"Costly Fix addresses core questions about the Alberta oil sands boom that started in the 1990s: Why did this flood of investment pour into the oil sands of northern Alberta? What role has government played with respect to the oil sands rush, and why? Who benefited and who or what has paid the costs of exploiting the oil sands? By analyzing the interest, ideas, and institutions involved in the oil sands boom, Ian Urquart charts its development from the beginning to the present. In this process, we learn about the state's role in making the oil sands profitable, the environmental dimensions of oil sands development, and First Nations' roles in both opposing and supporting the industry. The final chapter examines the extent to which Alberta's new NDP government, in its first eighteen months, altered the legacies they inherited from the Progressive Conservatives on royalties, tailings reservoirs, and climate change."--

Costly Fix examines the post-1995 Alberta tar sands boom, detailing how the state inflated the profitability of the tar sands and turned a blind eye to environmental issues. It considers the position of First Nations, the character and strength of environmental critiques, and the difficulties that environmental groups and First Nations have had in establishing a countermovement to market fundamentalism. The final chapter discusses how Alberta's new NDP government, in its first couple of years, has addressed the legacies they have inherited from the previous Progressive Conservative government on climate change, royalties, and the blight of tailings ponds in the boreal forest. Throughout the book, Urquhart demonstrates that too many actors have done too little to prevent Alberta's boreal forest from becoming a landscape sacrificed for unsustainable economic growth.

ENTIRELY REVISED AND UPDATED! Over 40,000 first edition copies sold. How much does it really cost to renovate your investment property? Learn detailed tips, tricks, and tactics to accurately budget nearly any house flipping project and investment property renovation from expert real estate investor and fix-and-flipper J Scott. Discover the tried-and-tested steps of his professional framework and methodology for precisely evaluating renovation costs in hundreds of his own successful rehab projects. Determine how to accurately estimate all the costs you are likely to face during renovation--and get all of your rehab questions answered in a single place! Whether you are preparing to walk through your very first rehab project or you're an experienced home flipper, this handbook will be your guide to identifying renovation projects, creating a scope of work, and staying on budget to ensure a timely profit! Inside, you will learn how to: -Inspect every aspect of a property to create your renovation scope -Decide which upgrade options provide the biggest bang for your buck -Identify the 150+ most common renovations you'll likely encounter -See big problems (like mold and termites!) and quickly fix them -Assign accurate prices to every rehab task to build a detailed budget -Determine which contractors are best for certain repairs or projects -Break down the top 25 basic components of a renovation -And so much more! You don't need to be a contractor to flip houses, but you do need to know the fundamentals of budgeting and pricing your renovation--including everything from cosmetic renovations to complex installations and upgrades. This book gives you the estimation tools needed to produce the income you desire on your first--or next--investment deal!

An “essential” (Times UK) and “meticulously researched” (Forbes) book by “the skeptical environmentalist” argues that panic over climate change is causing more harm than good Hurricanes batter our coasts. Wildfires rage across the American West. Glaciers collapse in the Artic. Politicians, activists, and the media espouse a common message: climate change is destroying the planet, and we must take drastic action immediately to stop it. Children panic about their future, and adults wonder if it is even ethical to bring new life into the world. Enough, argues bestselling author Bjorn Lomborg. Climate change is real, but it's not the apocalyptic threat that we've been told it is. Projections of Earth's imminent demise are based on bad science and even worse economics. In panic, world leaders have committed to wildly expensive but largely ineffective policies that hamper growth and crowd out more pressing investments in human capital, from immunization to education. False Alarm will convince you that everything you think about climate change is wrong -- and points the way toward making the world a vastly better, if slightly warmer, place for us all.

New York Times bestseller Business Book of the Year--Association of Business Journalists From the New York Times bestselling author comes an eye-opening, urgent look at America's broken health care system--and the people who are saving it--now with a new Afterword by the author. "A must-read for every American." --Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief, FORBES One in five Americans now has medical debt in collections and rising health care costs today threaten every small business in America. Dr. Makary, one of the nation's leading health care experts, travels across America and details why health care has become a bubble. Drawing from on-the-ground stories, his research, and his own experience, The Price We Pay paints a vivid picture of the business of medicine and its elusive money games in need of a serious shake-up. Dr. Makary shows how so much of health care spending goes to things that have nothing to do with health and what you can do about it. Dr. Makary challenges the medical establishment to remember medicine's noble heritage of caring for people when they are vulnerable. The Price We Pay offers a road map for everyday Americans and business leaders to get a better deal on their health care, and profiles the disruptors who are innovating medical care. The movement to restore medicine to its mission, Makary argues, is alive and well--a mission that can rebuild the public trust and save our country from the crushing cost of health care.

The ICC Rules of Arbitration constitute one of the world's oldest and most widely used sets of rules for the resolution of international commercial disputes. In 1998, shortly after the entry into force of the current version of the Rules, the First Edition of this book appeared and quickly became an indispensable resource for all those involved or interested in ICC arbitrations, including arbitrators, counsel, and parties. In this updated and revised edition, the authors two of the world's leading experts on ICC arbitration have revised the Guide in order to take stock not only of the evolution in ICC practice over the last seven years, but of new arbitral and judicial decisions bearing on the interpretation and application of the Rules and of developments in international arbitration practice generally. The Guide's notable features include: article-by-article commentary on the ICC Rules, enriched by the authorsand¿ personal involvement in their drafting and years of experience as arbitrators, counsel, and former Secretaries General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration;ample and greatly expanded references, in respect of the Rulesand¿ individual provisions, to relevant national court judgments and arbitral awards, together with extensive bibliographical sources; andup-to-date statistics on ICC arbitration and copies of all ICC rules on dispute resolution mechanisms in addition to arbitration.A truly comprehensive reference work on ICC arbitration practice, the Second Edition of the Guide will be of immeasurable value to corporate counsel, international lawyers, and business people, as well as to all those interested in the international arbitration process.