Textbook

This report examines the influence of trust on policy making and explores some of the steps governments can take to strengthen public trust.

In this "meticulously researched" account (New York Times Book Review), a Pulitzer Prize-winning author examines the dangers of a failing public health system unequipped to handle large-scale global risks like a coronavirus pandemic. The New York Times bestselling author of The Coming Plague, Laurie Garrett takes on perhaps the most crucial global issue of our time in this eye-opening book. She asks: is our collective health in a state of decline? If so, how dire is this crisis and has the public health system itself contributed to it? Using riveting detail and finely-honed storytelling, exploring outbreaks around the world, Garrett exposes the underbelly of the world's globalization to find out if it can still be assumed that government can and will protect the people's health, or if that trust has been irrevocably broken. "A frightening vision of the future and a deeply unsettling one . . . a sober, scary book that not only limns the dangers posed by emerging diseases but also raises serious questions about two centuries' worth of Enlightenment beliefs in science and technology and progress." -- Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Out of those critiques comes a proposal for an alternative model of governmental responsibility: Brown urges us to see government as trustee for citizens and the environment.

In a time of global political ferment, established ideas are coming under renewed scrutiny. Chief among them is one of the dominant notions of our era: that we should entrust markets with many of the tasks previously carried out by government. In this wide-ranging book, Max Rashbrooke goes beyond anecdote and partisanship, delving deep into the latest research about the sweeping changes made to the public services that shape our collective lives. What he unearths is startling: it challenges established thinking on the effectiveness of market-based reforms and charts a new form of ‘deep’ democracy for the twenty-first century. Refreshing and far-sighted, this stimulating book offers New Zealanders a new way of thinking about government and how it can navigate the turbulent world ahead. The market is often not the solution to our problems. Markets have often been the problem. Max Rashbrooke makes the convincing case for models of government that work better, as well as those to be more wary of. Greater democracy can bring with it greater equality - but, Rashbrooke warns, democracy itself is imperilled by our current levels of inequality. Fast paced, globally informed and wittily written. – Professor Danny Dorling, Oxford University This book provides a wide range of excellent evidence-based arguments that help counter the oft-dominant small-government ideology of our times. Its defence of democracy, government and voter competence is a story that needs to be told more. – Laura O'Connell Rapira, Director of ActionStation

Business reporting in a post-apocalypse global marketplace Clearly, now is the time for creating an effective business-reporting model appropriate for the markets of the twenty-first century. Rather than start from scratch after the Enron-Andersen fiasco, two leading consultants from PricewaterhouseCoopers present a plan that supplements the current model, one in which executives, accountants, analysts, investors, regulators, and other stakeholders can truly embrace the spirit of transparency. The Future of Corporate Reporting highlights the best practices for global financial reporting, explaining the concept of "performance auditing," which focuses on the real performance of the business as opposed to technical adherence to GAAS. Eccles and Masterson also discuss the pros and cons of GAAP v. IAS, present new approaches to reforming financial reporting, and outline a twenty-first-century model of accounting that will improve markets and benefit shareholders.