Named one of the 2003 books of the year in the "Economist" "A convincing explanation of why, despite all of the recent reforms in American corporate governance, there will probably be more firms that go the way of Enron."
In the last thirty years, there has been a gradual erosion in the abilities and responsibilities of corporate boards. In addition to the ethics scandals that have plagued companies both new and established over the last three years, a number of over-diversified, over-staffed companies experienced failures that might have been avoided had there been proper oversight on the part of the board. While reform of the governance system has received considerable attention from the press, business leaders, and politicians, there have been few analyses of what is really happening on a systemic level, and even fewer workable suggestions for reform.
"The Recurrent Crisis in Corporate Governance" provides an expert assessment of what went wrong on corporate boards and how to fix them. The book begins with both a legal and economic examination of corporate governance during the last three decades, including the broad issue of boards taking on responsibilities without being able to fulfill their obligations because of the lack of access to information and people within the corporation. The authors then go on to show the correlation between strong board performance and strong company performance, make the case for separating the CEO and Chair positions, comment on the collapse of nine major corporations, including Global Crossing, K-Mart, Lucent, and Qwest, and provide suggestions on how boards can be more effective stewards of the shareholders' and public's trust.

When my parents split up I started drawing pictures of gravestones in a church near my dad's (I know it is weird, get over it), and here is where I met Beth. But I soon found that Beth was no ordinary girl, but she was in fact a ghost. I am not talking creepy ghost, the kind that puts a curse on you, but just an ordinary person really. I soon learned she was being chased by some nasty piece of work, and I soon realised there was only me who would be able to help her. Not only was I going to try to save her from her hunter, but also try to help her move on, go into the light, and all that. Not much to ask, seeing as I was a teenager, was it In the process I would learn that the 'unknown' was pretty clear, and that some men can be more evil than anything conjured up by the wildest of imaginations. So... I met a Ghost is a sometimes creepy, sometimes funny short novel for young adults by author Paul McAvoy. A page-turner... you will not want to draw breath until the last page is read...

It was an eventful day. I decided to skip school - not something I ever did I must add, as it's not big and it's not clever. But I was being bullied in class and needed time out. I should have spoken to someone about it, but it is not always that easy. Good thing I did, as I just happened along an alien and managed to save his life. I then decided to help him get home and keep him from the clutches of men in dark suits who wanted to catch him and run tests on him... Yes, an eventful day all round. And I had my first kiss Not with the alien, you weirdoes... So... I met an Alien is a fun adventure book from the author of "So... I Met a Ghost," Paul McAvoy