A sweeping historical account of the crises of income inequality and crony capitalism from a world-renowned public economist.

Jagdish Bhagwati, the internationally renowned economist who uniquely combines a reputation as the leading scholar of international trade with a substantial presence in public policy on the important issues of the day, shines here a critical light on Preferential Trade Agreements, revealing how the rapid spread of PTAs endangers the world trading system. Numbering by now well over 300, and rapidly increasing, these preferential trade agreements, many taking the form of Free Trade Agreements, have re-created the unhappy situation of the 1930s, when world trade was undermined by discriminatory practices. Whereas this was the result of protectionism in those days, ironically it is a result of misdirected pursuit of free trade via PTAs today. The world trading system is at risk again, the author argues, and the danger is palpable. Writing with his customary wit, panache and elegance, Bhagwati documents the growth of these PTAs, the reasons for their proliferation, and their deplorable consequences which include the near-destruction of the non-discrimination which was at the heart of the postwar trade architecture and its replacement by what he has called the spaghetti bowl of a maze of preferences. Bhagwati also documents how PTAs have undermined the prospects for multilateral freeing of trade, serving as stumbling blocks, instead of building blocks, for the objective of reaching multilateral free trade. In short, Bhagwati cogently demonstrates why PTAs are Termites in the Trading System.

The award-winning journalist Lisa Margonelli, national bestselling author of Oil on the Brain: Petroleum’s Long, Strange Trip to Your Tank, investigates the environmental and economic impact termites inflict on human societies in this fascinating examination of one of nature’s most misunderstood insects. Are we more like termites than we ever imagined? In Underbug, the award-winning journalist Lisa Margonelli introduces us to the enigmatic creatures that collectively outweigh human beings ten to one and consume $40 billion worth of valuable stuff annually—and yet, in Margonelli’s telling, seem weirdly familiar. Over the course of a decade-long obsession with the little bugs, Margonelli pokes around termite mounds and high-tech research facilities, closely watching biologists, roboticists, and geneticists. Her globe-trotting journey veers into uncharted territory, from evolutionary theory to Edwardian science literature to the military industrial complex. What begins as a natural history of the termite becomes a personal exploration of the unnatural future we’re building, with darker observations on power, technology, historical trauma, and the limits of human cognition. Whether in Namibia or Cambridge, Arizona or Australia, Margonelli turns up astounding facts and raises provocative questions. Is a termite an individual or a unit of a superorganism? Can we harness the termite’s properties to change the world? If we build termite-like swarming robots, will they inevitably destroy us? Is it possible to think without having a mind? Underbug burrows into these questions and many others—unearthing disquieting answers about the world’s most underrated insect and what it means to be human.

Updated June, 2021. Everything you need to know to pass a state license exam on your first try! If you need to pass an exam to get your pest control license, then this is the book for you! In it you'll learn: - About the types of chemicals, formulations and how to read product labels.- How to apply the various products and what equipment to use. - Safety equipment and how to protect yourself, your clients and the environment. - General enotomology. - Valuable information about cockroaches, ants, bees & wasps, stored food pests, fabric pests, silverfish, firebrats & book lice, flies, ectoparisites, spiders, dooryard pests and rodents. Includes color photos! - Laws and regulations. - Includes excerpts from California's Pest Control Act! - Plus, bonus practice exams and answer keys for each section of study!. - If you're serious about a career in the pest control industry, this book will provide you with everything you'll need to pass your exam on the first try. This is an invaluable reference guide that you'll always want to carry with you everywhere you go - for your entire career!

The book is a new compendium in which leading termite scientists review the advances of the last 30 years in our understanding of phylogeny, fossil records, relationships with cockroaches, social evolution, nesting, behaviour, mutualisms with archaea, protists, bacteria and fungi, nutrition, energy metabolism,population and community ecology, soil conditioning, greenhouse gas production and pest status.

Everything You Need To Know To Pass A Termite License Exam On Your First Try! Are you looking to get into the termite control industry? If you need to pass an exam to get your termite license, then this is the book for you! In it you'll learn: About the types of chemicals, formulations and how to read product labels. How to apply the various products and what equipment to use. Safety equipment and how to protect yourself and the environment. General entomology and special in-depth termite biology. Valuable information about termites, wood destroying beetles, carpenter ants and carpenter bees. Includes color photos! What you need to know about wood destroying fungi, prevention and how to treat & repair dryrot damage. How to do inspections and write reports - specially geared toward California's demanding and tough standards! Basic construction. Special illustrations included! Laws and regulations. Includes excerpts from California's Pest Control Act! Uniform Building Code basics. Plus bonus practice exams and answer keys for each section of study! If you're serious about a career in the termite control industry, this book will give you everything you'll need to pass your exam on the first try. This is an invaluable reference guide that you'll always want to carry with you everywhere you go - for your entire career!

This text provides a scientific introduction to termites, including their behaviour, pest status and control.