The promise of upward mobility—the notion that everyone has the chance to get ahead—is one of this country's most cherished ideals, a hallmark of the American Dream. But in today's volatile labor market, the tradition of upward mobility for all may be a thing of the past. In a competitive world of deregulated markets and demanding shareholders, many firms that once offered the opportunity for advancement to workers have remade themselves as leaner enterprises with more flexible work forces. Divergent Paths examines the prospects for upward mobility of workers in this changed economic landscape. Based on an innovative comparison of the fortunes of two generations of young, white men over the course of their careers, Divergent Paths documents the divide between the upwardly mobile and the growing numbers of workers caught in the low-wage trap. The first generation entered the labor market in the late 1960s, a time of prosperity and stability in the U.S. labor market, while the second generation started work in the early 1980s, just as the new labor market was being born amid recession, deregulation, and the weakening of organized labor. Tracking both sets of workers over time, the authors show that the new labor market is more volatile and less forgiving than the labor market of the 1960s and 1970s. Jobs are less stable, and the penalties for failing to find a steady employer are more severe for most workers. At the top of the job pyramid, the new nomads—highly credentialed, well-connected workers—regard each short-term project as a springboard to a better-paying position, while at the bottom, a growing number of retail workers, data entry clerks, and telemarketers, are consigned to a succession of low-paying, dead-end jobs. While many commentators dismiss public anxieties about job insecurity as overblown, Divergent Paths carefully documents hidden trends in today's job market which confirm many of the public's fears. Despite the celebrated job market of recent years, the authors show that the old labor market of the 1960s and 1970s propelled more workers up the earnings ladder than does today's labor market. Divergent Paths concludes with a discussion of policy strategies, such as regional partnerships linking corporate, union, government, and community resources, which may help repair the career paths that once made upward mobility a realistic ambition for all American workers.

The economies of South Korea and Taiwan in the second half of the twentieth century are to scholars of economic development what the economy of Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteeth centuries is to economic historians. This book, first published in 2006, is a collaboration between a leading trade economist and a leading economic sociologist specializing in East Asia, and offers an explanation of the development paths of post-World War II Korea and Taiwan. The ambitions of the authors go beyond this, however. They use these cases to reshape the way economists, sociologists, and political scientists will think about economic organization in the future. They offer nothing less than a theory of, and extended evidence for, how capitalist economies become organized. One of the principal empirical findings is that a primary cause for the industrialization of East Asia is the retail revolution in the United States and the demand-responsiveness of Asian manufacturers.

Why are some countries without an apparent abundance of natural resources, such as Japan, economic success stories, while other languish in the doldrums of slow growth. In this comprehensive look at North American economic history, Marc Egnal argues that culture and institutions play an integral role in determining economic outcome. He focuses his examination on the eight colonies of the North, five colonies of the South (which together made up the original thirteen states), and French Canada. Using census data, diaries, travelers' accounts, and current scholarship, Egnal systematically explores how institutions (such as slavery in the South and the seigneurial system in French Canada) and cultural arenas (such as religion, literacy, entrepreneurial spirit, and intellectual activity) influenced development. He seeks to answer why three societies with similar standards of living in 1750 became so dissimilar in development. By the mid-nineteenth century, the northern states had surged ahead in growth, and this gap continued to widen into the twentieth century. Egnal argues that culture and institutions allowed this growth in the North, not resources or government policies. Both the South and French Canada stressed hierarchy and social order more than the drive for wealth. Rarely have such parallels been drawn between these two societies. Complete numerous helpful appendices, figures, tables, and maps, Divergent Paths is a rich source of unique perspectives on economic development with strong implications for emerging societies.

In a small town nestled among the mountains, lifelong friends Morgan and Lila share a deep bond that blossoms into a profound love as they navigate their dreams and ambitions. Morgan, an aspiring artist, sees the world in vibrant colors and limitless possibilities, while Lila, a pragmatic future doctor, is grounded in reality and often questions the feasibility of Morgan's artistic pursuits. As they grow older, their dreams pull them in different directions, leading to an emotional and heart-wrenching decision: Morgan is offered a life-changing opportunity in a big city, while Lila chooses the safety of her established path. As they part ways, they promise to love each other from afar, but the distance begins to strain their relationship. Both immerse themselves in their respective worlds—Morgan finds success in art, while Lila thrives in her medical fellowship—but the absence of their connection lingers in their hearts. Months pass, filled with growth and selfdiscovery, yet the ache of longing for one another persists.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th Annual International Conference on Computing and Combinatorics, COCOON 2000, held in Sydney, Australia in July 2000.The 44 revised full papers presented together with two invited contributions were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 81 submissions. The book offers topical sections on computational geometry; graph drawing; graph theory and algorithms; complexity, discrete mathematics, and number theory; online algorithms; parallel and distributed computing; combinatorial optimization; data structures and computational biology; learning and cryptography; and automata and quantum computing.

An elementary introduction to polynomial continuation.