Guaranteed to Fail

Guaranteed to Fail
Author: Viral V. Acharya
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2011-03-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1400838096

Why America's public-private mortgage giants threaten the world economy—and what to do about it The financial collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2008 led to one of the most sweeping government interventions in private financial markets in history. The bailout has already cost American taxpayers close to $150 billion, and substantially more will be needed. The U.S. economy--and by extension, the global financial system--has a lot riding on Fannie and Freddie. They cannot fail, yet that is precisely what these mortgage giants are guaranteed to do. How can we limit the damage to our economy, and avoid making the same mistakes in the future? Guaranteed to Fail explains how poorly designed government guarantees for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac led to the debacle of mortgage finance in the United States, weighs different reform proposals, and provides sensible, practical recommendations. Despite repeated calls for tougher action, Washington has expanded the scope of its guarantees to Fannie and Freddie, fueling more and more housing and mortgages all across the economy--and putting all of us at risk. This book unravels the dizzyingly immense, highly interconnected businesses of Fannie and Freddie. It proposes a unique model of reform that emphasizes public-private partnership, one that can serve as a blueprint for better organizing and managing government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In doing so, Guaranteed to Fail strikes a cautionary note about excessive government intervention in markets.

Impossible To Fail

Impossible To Fail
Author: Ron Malhotra
Publisher: Karen MC Dermott
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2020-03-02
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 9780648664567

The complete formula for an extraordinary life and lifestyle by Ron Malhotra.

The Fateful History of Fannie Mae

The Fateful History of Fannie Mae
Author: James R. Hagerty
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2012-09-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1614236992

“A lucid and meticulously reported book by one of the Wall Street Journal’s ace reporters” (George Anders, Forbes contributor and author of The Rare Find). In 1938, the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt created a small agency called Fannie Mae. Intended to make home loans more accessible, the agency was born of the Great Depression and a government desperate to revive housing construction. It was a minor detail of the New Deal, barely recorded by the newspapers of the day. Over the next seventy years, Fannie Mae evolved into one of the largest financial companies in the world, owned by private shareholders but with its nearly $1 trillion of debt effectively guaranteed by the government. Almost from the beginning, critics repeatedly warned that Fannie was an accident waiting to happen. Then, in 2008, the housing market collapsed. Amid a wave of foreclosures, the company’s capital began to run out, and the US Treasury seized control. From the New Deal to President Obama’s administration, James R. Hagerty explains this fascinating but little-understood saga. Based on the author’s reporting for the Wall Street Journal, personal research, and interviews with executives, regulators, and congressional leaders, The Fateful History of Fannie Mae, he explains the politics, economics, and human frailties behind seven decades of missed opportunities to prevent a financial disaster.

Fail Harder

Fail Harder
Author: failblog.org community
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Total Pages: 195
Release: 2011-09-06
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 1449408575

FAIL Harder follows the hilarious best-seller Fail Nation to showcase 200 original full-color photos of world-wide FAILS based on the popular website failblog.org, the most visited member of the Cheezburger Network. So what qualifies as a FAIL? How about a nursery outfitted with a gun rack hanging over the baby's crib? Perhaps the equation, "E=MC3" written on a classroom's write/erase board. What about a trifecta of beauty parlor, chain saw repair, and nightclub housed inside an all-in-one-stop shop? Classic FAILs like these are presented in more than 15 different categories, including At Home, In A Relationship, On the Job, and With Your Pets. If you must FAIL, FAIL Harder.

The Failed Welfare Revolution

The Failed Welfare Revolution
Author: Brian Steensland
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2017-10-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 069117797X

Today the United States has one of the highest poverty rates among the world's rich industrial democracies. The Failed Welfare Revolution shows us that things might have turned out differently. During the 1960s and 1970s, policymakers in three presidential administrations tried to replace the nation's existing welfare system with a revolutionary program to guarantee Americans basic economic security. Surprisingly from today's vantage point, guaranteed income plans received broad bipartisan support in the 1960s. One proposal, President Nixon's Family Assistance Plan, nearly passed into law in the 1970s, and President Carter advanced a similar bill a few years later. The failure of these proposals marked the federal government's last direct effort to alleviate poverty among the least advantaged and, ironically, sowed the seeds of conservative welfare reform strategies under President Reagan and beyond. This episode has largely vanished from America's collective memory. Here, Brian Steensland tells the whole story for the first time--from why such an unlikely policy idea first developed to the factors that sealed its fate. His account, based on extensive original research in presidential archives, draws on mainstream social science perspectives that emphasize the influence of powerful stakeholder groups and policymaking institutions. But Steensland also shows that some of the most potent obstacles to guaranteed income plans were cultural. Most centrally, by challenging Americans' longstanding distinction between the "deserving" and "undeserving" poor, the plans threatened the nation's cultural, political, and economic status quo.

Anatomy of Failure

Anatomy of Failure
Author: Harlan Ullman
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2017-11-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1682472264

Why, since the end of World War II, has the United States either lost every war it started or failed in every military intervention it prosecuted? Harlan Ullman's new book answers this most disturbing question, a question Americans would never think of even asking because this record of failure has been largely hidden in plain sight or forgotten with the passage of time. The most straightforward answer is that presidents and administrations have consistently failed to use sound strategic thinking and lacked sufficient knowledge or understanding of the circumstances prior to deciding whether or not to employ force. Making this case is an in-depth analysis of the records of presidents from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama and Donald Trump in using force or starting wars. His recommended solutions begin with a "brains-based" approach to sound strategic thinking to address one of the major causes of failure ----the inexperience of too many of the nation's commanders-in-chief. Ullman reinforces his argument through the use of autobiographical vignettes that provide a human dimension and insight into the reasons for failure, in some cases making public previously unknown history. The clarion call of Anatomy of Failure is that both a sound strategic framework and sufficient knowledge and understanding of the circumstance that may lead to using force are vital. Without them, failure is virtually guaranteed.

Too Big to Fail

Too Big to Fail
Author: Benton E. Gup
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2003-12-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0313017425

Usually associated with large bank failures, the phrase too big to fail, which is a particular form of government bailout, actually applies to a wide range of industries, as this volume makes clear. Examples range from Chrysler to Lockheed Aircraft and from New York City to Penn Central Railroad. Generally speaking, when a corporation, an organization, or an industry sector is considered by the government to be too important to the overall health of the economy, it will not be allowed to fail. Government bailouts are not new, nor are they limited to the United States. This book presents the views of academics, practitioners, and regulators from around the world (e.g., Australia, Hungary, Japan, Europe, and Latin America) on the implications and consequences of government bailouts.

Fixing Failed States

Fixing Failed States
Author: Ashraf Ghani
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0195398610

Social science.

Success Through Failure

Success Through Failure
Author: Henry Petroski
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2018-05-29
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0691180997

This book examines the importance of engineering design as well as society's ability to respond to design flaws.

How to Fail at Life

How to Fail at Life
Author: Mark Aspelin
Publisher: Gypsy Road Publishing
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2015-12-22
Genre:
ISBN: 9780997087918

Things they don't teach in school ... but you'll wish they did. The late, great, personal development guru Jim Rohn lamented, "It's too bad failures don't give seminars. Wouldn't that be valuable? If you meet a guy who has messed up his life for forty years, you've just got to say, 'John, if I bring my journal and promise to take good notes, would you spend a day with me?'" Well, Jim, your wish has come true. As a time-honored expert in the art of failure, author Mark Aspelin has demonstrated exceptional skill by messing up in nearly all of the important areas of life: relationships, money, health, education, career ... the list goes on. How to Fail at Life: Lessons for the Next Generation is the ultimate "what not to do" guide, filled with stories of self-inflicted catastrophes, completely avoidable suffering, and mindless forms of life wreckage - with some inspiring tales of redemption that reveal the secrets for how to live a happy and fulfilling life. Mark wrote this book for his son, as a fun way to pass on timeless success principles, just in case Mark gets hit by the proverbial beer truck. Learn how to FAIL SMART You won't find any fancy buzzwords or "secret formulas" that are guaranteed to give you fame, fortune, enlightenment, and six-pack abs in 30 days without leaving your couch. Mark has read a bazillion books in the personal development space and quickly found that the principles of success are simple and consistent and have been documented ad nauseam. Why are the same success principles used again and again? Simple. They work. Mark has packaged these life lessons within stories of people who've learned them through the School of Hard Knocks. You'll find true, inspirational stories of failure and redemption. You'll see a few household names that you may know well, as well as some obscure and unknown names. If Mark has done his job well, you'll also see a bit of yourself in these stories. After all, that's one of the goals of this book: to give you a chance to pause, reflect, and say, "Hey, that's me!" Then you can decide if you need to make some changes to get back on track. There really is a right way and a wrong way to fail in life. For the few key areas that you want to develop and master, failure is something to be actively pursued and celebrated. It may sound strange, but when you fail fast and fail big in those few vital areas, you'll be on the fast track to accomplishing your definition of success. For the other areas of your life, the right way to fail is to let others do it for you and learn from their mistakes. Staggering amounts of time and suffering can be avoided by learning from the mistakes of others. When it comes to failure in most areas of life, it's better to watch the movie than be a character in it. Rest assured, you'll still have plenty of opportunities to fail in life, but you might as well narrow down the list so you'll fail "smart." This one's for you, Jim Rohn. Mark is happy to spend a day with you to show how failure is really done. Get ready to take some notes.