Personal Development Books

A helpful guide to understanding ADD. I have two children with this problem and this book was very useful. It contains a lot of practical information and I am better prepared than ever to help my children.

Averting describes the World Bank's current thinking on how developed and developing countries can sustain economic progress in the face of the 'crisis' of ageing populations.  Its focus is pensions policy: designing policies which are redistributive while minimising the adverse effects on economic growth of high tax burdens and future public spending promises.  There are three problems with pension provision. First, the 'chain-letter' nature of pay-as-you-go social security is leading to unsustainable commitments.  In some countries, a downward spiral has arisen from attempts to maintain excessive initial returns on pension schemes across generations in the face of adverse demographic trends.   Higher pension taxes, payroll tax evasion and increasing scheme indebtedness result.  In a number of countries, pension scheme's debt exceeds the value of other government debt. 

Secondly, there is the incentive within both social security programmes and private, final-salary, 'defined-benefit' schemes to use early retirement as a means of unravelling lifetime employment commitments.  With greater longevity, there are some countries in the world where periods of pensioned retirement are beginning to exceed the length of the working life.  This puts pressure on funded pension scheme finances, let alone those of unfunded (pay-as-you-go) schemes. 

Finally, there is the alleged deleterious effect of public pension commitments on private savings rates.  But the Bank never clearly states either why high savings rates are important; after all, in standard models with ageing populations, a cut in the capital stock may be optimal.

Accepting the broad thrust of the bank's policy agenda, there is the important issue of heterogeneity of pension provision across countries.  The basis of the Bank's generic pension reform package is the so-called 'three-pillar' approach: a first pillar of a mandatory state minimum pension (which might be income-tested, but not earnings-related); a second mandatory pillar of privately provided pensions from company defined-benefit plans or retirement savings accounts, held individually or group provided.  The third pillar would be voluntary through other forms of savings (typically defined-contribution schemes).

For many countries, this 'ideal' represents a radical departure from existing practice, with much greater emphasis on private provision and funding, exploiting international capital markets to a greater extent than traditional 'provident' funds, and a significant downgrading of state, earnings-related provisions.  The Bank's proposals are clearly influenced by Latin American reforms, notably Chile. A good deal of attention is paid to the 'double burden' imposed on a single generation when switching from pay-as-you-go to full funding.    

The defined-contribution environment needs careful domestic regulation from the outset, such as scheme would have the added attraction for many countries of increasing the depth of the domestic capital market or allowing them to take advantage of the widening international capital market for appropriate diversification. 

The Bank also underplays the public-choice aspect of pension provision: the blueprints for pension reform are to be transmuted into policy by benign governments (assisted by multilateral agencies) with a long enough time horizon to forgo any short-term redistributive considerations.  And on a personal carping note, as an erstwhile consultant to the Bank on pension reform, there is, if not a gulf, at least daylight between the Bank's public position in this book and the conservative and bureaucratically-minded instincts of some of its own staff, when specific reforms along the lines proposed in this book are mooted. 

The book shows how far thinking on pensions has come.  Ten years ago, the case for ever-increasing state pensions could be trotted out on the spurious grounds of market failure.  Defined-contribution plans would have been rejected as too risky and infeasible.  And few countries would have woken up to the potential financial crisis confronting them, and to the range of options.  This book is by far the best survey on international pension policies and how to adapt the demographic transition.  It is of interest to economists and policy-makers alike, and shows that the 'economics of pensions' impinges on a wide range of issues of interests to economists in general. 

(edited from a review in the Economic Journal, vol. 105, no. 433, pp. 1651-3.)

B Street: The Notorious Playground of Coulee Dam captures an up-close, in-focus glimpse of American history in the making during the era of the Great Depression and beyond. During these difficult times, B Street was a place of recreation for white workingmen, particularly those who labored on the Coulee Dam; filled with shops, restaurants, and brothels, B Street was off-limits to blacks and most dark-skinned individuals, including Indians. Opening with the eyes and memories of author Lawney L. Reyes, a young boy who wandered B Street with his little sister Luana and their dog Pickles while their Indian mother and Filipino father survived hand-to-mouth running a Chinese restaurant, B Street continues through preservations of Reyes' mother's diary, enhanced with stories told by his parents and other members of the Sin-Aikst tribe. B Street is ultimately a profound testimony to the history and culture of the Indians whose way of life was overwhelmed with change through the creation of the Grand Coulee Dam. Highly recommended, especially for Native American reading lists.

In his book the author Kin Tue-Fee is honest in sharing a wealth of his knowledge and his life secrets. Making available time tested and proven principals & concepts that work. Although easy to understand they are effective in making the desired change and improvement.

It certainly contains a wealth of information.

Capt. Richard P. Rodericks B.Sc. MNI

This book is an invaluable tool for choosing toys for children of all ages. We have found it much easier to make smart selections for our infant as well as gifts for relatives and friends with various aged children. The book itself would make a great baby shower gift. Invest in the book and don't throw money away on toys that won't get used. This book enables you to stretch your toy dollars for purchasing toys that have a lasting appeal.

Ms. Chopra's poetic examination of the personal and spiritual development of a young woman and the conflict encountered in balancing emotional fulfilment with cultural and family traditions is a compelling read. The poetic form is smooth and emotionally charged. Highly recommended.

Stefan Ball, of the Dr. Edward Bach Centre and Bach Foundation has come up with a unique approach to understanding and using the Bach Flower Remedies with this book, one that looks beyond the descriptions of what the individual flowers do and how to choose and use them (scores of books are available that do this already, some with him as author, no less). The focus here, as one can gather from the subtitle, is on personal and spiritual development and growth. I am not usually one who even considers reading so-called "self-help" books, but since I am heavily involved with the Bach system, including training to become a practitioner, I already had an interest in that part of the subject. This book does cover in detail, in chapters alternating with more philosophical ones, what each of the 38 Bach Flower Remedies do, but even here, there are more in-depth descriptions and different ways of looking at the Remedies, using many thoughtful examples (some from the author's own life experiences), than usually appear in these books. Every other chapter covers topics such as intuition, peak experiences, simplicity and finding one's life purpose not only as they relate to using the Bach system, but also how they have been discussed throughout history by philosphers, authors and scientists. This sounds like it could get rather heavy pretty quickly, but Ball keeps the tone light and the style of writing almost conversational so that the book is very easy and quick to read while conveying a wealth of useful information that makes you think about your own life. For someone already using the Bach Flowers, Bloom offers fascinating, fresh insight into using them for a deeper purpose, beyond, say, "merely" taking them for relieving depression. For someone new to Bach Flowers, it provides a wonderful starting point, complete with all the basic information as well as an underlying theme that can be tapped into when the time is right. Seventy years on, Bach Flowers continue to help people change their own lives. Bloom brings forward this message in a comfortable, inspiring fashion which is destined to make it a classic.

I contend that rigidity [...] i.e., the adherence to a principle to the utter exclusion of its opposite, is contrary to the laws of life." Thus wrote Feldenkrais in this book in 1949, when he was 45 years old, already an expert in Judo and with a PhD in physics. In those years he settled for some time in Britain after having emigrated from Russia, where he was born, to Palestine, and then travelled to France, where he spent a few years studying science and training in Judo. The book presents the essence of his phenomenally wide perspective about re-opening the path for personal development.

He puts himself alongside the great masters searching for methods for cure from ailments, both physical and mental. His motto is learning, which he considers "the uniqueness of Man". Learning in the deep, dynamic, sense of perpetually creating and utilizing new options for experience and action. Continuous learning requires that we shall not forget that "...the principles we learn are themselves ephemeral and not absolute".

Here are the foundations of his approach presented to the intelligent reader. To read the book you must be willing to deal with a style of writing which, however demanding, goes straight into all topics which Moshe considered vital to his method.
A condensed description of the conditions of our existence, touching upon such topics as neurology, prehistory, child development, individual-society relationships, and more. A rare discussion of gravitation and the anti-gravity mechanism is followed by a discussion of the effects of emotion (especially anxiety and the attitude to sexuality) on posture and on personal patterns of movement. Here you can read one of Moshe's earlier presentations of the ideas that guided him through the development of his unique method and technique of therapy and instruction by direct contact with the nervous system. The aim is to re-tune it toward a gradual development of a personal style of action characterized by more freedom and elegance. If you are really interested in Moshe's ideas written in the personal, concentrated, somewhat arid style of his younger years, this book will be an exciting addition to your library for many years to come

The contents of this book are obvious, but yet we choose to neglect these topics. An awesone book that puts you back in your place. I didn't read it as a self-inprovement excercise, but after reading the first page at the book store, I caouldn't resist the purchase.

This book is easy reading and has practical steps to create a self-esteem lifestyle. The McGrane Institute offers you practical next step to create the life we are meant to live. I am glad I found out about this great resource for me personnally, for my career and family fulfilment.