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

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

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

Book Description

A benchmark book-and-poster on American comparative wealth that shows who earns what, who lives with whom, and who works where. This full-color book-and-poster set brings together primary data on income, wealth, race, and marital and occupational status to provide a vivid picture of the U.S. social structure. One thousand color-coded figures make it possible to compare social groups, and understand how income distribution relates to race, sex, education, and occupation. With graphics and careful explanations, the booklet shows how to make the most of the poster, and reveals through comparison the considerable changes in America's social landscape as we enter a new century. Originally published in 1992, the American Profile Poster has become a staple in classrooms, homes, offices, and union halls. Now updated with the most recent data, it offers critical insights into where we stand at the start of the new millennium. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

excellent clear look at reality
An outstanding, factually based look at who has what in the United States, the social stratification chart originated well before 1992. It was on the office wall in almost every office of a national labor-community organizaion I worked with in the 1980s. I recommend this without reservation to anyone who's interested in political work.

I'm ordering the book assuming that it includes a look at the earlier versions. Nothing could more vividly illustrate the effects of the last few decades. Even apart from its social significance, it's a wonderful example of effective information design. Thanks, Dennis and Stephen!

Continued Excellence.
The author has again collected and presented the statistics of the american economy in a reasonably objective set of charts and tables. Don't buy into the spin presented from any politician, look at the data and decide for yourself.

After several years of outrageous growth in the tech sector this should be mandatory reading for each one of us. As many of us watch NASDAQ and track the value of our options we need to understand where we really fit in the economy. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Ethnic Chinese control a staggering 98 percent of the East Asian economy outside Korea and Japan. For any company seeking to work with the Chinese, understanding the unique social and cultural values that underpin their commercial practices can make or break business dealings before they even get off the ground.

Ming-Jer Chen, a leading expert on business strategy and competition, offers Western managers the definitive guide to navigating the fascinating-but often confusing-Chinese business world. Drawing from his intimate knowledge of Chinese culture and history, and from his extensive managerial work and international experience, Chen provides an unrivalled insider's perspective on how to work, compete, and cooperate successfully with Chinese companies around the globe.

Inside Chinese Business explains that almost all major Chinese organizations are relationship-based and continue to be influenced by an enduring set of cultural and social principles. Building on this premise with examples from companies throughout Asia and North America, the book addresses issues including:

* Chinese "business families" and their transformation in the new century.
* Guanxi: what it is, how it works, and how Western managers can develop their own business networks.
* The influence of traditional Chinese concepts such as "face," balance, harmony, and social roles on contemporary business conduct.
* How to spot a yesno: understanding Chinese communication patterns.
* The Chinese distaste for "negotiation"-and how to negotiate with them.
* The cultural roots of Chinese competitive practices, and ways Western companies can successfully adapt these ideas.
* Navigating the People's Republic of China's transitional economy.
* Using cultural difference to develop a globally integrative business perspective.

A powerful guide to resolving the often overwhelming rifts between Western and Eastern ways of doing business, Inside Chinese Business presents critical lessons for global enterprise in the 21st century. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Rehashed
Very little in this book is original. Even the title is borrowed from "Inside Chinese Organizations" written earlier by Kai-Alexander Schlevogt (a sound empirical study)! The style, emphasis and content is very similar to "New Asian Emperors" by George Haley and Chin Tiong Tan (a much better written book with a more complex grasp of the terrain of Chinese management).

The author does tackle some concepts such as "face" etc., but these provide very little insights for any but the most extreme novices.

Disappointing.

Not recommended
I agree with some of the reviewers below -- this book presents a complex topic in a very simplistic fashion. The concepts covered are very basic and almost naive.

Very naive and simplistic
Given the build up for this book, I found it very disappointing. It completely ignores the fact that most American companies have failed in China -- precisely following the strategies the author advocated! If you know very little about China, and have eaten at a Chinese restaurant a couple of times, this book should provide an easy introduction. Otherwise, pass on it! I would much rather recommend "New Asian Emperors: The Overseas Chinese, their Strategies and Competitive Advantages" by George T. Haley et al. for a more complex understanding of business culture in the region.

Disappointing...
I found this book a real disappointment, especially considering the author's apparent qualifications. It amounts to little more than a book report on other published sources and I actually see no evidence of "inside" information at all here. The author doesn't seem to have done a single personal interview for the book, which is unfortunate.

What's worse is that the book takes a chauvinistic approach to doing business with the Chinese. The essential advice here is that Western business people should never say no to Chinese counterparts and should accommodate them in every way possible. After doing business in Hong Kong and Guangzhou for more than 15 years, I fully understand the importance of "saving face": but this book advocates the kind of kowtowing that got many American companies into deep trouble in China...providing everything for their partners and losing their shirts. I am sure the author had honorable intentions but the point of view taken in this book is quite naive...if not dangerous.

That said, Inside Chinese Business is a quick and enjoyable read. If you have never read anything about Chinese business practices, it could be a useful introduction. Just take it with a grain of salt.

Simplistic and Dated
For anyone who has spent time in China (Hong Kong and Taiwan), or has read a book or two on business in Asia, much of the book will be simplistic to the point of being boring as it covers issues of "face", familial loyalty, reciprocity, etc. The impact of the Asian financial crisis is taken into account, but not the Nasdaq fall and subsequent worldwide tech slump. I imagine the author is just the victim of unfortunate timing, but several Asian tech companies, now dead and buried, are praised for their ability to navigate crises. Whoops.
There are lessons to be learned from a study like this, but the book strays dangerously close to the sort of blind fawning westerners saw of Japanese business in the late 80s and early 90s, before economic realities revealed the woeful shortcomings of Japan, Inc.
I have just begun reading another book, "The Coming Collapse of China"; while (so far) quite insular and anecdotal, it does provide a counter to what's quickly become an over-hyped view of China's future in global business.
I was expecting far more from "Inside Chinese Business", but perhaps the author will follow-up this work with a more in-depth study. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Imagine the American republic of the 19th century: at the beginning, a sparsely populated agrarian nation where the president, Thomas Jefferson, fords rivers on horseback to make it to his own inauguration; at the end of the century, it's a land of densely populated cities, teeming with factories and linked by a network of railroads. This extraordinary transition--and all the economic upheavals that went along with it--is described in the opening chapters of Money, Greed, and Risk, and provides the historical context for a broader look at how booms and busts happen. Charles Morris tells the story of American financial markets by looking at its larger-than-life characters: Nicholas Biddle (the first U.S. central banker), Jay Gould (a much-hated financial genius who patched together a network of rail lines), steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, oil baron John D. Rockefeller, and, of course, J.P. Morgan, who made America the world's banker. By the time these men had all passed from public life, the U.S. economy had changed from a primitive system that could be bent to the will of a single financier, such as Morgan, to a sophisticated, highly regulated, world-dominating conglomeration of massive corporations.

Then along came Michael Milken and things changed again. Morris makes this chronicle entertaining and enlightening, although the reader is expected to have some previous knowledge of finance and history. He finds connections where we don't expect them--for example, linking the leverage tactics of junk-bond king Milken to early-19th-century "wildcat" bankers. He also makes it easy to understand the accordion-like expansions and contractions in the world's developing economies. Once you've read this book, you'll feel as if you've seen everything before. --Lou Schuler ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The "greatest hits" of financial choas
Mr. Morris book provides a very readable survey of financial crisis which occured during the last 150 years. The real value of this book lies Mr. Morris's commentary which draws into focus the fundamental similarities between seemingly unrelated financial disasters.

It is banal to observe that the future is likely to include some as-yet unforseen financial meltdown. Armegeddon-peddlers, chicken-littlers, and perpetual bears have been saying this for centuries. It it brilliance on the part of Mr. Morris to explain exactly why this is the case.

Mr. Morris debunks the garden varieties of conventional wisdom, which variously held that financial crisis are "caused" by currency speculators, Michael Milken, junk bonds traders, Jews, computer trading programs, etc. Mr. Morris demonstrates that all crisis run a predictable course: economic innovation and growth, corresponding financial innovation provide capital to fuel the growth, over-shoot of valuations of the new financial mechanisms by financial markets chasing high yields, and the invevitable crash and ensuing chaos.

The USA Savings and Loan debacle, Asian currency crisis, British investments in post Civil War USA railroads are all shown as variations on this theme.

I did not award 5 stars because the book often delves into complex financial mechanisms which could have been explained in a more layman friendly manner.

Rough going for the amateur economist
I found this to be a very well written and interesting book and learned a great deal, but much of the book was over my head. An example: "...They [Barings] were the major underwriters of the bonds for the Louisiana Purchase, and in the 1820s rapidly expanded their underwritings of American state bonds to finance internal improvements. But the bookkeeping on their securities was still following trade-based forms. Issuers of bonds were authorized to draw bills of exchange on the Barings, which they would cover by forwarding the new securities to London, just as merchants would cover a trade bill by forwarding the documents on a cotton cargo." A substantial portion of the book is similarly written, but balanced by a healthy dose of colorful characters and sharp opinions by Morris.

Nothing new...
Charles Morris' book, despite its historical depth, falls short of providing a new insight on financial crises. This book is great for starters but cannot compete against Chancellor's "devil take the hindmost" or Kindleberger's "manias, panics and crashes". Clearly a dominated asset...

The Wisdom of Historical Perspective on Today's Market
An excellent book for the serious investor who wants historical perspective on the market changes happening today. It's added gift is that it will imbue its reader with the knowledge to preserve wealth and actually profit whenever the next financial crisis comes, since the author proves that there is not much new in modern crises, and their prescriptions, that couldn't be found in crises a hundred years ago. The author serves the reader well by constantly pointing out the irresponsibility of the nation's bankers and financial institutions especially when motivated by greed- "the opportunity to fleece the greedy proved irresistible," The author possesses the rare skill of being able to see the wood for the trees and of relating that to his readers. The foreword is right on.

A View of Morality & Changing Financial Markets
I found myself continuously amazed at the insights that Morris shows in his analysis of US financial markets and in their basic similarity over 150 years -- similar but more complex. I have been a student of financial markets for over forty years and I confess that I found insights being expanded consistently. As I read I kept thinking "What a great critical summary!" ... Read more

Reviews (2)

WOW!!
This is an incredible--and credible--fact based view of what's really going on in the economy. Mr. Osenton has clearly done his homework, and presents this fresh material in a very insightful and enjoyable read.
The best business book I have read since Peter's "In Search of Excellence" two deacdes ago.
Bravo!

A Remarkable Piece of Work
This book is not only a wonderful read and an impressive history of business during the second half of the 20th century, but it presents the most logical understanding as to why corporations, industries - the entire economy - is having such a difficult time growing. The irony that Osenton points out is that we are victims of our own success - pushing for more and more consumption - and getting it! - only to begin to approach levels of saturation. He points out that there are currently more than 32 million more registered vehicles in the United States than there are licensed drivers! Talk about surplus. For the first time ever, someone has explained WHY - beyond the simple explanation of greed - that corporations are cooking their books in order to make the numbers. It's because their respective top lines are lifeless, and they have squeezed every penny, every productivity gain they could out of the corporation. Death of Demand helped me completely understand why employees are paying for earnings growth with their jobs - jobs that are either being cut altogether or sent overseas. What a spectacular analysis of our current economic condition. Bravo! ... Read more

Book Description

Something new is happening across East Asia. A region notable for its lack of internal economic links is discussing regional cooperation on trade, investment, and exchange rates. Because of negotiations elsewhere around the globe on regional trade—such as those that led to the consolidation of the European Union, the formation of the North American Free Trade Area, and the rapid proliferation of bilateral free trade areas—the talk is not surprising. Nevertheless, East Asia’s past inertia with regard to forming a regional partnership raises many questions about its emerging regionalism. Why has the region suddenly shifted from taking a global approach to economic issues to discussing a regional bloc? How fast and how far will the new regionalism progress? Will the region become a version of the European Union, or something far less? What is the probable impact on American economic and strategic interests—are the likely developments something that the U.S. government should encourage or discourage? Edward Lincoln takes up these questions, exploring what is happening to regional trade and investment flows and what sort of regional arrangements are the most sensible.

Lincoln argues that an exclusive grouping is unlikely. Free trade negotiations have brought some economies in the region together, but they also have led to links with nations outside the region. Some regional governments most notably Japan, continue to have difficulty embracing the concept of free trade, even with favored regional partners. In the wake of the Asian financial crisis, governments also have looked at cooperating on exchange rates, but they have done little to move forward.

The U.S. government must decide how to respond to these developments in East Asia. An exclusively Asian form of regionalism could run counter to American economic interests, and the U.S. government has reacted negatively to some of these proposals in the past. Because trade and investment links between the countries of the Asia Pacific region and the United States remain very strong, Lincoln argues that the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum remains the appropriate institution for pursuing regional trade and investment issues. ... Read more

Book Description

Synthesizing new economic research of recent decades, the author offers new insights and some surprising conclusions about the Great Depression. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

new look at country's worst crisis
Based on new theories, Smiley has re-examined and re-assessed the forces that led to and prolonged the Great Depression. In clear non-technical prose, he shows what happened and why.

This short book (163 pages plus sources and index) is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of how the worldwide depression began and how it created a domino effect throughout Europe and the U.S. Nothing new here-- in fact, this is basic stuff any high schooler should know.

Chapter 2 is a more detailed examination of the economic crisis and the forces which led to it. Smiley explains the situation in basic terms that anyone can understand, allowing us to see the tragedy unfolding step by step.

Chapters 3 and 4 show how President Roosevelt (who had little knowledge or experience of economics) attempted to pull the country out of this deep economic slump. Though some programs were successful, some were not, and only serve to create a depression within a depression in the mid-30s.

Chapter 5 examines the legacy of the governmental response, and how economic policies initiated during this period has affected this country for decades afterward, and how certain government programs still exist long after their usefulness has passed. An examination of post-war analysis shows how Keynesian economic theory and government studies have misinterpreted the factors which brought this country back to recovery. He also examines the question of whether such an event can happen again, concluding that-- based on subsequent economic downturns-- it probably won't, though it can happen again should future leaders ignore the warning signs and lessons of the past.

A fascinating and rewarding book, even for those who have little or no knowledge of economics.

Eye opening
Smiley discusses the cause the the Great Depression, and the effects of the New Deal in prolonging it. He summarizes the findings of the latest academeic research, over the past few decades. He does this well and quite clearly, in a non-polemical way.

No math is involved.

Draws upon recent technical analysis
Gene Smiley's Rethinking The Great Depression blends history and economics in a survey which draws upon recent technical analysis to consider new ideas about the roots of the Depression. The efforts of the New Deal to combat the crisis, the underlying foundations of the Depression, and misguided monetary policies which prolonged it accompany refutes to popular beliefs - such as the positive view of World War II as a key to ending the crisis.

Concise, well orginized, and a fantastic read.
This book is only 175 pages, but dense in material. Smiley argues that FDR's New Deal, actually prolonged the Great Depression, and created a "depression within a depression." FDR, and his advisors, self nicknamed "the brains trust", put their New Deal emphasis in stiffling the free market forces, that were actually recovering the American economy from the world depression, of the early 1900's. Also, Smiley sheds light on the false notion that war is good for the economy. This book is written in such an understandable and concise style, that even the bibliography reads like a integrated chapter, where Smiley explains what he used within each reference.

I would recommend this book as a first read, or primer, for the Great Depression. I really enjoyed it.

The Great Depression Reassessed From a Free-Market Viewpoint
Gene Smiley, a protege of the free-market-oriented Austrian and Chicago schools of economics, has written a concise and readable book that challenges some long-held beliefs about the Great Depression.

Smiley presents a convincing case that the calamity was brought on, not, as is widely believed, by flaws in the free enterprise system, but by government policies, in particular, attempts to manipulate the gold standard. He then shows how the well-intentioned but wrongheaded interventionist policies pursued by the Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt administrations to combat the Depression actually prolonged and deepened it.

Smiley also presents evidence that the "boom" of the World War II years was actually a bust, and that true prosperity only returned when Washington turned away from New Dealism following the election of the Eightieth Congress in 1946. His insightful discussion as to whether or not another Great Depression could occur should be of particular interest to contemporary readers.

Although written for a general audience, Smiley's book is well researched and includes an extensive bibliography. It will make a useful addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in the Great Depression, American history, or macroeconomics. ... Read more

Book Description

In this path-breaking book, the author argues that European countries'political-economic policies, practices, and discourses have changed profoundly in response to globalization and Europeanization, but theyhave not converged.Although national policies may now be more similar,especially where they follow from common European policies, they arenot the same. National practices, although moving in the same generaldirection toward greater market orientation, continue to bedifferentiable into not just one or even two but three varieties ofcapitalism.And national discourses that generate and legitimatechanges in policies and practices not only remain distinct, theymatter. The book is a tour de force which combines sophisticatedtheoretical insights and innovativemethods to show that European countries generally, but in particularBritain, France, and Germany , have had very different experiences of economic adjustment,and will continue to do so into the future. ... Read more

Book Description

Vulnerable to external pressure and confronting internal demands for change, the future of the North Korean state remains very much a live issue.In June 2003 the ratings agency Standard and Poor’s issued a report highlighting the ineluctable prospect of a North Korean collapse and its perilous implications for South, identifying the prospectively economically devastating costs of unification— a la Germany— as a factor depressing South Korean sovereign bond ratings.

The S&P scenario is as provocative as the title of this monograph. Today’s North Korean regime embodies elements of both communism and Confucian dynasty under its deified-yet-mortal leader, Kim Jong-il. Its anomalous internal characteristics and external relations create an unusually broad set of possible transition paths and successor regimes, ranging from effective maintenance to the status quo to evolutionary change to revolutionary upheaval, probably implying the collapse of North Korea as a sovereign state and its absorption into rival South Korea.Now the Kim regime has raised the stakes both externally with its nuclear program, and internally, taking up economic reform and its accompanying dislocations, thereby moving from the realm of elite to the realm of mass politics. Korea expert Marcus Noland traces how under these unsettled conditions, something as prosaic as the demise of the sixty-something Kim Jong-il could set off abrupt transitions to non-Kim family leadership with or without juche, the near-theological ideology of national self-reliance, while collapse, or civil war are possible as well.

This study quantitatively analyzes the probability under alternative scenarios of regime change in North Korea, investigates the character of possible successor regimes, examines the likelihoods of "radical" and "gradual" economic integration between the North and South and the implications of these profoundly different trajectories for the South. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Hard Look At Korean Unification
Marcus Noland, in June 2000, wrote one of the better books, published by the Institute for International Economics, on the situation on the Korean peninsula, Avoiding the Apocalypse: The Future of the Two Koreas. Now, as Volume 71 of that organization's "Policy Analyses in International Economics", is Noland's Korea After Kim Jong-il. It's a short, but dense read, and worth every graph and sentence in its 103 pages, of which 18 are the appendix, index, and references, and including four tables and four figures. It's an economic analysis, certainly, but Noland's unpretentious presentation is punctuated with glib remarks.

As in Avoiding the Apocalypse, Noland offers alternative scenarios with supporting data and policy recommendations. Korea After Kim Jong-il in fact contains much of the same recommendations Noland suggested in his 2000 book, only more sharply focused on developments which occurred after 2000. Noland's recommendations are based on economic factors, not political or diplomatic ones. Unfortunately, these recommendations required the political cooperation of regional players and the United States to succeed, but in many cases, none of the players have even carried out the suggestions each could make unilaterally.

The first issue Noland discusses is North Korea's probability to survive or collapse. Noland offers numerous sociological arguments for change from numerous sources. He also contrasts these theories with public polling data and anecdotal evidence from policy-makers. He concludes, that there is a consensus among important decision-makers and the public that North Korea will collapse even without external pressure, which is not supported by any cross-national economic data or sociological theory.

This strange consensus is even more jarring considering, that South Korea's official policy is predicated on the North Korean regime's survival, until it is gradually integrated into the South's economy. Noland identifies three three likely future scenarios: cooperative engagement (Seoul's position), neo-cons' dream, and international embargo. On a timeline, cooperative engagement would ensure Pyongyang's survival for decades, the ne0-con's dream secenario would cause Pyongyang's collapse around the end of President Bush's second term, and an international embargo would cause collapse within two years. Noland stresses the economic and political damage, that either of the last two scenarios would cause to the South Korea.

Finally, Noland recommends specific policies for South Korea. These suggestions are identical to the recommendations found in the 2000 book. This repetition highlights the stakes involved in the South's continuing reform, which Noland generally praises, even if he rightly acknowledges the failures. This last section is the most important focus of the book, because Noland believes the South Koreans should own their destiny. I accept this right until the point South Korea's messy politics leads to a serious cris in the region, because Seoul cannot accept it's responsibility for it's own unification policies.

Noland's recommendations (pp. 76-7) include :

1."Seoul should commit to the principle that engagement should be done on efficient, transparent terms....as long as the state maintains direct and indirect influence over specific capital allocations by financial intermediaries, it will be tempted to use its influence to promote its policy...The simplest way of accomplishing this would be to put provisions into the tax code that would create an incentive for South Koreans to invest in the North instead of....China and Southeast Asia...Such a tax-based approach woould also have the virtue of transparency."

2. "...South Korea should prepare for the possibility of collapse...a general need to improve the financial transparency in the South Korean economy...a second desirable innovation would be the creation of independent institutional investors capable of monitoring management and fostering a market for corporate control..."

Based on Noland's policy recommendations, I seriously doubt South Korea can reform itself quickly enough, especially considering that the Bush administration is not allowing for the gradual integrgation scenario Seoul favors. Indeed, its not even clear if there is a consensus in South Korea supporting liberal economics and reform. Beyond the shortcomings of a shorter schedule for collapse from a policy perspective and the unpredictable nature of the political relations between all countries involved in an election year, the fact South Korea could not handle unification economically, socially, or politically, puts a even greater premium on the domestic policy recommendations Noland offers. If South Korea can accelerate reform after the April elections, then there is a chance for success, but a very slim one. Factoring out politics in South Korea is almost the definition of idealism, but Noland's recommendations are as succinct as practicable. Unfortunately, no one can lose betting against the South Koreans. ... Read more

Book Description

This volume is a successor of sorts to an earlier study, Toward Renewed Economic Growth in Latin America (Institute for International Economics; 1986), which blazed the trail for the market-oriented economic reforms that were adopted in Latin America in the subsequent years. It again presents the work of a group of leading economists (*) who were asked to think about the nature of the economic policy agenda that the region should be pursuing after the better part of a decade that was punctuated by crises, achieved disappointingly slow growth, and saw no improvement in the region's highly skewed income distribution. It diagnoses the first-generation (liberalizing and stabilizing) reforms that are still lacking, the complementary second-generation (institutional) reforms that are necessary to provide the institutional infrastructure of a market economy with an egalitarian bias, and the new initiatives that are needed to crisis-proof the economies of the region to end its perpetual series of crises.

(*) Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (Minister of Finance of Peru), Nancy Birdsall (President, Center for Global Development), Miguel Szekely (Mexico), Ricardo Lopez Murphy (Argentina), Jaime Saavedra (Peru), Claudio de Moura Castro (Brazil), Liliana Rojas-Suarez (Peru), Andres Velasco (Harvard), and Roberto Bouzas (Argentina). ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An excellent book for students of international economics.
The book is composed of 11 essays concerning what went wrong, what went right, and what is to be learned from the last decades of economic policy in Latin America. I myself am a new-comer to international economics and I found the essays to be rich sources of information and insight.

This book marks a partial shift in the debate on economic development from an emphasis on growth as an engine for the reduction of poverty, to an emphasis on stability and a more equitable distribution of wealth as an engine for growth. This introduces somewhat heterodoxical arguments for minimizing dollarization and in favor of capital controls. Clearly, the co-editor that had coined the term "The Washington Consensus" has seen the need to amend the 90's program.

For the layman this book may be a bit dense. For the student of international economics, a must read. ... Read more

Book Description

A leading economic journalist explains why Washington's responses to globalization have created a global worker surplus that undermines both American workers and those in developing nations.

As evidenced by the WTO riots in Seattle in December 1999, there is a volatile debate among Americans over how the new world economy affects our standards of living and our country's chances for future prosperity. With giant multinational companies based in the U.S. and other wealthy countries transferring ever more factories and labs to poorer countries, the fear is that slave-wage workers overseas are undermining the bargaining power of labor in the industrialized world.

As evidenced by the WTO riots in Seattle in December 1999, there is a volatile debate among Americans over how the new world economy affects our standards of living and our country's chances for future prosperity. With giant multinational companies based in the U.S. and other wealthy countries transferring ever more factories and labs to poorer countries, the fear is that slave-wage workers overseas are undermining the bargaining power of labor in the industrialized world.

In this book Alan Tonelson explains how a competition has emerged in which countries with the weakest workplace safety laws, the lowest taxes, and the toughest unionization laws win investment from American and European countries. Tonelson argues that this "race to the bottom" of labor standards has been the driving force behind the decline of American living standards for the past quarter century, and, as we have already begun to see, will cause even bigger problems for the worldwide economy as it continues.

Tonelson analyzes how the entry of such population giants as China, India, and Brazil into the global market have added fuel to the eroding labor standards. He reveals how an ever larger share of the foreign competition faced by American laborers is hitting not just fields such as apparel and toys, but many of America's highest wage industries such as aerospace and software. And he describes how the reeducation and retraining programs that political leaders say is the remedy to the problem will do nothing to help most Americans cope with competition from the global workforce.

A lively, provocative guide to the new global economy, The Race to the Bottom fills the gap of hard evidence in readable form in the globalization debate, providing the guidebook that American workers have been waiting for, and the indictment that our economic and policy establishments have been dreading. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Fails to deliver on it's shock-value title.
"The Race To The Bottom" fails to deliver on it's shock-value title.

Author Tonelson provides considerable detail that demonstrate the
increase in job exports from US, yet still concludes that "of the
1990s, manufacturing wages ... grew ... 2.9 percent after adjusting for inflation" - pg. XIII. It was GREW, not shrank.
On page 48: "large influxes of legal and illegal imigrants into the United States have forced many of America's loweset income workers into a race to the bottom of the wage scale". Note that the AVERAGE worker is in fair shape. Finally, on page 137: "The race to the bottom is only the worst and most important symptom, not the cause, of the global economy's problems."

The main thrust of the facts presented betray the book's title:
that dispite the truth that job export has had a deflationary
effect on US wages, those wage losses have been minimal. The facts presented would better name a book "downward wage pressure" - but of course that title would not sell many books.

Not a waste of time, but by itself this book paints an incomplete
picture. "The Dollar Crises" by Richard Duncan is better, and with "Tommorrow's Gold" by Marc Faber fill the most of void. Add
"Globalizaation and It's Discontents" by Joseph Stiglitz and a
much clearer view is created of the crazy world economy that we
must deal with.

Frightening
This book details the depressing details of globalization, and debunks the promises of free trade, like Mexico being a huge market(it isn't), most workers that lose their factory jobs would get new and improved high tech jobs(they haven't), and we'll do the high tech stuff and the Third World will do the low tech(not true). We are living in an age where business can relocate almost anywhere. Our corporations are dumping our highest paying jobs overseas and/or importing Third World workers to do them (like Indian programmers). The result is a slowly sinking standard of living. Between mass immigration and globalization it appears we may be at the beginning of a new age of poverty.
For "fun" scroll down to the first review of the book, down to the guy that gave it one star (apparently after reading only part of chapter one). Print it out and keep it with this book. After you read the book, re-read his review and then see if you can answer the question: What planet are the globalists living on?
This just in: According to NPR, one of the last textile factories in the US closed on October 22, 2002. It was a fancy high-end shirt factory in Maine. It had been in business for decades. The women there worked so fast that their hands were just a blur. Not fast enough apparently, as they couldn't compete with the sweat shops of the Third World. (NPR said "foreign competition") Some of the women had worked there for twenty years and cried when they left. I seem to remember the globablists saying that foreigners only took jobs Americans didn't want. Perhaps those women were just crying tears of joy.

Facts First And Feelings Second
I found this work to be significant in that the title and the content described clearly the global trade dynamic which we find our selves in today. I'd heard George Gilder a few years back tell a gathering of telecomm executives that they were caught up in this very dynamic; many of them have already lost that race and are no longer with us.

Mr. Tonelson's research is clearly evident in this book. He has done the heavy lifting(analysis)needed to make considered and substantiated statements about something a complex as the impact of global trade on our quality of life in this country.

I recently read "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" by Thomas Friedman and thought it a good counterpoint to "The Race To The Bottom."

"The Race To The Bottom" is richer in the numbers and is focused on us, while "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" is the more subjective and places the subject in a global and human context.

I highly recommend both books, however if you want solid facts before solid impressions, I'd say read "Race To The Bottom" first to get a good sense of "what." Then read "The Lexus And The Olive Tree" to figure out the "why" of it all.

My thanks to both authors.

globalization is bad for your health
Tonelson describes in detail why the current trade system, aka globalization, will cause the purchasing power of the US population to go down the drain. (Yes, the book is written with a US bias, but it applies equally to Europeans). It describes a type of trade where factories (even sophisticated ones) are shipped off to China, Mexico, Malaysia... only to see US/European labor displaced by a torrent of cheap imports. Further aggravating the downward spiral in the standard of living of Americans/Europeans are the massive immigration flows - more cheap labor to compete for the dwindling manufacturing jobs. There is a chapter on the asymmetric type of trade that is worthwhile reading; it describes how countries like Korea do everything to build sophisticated industries with the intent of exporting primarily to the US, but at the same time do everything to impede US imports (except the capital goods necessary to build the original factories). The implications of the lopsided trade are catastrophic for all involved - US, Europe, Japan and the Asian tigers.
The consequences of globalization are massive and detrimental to US and Europe, and this requires an informed debate on the issues. This book is an important document that analyzes some of the reasons that globalization is detrimental to your health. The book nicely skirts "econospeak" - the type of analysis that causes brain damage. It makes its points backed up by data - it refers to the real world!!
On the downside: the book suffers from a wee bit of repetition - I guess the editor got lazy. The few graphs in the book discuss identical points with slightly changed data - this is on the less than useful side.
All in all, I read the book, and was happy I did so.

Freefall to Nowhere
Readers looking for ammunition in the ongoing battle against globalization would do well to pick up this book. It's not an unmixed triumph of analysis, but the author succeeds in putting a perspective on the results of globalization so far. His thesis is simple but devastating. Despite the media hype from politicians, economists, and other corporate types, popular perceptions are not wrong: globalization is driving down American living standards. Such sacrifices might be acceptable were there real prospects of a globally-led improvement down the road. However, Tonelson also argues that such promised benefits will fail to materialize unless real changes are made in policy currently defining global integration. It's the book's burden to carry out these claims, which, I believe, the author does with varying degrees of success. The book itself is compact and to the point, with few graphs, but sufficient statistics that are well integrated into the text, and a metculously footnoted appendix - All of which make for unencumbered reading.

Two points concerning the contents. Tonelson, like many others, gets careless in equating globalization with free trade. The two are not only conceptually distinct, but as the author himself shows, distinct in practice as well. For example, protectionist frameworks in many countries have encouraged "offsets", whi