If we believe that the small, open economies of Nordic Europe are paragons of good governance, why are they so prone to economic crisis? In Good Governance Gone Bad, Darius Ornston provides evidence that adapting flexibly to rapid, technological change and shifting patterns of economic competition may be a great virtue, but it does not prevent countries from making strikingly poor policy choices and suffering devastating results. Home to three of the "big five" financial crises in the twentieth century, Nordic Europe in the new millennium has witnessed a housing bubble in Denmark, the collapse of the Finnish ICT industry, and the Icelandic financial crisis. Ornston argues that the reason for these two seemingly contradictory phenomena is one and the same. The dense, cohesive relationships that enable these countries to respond to crisis with radical reform render them vulnerable to policy overshooting and overinvestment. Good Governance Gone Bad tests this argument by examining the rise and decline of heavy industry in postwar Sweden, the emergence and disruption of the Finnish ICT industry, and Iceland’s impressive but short-lived reign as a financial powerhouse as well as ten similar and contrasting cases across Europe and North America. Ornston demonstrates how small and large states alike can learn from the Nordic experience, providing a valuable corrective to uncritical praise for the "Nordic model."

If we believe that the small, open economies of Nordic Europe are paragons of good governance, why are they so prone to economic crisis? In Good Governance Gone Bad, Darius Ornston provides evidence that adapting flexibly to rapid, technological change and shifting patterns of economic competition may be a great virtue, but it does not prevent countries from making strikingly poor policy choices and suffering devastating results. Home to three of the "big five" financial crises in the twentieth century, Nordic Europe in the new millennium has witnessed a housing bubble in Denmark, the collapse of the Finnish ICT industry, and the Icelandic financial crisis. Ornston argues that the reason for these two seemingly contradictory phenomena is one and the same. The dense, cohesive relationships that enable these countries to respond to crisis with radical reform render them vulnerable to policy overshooting and overinvestment. Good Governance Gone Bad tests this argument by examining the rise and decline of heavy industry in postwar Sweden, the emergence and disruption of the Finnish ICT industry, and Iceland’s impressive but short-lived reign as a financial powerhouse as well as ten similar and contrasting cases across Europe and North America. Ornston demonstrates how small and large states alike can learn from the Nordic experience, providing a valuable corrective to uncritical praise for the "Nordic model."

This book explains why the role of corruption varies greatly between public services, between people, between national systems of governance, and between measures of corruption. More than 1.8 billion people pay the price of bad government each year, by sending a bribe to a public official. In developing countries, corruption affects social services, such as health care and education, and law enforcement institutions, such as the police. When public officials do not act as bureaucrats delivering services by the book, people can try to get them by hook or by crook. The book’s analysis draws on unique evidence: a data base of sample surveys of 175,000 people in 125 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North and South America. The authors avoid one-size-fits-all proposals for reform and instead provide measures that can be applied to particular public services to reduce or eliminate opportunities for corruption.

A passionate examination of why international anti-corruption fails to deliver results and how we should understand and build good governance.

Leaders – whether in business, government or the nonprofit sector – take risks but often without fully understanding risk at a strategic level. Expanding upon the well-known "ESG" risks, this book explains the key nonfinancial (environmental, social, governance and technological or ESGT) risks. For many leaders (including board members), taking risk without knowledge or preparation can lead to organizational crisis, scandal and value destruction. For those who are prepared, resilience follows and so does the ability to transform ESGT risk into opportunity and value for stakeholders. In this book, global governance, risk, ethics and cyber strategist, author and board member, Andrea Bonime-Blanc, shows practitioners at all levels how to effectively identify and manage their top ESGT risks to avoid crises and transform risk into sustainable long-term resilience and value. Gloom to Boom is a book for everyone – from the highest levels of leadership in an organization (the board, CEO and C-suite), to other senior leaders (the chief risk officer, CFO, general counsel, head of CSR and sustainability, CISO, CHRO), and midlevel leaders, students and folks simply interested in current affairs and the role and impact of strategic risk and opportunity on their lives.

For decades, we've heard that local, renewable power is on the horizon, and that cheaper technologies will revolutionize our energy system. Michelle Moore has spent her career proving that this opportunity is already here--and that any community, no matter how small, can build their own clean energy future. In Rural Renaissance, Moore describes five pathways to clean power in rural America and strategies for building it, including energy efficiency, renewable power, resilience (including microgrids and battery storage), the electrification of transportation, and finally, broadband internet. This accessible guide offers a vision of thriving rural communities where clean power is the spark that leads to greater investment, vitality, and equity.

Finally! Everything you need to know to become a remarkably successful hard money lender in real estate—by an acknowledged leader in the field. Are you looking for a lucrative career in hard money lending in real estate? Are you fed up investing in overpriced stocks or working for someone else? Have you considered entering the real estate field but don’t want to be a landlord? Do you long for the financial rewards and independence that are the rewards of creating and managing your own successful real estate investment fund? Then the landmark new book, Making the Yield: Real Estate Hard Money Lending Uncovered, by Salvatore M. Buscemi is an absolute must read! In straightforward, inviting language, he tells you everything you need to know—from how to create the fund and attract qualified investors to how to select builders and others to lend to, choose sound investment properties, structure risk away from you and your investors, manage the fund, and time the closing of the fund to reap maximum profits for you and your investors. With the author’s expert step-by-step guidance, you’ll be able to establish your initial fund and begin to build a track record of success that will allow you to grow into the kind of confident, successful fund manager that investors search for and trust with their money.