Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and the rest of the “PayPal Mafia� are now household names who’ve reshaped technology, automobiles, space travel, and politics. But two decades ago, they were unsung entrepreneurs attempting to launch a Silicon Valley startup against overwhelming odds.   That improbable journey started in the shadow of Stanford University, when Thiel met Max Levchin, a Ukrainian engineer who recently moved to California. Years before anyone had heard of Bitcoin, the two set out to build an online payment service that could reduce government control over currency by empowering people around the globe. But after their startup, PayPal, survived the dot-com crash only to find itself besieged by an unimaginable series of challenges, that lofty dream threatened to become a nightmare.   Former insider Eric M. Jackson’s telling of PayPal’s origins is an eyewitness account to technology history, as well as an engrossing story of human struggle and perseverance against overwhelming odds. PayPal went from unknown startup to online powerhouse in just three years, but for the company's team it was not an easy journey. The entrepreneurs that joined together to overhaul world currency markets first had to face one of the greatest series of trials ever thrown at a startup before becoming part of Silicon Valley lore. Jackson's lively, blow-by-blow account of PayPal's death-defying beginnings and ferocious battles offers a detailed perspective that only an eyewitness could provide. Read The PayPal Wars and you'll learn how: Elon Musk joined with Peter Thiel, and how the two future titans would soon square off to control the company. Organized crime attempted to ransack PayPal—but the company fought back. Government bureaucrats and regulators ferociously tried to shut down the upstart payments service. Turmoil pushed PayPal to the brink of insolvency before Thiel and his team turned the business around. “Our clashes with the credit card associations, the banking lobby, state regulators, foreign Mafioso, and litigation-happy lawyers significantly increased� as the company’s profile grew, writes Jackson, adding that the initial public offering that was meant to strengthen PayPal with an infusion of cash ironically attracted a rogue's gallery of foes instead. "The modern business environment," Jackson concludes, "turned out to be more hostile than even our fiercest competitor." This somber warning—that regulators, lawyers, and lobbyists threaten to undermine American entrepreneurship—makes The PayPal Wars a timely read for every concerned citizen.

Our rural communities are home to some of the most hard working and fiercely self-reliant Americans in the United States. Strong and secure rural communities are essential to creating an economy built to last that rewards hard work and responsibility -- not outsourcing, loopholes, and risky financial deals. While the security of the middle class has been threatened by the irresponsible financial collapse and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, rural Americans continue to come together to work hard and make ends meet. The values that have helped hard-working, responsible families weather the storm continue to move our economy forward. This book discusses factors affecting former residents' returning to rural communities; rural employment trends in recession and recovery; the 2014 Farm Bill rural development provisions; the secure rural schools and community self-determination act of 2000' and the rural education achievement program.

Our rural communities are home to some of the most hard working and fiercely self-reliant Americans in the United States. Strong and secure rural communities are essential to creating an economy built to last that rewards hard work and responsibility -- not outsourcing, loopholes, and risky financial deals. While the security of the middle class has been threatened by the irresponsible financial collapse and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, rural Americans continue to come together to work hard and make ends meet. The values that have helped hard-working, responsible families weather the storm continue to move our economy forward. This book discusses the broadband availability beyond the rural/urban divide; the state of small and rural libraries in the United States; a focused look at rural schools receiving school improvement grants; emerging energy industries and rural growth; the current and future role and impact of Medicaid in rural health; and frequently asked questions of the essential air service (EAS).

In the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, the Congress required that the Commission report on rural Medicare beneficiaries' access to care, rural providers' quality of care, special rural Medicare payments, and the adequacy of Medicare payments to rural providers. In addition to the findings presented on each of the four topics, this book presents a set of principles designed to guide expectations and policies with respect to rural access, quality, and payments for all sectors. This book also discusses multi-enterprising farm households and the importance of their alternative business ventures in the rural economy. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers the greatest number of rural development programs and has the highest average of program funds going directly to rural counties (approximately 50%). An overview of the USDA rural development programs is provided in this book.

Our rural communities are home to some of the most hard working and fiercely self-reliant Americans in the United States. Strong and secure rural communities are essential to creating an economy built to last that rewards hard work and responsibility -- not outsourcing, loopholes, and risky financial deals. While the security of the middle class has been threatened by the irresponsible financial collapse and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, rural Americans continue to come together to work hard and make ends meet. The values that have helped hard-working, responsible families weather the storm continue to move our economy forward. This book lays out the economic landscape rural America faces today and presents some of the Administration's many efforts to promote economic growth and job creation in rural communities with a focus on broadband loan and grant programs in the USDA's rural utilities service; and rural water infrastructure, water supply and sewer systems.

Rural development researchers and practitioners have argued in recent years that investing in a broad range of assets is a critical component of long-term economic growth in rural communities. Wealth can contribute to people's welfare in many ways beyond increasing income, such as providing economic resilience in adverse circumstances or enhancing one's power and prestige. Understanding the distribution of wealth across and within rural communities is critical. Additionally, population loss is a longstanding concern among rural development practitioners. Nearly half of today's non-metropolitan counties lost population through net out-migration over the past 20 years. Population loss tends to increase tax burdens, reduce property values, and reduce both the demand for and supply of local goods and services. Rural out-migration is also troublesome because it is highly concentrated among young adults, especially those possessing or acquiring education and skills. This book examines rural America, with a focus on rural wealth, out-migration, population and transportation issues.

Our rural communities are home to some of the most hard working and fiercely self-reliant Americans in the United States. Strong and secure rural communities are essential to creating an economy built to last that rewards hard work and responsibility -- not outsourcing, loopholes, and risky financial deals. While the security of the middle class has been threatened by the irresponsible financial collapse and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, rural Americans continue to come together to work hard and make ends meet. The values that have helped hard-working, responsible families weather the storm continue to move our economy forward. This book lays out the economic landscape rural America faces today and presents some of the Administration's many efforts to promote economic growth and job creation in rural communities.