Pines and Plains Libraries

Examines history's most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those in recent memory.

"Contrary to what you may have heard, the middle class is not dying and robots are not stealing our jobs. In fact, writes Adam Davidson-one of our leading public voices on economic issues- the twenty-first-century economic paradigm offers new ways of making money, fresh paths toward professional fulfillment, and unprecedented opportunities for curious, ambitious individuals to combine the things they love with their careers. Drawing on the stories...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • SELECTED BY THE ECONOMIST AS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
“A rambunctious book that is itself alive with the animal spirits of the marketplace.”—The Wall Street Journal
Freedom’s Forge reveals how two extraordinary American businessmen—General Motors automobile magnate  William “Big Bill” Knudsen and shipbuilder...

"Deftly weaving finance, politics, business, and the global human experience into one tight narrative, a tour-de-force account of 2020, the year that changed everything--from the acclaimed author of Crashed. The shocks of 2020 have been great and small, disrupting the world economy, international relations and the daily lives of virtually everyone on the planet. Never before has the entire world economy contracted by 20 percent in a matter of weeks...

"From the author of 1491--the best-selling study of the pre-Columbian Americas--a deeply engaging new history that explores the most momentous biological event since the death of the dinosaurs. More than 200 million years ago, geological forces split apart the continents. Isolated from each other, the two halves of the world developed totally different suites of plants and animals. Columbus's voyages brought them back together--and marked the beginning...

"The New York Times bestselling business journalist Christopher Leonard infiltrates one of America's most mysterious institutions-the Federal Reserve-to show how its policies over the past ten years have accelerated income inequality and put our country's economic stability at risk"--

"A companion resource to the 1940 Census just released by the US National Archives, This is Who We Were, provides the reader with a deeper understanding of what life was like in America in 1940 and how it compares statistically to life today. Using both original material from the 1940 Census (reprinted here in a different color), readers will find richly-illustrated Personal Profiles, Economic Data, and Current Events to give meaning and depth to...

This Is Who We Were: In The 1920s is an offspring of our 13-volume Working Americans series. This new title is devoted to one decade -- the 1920s. It represents all classes, dozens of occupations, and all regions of the country. This comprehensive look at the decade when consumerism, new freedoms for women, new inventions, and shifting social ethics were introduced presents American history through the eyes and ears of everyday Americans, not the...

"The goal of this book is to inspire you to explore the complex world of the economy. We want to provide understandable and entertaining access to it through the medium of the infographic. The Global Economy as You've Never Seen It is for everyone who finds it impossible to work their way through the business section of The New York Times each morning and who missed--or slept through--their Business and Econ 101 classes. Our expedition through the...

John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) was one of the most influential economists of the twentieth century. He was professor of economics at Harvard University and served as U.S. ambassador to India during the Kennedy administration. He wrote more than fifty books, including American Capitalism, The Affluent Society, and The New Industrial State (Princeton). In Economics in Perspective, renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith presents a compelling...