economic conditions

Collects stories that depict the troubled lives of citizens of Kittur, India; and features the misleading of twelve-year-old Ziauddin, who works as a gofer for a tea shop but is duped by a light skin man's kindness; a young girl who begs for money to support her father's drug habit; a factory owner whose failing business forces him to consider unfavorable practices; and more.

Explores how Geoffrey Canada is attempting to change the lives of poor children in America through his Harlem Children's Zone, a ninety-seven-block lab in Harlem where Canada and his staff test new and controversial ideas about poverty in the United States, including his theory that poor children need everything in their lives, including their schools, neighborhoods, and family practices, changed in order to compete with their middle-class peers.

Collects twenty-six essays that provide varying perspectives on issues concerning Russia, debating the country's role in international politics, if it is moving toward democracy, the influence of Western culture, and its greatest challenges.

Contains thirteen essays that explore the settlement, conquest, and incorporation of the American West from the perspectives of various groups who immigrated to the region beginning in the early nineteenth century.

Contains nine essays discussing the history of U.S. and U.N. sanctions against North Korea since 1950, focusing on the six-nation agreement signed in February 2007 regarding the closure of North Korea's nuclear facility in exchange for economic aid and a security guarantee.

Provides an introduction to the structure and performance of the American economy; examines how the stock market works; describes the economic roles of businesses, households, and the government; and addresses topics such as globalization and immigration.

Describes how China's need for jobs, raw materials, energy, and new markets will dramatically reshape world trade and politics.

Examines some of the reasons why people in their twenties and thirties often struggle to attain economic independence, focusing on the reality of student loans, as well as rising housing costs, credit card debt, depressed wages, and the high price of health and child care, and discusses actions the author believes the government should take to remedy the situation.

Traces the history of Africa in the fifty years since the independence era began, describing how the withdrawal of Europe's colonial powers influenced the African people and culture.