Xenophon's Socratic Discourse: An Interpretation of the Oeconomicus

Book Description

Xenophon's only true Socratic discourse, the Oeconomicus, is a dialogue between Socrates and a gentleman-farmer on the art of household management and the art of farming as practiced on a gentleman's estate. It is generally acknowledged to be the oldest surviving work devoted to "economics," and it constitutes the classic statement of "economic" thought in ancient Greece. The dialogue examines the roles of husband and wife in the household and the division of labor between them, and considers the duties of the farm steward and the housekeeper. It discusses the goals of efficient management and the means for attaining these goals.

Customer Reviews:

The Strangeness of Ancient Household Management.......2003-07-12

Allan Bloom, Strauss's most famous and perhaps most brilliant student, once stated that we do not understand Plato because we do not understand Xenophon, who to us seems a fool but to older thinkers seemed wise. Xenophon is far simpler than Plato, and in my experience his books are good introductions to the world of Socratic philosophy. However Xenophon's works are often on topics one might consider prosaic from the standpoint of high philosophy. Besides his more famous works on the Persian emperor Cyrus, Xenophon wrote treatises on hunting, horsemanship, and running a family household.

Interestingly, this last book, the Oeconomicus, is a Socratic work; in it Xenophon presents Socrates speaking with a country gentleman, Kritobulus, about running a family and a large farm. Financial arrangements, relations with the city, the benefits and difficulties of rural plantation life, finding good overseers, and the role of the wife and children in maintaining one's household are all discussed here. On a surface level, then, the book seems to be less about economics and more about economizing or family budgeting. Because Socrates is presented in Plato's works as not much of a family man or as a lover of the country living (Socrates hardly ever goes outside the city of Athens except under compulsion), his interest in Kritobulus' life is unexpected and peculiar to say the least.

I came to this book because the family seems a great rival to the city as a way of living for people, but Plato's Socrates hardly investigates it. The family is dissolved in Plato's Republic, and no dialogue of Plato's deals directly with the family or the country household. To him, it seems, city life is where the action is. By contrast, the Hebrew Bible seems almost entirely concerned with the fortunes of families, or rather the premier family, the children of Israel and their heavenly Father Jehovah. I had gotten a taste of the Bible's rejection/ignorance of philosophy and cities, so I wanted to know what the quintessential representative of philosopy--Socrates--thought about the family. Plato helped me little, so I turned to Xenophon's Oeconomicus. I won't tell you what I found out, but it was amazing how much insight I gained into the Bible from reading Xenophon's little book on household management.

Book Description

This desk reference for IT professionals in the banking industry provides information about the latest technologies to improve efficiency and security. Topics include o imaging o electronic exchange o Internet-based technologies o other automating systems o issues affecting all financial service sectors, such as the year 2000 problem Banking Technology Handbook is geared toward all levels of technology management and financial services management responsible for developing and implementing cutting-edge technology.

Customer Reviews:

A good primer for how technology is changing banking........1999-07-08

Keyes describes the impact technology is having on banking and the tools banks are using to become faster and more efficient. E-commerce, bill pay/present,imaging, internet banking -- all are clearly detailed and made easy to understand. A good book for both those who've worked in the industry and for those who are starting out.

Financial Services Information Systems (Best Practices Series (CRC))

Average customer rating:

Great ideas to implement

Financial Services Information Systems (Best Practices Series (CRC))

Manufacturer: AUERBACH
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0849398347

Book Description

The calculus of IT support for the banking, securities, and insurance industries has changed dramatically and rapidly over the past few years. Consolidation and deregulation are creating opportunities and challenges never before seen. Unheard of just a few years ago, e-commerce has given birth to new infrastructures and departments needed to support them. And the Internet/Intranet/Extranet triple-whammy is the most critical component of most financial IT shops. At the same time, new intelligent agents stand ready to take on such diverse functions as customer profiling and data mining. Get a handle on all these new and newer ripples with Financial Services Information Systems. Here, in this exhaustive new guide and reference book, industry guru Jessica Keyes gives you the no-nonsense scoop on not just the tried and true IT tools of today, but also the up-and-coming "hot" technologies of tomorrow, and how to plan for them. Financial Services Information Systems addresses challenges and solutions associated with: · supporting the self-service revolution by servicing kiosks and ATMs efficiently and economically, · straight-through processing for the securities industry, · outsourcing business communications in the insurance industry, · distributed integration as a cost-effective alternative to data warehousing, and · putting inbound fax automation to work in financial organizations.

Customer Reviews:

Great ideas to implement.......2002-10-27

We recently started a full-service brokerage firm in Canada. Starting "carte-blanche" meant that we could apply many of the ideas in this book cheaply and quickly. We have had amazing growth that we can directly attribute to the technology that we implemented.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Government Finance Review, published by Government Finance Officers Association on April 1, 1997. The length of the article is 760 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Handbook of Investment Technology: A State-of-the-Art Guide to Selection, Implementation, and Utilization. (book reviews)
Author: D. Kent Rock
Publication: Government Finance Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 1997
Publisher: Government Finance Officers Association
Volume: v13 Issue: n2 Page: p62(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Handbook of Technology in Financial Services

Average customer rating:

I finally found a worthwhile book on FS tech
Great review of how technology is used in financial services
Jessica Keyes should read the articles she is editing ...
A complete compendium of financial services technologies

Handbook of Technology in Financial Services
Jessica Keyes
Manufacturer: AUERBACH
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0849399815

Book Description

The calculus of IT support for the banking, securities and insurance industries has changed dramatically and rapidly over the past few years. Unheard of just a few years ago, corporate intranets are now used for everything from job postings to enhanced team communications. Whole new departments are being created to support e-commerce. And the Internet/Intranet/Extranet triple-whammy is the most critical component of most financial IT shops. At the same time, new intelligent agents stand ready to take on such diverse functions as customer profiling and data mining.Get a handle on all these new and newer ripples with Handbook of Technology in Financial Services. Here, in this exhaustive new guide and reference book, industry guru Jessica Keyes gives you the no-nonsense scoop on not just the tried and true IT tools of today, but also the up-and-coming "hot" technologies of tomorrow, and how to plan for them. Keyes gives you extensive, example-driven explanations of such topicsas:odigital check imaging and Internet-based billingoe-commerce and Internet bankingoportfolio management systems for the 21st centuryoGIS technology in financial servicesoand much more.Focusing on problems from both a technology perspective and a business perspective, the Handbook also addresses challenges and solutions associated with:osupporting the self-service revolution by servicing kiosks and ATMs efficiently and economicallyostraight-through processing for the securities industryooutsourcing business communications in the insurance industryodistributed integration as a cost-effective alternative to data warehousingoand putting inbound fax automation to work in financial organizations.Packed with real-world case-studies and practical solutions to problems confronting financial services IT managers every day of the week, Handbook of Technology in Financial Services covers everything from system security to IT support for the Web marketing of financial services. In short, it is a compendium of essential information no professional can afford to be without.

Customer Reviews:

I finally found a worthwhile book on FS tech.......1999-04-15

I was quite amazed at the depth of this book. There's about 40 different contributors - each of whom is a real industry expert. Taken together this book is a real goldmine.

I've collected several of Jessica Keyes' books. She's written, I think, about ten or so. Each of them is meticuously done. Her contributed books are the best, however. She somehow has the knack of getting a bunch of experts all in one place and then picking their brains.

I'd recommend getting a copy of this book if

you're a serious technican in the financial services industry.

Great review of how technology is used in financial services.......1999-03-03

As a long-time veteran of the financial services industry I'm always on the lookout for books that help me to do my job better.

Given the profusion of technologies on the market today I also wanted help in understanding what these technologies are and how to implement them.

There aren't too many books that combine technology and financial services so when I found Keyes' Handbook of Technology in Financial Services I grabbed it immediately. I wasn't disappointed.

Keyes has gathered together some of the smartest people in the field who have gone out of the way to share their expertise with us.

I was particularly impressed on the wealth of information on Internet technologies. Given that this is an area that I'm just getting into, the Handbook offered some solid advice.

Jessica Keyes should read the articles she is editing ..........1999-02-21

In 92, during my MBA, I read "Infrotrends" of Mrs Keyes and thought it was a brilliant book. I just finished this one, as a IT banking consultant and I can assure it is very disapointing.

First, An unorganized collection of article is not a handbook, specially not this one with articles of 5 to 15 pages that cannot dig in the various subjects they develop.

Second, the articles quality is poor to average (except 2 or 3 - Regarding the "security industry of 6 articles, I skipped but the previous review might apply)

Third, Mrs Keyes contribution is minimal, with an intriductory chapter about TQM in IT, which does not provide anything new about the subject. If she is the editor for "fishing customers" (it worked for me) it's a bad mistake for her long term reputation ... Four, if you expect to learn anithing specific about IT in Financial services, you will be disapointed : its mainly, five years old IT ideas, with a few FS cases. Let remind that, we are speaking about the most IT intensive industry and a lot could have been written about the core subjects (new Front and Back office packages emergence, IT Alignement with strategy, BI and KM implementation, ...). Some of these subjects are evoked but the analysis is (almost always) too limited ...

Unless you want to decorate your library, don't buy this book, it will save you a fortune ($175!)

A complete compendium of financial services technologies.......1999-01-02

I searched high and low for a book about the technologies specific to the industry I work in. There are alot of books out there about technologies but almost none about how to apply those technologies to specific industries. This handbook has proven invaluable in assisting me make good decisions in the securities industry.

Insolvency: A Practical Legal Handbook for Managers

Average customer rating:

Insolvency: A Practical Legal Handbook for Managers
Peter G. Eales
Manufacturer: Woodhead Publishing, Published in Association With The Chartered Institute of Bankers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Banks & Banking | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Bankruptcy | Business | Law | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1855732467

Product Description

This book is intended to provide a middle road between the basic student text and the heavy practitioners manual. It covers all aspects of insolvency, including both corporate and private bankruptcy together with the alternative routes to the insolvency.

Intellectual Property Rights: A Handbook for Bankers, Companies and Their Advisers

Average customer rating:

Intellectual Property Rights: A Handbook for Bankers, Companies and Their Advisers
Peter J Groves
Manufacturer: Woodhead Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Banks & Banking | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1855731770

Product Description

This book is designed to provide an introduction to an area of the law which even now remains a closed book to the majority of practising lawyers.

Handbook on Information Technology in Finance (International Handbooks on Information Systems)

Average customer rating:

Handbook on Information Technology in Finance (International Handbooks on Information Systems)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Manager's Guides to Computing | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

This Handbook contains surveys of state-of-the-art concepts, systems, applications, best practices as well as contemporary research in the intersection between IT and finance. Included are recent trends and challenges, IT systems and architectures in finance, essential developments and case studies on management information systems, service oriented architecture modelling, IT architectures for securities trading, IT-systems in banking, process-oriented systems in corporate treasuries, grid computing and networking. The IT applications in banking, trading and insurance cover risk management and controlling, financial portals, electronic payment and others. In addition, also finance-related IT applications in non-financial companies are considered. The concept-oriented part of the book focuses on IT methods in finance like financial models and modelling financial data, planning and processes, security, algorithms and complexity.

Average customer rating:

Banking technology
Gary Kuebbeler
Manufacturer: Distributive Education Materials Laboratory
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Banks & Banking | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006XBSE8

Average customer rating:

Banking Technology Handbook
Jessica (Edt) Keyes
Manufacturer: CRC Pr I Llc 01/1//1998
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N5LOKM

The Handbook of Artifiial Intelligence in Accounting, Banking, Finance, Management, and Marketing

Average customer rating:

The Handbook of Artifiial Intelligence in Accounting, Banking, Finance, Management, and Marketing
Anique Quershi , Marc Levine , and John Walker
Manufacturer: AMACOM
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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General & Reference | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0814406866

Book Description

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the field of computer science that studies how machines can be made to act intelligently, as a substitute for some routine and not-so-very routine activities. The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence allows business professionals the opportunity to keep abreast of the latest cutting-edge AI technology, and shows how AI can be used to achieve:

* lower costs * increased productivity * revenue maximization * greater use of all company resources.

Average customer rating:

Fresh and Provocative

tedious and dry

I do not really know what I was supposed to get out of it.

Some good insights but nothing real original.

good first 40 pages

The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work
Arlie Russell Hochschild
Manufacturer: Holt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Second Shift

Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media

Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism, New and Expanded Edition

From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America

Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy

ASIN: 0805066438

Amazon.com

In the early 1990s Arlie Hochschild exposed The Second Shift, revealing the housework and childcare inequities of working couples. In this book Hochschild exposes the disturbing time bind of American families: parents are putting more hours in at work to support their families, which creates more stress at home, which pushes parents into seeking more work time to escape the tension at home. The result of this time crunch is the unsettling development of the "third shift"--the time parents spend repairing the damage left in the wake of their compulsion to work. Hochschild's solution? Parents of America unite! The final chapters discuss how parents can start a "Time Movement," liberating themselves from work-driven tyranny.

Book Description

The national bestseller that put "work/family balance" in the headlines and on the White House agenda, with a new introduction by the author.When The Time Bind was first published in 1997, it was hailed as the decade's most influential study of our work/family crisis. In the short time since, the crisis has only become more acute.Arlie Russell Hochschild, bestselling author of The Second Shift, spent three summers at a Fortune 500 company interviewing top executives, secretaries, factory hands, and others. What she found was startling: Though every mother and nearly every father said "family comes first," few of these working parents questioned their long hours or took the company up on chances for flextime, paternity leave, or other "family friendly" policies. Why not? It seems the roles of home and work had reversed: work was offering stimulation, guidance, and a sense of belonging, while home had become the place in which there was too much to do in too little time. Today Hochschild's findings are more relevant than ever. As she shows in her new introduction, the borders between family and work have become even more permeable. With the Internet extending working hours at home and offices offering domestic enticements -- free snacks, soft music -- to keep employees later at their jobs, The Time Bind stands as an increasingly important warning about the way we live and work.

Customer Reviews:

Fresh and Provocative.......2006-03-08

Initially I approached this book thinking that it told the familiar (and not particularly interesting) tale of how the endless demands of the workplace are slowly eating way at the little time that we have to spend with our families or just ourselves. Well, this is NOT that tale. Rather, Professor Hochschild explores and succinctly describes how the workplace has become the dynamic community in our lives, to the exclusion of all else and at a price. The reasons have little to do with "work becoming unmanageable;" rather, it is "work becoming community." I find her ideas provocative, eye-opening and remarkably non- ideological, as it is simply reporting what is happening in our Country and to some extent throughout the world. Anyone who runs around 24/7 with a cell phone, beeper, blackberry, etc. knows what I am talking about. Highly recommended.

tedious and dry.......2005-09-01

While it is commendable that the author avoids the verbal fakery, jargon and obfuscation so common amongst academic authors, it is hard to imagine a flatter, duller narrative. The evidence on offer here is anecdotal and therefore of limited value, and since the anecdotes are so mundane, there seems little reason to read the book. Most adults can furnish their own supply of similar stories, have already come to some of the same conclusions, and won't find the insights very insightful. Sociology remains thin stuff.

I do not really know what I was supposed to get out of it........2005-06-05

After all the hype, I finally got around to reading Time Bind this year. I thought that it was interesting, and not too terribly written, but I have to confess that I do not see the point. Her central thesis about work being too much like home has largely been exploded during the economic downturn-- lots of the perks and benefits cited in Time Bind are no longer features in the new cost-conscious companies.

I think the book would have been much more satisfying to readers if it had been presented as what it is-- the study of a single company. In my opinion, Hochschild does not earn the wider conclusions that she attempts to draw from the study and there is not sufficient underpinning to make broad generalizations about either family-friendly policies or increased working hours.

Truthfully, I probably would have rated this book as less than three stars if I were only judging the reading experience. However, I think that Hochschild deserves credit for the work that she did studying her one company sample and for asking some tough questions which we really do need to be asking.

Some good insights but nothing real original........2003-11-17

The basis of this book is great and the author has a terrific way with words but she loses the reader after about page 55, where she goes off into all sorts of liberal and unproven theories about modern family life. Her research was limited to one major American company and does not illuminate why there are so many problems in balancing work and family life.

good first 40 pages.......2003-07-07

This book was good for the first 40 pages but that's it. Hochschild gets across the interesting truth that some Americans work and don't spend time with their families because work is a reprieve from the stress of home and family life. This is really the crux of the book; the rest is mainly filler. Hochschild doesn't provide much more insight or scientific rigor and support to these observations. I agree with the above reviewer that the writing is quite poor: convoluted; however, I wouldn't even give the writing the compliment of being novel-like. The writing is trite and character placements a headache.

The Time Bind When Work Becomes Home & Hime Becomes Wirk

Average customer rating:

The Time Bind When Work Becomes Home & Hime Becomes Wirk

Manufacturer: Metropoligasn/Holt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HZ9D3I

Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work. (book reviews): An article from: Dollars & Sense

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Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work. (book reviews): An article from: Dollars & Sense
Ellen Frank
Manufacturer: Economic Affairs Bureau
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00097JO0Q
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Dollars & Sense, published by Economic Affairs Bureau on January 1, 1998. The length of the article is 966 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work. (book reviews)
Author: Ellen Frank
Publication: Dollars & Sense (Newsletter)
Date: January 1, 1998
Publisher: Economic Affairs Bureau
Issue: n215 Page: p38(1)

Article Type: Book Review

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Time Bind, The; When Work Becomes Home And Home Becomes Work

Average customer rating:

Time Bind, The; When Work Becomes Home And Home Becomes Work
Arlie Russell Hochschild
Manufacturer: Owl Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J0XL4S

The Time Bind : When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work

Average customer rating:

The Time Bind : When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work
Arlie Russell Hochschild
Manufacturer: Henry Holt & Company, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HMYXAY

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