The du Ponts, one of the most powerful families in American industry, actively fought policies that gave government more power over the economy. By focusing on one family's contribution to the economic and political debate between the world wars, Burk casts light on the changing fortunes of business and government in twentieth-century America.

With a sales closing ratio of 83 percent, compared to a 22 percent industry average, attorney and business broker William "Bill" Thomas shares the proven sales model he developed and teaches to the brokers in his own company.

Focusing on anti-chain-store legislation beginning in the 1930s and on the establishment of federal small business agencies in the 1940s and 1950s, Jonathan Bean analyzes public policy toward small business. Beyond the Broker State challenges the long-accepted definition of politics as the interplay of organized interest groups, mediated by a broker state.

Praise for Realtor? Magazine's BROKER to BROKER "By providing best practice management tips with thought-provokingideas, Broker to Broker offers invaluable guidance on virtuallyevery aspect of our dynamic industry. The book's easy-to-readformat, with in-depth supporting material available online, is aninnovative approach to helping the country's brokers and managersfind effective solutions to today's challenges." --Ron Peltier, President and CEO, HomeServices of America, Inc.,Minneapolis, Minnesota "This compilation of the latest Realtor? Magazine articles on realestate brokerage management could be of help to brokers andmanagers looking for practical ideas to boost their operations. Thebook quotes extensively from veteran brokers and managers who aretrying new ways to build sales and tackle problems. Within thebook's range of articles could be helpful ideas for you." --J. Lennox Scott, Chairman and CEO, John L. Scott Real Estate,Seattle, Washington "The editors did their homework. The pace of change in our businessis a constant challenge. Even if you don't want to lead the chargein industry change, brokers would do well to study the innovativeconcepts (such as the employee-agent model) illustrated here. Thesection on operations is particularly useful for brokers of amulti-office/multi-region operation." --Steve Brown, ABR?, CRB, Vice President and General Manager,Crye-Leike, Realtors?, Memphis, Tennessee "The editors of Realtor? Magazine do a fantastic job of keepingRealtors? on top of all real estate concerns. No issue is moretimely or essential to building good business than brokeragepractices." --Blanche Evans, Publisher, Agent News, and Editor, Realty Times,Dallas, Texas

How the interplay between government regulation and the private sector has shaped the electric industry, from its nineteenth-century origins to twenty-first-century market restructuring. For more than a century, the interplay between private, investor-owned electric utilities and government regulators has shaped the electric power industry in the United States. Provision of an essential service to largely dependent consumers invited government oversight and ever more sophisticated market intervention. The industry has sought to manage, co-opt, and profit from government regulation. In The Power Brokers, Jeremiah Lambert maps this complex interaction from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Lambert's narrative focuses on seven important industry players: Samuel Insull, the principal industry architect and prime mover; David Lilienthal, chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), who waged a desperate battle for market share; Don Hodel, who presided over the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in its failed attempt to launch a multi-plant nuclear power program; Paul Joskow, the MIT economics professor who foresaw a restructured and competitive electric power industry; Enron's Ken Lay, master of political influence and market-rigging; Amory Lovins, a pioneer proponent of sustainable power; and Jim Rogers, head of Duke Energy, a giant coal-fired utility threatened by decarbonization. Lambert tells how Insull built an empire in a regulatory vacuum, and how the government entered the electricity marketplace by making cheap hydropower available through the TVA. He describes the failed overreach of the BPA, the rise of competitive electricity markets, Enron's market manipulation, Lovins's radical vision of a decentralized industry powered by renewables, and Rogers's remarkable effort to influence cap-and-trade legislation. Lambert shows how the power industry has sought to use regulatory change to preserve or secure market dominance and how rogue players have gamed imperfectly restructured electricity markets. Integrating regulation and competition in this industry has proven a difficult experiment.

Schwab's revolutionary approach to success in the face of adversity Since its founding in 1973, Schwab has led the full-brokerage market by stressing customer service. Today, Schwab has established itself as a company with a unique identity: old-fashioned integrity meets technology-empowered financial services. Charles Schwab tells the compelling story of this organization's uncanny ability to reinvent itself around an unchanging set of core values. This book is organized into five sections, each representing a critical juncture for the company when it was forced to reinvent itself or be consumed. Along the way, Kador highlights Schwab's immutable laws, direct from the Chairman and CEO: 1) Create a cause, not a business; 2) the corporate vision is only as good as the values of its culture; 3) welcome upheaval. In the whirlwind economic environment we currently face, Charles Schwab provides readers with valuable lessons on how businesses can survive and thrive in any situation.