Given the propensity of the world financial system to crisis, this work explores the radical alternative put forward by Islamic (and western) theories of non-interest banking. The Islamic critique of interest and early experiments with non-interest banking are assessed against the conventional theories regarding banking, company finance and macroeconomic stability. Whilst the experience of Islamic banking has proved inconclusive thus far, the theoretical model provides a cogent alternative to a financial system made fragile by debt contracts.

This book reviews the Islamic opposition to interest and assesses the feasibility of a non-interest financial system in the light of current economic theory. The Islamic critique of interest is set against a discussion of the methodology of Islamic economics and the opposition to interest within the Judeo-Christian tradition. The range of Islamic non-interest financial contracts is then detailed along with a review of the performance of Islamic banks to date; a model of the allocation of finance within a non-interest system is then presented. Assessment of the issues raised is made within the context of economic literature concerning debt versus equity finance; this includes an examination of banking instability and the business cycle, the determinants of levels of saving and the implications for public finance. The conclusions outline the advantages and disadvantages of a theoretical case for the prohibition of interest, and draws practical lessons for contemporary Western economies.

The battles of Belleau Wood and Soissons in June and July of 1918 marked a turning point in World War I and in the stature of the US Marine Corps, whose fighting proved so critical in repelling the Germans that the French would later rename Belleau 'Bois de la Brigade de Marine.' In this book J. Michael Miller, a historian of the Marine Corps and veteran chronicler of battle, takes us to the battlefields of Belleau Wood and Soissons, immersing us in the experience of a single brigade of marines at the forefront of the fighting. Through a close-up look at the doughboys' singular impact on Allied victory in 1918, his work illuminates America's bloody sacrifice during World War I. The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons for the first time treats these two battles as one campaign and demonstrates why it is impossible to fully understand one without the other. Miller outlines the company and platoon levels of combat throughout the campaign, establishing a basic tactical understanding of the fighting; he also draws on letters, diaries, memoirs, and interviews to create a vivid and personal reconstruction of the battles. His use of French and German sources, also a first, adds unprecedented insights to this boots-on-the-ground account. The book includes detailed mapping of both battlefields, with a thirty-six-stop guide linking the text with the actual terrain. For each of these stops Miller gives GPS coordinates to provide a virtual tour of the sites he discusses. With its strategic overview and ground-level perspective, Miller' work suggests a new interpretation and offers a new experience of an iconic moment in American military history - and in the story of the Marine Corps.

In these essays, 24 of our most celebrated professors of philosophy address the problem of how to teach philosophy today: how to make philosophy interesting and relevant; how to bring classic texts to life; how to serve all students; and how to align philosophy with more "practical" pursuits. Selected and introduced by three leaders in the world of philosophical education, the insights contained in this inspiring collection illuminate the challenges and possibilities of teaching the academy's oldest discipline.

The conventional wisdom on how technology will change the future is wrong. Mark Mills lays out a radically different and optimistic vision for what's really coming. The mainstream forecasts fall into three camps. One considers today as the "new normal," where ordering a ride or food on a smartphone or trading in bitcoins is as good as it's going to get. Another foresees a dystopian era of widespread, digitally driven job- and business-destruction. A third believes that the only technological revolution that matters will be found with renewable energy and electric cars. But according to Mills, a convergence of technologies will instead drive an economic boom over the coming decade, one that historians will characterize as the "Roaring 2020s." It will come not from any single big invention, but from the confluence of radical advances in three primary technology domains: microprocessors, materials, and machines. Microprocessors are increasingly embedded in everything. Materials, from which everything is built, are emerging with novel, almost magical capabilities. And machines, which make and move all manner of stuff, are undergoing a complementary transformation. Accelerating and enabling all of this is the Cloud, history's biggest infrastructure, which is itself based on the building blocks of next-generation microprocessors and artificial intelligence. We've seen this pattern before. The technological revolution that drove the great economic expansion of the twentieth century can be traced to a similar confluence, one that was first visible in the 1920s: a new information infrastructure (telephony), new machines (cars and power plants), and new materials (plastics and pharmaceuticals). Single inventions don't drive great, long-cycle booms. It always takes convergent revolutions in technology's three core spheres-information, materials, and machines. Over history, that's only happened a few times. We have wrung much magic from the technologies that fueled the last long boom. But the great convergence now underway will ignite the 2020s. And this time, unlike any previous historical epoch, we have the Cloud amplifying everything. The next long boom starts now.

The battles of Belleau Wood and Soissons in June and July of 1918 marked a turning point in World War I and in the stature of the US Marine Corps, whose fighting proved so critical in repelling the Germans that the French would later rename Belleau 'Bois de la Brigade de Marine.' In this book J. Michael Miller, a historian of the Marine Corps and veteran chronicler of battle, takes us to the battlefields of Belleau Wood and Soissons, immersing us in the experience of a single brigade of marines at the forefront of the fighting. Through a close-up look at the doughboys' singular impact on Allied victory in 1918, his work illuminates America's bloody sacrifice during World War I. The 4th Marine Brigade at Belleau Wood and Soissons for the first time treats these two battles as one campaign and demonstrates why it is impossible to fully understand one without the other. Miller outlines the company and platoon levels of combat throughout the campaign, establishing a basic tactical understanding of the fighting; he also draws on letters, diaries, memoirs, and interviews to create a vivid and personal reconstruction of the battles. His use of French and German sources, also a first, adds unprecedented insights to this boots-on-the-ground account. The book includes detailed mapping of both battlefields, with a thirty-six-stop guide linking the text with the actual terrain. For each of these stops Miller gives GPS coordinates to provide a virtual tour of the sites he discusses. With its strategic overview and ground-level perspective, Miller's work suggests a new interpretation and offers a new experience of an iconic moment in American military history - and in the story of the Marine Corps.

In these essays, 24 of our most celebrated professors of philosophy address the problem of how to teach philosophy today: how to make philosophy interesting and relevant; how to bring classic texts to life; how to serve all students; and how to align philosophy with more "practical" pursuits. Selected and introduced by three leaders in the world of philosophical education, the insights contained in this inspiring collection illuminate the challenges and possibilities of teaching the academy's oldest discipline.

Battling Democracy's Decline examines the history of American civic participation, explains its current decline and provides real world (personal) examples of what inspires people to action. It is a combination of theory, history and "how to," which makes the content accessible to everyone from high school students to scholars in the civic space. This book is a must read for non-profit leaders, elected officials, students and citizens wanting to make a difference in their organization, community and country

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