'It is going to change the way in which we understand many modern debates about economics, politics, and society' Ha Joon Chang, author of 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism Over the past fifty years, the way we value what is 'good' and 'right' has changed dramatically. Behaviour that to our grandparents' generation might have seemed stupid, harmful or simply wicked now seems rational, natural, woven into the very logic of things. And, asserts Jonathan Aldred in this revelatory new book, it's economics that's to blame. Licence to be Bad tells the story of how a group of economics theorists changed our world, and how a handful of key ideas, from free-riding to Nudge, seeped into our decision-making and, indeed, almost all aspects of our lives. Aldred reveals the extraordinary hold of economics on our morals and values. Economics has corrupted us. But if this hidden transformation is so recent, it can be reversed. Licence to be Bad shows us where to begin.

In Las Vegas, there's a family-owned business called the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, run by three generations of the Harrison family: Rick; his son, Big Hoss; and Rick's dad, the Old Man. Now License to Pawn takes readers behind the scenes of the hit History show Pawn Stars and shares the fascinating life story of its star, Rick Harrison, and the equally intriguing story behind the shop, the customers, and the items for sale. Rick hasn't had it easy. He was a math whiz at an early age, but developed a similarly uncanny ability to find ever-deepening trouble that nearly ruined his life. With the birth of his son, he sobered up, reconnected with his dad, and they started their booming business together. License to Pawn also offers an entertaining walk through the pawn shop's history. It's a captivating look into how the Gold & Silver works, with incredible stories about the crazy customers and the one-of-a-kind items that the shop sells. Rick isn't only a businessman; he's also a historian and keen observer of human nature. For instance, did you know that pimps wear lots of jewelry for a reason? It's because if they're arrested, jewelry doesn't get confiscated like cash does, and ready money will be available for bail. Or that WWII bomber jackets and Zippo lighters can sell for a freakishly high price in Japan? Have you ever heard that the makers of Ormolu clocks, which Rick sells for as much as $15,000 apiece, frequently died before forty thanks to the mercury in the paint? Rick also reveals the items he loves so much he'll never sell. The shop has three Olympic bronze medals, a Patriots Super Bowl ring, a Samurai sword from 1490, and an original Iwo Jima battle plan. Each object has an incredible story behind it, of course. Rick shares them all, and so much more -- there's an irresistible treasure trove of history behind both the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop and the life of Rick Harrison.

How the radical disruption of the auto industry affects you—and how you can prepare for the soon-to-be “new normal” The combined effect of autonomous driving, electric vehicles, and the sharing economy is on the verge of changing the auto industry—all within the next decade. And this tech/economics revolution will touch virtually every industry. What exactly will change? Jobs: Demand for commercial vehicle drivers, car dealers, mechanics, doctors, and many other professions will shrink Laws: Manually driving cars will be forbidden—and car ownership will be almost nonexistent Housing: Prices will drop and cities and towns will be planned differently Healthcare: Infrastructure will shrink as traffic accidents dramatically decline Global trade: China will become the world’s biggest automotive exporter The Last Driver's License Holder Has Already Been Born provides the information and insight you need to position your company for these groundbreaking changes. It reveals the disruptive technologies now taking shape and provides a timeline of when they will take hold. It examines the impact on the industry itself, as well as adjacent sectors, including jobs and professions, city and street design, hospitals, insurances, politics, security, hospitality industry, the oil industry, real estate, and society at large. And it provides the knowledge and insight you need to keep yourself and your organization ahead of the curve—and in front of the competition.

"Why do people come to reject climate science or the safety and efficacy of vaccines, in defiance of the scientific consensus? A popular view explains bad beliefs like these as resulting from a range of biases that together ensure that human beings fall short of being genuinely rational animals. This book presents an alternative account. It argues that bad beliefs arise from genuinely rational processes. We've missed the rationality of bad beliefs because we've failed to recognize the ubiquity of the higher-order evidence that shapes beliefs, and the rationality of being guided by this evidence. The book argues that attention to higher-order evidence should lead us to rethink both how minds are best changed and the ethics of changing them: we should come to see that nudging - at least usually - changes belief (and behavior) by presenting rational agents with genuine evidence, and is therefore fully respectful of intellectual agency. We needn't rethink Enlightenment ideals of intellectual autonomy and rationality, but we should reshape them to take account of our deeply social epistemic agency"--

License to Quill is a page-turning James Bond-esque spy thriller starring William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe during history's real life Gunpowder Plot. The story follows the fascinating golden age of English espionage, the tumultuous cold war gripping post-Reformation Europe, the cloak-and-dagger politics of Shakespeare's England, and lastly, the mysterious origins of the Bard's most haunting play: Macbeth. You won't want to miss this fast-paced historical retelling!

It's all fun and games until someone wakes up dead. Governor's daughter Jane Anderson is used to getting what she wants. When a girls' trip to Mardi Gras thrusts her into the arms—and fangs—of New Orleans' hottest vampire, he gifts her with immortality, super strength, and a complexion to die for. There's only one tiny problem. Jane faints at the sight of blood. When Ethan Devereaux meets Jane, his cold, lifeless heart learns to beat again. Convinced she's his late fiancée reincarnated, he turns her, claiming her as his own. But when Jane wakes up dead in Ethan's attic, she's loud, sassy, and downright ornery. He doesn't know if he should kiss her or stake her, but one thing's for certain… She is so not his long-lost love. But Ethan turned her, so he's stuck with her. Jane has three weeks to learn the ways of the vampire and get her license, or she'll be staked. If Ethan can't help her overcome her aversion to blood, his undead life might also be on the line. Join the supes of New Orleans Nocturnes as they lighten up the darker side of the Big Easy in this fast, steamy romantic comedy.

Written during a European book tour promoting her work, a cartoonist depicts the new experiences, romantic encounters, and cute cats she met as she visited historic cities across the continent.