, Mr. Satan (10 books).

A deep question in economics is why wages and salaries don't fall during recessions. This is not true of other prices, which adjust relatively quickly to reflect changes in demand and supply. Although economists have posited many theories to account for wage rigidity, none is satisfactory. Eschewing "top-down" theorizing, Truman Bewley explored the puzzle by interviewing--during the recession of the early 1990s--over three hundred business executives and labor leaders as well as professional recruiters and advisors to the unemployed. By taking this approach, gaining the confidence of his interlocutors and asking them detailed questions in a nonstructured way, he was able to uncover empirically the circumstances that give rise to wage rigidity. He found that the executives were averse to cutting wages of either current employees or new hires, even during the economic downturn when demand for their products fell sharply. They believed that cutting wages would hurt morale, which they felt was critical in gaining the cooperation of their employees and in convincing them to internalize the managers' objectives for the company. Bewley's findings contradict most theories of wage rigidity and provide fascinating insights into the problems businesses face that prevent labor markets from clearing. Table of Contents: Acknowledgments 1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Time and Location 4. Morale 5. Company Risk Aversion 6. Internal Pay Structure 7. External Pay Structure 8. The Shirking Theory 9. The Pay of New Hires in the Primary Sector 10. Raises 11. Resistance to Pay Reduction 12. Experiences with Pay Reduction 13. Layoffs 14. Severance Benefits 15. Hiring 16. Voluntary Turnover 17. The Secondary Sector 18. The Unemployed 19. Information, Wage Rigidity, and Labor Negotiations 20. Existing Theories 21. Remarks on Theory 22. Whereto from Here? Notes References Index Reviews of this book: In Why Wages Don't Fall During A Recession, [Truman Bewley] tackles one of the oldest, and most controversial, puzzles in economics: why nominal wages rarely fall (and real wages do not fall enough) when unemployment is high. But he does so in a novel way, through interviews with over 300 businessmen, union leaders, job recruiters and unemployment counsellors in the north-eastern United States during the early 1990s recession...Mr. Bewley concludes that employers resist pay cuts largely because the savings from lower wages are usually outweighed by the cost of denting workers' morale: pay cuts hit workers' standard of living and lower their self-esteem. Falling morale raises staff turnover and reduces productivity...Mr. Bewley's theory has some interesting implications...[and] has a ring of truth to it. --The Economist Reviews of this book: This contribution to the growing literature on behavioral macroeconomics threatens to disturb the tranquil state of macroeconomic theory that has prevailed in recent years...Bewley's argument will be hard for conventional macroeconomists to ignore, partly because of the extraordinary thoroughness and honesty with which he evidently conducted his investigation, and the sheer volume of evidence he provides...Although Bewley's work will not settle the substantive debates related to wage rigidity, it is likely to have a profound influence on the way macroeconomists construct models. In particular, the concepts of morale, fairness, and money illusion are almost certain to play a big role in macroeconomic theory. His demonstration that there exist in reality simple, robust behavioral patters that cannot plausibly be founded on traditional maximizing behabior also raises the prospect of a more empirically oriented, more behavioral macroeconomics in the future. --Peter Howitt, journal of Economic Literature Reviews of this book: I think any scholar interested in labour markets and wage determination should read this well-written, lively, and highly stimulating book...[It] provides a fresh view and a lot of complementary background knowledge about how experienced people in the field see the employment relationship and what is actually crucial. Knowledge of this sort is all too rare in economics, and Truman Bewley's truly impressive study can serve as a role model for future investigations. --Simon G'chter, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics To call this book a breath of fresh air is an understatement. The direct insights are fascinating, and Truman Bewley's use of them is sharp and insightful. Labor economists and macroeconomists have a lot to think about. --Robert M. Solow, Nobel Laureate, Institute Professor of Economics, Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Truman Bewley set out to conduct a handful of interviews with business executives to gain some theoretical inspiration, and his project blossomed into over 300 interviews with business people, labor leaders and consultants. He is truly the accidental interviewer of economics. Time and again, he found that workers behave like people, not atomistic, selfish economic agents. His insights will engage and enrage economic theorists and empiricists for years to come. --Alan Krueger, Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Princeton University