Is neoclassical economics dead? Why have the biggest industrial economies stagnated since the financial crisis? Is the competitive threat from China a tired metaphor or a genuine danger to our standard of living? Lord David Sainsbury draws on his experience in business and government to assemble the evidence and comes to some startling conclusions. In Windows of Opportunity, he argues that economic growth comes not as a steady process, but as a series of jumps, based on investment in high value-added firms. Because these firms are engaged in winner-takes-all competition, rapid growth in one country can indeed come at the expense of growth in another, contrary to the standard models. He suggests a new theory of growth and development, with a role for government in 'picking winners' at the level of technologies and industries rather than individual firms. With the role of industrial policy at the centre of the Brexit debate, but a significant intellectual gap in setting out what that policy should be, this book could not be more timely.

This is a book of real-life experiences in the world of collective bargaining in both; labor contract negotiations and the consumer market. You'll be so happy after reading this book, and after putting some of your learned negotiating skills to work, you'll have to go to a plastic surgeon to get the smile off your face, enjoy.

The global recovery continues. Although it is not yet complete, the more favorable conjuncture offers an opportunity to tackle key policy challenges to stave off medium-term downside risks, rebuild buffers, and raise potential output. Countries should undertake well-sequenced reforms to increase productivity, improve governance, and reduce policy uncertainty and future risks. Reforms should also aim to harness the benefits of technology and economic integration and ensure that they are widely shared. Tackling challenges to the global economy continues to require cooperation and joint action across the membership. The Fund will assist members through tailored policy advice and capacity development, and stands ready to provide financial assistance to support adjustment programs.

There is no longer any doubt that the inherited genetic constitution of the individual has a large influence on the entire life cycle, from human fetal development and pre- and postnatal growth to subsequent health status. However, growing evidence suggests that this predisposition is not rigid, but that early genetic imprinting, caused by exposure to a diverse spectrum of nutrients, macromolecules, microbial agents and other cellular or soluble components present in the external environment, is also of importance. According to this concept of the developmental origins of adult diseases, intrauterine and early life events play an important role in the etiology of human diseases: there seems to exist a critical 'window of opportunity' in the human infant before and during pregnancy, and up to 24 months of age. Altered exposure to different environmental agents during this critical period may determine the nature of responses in the perinatal period, and the expression of specific disease states in later life. The papers presented in this publication thus focus on the impact of perinatal growth, nutrition, environmental microflora, and host immune responses on the outcome of health and disease in later life.

"The momentum behind the cyclical global expansion remains strong. But escalating trade conflicts and financial market volatility highlight downside risks beyond the next several quarters. To sustain the upswing, policy makers need to enhance financial sector resilience, start rebuilding policy space, and implement structural reforms–including on corruption and governance. Countries should work to promote an open and rulesbasedmultilateral trade system that works for all, and to durably reduce excess global imbalances. A cooperative approach to regulation will reap the benefits of financial technology, while addressing risks to stability and integrity. The Fund is embarking on major policy reviews, including on surveillance, the Financial Sector Assessment Program, program conditionality, concessional lending tools, debt sustainability analysis, and capacity development. We have also launched a comprehensive work program on the opportunities and challenges from digitalization."

In 1915, women from over thirty countries met in The Hague to express opposition to the war and propose ways to end it. The delegates called for three things: for women to be present at all international peace conferences, a women's-only peace conference to be convened alongside any official negotiations, and the establishment of universal suffrage. While these demands went unmet at the time, contemporary women's groups continue to seek to participate in peace negotiations and to have language promoting gender equality inserted into all peace agreements. In fact, between 1989 and 2005, almost half of all peace processes led to agreements with references to women. Many of these clauses addressed compensation for wartime gender-based violence and guarantees for women's participation in the post-conflict transitional period. Others included electoral quotas and changes to inheritance legislation. Curiously, the language used is fairly consistent across agreements, and that is because it reflects international women's rights norms rather than more local norms. But why is it that, if a peace agreement's primary objective is to end conflict, some include potentially controversial provisions about gender that might delay or complicate reaching an agreement? Why do these provisions echo international norms when we might expect each agreement to reflect varying cultural norms? And which factors make it more likely that women's rights will appear in peace agreements? Windows of Opportunity answers these questions by looking at peace negotiations in Burundi, Macedonia, and Northern Ireland. It looks at the key actors in negotiations, what prompts their mobilization, their objectives, their strategies, how they construct clauses for inclusion in peace agreements, how women's roles in the state are impacted in the wake of peace agreements, and how these variables increase the likelihood of success for women's movements.

The Window of Opportunity follows the lives of two boys: one who continuously seizes opportunities and another who chooses to watch his life pass him by. The book shows their progression from children into adults and how their decisions affect their lives. Ultimately, the book is a reminder that it's always better to chase your dreams and go after the things you want.