An engaging, well-organized overview of California’s efforts to preserve its environment.
An assessment of California’s progress in strengthening environmental regulations over several decades.
In this debut policy book, Peevey and Wittenberg draw on their time overseeing state agencies (Peevey is the former president of the California Public Utilities Commission; Wittenberg is the current chair of the California State Parks and Recreation Commission) to offer an inside perspective on the development of environmental regulations under both Democratic and Republican leadership. The book explores California’s unique experience with smog and resulting efforts to clean the air, the success of cap-and-trade policies, solar energy subsidies, and “subnational” climate agreements as well as the broader impact the state’s regulations have because of the size of its economy. Peevey and Wittenberg explain the details of energy deregulation and mismanagement that led to power shortages in the early 2000s and ultimately to the recall of Gov. Gray Davis, although they focus on the policy decisions rather than the political maneuvering. Appendices provide the full text of a report on the electric industry co-authored by Peevey in 2001, a conceptual design for the energy grid, and a 2003 action plan. The book is a useful tool for those interested in the inner workings of government, as Peevey and Wittenberg are conscientious about drawing attention to the lesser-known officials who played crucial roles in making and implementing policy decisions. Capsule biographies provide background information about many of the commission chairs, public advocates, and industry leaders who carried out the necessary work of cutting emissions, improving efficiency, and swaying public opinion. The work clearly and concisely distills a complex political topic and highlights the core of California’s success: “The answer has been to convince people that good environmental policies are in their own self-interest.” The occasional arch aside (“Given its constituency, it has also set standards for pool heaters and wine chillers”) brings a human touch to an occasionally dry topic, balancing the authors’ deep understanding of the subject with an engaging tone that makes for a highly readable account of negotiating and incremental change.
An engaging, well-organized overview of California’s efforts to preserve its environment.Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5455-7730-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: LCP Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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