Book Description

The proliferation of regional trade agreements is fundamentally altering the world trade landscape. The number of agreements in force surpasses 200 and has risen eight-fold in two decades. Today as much as 40 percent of global trade takes place among countries that have some form of reciprocal regional trade agreement.

Global Economic Prospects 2005: Trade, Regionalism, and Development addresses two questions:

** What are the characteristics of agreements that most promote—or hinder—development for member countries?
** Does the proliferation of agreements pose risks to the multilateral trading system, and if so, how can these risks be managed?

The report argues that agreements leading to open regionalism—that is, deeper integration of trade as a result of low external tariffs, increased services competition, and efforts to reduce cross-border and customs delays costs—are effective as part of a larger trade strategy to promote growth. Such regional agreements can complement a strategy that, on the one hand, includes autonomous liberalization to promote productivity gains and, on the other hand, leverages domestic reforms to enhance market access.

Although regional agreements can prove beneficial to member countries, they can have adverse effects on excluded countries. Lowering of border barriers around the world is crucial to minimizing these effects. The completion of the Doha Development Agenda by all countries in the World Trade Organization will reduce the risk of trade diversion associated with regional agreements and will decrease trade losses of countries excluded from agreements. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

The new edition of this text has been fully updated throughout and features expanded sections on issues such as global warming, biotechnology, and energy. Global Issuesis an introduction to the nature and background of some of the central issues - economic, social, political, environmental - of modern times. It will provide the basis for a stimulating course for beginning students in departments of geography, politics, sociology and environmental science. The book opens with an overview of the complex political, cultural and natural origins of world problems and of why some nations are rich and some are poor. The author then discusses in depth such issues as population growth, hunger, the extinction of species, global warming and climatic change, ozone depletion, energy conservation, deforestation, and the misuse of technology.The book covers a range of perspectives on a diversity of societies, developed and developing. The author writes clearly, stressing the need, by argument and by exemplification, for informed, critical thinking. Students are shown both the decisions that have been made - and the resulting failures and successes - and the choices that must now be faced if crucial problems are to be solved.The book is extensively illustrated with diagrams and photographs, contains guides to further reading, media, and internetresources, and includes suggestions for discussion and studying the material. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent one volume intro to how all the issues connect.
I used this book as text for high school "Global Studies" courses, and thought it was terrific in its understandable but not watered down treatment of the big issues -- war, hunger, women's rights,population, environment, etc.Shows how these issues relate to each other.It was a stretch for 9th graders, but would be perfect for high schoolseniors or college intro. ... Read more

Book Description

Ruling America offers a panoramic history of our country's ruling elites from the time of the American Revolution to the present. At its heart is the greatest of American paradoxes: How have tiny minorities of the rich and privileged consistently exercised so much power in a nation built on the notion of rule by the people?

In a series of thought-provoking essays, leading scholars of American history examine every epoch in which ruling economic elites have shaped our national experience. They explore how elites came into existence, how they established their dominance over public affairs, and how their rule came to an end. The contributors analyze the elite coalition that led the Revolution and then examine the antebellum planters of the South and the merchant patricians of the North. Later chapters vividly portray the Gilded Age "robber barons," the great finance capitalists in the age of J. P. Morgan, and the foreign-policy "Establishment" of the post-World War II years. The book concludes with a dissection of the corporate-led counter-revolution against the New Deal characteristic of the Reagan and Bush era.

Rarely in the last half-century has one book afforded such a comprehensive look at the ways elite wealth and power have influenced the American experiment with democracy. At a time when the distribution of wealth and power has never been more unequal, Ruling America is of urgent contemporary relevance.

Reviews (4)

interesting but not practical
He presents well the case for locally-owned business being better for a community's economic well-being than are chain and franchise stores, and provides lots of different examples of ways that businesses can be community oriented. I found particularly interesting the part about the Green Bay Packers, who were saved out of bankruptcy by a group of fans who sold "stock" to the community to raise the cash. You can't sell the stock to a non-GB resident, you can't own more than 1 (I think) share, and you can only sell shares at the same price you bought them for: $25. Really, sounds a lot like the ICC's shares, and it guarantees that the Pack will never leave Green Bay.

On presenting options for ownership, though, Shuman seems to go a little overboard.

When trying to decide how to promote the kinds of business he wants, Shuman starts reasonably enough, but quickly moves into the implausible. Suggestions such as using zoning law to encourage local business (by discouraging development in the locations and of the scale that WalMart likes to build) and implementing local currencies to encourage patronage of locally-oriented business are useful, and have been successfully used in many places. However, when we get into suggestions about tearing down the WTO and replacing it with something that supports local business, we're getting unreasonable. While it may be possible that the WTO would become less multinational- and more local-friendly, I'm betting that it will only do so when its member states do so, and not as a first step which will encourage its members to do so. Shuman seems to realize this to some extent, as he proposes pro-local legislation in the United States Congress, but this too is unuseful.

Fun to read, but not practical at all.

All you need to know about community empowerment
EVERYONE should read this book. It is very well thought out and very convincing. Change is possible by sticking together and empowering ourselves as self-reliant communities. The appendix takes up no less than a third of the whole book and is a gold mine in and of itself.

A Highly Important Book for Any Concerned Citizen
This book cuts through all of the conventional public discussions on the economy and society to make a clear, convincing case for reviving local communities. Pundits, politicians, and intellectuals are always bemoaning the collapse of "community," but their analyses are usually coiled around morality, or the need for "better education," or some equally superficial issue. But as Shuman points out, all the civic involvement and moral uprightness in the world is useless if our towns and cities are being held hostage by globe-trotting corporations and ultra-mobile capital. "Community" is only possible if people control their own lives; and this is possible only when there are thriving, viable local economies. This is not a book that calls for a complete retreat from the global forces that are shaping our world -- that option is impossible with the current levels of technology. But what Shuman does outline is a way for communities to reestablish a balance between the local and the national/global, in the areas of production, finance, and government. And unlike many other books, which never get past the critique to make any positive prescriptions, this one is brimming with concrete proposals. It also has the most extensive list of groups, organizations, and resources that I have seen in the area of decentralized economics and community self-reliance. This is a must-read.

Food for thought for economic development folks
Every year on the anniversary of Walt Disney Worlds settling in Orlando, Fla., its a sure bet some newspaper will carry a story about my late uncle, Paul Pickett, and his opposition to the project. As a county commissioner when Disney first proposed bringing its giant entertainment complex to the city, he argued that the project would unleash a monster that would forever change the quality of life for residents. Tell the mouse to stay in California, he snapped.

As a person who embraces -- make that relishes -- change, Im not sure I fully agree with his assessment. But as a person who has lived for most of my adult life in an area that was decimated in the 1980s when the all-important steel industry fell on hard times and today struggles with the threat of losing still another industry on which we have become economically dependent -- car production at the General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio -- I understand the point my uncle was trying to make.

So does Michael H. Shuman, attorney and author of Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age. In his book, he advocates that local communities must regain control over their own economies by a variety of means including investing not in outsiders, but in locally owned businesses like credit unions, municipally owned utilities and community development corporations and focusing on import-replacing rather than export-led development. Doing so, he maintains, will reduce or eliminate the need to offer excessive tax abatements and other incentives to entice huge corporations upon which the communities stand to become dependent. The growing power and will of corporations to move without notice or warning has presented many communities with a terrible dilemma: Either cut wages and benefits, gut environmental standards and offer tax breaks to attract and retain corporations or become a ghost town, Shuman writes. Almost every U.S. town or city has learned that capital flight is not just a hypothetical danger.

Urging cities to be just as friendly with rootless corporations as with its home-grown businesses, Shuman says, is like telling a loyal wife to accept the inevitability of philandering by her husband and to appease him by buying more sexy lingerie and cooking nicer dinners. If a community is reduced to a link in a global chain, it will be dragged wherever the corporation controlling the chain wants.

As long as corporations are free to move from place to place, the author argues, No jurisdictions efforts to target production toward basic needs, or protect its work force or environment, can succeed. Once regulations become onerous, a profit-maximizing firm will move on.

This does not mean, however, that communities should circle the wagons and lock the gates. It means nurturing locally owned businesses which use local resources sustainably, employ local workers at decent wages and serve primarily local consumers, Shuman writes. It means becoming more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports. Control moves from the boardrooms of distant corporations and back to the community where it belongs.

All things considered, Shuman offers a point of view thats worth considering by government and economic development leaders throughout the country. ... Read more

Book Description

After decades of seemingly unsurpassable growth and prosperity, Japan's economy declined in the 1990s.The reversal stunned observers: How could the economy have reversed itself so abruptly? Bai Gao's illuminating analysis of Japan's economic story demonstrates how the same economic institutions could produce both remarkable successes and a prolonged slump. In Japan's Economic Dilemma, Gao describes tensions within the Japanese economic system that created a bubble in the 1980s, yet became unsustainable and led to a stagnant domestic economy in the 1990s. Those who have been following the lively debate over "What became of the Japanese Miracle?" will appreciate Gao's historical perspective and multilayered analysis.Bai Gao is an associate professor in the department of sociology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He was a visiting scholar at Tokyo University and taught at Hitotsubashi University and Yokohama National University. He is the author of Economic Ideology and Japanese Industrial Policy (Cambridge, 1997), which received the 1998 Hiromi Arisawa Memorial Award in Best Books in Japanese Studies from the Association of American University Presses. ... Read more

Book Description

Markets in Motion is a graphical overview of the economic conditions and events that have influenced the U.S. stock market since 1900. Decade by decade, you'll examine how different economic and policitcal environments can be directly correlated to stock market movements. Each decade features graphs displaying the performance of the Dow Jones Average, the Dow Jones price to dividend ratio, industrial production, money supply, consumer price index, T bill rate, and the Discount rate. Embedded on the graphs are short descriptions of important political, economic, and historical events. Use this information to reference similar environments today and gain an edge in determining the future direction of the market. ... Read more

Book Description

Migration between Mexico and the United States is part of a historical process of increasing North American integration.This process acquired new momentum with the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, which lowered barriers to the movement of goods, capital, services, and information.But rather than include labor in this new regime, the United States continues to resist the integration of the labor markets of the two countries.Instead of easing restrictions on Mexican labor, the United States has militarized its border and adopted restrictive new policies of immigrant disenfrachisement.Beyond Smoke and Mirrors examines the devastating impact of these immigration policies on the social and economic fabric of the Mexico and the United States, and calls for a sweeping reform of the current system.

The costs of the U.S. policy have been high.The book documents how the massive expansion of border enforcement has wasted billions of dollars and hundreds of lives, yet has not deterred increasing numbers of undocumented immigrants from heading north.The authors also show how the new policies unleashed a host of unintended consequences: a shift away from seasonal, circular migration toward permanent settlement; the creation of a black market for Mexican labor; the transformation of Mexican immigration from a regional phenomenon into a broad social movement touching every region of the country; and even the lowering of wages for legal U.S. residents.What had been a relatively open and benign labor process before 1986 was transformed into an exploitative underground system of labor coercion, one that lowered wages and working conditions of undocumented migrants, legal immigrants, and American citizens alike.

Rather than denying the reality of labor migration, the authors recommend regularizing it and working to manage it so as to promote economic development in Mexico and minimize costs and disruptions for the United States.Beyond Smoke and Mirrors provides an essential "user's manual" for readers seeking a historical, theoretical, and substantive understanding of how U.S. policy on Mexican immigration evolved to its current dysfunctional state, as well as how it might be fixed. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Ver y slow due to heavy facts yet compensates at the end
The book speaks of the continuing problems with immgration due to border policies between America and Mexico. Out of about 9 chapters eight are facts and figures charts and graphs and only the last chapter is thought provoking. In it the authors give their opinion of how America's border policies should change in order to accomodate Mexican immigrants- they made good points that leaves you somewhat satisfied after a mind numbing 8 chapters of...???? But For research purposes and stats I would definately recommend this book. ... Read more

Book Description

A History of Business in Medieval Europe, 1200-1550, demolishes the widely held view that the phrase "medieval business" is an oxymoron. The authors review the entire range of business in medieval western Europe, probing its Roman and Christian heritage to discover the economic and political forces that shaped the organization of agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, transportation, and marketing. Then they deal with the responses of businessmen to the devastating plagues, famines, and warfare that beset Europe in the late Middle Ages. Medieval businessmen's remarkable success in coping with this hostile new environment prepared the way for the economic expansion of the sixteenth century. ... Read more

Book Description

In his previous bestsellers, Who Will Tell the People and Secrets of the Temple, William Greider laid bare the inner workings of American politics and the Federal Reserve, revealing how they often work against the interests of the majority of us. In The Soul of Capitalism, Greider examines how the greatest wealth-creation engine in the history of the world is failing most of us, why it must be changed, and how specifically it can be transformed.

Brilliantly perceptive and sweeping in its ambition, The Soul of Capitalism is also hard-headed and practical, as Greider, one of our most eloquent populist spokesmen, assures us we are not powerless. He illustrates how American capitalism can be aligned more faithfully and obediently with what people want and need in their lives, with what American society needs for a healthy, balanced, and humane future. He proves that it is within our power to reinvent capitalism to make it work for us.

The Soul of Capitalism -- solid, pragmatic, visionary, optimistic -- addresses the nation's most urgent needs. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Challenging ideas for changing Wall Street's DNA
"The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy," is filled with challenging ideas for changing Wall Street's DNA. Author William Greider carefully reviews the historical nature of capitalism and offers sound advice on how to improve the integrity of the financial system in the United States. To this end, Greider demonstrates how deceit and manipulation of information by financial firms has triggered a public outrage. And he provides a convincing argument that unless the bottom line includes humanity in its bookkeeping...capitalism will eventually destroy society.

For the most part serious tier-one traders of equities, bonds, commodities and forex markets will ignore the contents of this book. They are on the cutting edge of establishing value and have no technical or fundamental instrument to quantify humanity in the daily battle of market pricing. However, senior management, bankers and administrators would be wise to examine this text. They are in a position to promote change. And only they can end the callous indifference and greed that dominates Wall Street.

Greider does his homework. He introduces the thoughts of several social gospelers and philophers to punctuate many important points. At the top of the list of culprits is how senior corporate executives have no true social responsibilities other than to make money for shareholders. On the contrary, the heroes of nurturing solid corporate social values are union managed pension funds who advocate wholesome investments.

On a less than positive note...Greider's "agitating inquiry" tends to get a little carried away with his criticism of certain segments of the financial system. For instance, his allegations of fuedalism and master/servants labor systems in today's capitalist society are weak and will be discounted by objective economists. Nevertheless, this is an important book that explores how downsizing, restructuring and outsourcing reduce human dignity, equity and self-worth for many Americans.

Bert Ruiz

brilliant discourse
I'm sure many players in the marketplace are not ready to embrace what Greider is reporting, essentially the call in many quarters for a new economic paradigm that takes into account such off-the-book realities as environmental and technological sustainability and corporate accountability.

But it should be required reading. As he shows, the tide is turning, consciousness is building, and there are certainly a growing number of constituencies, from private and institutional investors, business owners, academics, and government officials, who recognize the need for deep rooted change and revisionist thinking when it comes to the basic precepts of capitalism, a 19th century system that no longer reflects the complexities of today's marketplace. Instead, this maze of antiquidated legal and financial rules continues to create winners and losers, though the victims are certainly becoming the greater,from the environment itself to employees, union workers, investors and retirees to the generations of the future. And the winner's circle keeps narrowing to those few in the academic legal and economic community who expouse shareholder primacy, that a corporation exists to serve its shareholders and shareholders well, and then within those confines, the very few in the ensuing debacles of this past bull market, who actually profited from the internet bubble, not to mention those scamming executives from the likes of World Com and Enron, who managed to escape with their stock options entact before all the cookies crumbled.

Bravo, William Greider, who marches on as both a keen observer and visionary who points out that people certainly aren't going to change, but the system had better do a better job in reflecting the reality of greed and imbalance that is taking a toll globally. This book is a decade ahead of its time and could help build a better future if many take it seriously. A reviewer for The Washington Post dubbed Greider an "optimist" because of his viewpoint that large scale change wasn't only possible, but was forthcoming. But true label is "realist" because the ground swell for many of the issues he tackles has already begun. Not that you'll read about it in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal or hear about it from the usual business talking heads on cable, where contributors aren't brainy or reflective enough to grasp the big picture, if not willingly blinded to it. But Greider offers up what's taking place and why, and the historical context that our marketplace is operating in, in effortless and eloquent prose. And what he's written is an accurate protrayal of change, not just some positive thinking of the possibilities. Within many academic circles, both here and abroad, mulitnationals, stock exchanges, investment funds and business concerns, both profit and non-profit, the pressures egging on the evolution of the capitalist system are already embraced and understood.

I suggest reading Greider's book to not only understand what's at stake, but as way to align your future investment portfolio, employment possiblities, even political beliefs, because the factions he reports on in this book will have increasing power in coming years to change the status-quo to benefit our society at large.

Worth a skeptical look
William Greider is a gifted critic of the downside of capitalism, although his proposed changes are somewhat wanting. To his credit he attempts to be realistic in both his analysis and his suggested alternatives although he has excessive confidence in the efficacy of the state to rectify wrongs.

Greider actually has little confidence in the national government to make the changes he deems necessary, however, this lack of faith owes to what he sees as the unwillingness of leaders rather than the inability of government to reorder the economy by fiat. If inertia could be overcome, Greider would have the government be the employer of last resort and a co-owner of many businesses where it would exercise its wisdom to re-order priorities of the modern corporation. This already happens elsewhere (i.e. Europe and Japan) and the results are decidedly mixed.

Greider has an almost patriotic fervor for American innovation but much of what he advocates would tend to stifle the same innovation he lauds. His faith in the virtues of unions tends to ignore their side-effects: arcane work rules and excessive protection for unproductive employees, neither of which are a net benefit.

For all his critiques of American corporations and government he saves his fiercest vitriol for the profession of economics. While he is familiar with the theories of neoclassical economics, one wonders if he only views them as clever propoganda. Its hard to see how Joseph Schumpeter's "creative destruction" could occur in William Greider's ideal economy.

While his criticism sometimes is over the top, he touches on real concerns, particularly in the area of environmental degradation. Contrary to his accusations, neoclassical economics does recognize this as a problem, but they don't offer much in the way of solutions. At least this aspect of his book offers useful, if not fully viable, ideas for change.

The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy
In this brilliantly written volume, best-selling author and journalist Greider admirably articulates the conflict arising from the US's emergence as the greatest wealth-producing engine in history and the widespread discontent it has generated among workers. His analysis of US capitalism is well documented and always challenging, although readers may disagree with some of his theses, e.g., that workers in capitalist societies occupy a position much like that under feudalism; this denies the current relative freedom of movement by labor within and between countries. Indeed, Greider makes much of capitalism's treatment of human labor as a lifeless input to production, no different from machinery or raw materials, with monetary rewards determined at the employer's discretion (disregarding the reality that comparative productivity of workers usually sets wages.) The dehumanization of labor under capitalism and remedies to end it comprise the bulk of Greider's analysis. He eschews reliance on government to provide a soul to capitalism because, in the long run, special interests appear to prevail. Greider's solution to providing human dignity, social justice, and self-worth to employees is by transforming them into owners of their own labor. An eloquent, populist endeavor, of value to students and practitioners of public policy.

JUNK LAW
An intelligent citizen knows that DAS KAPITAL - which Karl Marx denounced - was actually the CORPORATION - which holds humanity in chains. Marx expected a violent revolution would outlaw the corporation (capitalism) and restore mankind's liberty. But Marx had doubts - democratic government might be seduced and make a mess of socialism.

Contemporary Otto Bismarck was far wiser. He knew Marx was right, but Bismarck outlawed socialism and attempted to pre-empt revolution by "liberal" reforms - revolution from above. Otto wanted to be a benevolent despot. The grumpy Kaiser fired Bismarck, just in time for the bloodbath of World War I etc.

The corporation gathered strength. In 1886 the US transferred all the rights and protections of citizens to corporations in PLESSY v. FERGUSON. From that moment every member of Congress became the willing servant of corporations. Don't waste your time writing your Senator or Congressperson. Kindly Alan Cranston, as nice a Senator as ever orated, gave his soul to protect Lincoln S&L (Charles Keating et al) from doing time for stealing the savings of pathetic widows who thought Cranson was supposed to represent THEM !

Ivan Boesky won the hearts and minds of Berkely MBA's by encouraging soulless GREED. Pity the California taxapayesr who still pay lavishly for that swill..

Greider rambles on about corporations becoming moral - preserving the environment by not setting one worker against another . As in Dicken's tear-jerker CHRISTMAS CAROL. Seeing the error of our ways. ... Read more

Book Description

Since the mid-1990s, emerging market economies have been hit by dramatic highs and lows: lifted by large capital inflows, then plunged into chaos by constrained credit and out-of-control exchange rates. The conventional wisdom about such crises is strongly influenced by the experience of advanced economies. In Emerging Capital Markets in Turmoil, Guillermo Calvo examines these issues instead from the perspective of emerging market economies themselves, taking into account the limitations and vulnerabilities these economies confront.

A succession of crises -- Mexico in 1994-5, East Asia in 1997, Russia in 1998, and Argentina in 2001 -- prompted an urgent search in economic policy circles for cogent explanations. Calvo begins by laying the groundwork for a new approach to these issues. In the theoretical chapters that follow, he argues that financial crisis theory regarding emerging markets has progressed from focusing on such variables as fiscal deficits, debt sustainability, and real currency devaluation to stressing the role of the financial sector -- emphasizing stocks rather than flows as well as the role credibility plays in containing financial crises. He then returns to a more empirical analysis and focuses on exchange rate issues, considering the advantages and disadvantages of flexible exchange rates for emerging market economies. Coming after ten years of ongoing crises, Calvo's timely reassessment of the importance of external factors in making emerging market economies safer from financial turmoil offers important policy lessons for dealing with inevitable future episodes of financial crises. ... Read more

Book Description

This compact, tightly argued, and eloquent book is the quintessential John Kenneth Galbraith, the manifesto of the "abiding liberal." In defining the characteristics of a good society and creating the blueprint for a workable agenda, Galbraith allows for human weakness without compromising a humane culture, and recognizes barriers that hinder but do not defeat a responsible, stable, and hopeful future. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

A practical advocate for a more humane economy
Galbraith's main point has less to do with any specific policy than with his belief that rigid ideologues advocate for flawed and potentially dangerous political and economic systems. He argues that capitalism is by far the most responsive and effective economic system given our nature and needs, but that pure market capitalism comes up short in many significant respects. He does exhibit his own bias in some chapters when he ignores matters of degree in favor of more dramatic claims, but his proposals are not controversial by most standards-we need a safety net, environmental regulation is necessary, etc. I couldn't relate to most of the negative reviews/remarks here. Among them: Galbraith, onetime speechwriter for presidents, editor of Fortune magazine, and prolific author, is inarticulate to the point of incoherence; Galbraith, a onetime Harvard economics professor and head of the American Economic Association, lacks any understanding of economics; Galbraith's ideas are silly; etc. This is a book arguing that capitalism must be tempered if it is to serve society well. Someone who believes that environmental regulations, zoning laws, a progressive income tax, and organizations like the SEC are unnecessary impediments to economic growth will have a hard time with Galbraith. Others will likely recognize that the criticisms of capitalism he levels here are, to some debatable extent, legitimate.

Interesting ideas poorly communicated
Galbraith's insight on society unfortunately gets lost in a maze of double negatives and confusing sentence structure. His ideas are sound, though he has a very off-putting pompous delivery. In fact, his verbosity and poor structure is so bad, that it turns what should be a slim read into a fairly mind-numbing experience. The book really needs to go back to an editor.

A Treatise for Economic Justice
This book is on my short shelf of most important books of this era, in that Galbraith takes the work of his earlier economic analyses over many books, and gives an all-humanity based outline to consider for the 21st century.

Those who dismiss this book as non-economic I fear are stuck within narrow definitions, as opposed to the more human-based origins of the word economics (from oikonomia, home management). It is this narrow definition that is prone to the boom-bust cycles Galbraith discusses in earlier historical works on the history of modern economics, and is part ofthe current recessional problem.

This book is a cry for human-based economics, and would be a good book study or resource for businesses, community organizations, or churches around North America.

Too bad Galbraith isn't much of an economist.
Galbraith is a very clear writer. He rarely uses technical jargon or mathematics. But unlike some other popular writers, it isn't because he is able to explain complex phenomena without them. He doesn't appear to understand them. This book reads like a fairy tale or child's letter to Santa Claus. Mr. Galbraith doesn't seem to understand economics well enough to pass economics 101. But he does have an excellent command of the English language.

It' s useful for his enemy
I have two reasons for putting a high value of this book, First, I truly appreciate Mr. Galbraith's style. Its sentence is compact, logic is clear, and expression is eloquent...in short, his style is incredibly excellent. Second, it's useful. Reading this compact book,you can understand 'liberal's good society.'I believe nobody can misunderstand Mr. Galbraith's opinion. If you are a 'liberal', to read this book must be a pleasure. And, if you belong to 'conservative', missing opportunity to know your enemy is not clever. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the first of two anthologies on international political economy drawn from articles published in the journal International Organization. The book is organized into four sections: Contending Theoretical Perspectives, International Regimes, Multilateralism and International Leadership, and International Economy and Domestic Politics.

Contributors: Philip G. Cerny, Peter F. Cowhey, Joanne Gowa, Joseph M. Grieco, Stephan Haggard, Robert O. Keohane, Lisa L. Martin, Ronald B. Mitchell, Andrew Moravcsik, Robert D. Putnam, John G. Ruggie, Beth A. Simmons, Arthur A. Stein, Alexander E. Wendt. ... Read more

Book Description

The privatization carried out under the Thatcher and Major governments in Britain has been widely (although not universally) considered a success, and has greatly influenced the privatization of state industries in the transition economies of Eastern Europe. Massimo Florio's systematic analysis is the first comprehensive treatment of the overall welfare impact of this broad national policy of divestiture. Using the tools of social cost-benefit analysis, Florio assesses the effect of privatization on consumers, taxpayers, firms, shareholders, and workers. His conclusion may be surprising to some; his findings suggest that the changeover to private ownership per se had little effect on long-term trends in prices and productivity in Britain and contributed to regressive redistribution.

After historical and theoretical overviews of privatization and a look at macroeconomic trends in the Thatcher-Major era, Florio considers in detail the microeconomic effects of British privatization on several key groups. In successive chapters, he examines firms and productivity changes; shareholders' windfall gains and evidence of underpricing and outperformance in privatized companies; workers, management, and changes in industrial relations; consumers and the quantity and quality of goods after the change to public ownership; and taxpayers and the interplay between privatization and tax reform. He follows these chapters with a case study of British Telecom -- significant not only because it was the largest divestiture of the period but also because of its influence on subsequent telecommunications privatization elsewhere. The final chapter considers the overall quantitative impact of the Thatcher-Major privatization on all sectors and its relationship with regulation and liberalization. The Great Divestiture not only offers an exhaustive analysis of the effects of the British process of privatization but also illustrates a method of inquiry and a testable research approach that could prove to be useful in similar studies of other countries. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (6)

Overview of One Chapter in American History.
THE PERILS OF PROSPERITY 1914-1932 is a history book that gives readers a brief glimpse into American life during 1914-1932. The book is not meant to be a detailed account, but is rather an overview of events and attitudes of the United States at that time. I found the book to be easy to read, quite interesting, and full of information I had never come across before. Major events that the book discusses include the U.S. involvement in WWI, the U.S. decision not to become a member of the League of Nations, the Communist Red Scare that followed WWI, and the stock market crash of 1929. Events that women and minorities were major contributors of get special treatment while other big events, such as Prohibition, are briefly discussed. Overall, even though the book skimps over certain major issues and events, THE PERILS OF PROSPERITY provides a nice overview of the time period providing a more balanced account of women and minorities' contributions to the era. The end of the book includes a list of important dates. I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to anyone interested in American history of that period.

Scandals and Speakeasies
I had to read this book for my American History Since 1877 course. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this book. I thought I knew about the 1920's, and after reading this book I knew that I knew nothing at all.

This book covers ever aspect of the decade and gives it more than just a name. The book covers political, economic, and social issues of the day. It explains the state of the nation in the previous decade as well to give us better understanding of what was to come at the decades end.

The book was also easy to understand and did not try to overcompensate with formal language. Anyone could understand the messages conveyed.

Overall I enjoyed this book and would read it again just to enjoy it.

Very Good and Informative Book about the 1920's
William Leuchtenberg wrote a very good and informative history about the 1920's. He explains life before 1914, World War 1, Prohibition, The Scopes Trial, The Teapot Dome Scandal, The Presidental Administrations of Harding, Coolidge and Hoover, The Great Depression, and The 1932 Election of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He also covers the role of Women, African-Americans, race relations, and The Ku-Klux-Klan. A book worth reading.

Excellent Overview of the 1910s and 1920s
This is an outstanding history of pre-Crash America. Leuchtenburg is one of the country's best historians of the New Deal, but in this text he does a wonderful job of providing the backstory to that era. Very lively stories, wonderfully written.

A confusing look at the 1920's
It would be fair of me to make a confession before I begin: I was assigned to read "The Perils of Prosperity" for my American History class. I have enjoyed many books I have read for school, but this is not one of them.

In this book, Leuchtenburg brings up things he describes as important events, yet he never explains them. For example, the execution of Nurse Edith Cavell is mentioned twice, yet he never bothers to tell who executed her or why she was executed.
Leuchtenburg often refers to people by their full name only once in a whole twenty-page chapter, so that a reader is left wondering exactly who Leuchtenburg is talking about. This gets especially confusing considering that there are multiple Bryans (William Jennings and Charles) and multiple Smiths (Alfred E. and Jesse), and although it is unlikely confuse the two Smiths (Jesse Smith committed suicide before Alfred E. Smith even ran for the presidency), it makes one wonder whether there is a third person of the same last name. Leuchtenburg's infrequent use of full names also led me to know major players only by their last name; I didn't know Clemenceau's first name was Georges until I looked it up in the book's index.

Fortunately, most of these problems only occured in the first half or so of the book. By the time of the last five chapters, Leuchtenburg began to make himself clearer and his writing became more focused. It also helped, I must admit, that his subject matter in these chapters became more interesting--the Roaring Twenties, the "monkey trial", and the stock market crash of 1929.

I suppose that people who are already familiar with this era might enjoy the book. But if you are like me, a student or someone else trying to learn new information about the 1920's, this book is not your best choice. I often could not understand things in "The Perils of Prosperity" until after I read them in my textbook. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (18)

Essential to Understanding the Creation of the 3rd World
In _How Europe Underdeveloped Africa_, Walter Rodney convincingly argues that much of the "Third World" is a product of European Imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Several points are made in his agrument. Among them are the arbitrary borders established by the colonial powers for their convience, with utter disregard for the indigenous people, their histories or past animosities. (The result? Violence in places like Rwanda, for example.) Rodney also points out that with the European conquest of Africa, the vast natural resources of the continent were - and still are being - plundered, from West African oil, to South African diamonds, to mineals like bauxite and copper on the interior. With this in mind, the infrasructures the European created (roads, ports, cities, transportation and power grids) were designed exclusively for the removal of these resources in as quick and efficient manner as possible.

For me the most significant agrument Rodney made, however, was the political legacy of European colonialism - that Africans, after nearly 100 years of economic exploitation and political repression (they had no say in the political dealings of their homeland, mind you), the Europeans up and left with little preparation or training for the maitainance of the economic and political infrastructure. No wonder there is so much political unrest, economic uncertainty, wide spread poverty and disease.

I give it 4 stars because of the strength and obvilious passion Rodney had for his subject matter, and for making an excellent argument. I cannot give it 5, however, because the book is not without its flaws. For example, the Africans are not held accountable for THEIR role in the continuing underdevelopment of the continent - Africa remains tremendously rich in resources; only now are the Africans beginning to manage and control the export of these to their advantage. Still, a highly recommended book.

Ignore Covert Racist Reviews of the Excellent Book
By the way, I am a white Irish-American reader and a voter who casts my ballots as neither conservative nor liberal but as an independent. To think that a reasoned critique of the problems of racist economic hierarchies would be disallowed by white so called patriotic reviewers below is an extreme form of covert racism. The knee-jerk dismissals of Dr. Rodney's excellent exegesis by the reviewers below is precisely the kind of conceptual horror that Dr. Rodney's book so cogently examines--and with much logical presentation of arguments and evidence. Far from "blaming whitey" as the simpleton reviewer noted below (and I do mean below), Dr. Rodney shows the systemic imperialism of profit-making European interventions on the continent of Africa. As his book was written prior to the African dictatorships that the reviewer cites below, Dr. Rodney can surely not be blamed for those dictatorships. (Logic: Hello! ...and you blame Dr. Rodney for supposed poor argumentation!) But the real problem is these reviewers insist on ignoring colonialism's European interventions and responsibilities. They are so quick to bring up everything else and not to discuss at length the glaring European responsibility that the transatlantic slave trade and the "owning" of African nations before their independence had on the socioeconomic underdevelopment of the African continent as Dr. Rodney brilliantly makes clear. Some people will NEVER take stock of their own racism--be it overt or covert. In a nation founded by white racist slave-holders, these reviewers need to look carefully at HISTORY.

a great man a great book
Rodney explain the beginings of many major companies and how they capitilized off Africans.

Square peg in a round hole
Marxism was a great ideology for throwing off colonialism. It effectively harnessed the emotional, mental and physical energy of many groups with real or imagined grievances.

In practice, Marxism has been a disaster, no one can realistically say otherwise. And its use by Rodney as a prism for examining Africa is totally misplaced. Put aside the fact that Marxist philosophy is unworkable in practice. In the African context, tribal, ethnic and geographic analyses are far, far more relevant than economic rantings by a Northern European.

Rodney could have done a far better job explaining how European colonialism screwed up Africa had he used a different analytical tool. As a social scientist, he turned out to be about as good as he was at making bombs.

Let's clear the air, shall we?
First, Rodney was a revolutionary, and like many revolutionaries, he didn't know how to handle his own bombs.

Second, the 'underdevelopment' thesis gets weaker and weaker each passing year. It's been nearly 60 years since decolonialization began and 45 years since it's ended. How long is whitey going to be blamed for the fact that Zimbabwe is run by a kleptocrat, unmarried pregnant Nigerian women are sentenced to be stoned to death, three million Africans are in a war with each other, one tribe killed 500,000 of another tribe with sticks and machetes, female 'circumcision' is still widely practiced and 38% of Botswanans have AIDS?

Third, if national borders are arbitrary and a hangover from colonialism, how come the affected countries haven't changed them?

Fourth, what besides geography connects sub-Saharan Africa from Berber/northern Africa? Shouldn't the book be 'How Europe Underdeveloped Sub-Saharan Africa'?

Fifth, if whitey is so bad, why does Rodney ape the language of that whitey known as Marx? You know, looking over the mercifully brief history of the Marxist empire known as the USSR, it looks awfully colonial to me, from Kazakhstan to Georgia to Finland to the Baltic states to Afghanistan. Trying to be anticolonial and Marxist at the same time is like trying to be hetero and a Catholic priest at the same time.

Finally, any economist that can write with a straight face that we should pattern our economies on East Germany and Albania wins the record for silly idiocy. Not even Krugman would go that far, and that's saying something. ... Read more