"The rise of e-commerce has transformed China's economy over the past two decades. By late 2020, close to 800 million Chinese people had shopped online and more than 60 million citizens were directly or indirectly employed in e-commerce-related industries. Yet the rapid rise of the industry seems to defy conventional wisdom. For instance, China's e-commerce market took off without strong formal institutions to support it, challenging the prevailing notion in political economy that certain formal institutions like state-provided secure property rights, contract enforcement, and the rule of law are crucial pre-conditions for supporting efficient markets. Using a vast array of qualitative and quantitative data, Lizhi Liu reveals how, with weak rule of law, China instead outsourced part of its institutional functions to e-commerce companies themselves-prominent examples include Alibaba's Taobao.com and Tmall.com. Liu calls these companies "private regulatory intermediaries" (PRIs) and shows how they fulfill various legal, social, and political functions that the state might otherwise take on. Taobao, for example, has a complex reputation mechanism, a credit score, a fraud detection program, and even a jury-like system in which users can adjudicate cases or vote to change platform rules. Liu also explores how, beyond the systematic level, e-commerce has significant individual-level effects-namely, that e-commerce reduces the household cost of living but also distracts citizens from local political issues. Ultimately, this project goes beyond traditional analysis emphasizing either the rule of law or informal networks in supporting market development; it provides a lens to understand institutional experimentation broadly and deepens our understanding of state-business relationships in the Chinese context"--

Who is to blame for the economic and political crisis in Puerto Rico—the United States or Puerto Rico? This book provides a fascinating historical perspective on the problem and an unequivocal answer on who is to blame. In this engaging and approachable book, journalist A. W. Maldonado charts the rise and fall of the Puerto Rican economy and explains how a litany of bad political and fiscal policy decisions in Washington and Puerto Rico destroyed an economic miracle. Under Operation Bootstrap in the 1950s and '60s, the rapid transformation and industrialization of the Puerto Rican economy was considered a “wonder of human history,” a far cry from the economic “death spiral” the island’s governor described in 2015. Boom and Bust in Puerto Rico is the story of how the demise of an obscure tax policy that encouraged investment and economic growth led to escalating budget deficits and the government’s shocking default of its $70 billion debt. Maldonado also discusses the extent of the devastation from Hurricane Maria in 2017, the massive street protests during 2019, and the catastrophic earthquakes in January 2020. After illuminating the century of misunderstanding between Puerto Rico and the United States—the root cause of the economic crisis and the island’s gridlocked debates about its political status—Maldonado concludes with projections about the future of the relationship. He argues that, in the end, the economic, fiscal, and political crises are the result of the breakdown and failure of Puerto Rican self-government. Boom and Bust in Puerto Rico is written for a wide audience, including students, economists, politicians, and general readers, all of whom will find it interesting and thought provoking.

A daughter's future and her father's past converge in Emily Raboteau's explosive first novel exploring identity, assimilation, and the legacy of race "My father is black and my mother is white and my brother is a vegetable." When Emma Boudreaux's older brother, Bernie, winds up in a coma after a freak accident, it's as if she loses a part of herself. All their lives, he has served as her compass, her stronger, better half: Bernie was brilliant when Emma was smart, charismatic when she was awkward, and confident when she was shy. Only Bernie was able to navigate-if not always diplomatically-the terrain of their biracial identity. Now, as the chronic rash that's flared up throughout her life returns with a vengeance, Emma is sleepwalking through her first year at college, left alone to grow into herself. The key to Emma's self-discovery lies in her father's past. Esteemed Princeton professor Bernard Boudreaux is emotionally absent and secretive about his family history. Little does Emma know just how haunted that history is, how tortured the path from the Deep South town to his present Ivy League success has been. Though her father and brother are bound by the past, Emma might just escape. In exhilarating, magical prose, The Professor's Daughter traces the borderlands of race and family, the contested territory that gives birth to rage, confusion, madness, and invisibility. This striking debut marks the arrival of an astonishingly original voice that surges with energy and purpose.

As a thunderstorm sweeps into the city, the people of the neighborhood rush into the subway to wait out the wind and weather.

You will find the content in this book is between two different stories. The first is about matters of life and the heart situationswhat it seems to be may not be. The other tells many stories through created art. Billie Barnes tells a story through his artwork. My art comes from my head. Its like a natural thing thats inside of me. For example, Ill make a line or a circle, then the line or circle becomes my inspiration to create. The art creates itself. I am just the vessel in which art chooses to use to create itself. In other words, its a gift (Billie Barnes).