"Brecher is the most influential writer you've never heard of in Hollywood. He wrote At the Circus and Go West for the Marx brothers and classics such as Du Barry Was a Lady and Meet Me in St. Louis for MGM. He wrote stand-up for Milton Berle and created the radio and television program The Life of Riley. Now in his nineties, the man is still a comedic genius with wit and timing that can't be beat. Incredibly, his career covers the entire spectrum of 20th-century entertainment, beginning with vaudeville and encompassing movies, radio, plays, television, and even the web (in impassioned support for the writers' strike of 2007). Brecher's story is presented as a series of interviews, which allows his voice to come through in its witty splendor. Rosenfeld does a fine job as chronicler, selector, and muse for these interviews, and his genuine friendship with Brecher is the reason that this book exists. Altogether delightful, this is an incredible reminiscence by a remarkable man." -- Library Journal starred review

How and how far foreign aid has affected Pakistan??'s industrial performance is the fundamental question of this study. It examines the history of aid flows to Pakistan; their interaction with economic growth and planning in the country; the role of foreign aid in the balance of payments and external indebtedness; and the reciprocal links between aid on the one hand and income, employment, investment and the structure of Pakistani industry on the other. The assistance programmes of selected donor countries and institutions are emphasized, with a view to explaining the aid-giving process and tracing its effects on various segments of Pakistan??'s industrial activity. The authors conclude that the flows of aid have been particularly significant during the second five-year plan. They also reach conclusions about the impact of the flows on Pakistan and the implications of this experience for aid policies in general.

In this careful and thorough study of a Canadian field which has been relatively untouched in recent years, Dr. Brecher records and comments on the development of monetary and fiscal thinking in Canada in the inter-war period, and its impact on public policy in the federal sphere. Examining Canadian opinion about economic theory during this time, the author draws on four fields of thought: that of government and other public officials; of businessmen, such as bankers, and their views on what should be done about the depression; of the "radical group", such as those prominent in the formation of the CCF and Social Credit parties; and of economists, prominent in the universities. Dr. Brecher points out in his preface that his inquiry is rooted in the conviction that the problems associated with cyclical fluctuations remain sufficiently complex to make an understanding of the developments of the twenties and thirties an indispensable condition for effective stabilization policy. He finds the twenties distinguished only in the superficial and imperfect diagnosis of and remedial suggestions for unemployment, made chiefly by a relatively small handful of thinkers associated with the Progressive and United Farmers movements, then emerging in the West. It was the thirties which, under the impact of the depression, witnessed the first real stirrings of careful economic analysis in cyclical terms, and of statistical techniques for measuring the value of annual productive activity and income receipts in the Dominion. The author has attempted to appraise the evolution of the Canadian policy of monetary and fiscal stabilization within the thought environment in which it was conceived and implemented, and on the basis of the standards set by modern income-employment theory.

Who is this Irving Brecher? What was it like to be the only man ever to write two Marx Brothers movies by himself? To be the last of the great MGM roundtable of screenwriters? To be the famous unknown who wrote vaudeville and radio shows for Milton Berle, punched upThe Wizard of Oz, and created "The Life of Riley"-on radio, in the movies, and as the very first television sitcom! Once Hank met Irv, questions like these dogged him. And Hank dogged Irv. He couldn't get enough of Irv's rapid-fire patter and acid wit. This book is the product of 6 years of Hank's tagging along with Irv, splitting pastrami sandwiches, and hanging on Irv's every word. Irv convinced Judy Garland to star in Meet Me in St. Louis, wrote Bye Bye Birdie, and gave Jackie Gleason his first TV series and a new set of teeth. The "Wicked Wit of the West" (as Groucho dubbed him) tells juicy tales about Hollywood legends John Wayne, L.B. Mayer, Jack Benny, George Burns, Ann-Margret, Ernie Kovacs, Cleo the bassett hound, and of course, Groucho, Harpo and Chico. At 94, Irving Brecher finally gets the last word!

"Brecher is the most influential writer you've never heard of in Hollywood. He wrote At the Circus and Go West for the Marx brothers and classics such as Du Barry Was a Lady and Meet Me in St. Louis for MGM. He wrote stand-up for Milton Berle and created the radio and television program The Life of Riley. Now in his nineties, the man is still a comedic genius with wit and timing that can't be beat. Incredibly, his career covers the entire spectrum of 20th-century entertainment, beginning with vaudeville and encompassing movies, radio, plays, television, and even the web (in impassioned support for the writers' strike of 2007). Brecher's story is presented as a series of interviews, which allows his voice to come through in its witty splendor. Rosenfeld does a fine job as chronicler, selector, and muse for these interviews, and his genuine friendship with Brecher is the reason that this book exists. Altogether delightful, this is an incredible reminiscence by a remarkable man." -- Library Journal starred review