Book Description

In the 1630s, visitors to the prosperous trading cities of the Netherlands couldn't help but notice that thousands of normally sober, hardworking Dutch citizens from every walk of life were caught up in an extraordinary frenzy of buying and selling. The object of this unprecedented speculation was the tulip, a delicate and exotic Eastern import that had bewitched horticulturists, noblemen, and tavern owners alike. For almost a year rare bulbs changed hands for incredible and ever-increasing sums, until single flowers were being sold for more than the cost of a house.

Historians would come to call it tulipomania. It was the first futures market in history, and like so many of the ones that would follow, it crashed spectacularly, plunging speculators and investors into economic ruin and despair.

This is the history of the tulip, from its origins on the barren, windswept steppes of central Asia to its place of honor in the lush imperial gardens of Constantinople, to its starring moment as the most coveted--and beautiful--commodity in Europe. Historian Mike Dash vividly narrates the story of this amazing flower and the colorful cast of characters--Turkish sultans, Yugoslav soldiers, French botanists, and Dutch tavern keepers--who were centuries apart historically and worlds apart culturally, but who all had one thing in common: tulipomania. ... Read more

Reviews (32)

An easy, in-depth read
Mike Dash's "Tulipomania" is typical of the current crop of "popular" history books. Much like Dava Sobel's "Longitude", Mr. Dash takes a narrow topic/event and dissects it in great detail, while presenting his findings in a manner that is palatable to the academic and non-academic alike. The Dutch Tulip Craze of 1636-37 is one of the most overworked stories in the world of business, but Mr. Dash does well in interweaving his narrative of the Craze with anecdotal stories of the famous and common people whose lives were affected. The description of economic conditions and everyday life are rich and detailed. (Anyone in the brewing industry will salivate at the beer-consumption figures for Haarlem in 1636!) But the book does not get bogged down in detail and keeps a fast pace. Though not as strong as "Longitude", "Tulipomania" is a worthy addition to the canon of microhistorical works.

A very impressive piece of research
I bought this book a few months ago, after reading the six-page paeon to it that appeared in Harper's, and it has been a revelation to me. It must be about 25 years now since I first heard of the tulip mania, and it struck me then as one of the most amazing historical stories I had heard. At that time I tried to find out as much as I could about it, and scoured libraries here and in Europe whenever I got the chance. Then I visited Holland and took the opportunity to look for information there. And the astonishing thing was, there wasn't any, at least for those who don't read Dutch. Charles Mackay's journalistic essay, written 150 years ago, was practically the only source in English. In fact, even the Dutch had only one book and a few ancient articles.
All credit, then, to Dr Dash, who has done an impressively thorough job of research in compiling everything that is known about some of the most remarkable events in modern history. The author has gone to Dutch archives, read the Dutch texts, and exhumed more English language sources than I believed could possibly exist - his bibliography runs to nearly 200 items - making this a genuinely authoritative study. But he has also managed to tell his story concisely and well. Tulipomania is not a particularly long book (274 pages), but it covers a huge amount of ground. The story begins in the mountains of Tien Shan (on China's border with central Asia) and moves from there to the Ottoman Empire, India, Vienna and finally the Netherlands. By giving his book such a broad focus, Dash is able to put the Dutch tulip mania, which forms the central part of the book and covers about two thirds of its pages, into its proper context. The contrasts between Turkish sultans (rich men who loved the flower for its beauty) and Dutch tulip traders (poor men who loved it for its rarity, and hence monetary value) are particularly well done.
Once the story moves to the Netherlands, we are introduced first to Carolus Clusius, the pioneer botanist who was largely responsible for spreading the flower widely throughout western Europe, and then to a succession of ever poorer tulip fanatics, starting with men such as Guillelmo Bartelotti (the second richest man in Holland) and ending with impoverished weavers by the names of Waermondt and Gaergodt. Dash's ability to exhume at least the basic details of these people's lives is particularly impressive, as the majority of them lived at the periphery of contemporary Dutch society and went unnoticed by contemporary chroniclers and record-keepers. The author goes on to explain the manner in which tulips affected all their lives and then to discuss the tulip mania itself, illustrating the amazing rise in prices (which often rose several hundred fold over the course of a year or two, and in some cases reached levels where single bulbs were more valuable than a house). Perhaps the most affecting section of the book is the central chapter titled 'The Orphans of Wouter Winckel', which tells how the seven orphaned children of an innkeeper from Alkmaar were saved from the workhouse by the sale of their dead father's hugely valuable collection of flower bulbs.
Really I thought that this book had something for everyone. Those who are interested in business and stock markets will find its examination of an early market bubble very interesting. Those who like narrative non-fiction will find it a very engaging read (witty, too). Those who are gardeners will enjoy the botanical background the and the descriptions of some of the most ravishing flowers ever grown. Those who, lile me, have a sneaking love for the more colourful pages of the history books will particularly treasure the author's coverage of the Ottoman Turks, and relish his tales of imperial circumcision ceremonies and the opulance of life in the palace called The Abode of Bliss. In conclusion, I would recommend this book very highly to anybody with more than a passing interest in history, botany or economics.

Not terribly interesting.
A meticulously researched book, but not one I found terribly interesting. The most interesting material tended to be background or related bits of history, but this did not comprise enough of the book. I had a little trouble with the biology of new species development: the explanation was all there, but perhaps just a little more leisurely discussion would have been helpful.

Flat History
I'm a history buff that discovered the tulip mania phenomenon and was eager to read an exciting, in-depth account of a truly fascinating piece of history. Mike Dash's non-fiction attempt, laden with cumbersome statistics and repeated points, was disappointing and impossible to read through as anything but research. The focus jumps around and is hard to follow or care about without any connecting characters or themes, and I was thoroughly disappointed overall with this book. Someone needs to get to work on a piece that does justice to this incredible time and place.

Trading the Wind: Boom, Bust and Tulips
As someone who has seen each of his shares in glorious Nortel plunge to penny stock levels in less than two years, I was hoping that there would not be too many parallels between the famous Dutch tulip craze of the 17th Century and today's deflated high-tech market to depress me even more. Mike Dash's "Tulipomania" is a fascinating, well-researched and most enjoyable account of a strange episode that must still embarrass the hard-working citizens of the Netherlands.

The author traces the movement of this exotic but hardy plant from the Ottoman Empire to the heart of Europe. He covers not only the natural history and characteristics of the plant, but also the weird habits of its fanciers. For example, the Ottoman sultans delighted in gorgeous gardens as much as in cruelty. They employed their palace gardeners both to spruce the place up and as executioners. Senior officials condemned to death had the opportunity to have their sentences commuted to banishment if they could outrun the head gardener to the southern end of the Topkapi Palace grounds. The Dutch, on the other hand, at first appear as sobersided, dully-dressed folk when, it turns out, during the Golden Age they were obsessive gamblers and enthusiastic drunkards.

From a tight circle of botanists and connoisseurs, the interest in tulips exploded as it became apparent that money could be made. Big money. A class of traders arose that first dealt in plants and bulbs and then, over time, into trading the rights to bulbs they did not own. This early form of futures trading was disparaged as "Windhandel," as ephemeral as the wind.

The prices brought by bulbs when the mania was at its height can barely be imagined. A flower worth 3,000 guilders in December 1636 would have bought 8 pigs, 4 oxen, 12 sheep, 24 tons of wheat, 48 tons of rye, 2 hogsheads of wine, 4 barrels of beer, 2 tons of butter, a thousand pounds of cheese, a silver cup a pack of clothes, a bed with mattress, and a ship. Probably a small ship. The highest authenticated price for a bulb was 5,200 guilders.

Of course, it was not to last. Within two months, prices had collapsed, everyone looked foolish and the lawsuits began. This sounds familiar. There were a few subsequent outbursts of flower mania but nothing to match the Dutch excesses. But in the same way the collapse in the prices of Barbie dolls or Beanie Babies or breeding lamas did not have much of an impact on the American economy, so too was tulipomania limited in its impact.

This short book is equal parts entertainment and education. Mike Dash has combed original sources diligently and even the notes are worth browsing. You will probably never think about tulips (let alone Nortel shares) in the same way again. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

This book confronts the horrible ambivalence of his legacy.
A fascinating, but ambiguous book: Its central characters are the so-called "Chicago Boys", economists who served under the Pinochet regime. The author explores the roots of their ideas and their sense of mission, following their training at the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. These planners took advantage of the opportunity afforded them by the 1973 military coup to launch the first radical free market strategy implemented in a developing country.

Let us be clear here: Pinochet was, undoubtedly, the worst kind of tyrant. Even U.S. officers accused of conspiring with el jefe (Henry Kissinger, for example) do not dispute that his reign was horrible by U.S. and European standards. Thousands of opponents to the regime were tortured, jailed, and "lost".

The author does not deny this, nor does he make any attempt to candy-coat Pinochet or his regime. Quite the opposite.

Gabriel Valdes was, after all, a liberal who escaped Chile during the regime and joined the government that replaced Pinochet's. Yet he refuses to deny (as many have) the ambivalence of the Pinochet legacy. For even as the General practiced the worst kind of political oppression of dissent, he encouraged free-market economics... and Chile prospered as a result. Other states (Nicaragua, for example) which started out as darlings of the Left fell in to the worst kinds of economic decay, as Chile moved forward. (Skeptics may credit this precipitous collapse to the Contras, if they like, but the record is otherwise.)

According to this author, the ideological strength of the Chicago Boys' mission and the military authoritarianism of General Pinochet combined to transform an economy that is now seen as a model for Latin America. Gabriel Valdes makes the case that it was this economic growth itself which laid the groundwork for democracy. Ultimately, it was Pinochet's own economic platform that led to his ousting. Just as South Korea finally reached a critical mass of prosperity its government could not contain, so too did Chile's economic turn-around finally propel the collapse of the authoritarian state that had made this growth possible.

Human rights advocates too frequently overlook the vital importance of property rights. In pursuit of economic "justice," they frequently redistribute the economy to death. This author makes the case, in considerable detail, that the right to trade freely and prosper lays the groundwork for other freedoms (to be free of torture, to speak freely, to associate freely, etc.) And, because it creates jobs, free trade groweth can actually eases and obscure class tensions in the long run.

This book offers remarkable evidence for a model of nation building that too few Third World leaders endorse- one founded on the premise that economic growth precedes and permits political democracy.

P.S. I know this review is likely to get a slew of unhelpful votes. So be it. This is a great book that people should read carefully before criticizing. Leaders who refuse to consider these arguments will wind up with a less honest appraisal of history.

the american cultural myth of Augusto Pinochet and Chile
I was interested in the whole take on Chile. It seemed to be the perfect model of American foreign policy. It seemed hard to argue against Chile. It seemed that dictatorships and extreme poverty were necessary evils in building industrialized democracies.

Then I read Greg Palast's The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. He brings to light something that economists cannot ignore. Even though most industries were privatized, one industry was regulated stricter than democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende ever meant to. The copper industry, Chile's leading industry was that industry. Those other industries that were privatized that are noted even by pro-Pinochet economists for causing poverty and social decadence all round.

If you care to look into the Chicago boys, just take a look at Milton Friedman's work with a critical eye. Rather than seeing to promote libertarian thought, he seemingly hurts it more. The Chicago boys built the same economy paradigm that was followed by the Russian Communist Party (yes, the Communists; 60% of the population opposed free market economics) that led to further economic chaos and social decay in post-communist Russia.

I've met many libertarians that have nothing nice to say about the Chicago boys and the Friedman line of thought. Nice way of defending Pinochet's rule. Too bad it's far from the truth.

Upside down
This book focus on a fascinating subject: the story of how a bunch of Chilean free market economists transformed a dictatorship into a model democracy and a prosperous economy. Valdes describes the team and its origin with skill and knowledge. But then his partisan socialist background betrays him and he begins to see conspiracies and imperialist designs. A wasted opportunity.

Understanding the past 20 years Chile's history
This book is an explanation about the "work" of the Chicago School in Chile. You can read about the origin the Chicago School into the Departement of Economics of the U. of Chicago (USA), the transfer of knowledge to the chilean students during the 60' s and 70's and how this school and the "Chicago Boys" supported General Augusto Pinochet ... 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

This long-awaited revision of a classic work traces the unique development of business enterprises and other community organizations among black Americans from before the Civil War to the present. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Superb sociological overview of Black entrepreneurship
I used this publication for a school paper on the history of blackeconomic development, and it was really my most invaluable resource.Notonly does Butler discuss black entrepreneurship throughout Americanhistory, but he also compares the experiences of African-Americans to otherethnic groups and explains why African-Americans have been so relativelyunsuccessful because of a theory that he calls the "economic detourtheory." Chock full of information, it is not only a historicalaccount but a sociological study into the state of black economicdevelopment.It is highly recommended! ... Read more

Book Description

The Profits of Extermination uncovers the costs of foreign investment, privatization and neo-liberalism in Colombia. US corporations have manipulated the law and worked hand in hand with right-wing death squads and the US government to ensure profits at the cost of the rights and lives of workers, peasants and miners.

Colombia is the third-largest recipient of US military aid. According to this study by Chomsky and the Colombian mineworkers union, both US military aid and human rights violations are disproportionately concentrated in Colombia's lucrative mining and energy zones, where large foreign corporations use military and paramilitary forces to secure their investments.

Aviva Chomsky is a professor of history at Salem State College. Francisco Ramírez Cuellar is president of the Colombian mining union Sintraminercol.

Book Description

The past decade has seen a surge of pricing innovations in the U.S. telecommunications industry. This book systematically reviews recent innovations in the economic theory of pricing and extends results to the conditions that characterize telecommunications markets. The authors develop and illuminate the normative theory of pricing--with its objectives of social welfare, economic efficiency and fairness--and compare it with the practice of business and regulators. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Charles Leadbeater is an advisor to British officials, a research associate with a public-policy think tank, and a former editor of several respected publications. As such, he's had ample opportunity to view today's rapidly evolving high-tech world from the perspectives of both individuals and institutions. In The Weightless Society, he presents his insights on the social and economic implications of a time when "most of us make our money from thin air"--meaning, he explains, that we "produce nothing that can be weighed, touched or easily measured." His proposals for improving our personal and professional lives, peppered with references to such disparate figures as Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise (on the connection between an organization and the human brain) and Pope John Paul II (on the ownership of knowledge), are often revolutionary, but consistently viable nevertheless. A section on restructuring business to meet the requirements of managers, workers, customers, and investors, for example, concludes with a look at the "Personalized Company" that he sees attracting the "workforce of diverse talents" needed to succeed in this environment. Such creative, flexible, and performance-driven enterprises, he notes, would allow employees "to choose different approaches at different stages" while promoting "self management" and building "overlapping social contracts" among all stakeholders. Like the rest of this book, it makes sense--and makes you think. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Tech Entrepreneurs, this book is for you.
Recently I overheard a clueless manager of a local enterprise say that the reason the United States is losing jobs is that services don't create wealth, only manufacturing does. Wrong, our current economy (at least in developed countries) is very much knowledge driven.

According to Leadbeater, "most developed countries make money out of thin air: We produce nothing that can be weighed, touched, or easily measured." Think about that for a minute and it'll be as bright as day. Internet services, telephone calls, accounting and legal advice are all examples of modern economic products that are weightless. According to the author, many products are weightless because they're comprised of service, judgment, information, and analysis. As an example, think about something as simple as cell phone ring tones on which consumers worldwide spent $3.5 billion in 2003.

Charles Leadbeater has given us a thoughtful and considered look at how the rules of our economy have radically shifted. Consider that the knowledge-creating company of the future will need to embrace eight principles:

1) Cellular Structure
2) Self-Management (especially important to motivated, educated, and ambitious professionals)
3) Entrepreneurship
4) Equity Pay and Membership
5) Deep Knowledge Reservoirs
6) Integration
7) The Holistic Company
8) Collaborative Leadership

"Collaboration is the driving force behind creativity. Learning, one of the most basic activities in the knowledge economy, is an essentially social activity: we learn with others and through others..."

All in all, The Weightless Society will certainly stimulate your thinking. For technology entrepreneurs, pay special attention to the information throughout the book on dematerialization because the new economy is driven by information. Ultimately we will continue to create more and more with less energy and material.

Michael Davis - Editor, Byvation

Excellent high view
One thing you can believe is that this book represents a clear,
crisp high view of how the knowledge economy has social implications.
I found the book to be a useful addition to my collection.The book
is not a nitty-gritty knowledge management or knowledge capital book.
For that go to Stewart's "Intellectual Capital" or Nonaka
& Takeuchi's "Knowledge Creating Company." But for a
solid overview of the Knowledge Economy this is a great book.Part 1
& 2 succeeds in overviewing the shift to a knowledge perspective
at the company level giving some rich and original metaphors and
examples.Part three has some excellent new perspectives on networks
& intelligent regions.Part four on the Societial implications of
a knowledge economy also plow some new ground, tho some of his
arguments are pretty thin and a tad to US conservative for my
political bent.Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone
wanting a big picture, especially those who have grown tired of the
trite "10 steps" approach to knowledge management and
retreaded announcements that "we are in a new Knowledge era"
that seems common to this genre.

The Looney Left Learns Buzzword Bingo
It could only have come from the Nanny State.Don't understand the global financial markets?We'd best regulate them back to the days of Bretton Woods.Crowded cities?Invest in public transportation.Education in disarray?More public funds to the decaying public education machine.Afraid of private industry being granted patents on genetic sequences?Public ownership is the obvious answer.

The difference here is only one of accent.The author begrudgingly and with apparent difficulty admits that the private sector does play a leading role in economic growth and technological innovation.Words like "greed" and phrases like "filthy rich" abound.It's clear that the author is uncomfortable with the private sector's victory over the Left.He does his best to use the word entrepreneur without gritting his teeth.He is simply ideologically unable to recognize that the real engine of growth and innovation is the motive of individual gain.I got the distinct impression that the author learned just enough about business and technology from his work as a business journalist to obtain the jargon without really understanding what he's talking about.Perhaps this is why journalists shouldn't hurt themselves attempting to explain economics.

This book was about five years out of date at the time it was published.If you've read any of the recent work of the leading futurists, this book will be entirely rudimentary to you.The author is still filled with wonder that he can work from home with a laptop and free-lance his skills on the open market.This has been a way of life for some of us for years.

When dealing with world-changing technologies in genetics and information processing, the author really didn't have a grasp of what he was writing about.It read more like regurgitated columns from a Sunday newspaper than like a serious student's musings on technology's impact on the global economy.

As an apology for the failures of the public sector in the new economy and as re-assurance to the defeated Left that there remains a role for the Nanny State, this book will be a success.Anyone who is already living and working in the new economy needn't waste their time reading what they already know.

If Tony Blair really is taking advice from this guy, heaven help Britain.It's a day late and a Euro short.

Not afraid to think? Read this book.
In a world where too many business books suggest that there are 12 rules or 5 steps to the solution for every problem, it is refreshing to read a book that actually expects the reader to do some of the work. This book is provocative. It challenges conventional wisdom. It asks the reader to think rather than memorize.

If you are the least bit predisposed to thinking that our current social and economic systems require massive overhaul rather than minor revisions, this book will allow you to argue that belief far more eloquently.

An inspired view of our time and our future
This book is written from an amazingly human perspective. It provides a view of how as a society, we are on a rocket ship ride with knowledge as our fuel. We and our children will not have to toil in coal mines or risk life and limb on factory floors. We will thrive on creativity, ingenuity and imagination. But instead of feeling more in control, we are feeling a collective anxiety, less control, more uncertain. We feel ludicrously certain (about scientific advances in the mapping of our genetic structure) and beset by doubt (about a welfare system that cannot ensure housing and healthcare for our citizens). Much of this has to do with a lack of self reliance and a need to trust (that computers will work, that brands will keep their promises, that doctors will be healers and not business moguls...)

Consider this passage for just a moment...

"Collaboration is the driving force behind creativity. Learning, one of the most basic activities in the knowledge economy, is an essentially social activity: we learn with others and through others. Social capital is vital to generate trust and to allow people to take risks. It is through the networks of relationship that underlie social capital that people learn of new ideas and make new contacts. Social capital is not a socially conscious add-on to the market-driven economy; social capital is essential to its working."

Charles Leadbeater has given us a thoughtful and considered look at how the rules of our economy have radically shifted and so therefore too must the rules of our social and ecological infrastrucuture. The economy cannot sustain this rocket-like pace without careful consideration of how we will support the people, all people, in our society. ... Read more

Book Description

The first unified and systematic treatment of the modern theory of bargaining, presented together with many examples of how that theory is applied in a variety of bargaining situations. Abhinay Muthoo provides a masterful synthesis of the fundamental results and insights obtained from the wide-ranging and diverse (game theoretic) bargaining theory literature. Furthermore, he develops new analyses and results, especially on the relative impacts of two or more forces on the bargaining outcome. Many topics - such as inside options, commitment tactics and repeated bargaining situations - receive their most extensive treatment to date. In the concluding chapter, he offers pointers towards future research. Bargaining Theory with Applications is a textbook for graduate students in economic theory and other social sciences and a research resource for scholars interested in bargaining situations. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excelent review of bargaining theory
This is an excelent and rigorous review of the literature on bargaining theory. Its a good place to start the study of barganing as well as a good reference for people familiar with the subject. ... Read more

Book Description

Inter-generational transfers are at the center of economic policy debates today. Reducing public debt; financing social security; taxing capital and bequests; and designing the education system imply substantial inter-generational transfers. The tool that economists employ to analyze these issues is the overlapping generations model, which reflects the different periods of life. When the model includes capital accumulation, it also allows researchers to formalize the development of an economy, relating its growth path to the savings behavior of young agents.The aim of this book is an in-depth analysis of this model that includes its major policy implications. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Brilliantly written and scary
This well written, documented and academic book reads like anovel.Author explains how the British global-led economy was structured in the 19th century, its weaknesses and how it unraveled in the 1920s and 1930s.He reviews monetary policies, banking instability in the pre- and Depression era, trade and its collapse, the rising reaction against international migration starting in the 1890s and culminating after World War I, the opposition between nationalism and capital that existed after 1929 and finally assesses if a new depression could occur again.Despite the dates, the events it describes look so familiar to us today that it sends shivers down the spine.

Written in 2001, the author was still optimistic in his conclusions saying that unlike the 1930s, nobody today was challenging global finacial orthodoxy.But since Ben Laden destroyed the World Trade Center, Argentina has collapsed like in the 1930s, Brazil is on the path to renege its debt just like in 1931, many scandals have shaken Corporate America, stocks have fallen to after-September 11 levels.Le Pen, a right-extremist was a contender to Chirac in the French presidential elections.Migrations have become a hot debate in Europe.The Bush Administration like the Hoover one puts barriers on international trade (steel), does not participate in multilateral debates (UN, Climate, International Court) damaging the system of multilateral organizations, debates and trade.These collapsed in the 1930s to be replaced by bilaterel relations with the known consequences: a global depression and a global war.

A scary read
As the world economy slows down, there are plenty of reasons to be concerned.There is more pressure for trade protection, anti-immigration sentiment in Europe and elsewhere increases, and anti-globalization protests erupt.With this background, this book about the great depression of the inter-war period provides a really terrifying precedent of what happens when the world economy collapses.It is fluidly written, and although there is a great deal of economic analysis of the problems of financial markets in the interwar era, it is really accessible to lay readers.If you are worried about the economic future, and want to scare yourself, this is the book to read. ... Read more

Book Description

In this book, Professor McGarity reveals the complex and problematic relationship between the "regulatory reform" movements initiated in the early l970s and the United States' federal bureaucracy.Examining both the theory and application of "regulatory reform" under the Reagan administration, the author succeeds in offering both a relevant analysis and critique of "regulatory reform" and its implementation through bureaucratic channels. Using several case studies from the early Reagan years, this book describes the clash of regulatory cultures resulting from the President's attempt to incorporate "regulatory analysis" into the bureaucratic decisionmaking process.McGarity examines the roles that regulatory analysts and their counterparts in the Office of Management and Budget play in decisionmaking by offering hundreds of interviews with scientists, engineers, regulatory analysts and upper level personnel in federal agencies. The author then critiques the reformers' claim that regulatory analysis will result in "better" decisionmaking.Yet while McGarity recognizes the limitations of regulatory analysis, he concludes with suggestions for enhancing its effectiveness.This book could be used not only as a textbook for political science and government courses but also for graduate applications in public policy and public administration. ... Read more

Book Description

An economic history of Britain since 1700, in three volumes by thirty-nine eminent historians and economists, this book will succeed the first edition of "Floud and McCloskey" (published in 1981) as the leading textbook on its subject. The text has a firm economic basis, but emphasizes the historical context and chronology and is written in straightforward and jargon-free English. Volume 1 covers the period 1700-1860, that of Britain's rise to relative economic supremacy. Volume 2 discusses the period 1860-1939, that of the height of British economic power and of painful readjustment after 1914. Volume 3 considers the period since 1939, that of relative economic decline and of increasing involvement with the European Community. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Fascinating, challenging, erudite.
I consider myself fairly well educated: I have a Ph.D. and I've thrived on books in this genre, such as _Europe and the People Without History_ and _The Colonizer's Model of the World_. But I find Arrighi's book a difficult one--a little beyond most readers, I should think.

There are three main reasons for this: a.) Arrighi fails to write for a larger audience and b.) fails to write as clearly as he could; and c.) Arrighi is assuming fluency in Braudel, Wallerstein, Abu-Lughod, and a host of other scholars who have tackled the rise of capitalist empires.

I think most Americans, who have a mediocre background in Marxist theory, world systems theory, class dynamics, and hegemony, might want to pass. Does the name Gramsci ring a bell? How about the basic premises of Lenin? Which way did you nod your head when I mentioned Abu-Lughod? If these notions aren't a part of your working knowledge, take a pass on this book. Try one of the two books I mentioned at the top. And if you *are* well-versed in Braudel, macro-economic theory, and critical discussions of imperialism, you might venture to read this difficult work. Arrighi has put together an ambitious, provocative work, a serious investigation into the power-economies of empires.

A must read
If you are a student of the international system or international relations this is a must read. It should be considered the second part in a five volume set. The first should be something about world systems theory by Wallerstein, a reader will do, then Fernand Braudel's Perspective of the World, followed by Hopkins and Wallertein's Age of Transition. For the final book I recommend Robert Gilpin's response to these works, The Challenge of Global Capitalism published in 2000.

To be Honest
If you like the usual Marxist c**p you will like this book.

Short review
Anyone interested in Paul Kennedy, McNeil, Braudel, Frank, Chase-Dunn, or Wallerstein's work must read this! It's simply among the most brilliant analyses of the origins of capitalism as a historical social system, uncovering the changing logic of its political-economic contradictions. Arrighi very lucidly and tightly brings together the relation of military power and capitalist accumulation through an insightful examination of the long waves of capitalist expansion of the world-economy since the age of Venice and Genoa. He explains how the system repeatedly recontructs itself through successive world-hegemonies (UP,UK, US) and shifts in the center of the world-economy that entail new forms of global rule and regimes of production which build upon each other, each being world-scale solutions the success of which nonetheless generate world-scale contradictions. He ends with an interesting discussion of the recent break with all past cycles tied to the shift in the center to East Asia.

Of course, my dear, dense reading!
Giovanni Arrighi reexamines, following Braudel's steps, the expansion of capitalism. In spite of its title, the research goes back to 15th. Century. But the adventure is not a gratuitous one. Depth and clearness are successfully binded. At his close, the book intrigatingly questions : can capitalism survive, IN SPITE OF its sucess? ... Read more

Book Description

Lessons from the Great Depression provides an integrated view of the depression, covering the experience in Britain, France, Germany, and the United States. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Taking the long view
Temin's account of the Great Depression differs in almost every from the standard texts.Austrian business cycles, monetary tightness etc. are all passed over as the author goes for the big picture....the long view of political history in Europe.

The Great Depression was the direct result, he says, of the breakdown of peace in the first decade of the twentieth century.The international spirit of co-operation that had existed throughout most of the second half of the 19th century evaporated with the European struggles for empire.So when crisis loomed in the late 1920s all the lifeboats were full of holes.Franco-German rivallry, the demise of the British Empire and isolationism in the United States all produced paralysis when leadership was needed most.

When leadership finally did arrive, it came in the form of social democracy and labour market rigidities which put a floor under the markets but extended the depression in ways not dissimilar to Japan in the 1990s.

If you like your economics filled with Keynes and history this is for you.If Friedman or Schumpeter is more to your taste, then this is worth reading just to see what the other side thinks.

Great stuff. ... Read more

Book Description

How one of the greatest economic expansions in history sowed the seeds of its own collapse.

With his best-selling Globalization and Its Discontents, Joseph E. Stiglitz showed how a misplaced faith in free-market ideology led to many of the recent problems suffered by the developing nations. Here he turns the same light on the United States.

The Roaring Nineties offers not only an insider's illuminating view of policymaking but also a compelling case that even the Clinton administration was too closely tied to the financial community—that along with enormous economic success in the nineties came the seeds of the destruction visited on the economy at the end of the decade.

This groundbreaking work by the Nobel Prize-winning economist argues that much of what we understood about the 1990s' prosperity is wrong, that the theories that have been used to guide world leaders and anchor key business decisions were fundamentally outdated. Yes, jobs were created, technology prospered, inflation fell, and poverty was reduced. But at the same time the foundation was laid for the economic problems we face today. Trapped in a near-ideological commitment to free markets, policymakers permitted accounting standards to slip, carried deregulation further than they should have, and pandered to corporate greed. These chickens have now come home to roost.

The paperback includes a new introduction that reviews the continued failure of the Bush administration's policies, which have taken a bad situation and made it worse. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Highly Recommended !
Only a Nobel Prize-winning economist could disguise a political broadside against conservatives and the George W. Bush administration inside a Trojan horse mea culpa of the Bill Clinton White House. No one could argue with Joseph Stiglitz's assertion that an effective modern economy must strike a reasonable balance between free markets and government oversight - but what is reasonable? Stiglitz regrets what is arguably the shining achievement of the Clinton Administration, namely, its success in balancing the U.S. budget. Credit him for consistency: he opposed Clinton's tax cut, just as he opposed George W. Bush's. Stiglitz's academic and professional chops are beyond question, and his insights into corporate welfare and inefficient markets are quite valuable if somewhat short of profound. We find that this volume provides strong insights into the inner workings of the American economic juggernaut. Your reaction will depend whether you agree or disagree with the author's contentions that the Clinton Administration was not liberal enough and that the present Bush Administration believes in small government.

Gingrich/Greenspan prosperity only a "lucky mistake"?
Joseph Stiglitz certainly cannot be faulted for ignorance of the intellectual underpinnings of free-market capitalism and limited government, but much of this book is shockingly mediocre.It's often hard to see precisely what he is arguing for, and much of this book is little more than a partisan rant.Apparently, deficits are bad if formed by Republicans, good if under the management of Democrats.Republicans are the party that is blindly driven by ideology, but they're also the party that is locked up to special interests.Stiglitz admits that he was originally going to write another book, but decided that he needed to explain what happens in the 1990s.Apparently the longest economic boom in US peacetime history was a "lucky mistake" -- apart from the policies personally crafted by Joe Stiglitz at the Council of Economic Advisors.Stiglitz is a very sophisticated economist, but much of this book reads like an apology for his own Old Keynesian position in turf battles in the Clinton administration.Very disappointing, and hardly the critique of neo-classical economics that it pretends to be.

Understanding Fiduciary Responsibility
I take issue with the analysis Mr. Stiglitz offers in the section titled "How pension 'reform' increased economic vulnerability" (pp. 185-8). Accept for the moment Mr. Stiglitz' premise: the reason why corporate pension trusts are underfunded is because unrealistic, overly optimistic assumptions were made about future returns on investment; namely, it was assumed that investments would return 9-10% instead of 4-5%. The question presents itself: Who made these unrealistic assumptions? Well, corporate financial officers, to start with. And yet, corporate officers are not the only interested parties when it comes to pension trust funds. These trusts are negotiated on behalf of pension beneficiaries (union workers) by their union officers.

When union leaders are negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with management, they are in the same position a loan officer is in when trying to decide whether to grant a loan to an applicant. The loan officer has a fiduciary responsibility to depositors to make sure that the applicant will be able to pay off the loan. In like manner, union leaders have a fiduciary responsibility to union members to make sure that management will be able to pay promised pension and healthcare benefits. If the loan officers don't follow this discipline, the bank will make lots of bad loans. If the union leaders don't follow this discipline, the unions will accept promises in collective bargaining agreements that management will not be able to keep. In the case of massive bad loans, the bank becomes insolvent and the FSLIC steps in to guarantee deposits (as happened in the S&L debacle). In the case of unions accepting promises that management can't keep, the pension fund becomes insolvent and the PBGC steps in to guarantee the pension benefits of the members.

So, either BOTH corporate executives AND union officials should be faulted for making overly optimistic assumptions about pension funding, or NEITHER should be faulted. It is quite possible that no moral fault is to be assigned to either side in this case. A plausible explanation is that executives and union leaders were acting in good faith and with best knowledge at the time the obligations were agreed on, but that the situation has changed so dramatically that the actuarial assumptions originally used to calculate funding adequacy are simply no longer valid. Instead, Mr. Stiglitz chooses to transform the pension crisis into another morality tale from the "Roaring Nineties." Unfortunate.

Even so, "The Roaring Nineties," like so many other of Mr. Stiglitz' writings, is not to be missed. We must appreciate a passionate and brilliant author who thinks seriously about so wide a range of issues.

Essential reading now...
if you want to know what's happening in the economy.Excellent, non-partisan job of showing what went right and what went wrong in the '90's, and what we need to think about as we move into the 21st century.In particular it is helpful for thinking about how economics and politics interconnect.There are many value judgements that need to be made, politically, that cannot be determined purely economically.

Well written warning about the perils of voodoo economics
Joseph Stiglitz's "The Roaring Nineties: A New History of the World's Most Prosperous Decade" is a thoughtful and compelling examination of the greed and corruption that ensues when markets are allowed to "regulate" themselves.

Stiglitz's, a neo-Keynesian economist, argues that the "roaring nineties" was the consequence of the forced retreat of the state from any direct involvement in the market.Without the moderating effect of state oversight, he argues, unscrupulous "self-regulating" individuals, companies and interest groups created a "boom" by manipulating the market to their advantage.Their methods included hype, hucksterism, flimflammery, illegal accounting practices and stock fraud, and ultimately caused the collapse of Enron, WorldCom, Nortel and scores of other companies.The bust eliminated over 8 trillion of stock value and profoundly affected the lives of millions of people worldwide.

Stiglitz traces the beginning of the state's retreat from market regulation to the Reagan presidency.Operating on the idealistic assumption that markets always allocate resources efficiently, free market ideologues gained an inordinate influence in the White House.They convinced successive presidents of both parties to withdraw the state from the market and to allow financial and other industries to regulate themselves.

According to Stiglitz this lapse of reason occurred because market fundamentalists were so blinded by their ideology they forgot the lessons of history.Time and again governments have been forced to play a regulatory role in the economy because markets do not always allocate resources efficiently or even rationally.From the tulip craze of fifteenth-century century to the high-tech bubble of the twentieth-century, markets often act with what Stiglitz calls "irrational exuberance".Ideologues like to forget that market bubbles burst, and that when they do, it is governments and taxpayers that are called upon to assist victims.

Stiglitz calls attention to the fact that the "roaring nineties" was financed through debt.Americans, Britons, Canadians and others, could have reduced their consumption of goods and services to increase savings for investment in the market.Rather than acting conservatively, we raised investment capital by borrowing heavily.(The United States, for example, borrowed nearly one billion dollars a day during the height of the boom.)By doing so, we not only made ourselves and the global economy vulnerable to collapse, we also diverted investment away areas necessary for sustainable growth, namely education and research and development.

My one complaint with "The Roaring Nineties" is that Stiglitz occasionally forgets his readership is international, and adopts a jingoistic and morally superior tone that will annoy many readers from outside the United States.For example, when he writes "...we had the opportunity to create a new international order based on American values..." he sounds more like an American imperialist of the nineteenth century than a Bank of Sweden prize-winning economist of the twenty-first century.It may surprise some Americans to learn that liberty is a universal value.

Nonetheless, Joseph Stiglitz's "The Roaring Nineties: A New History of the World's Most Prosperous Decade" is a well-written and thought provoking account of the boom and bust of the 1990s.A background in economics is most certainly not required to appreciate this book.Stiglitz's prose style is clear and accessible so anyone with a basic knowledge of current events and recent business history will understand, if not agree with, his argument. ... Read more

Book Description

Why does society oscillate between intense interest in public issues and almost total concentration on private goals? In this classic work, Albert O. Hirschman offers a stimulating social, political, and economic analysis dealing with how and why frustrations of private concerns lead to public involvement and public participation that eventually lead back to those private concerns. Emerging from this study is a wide range of insights, from a critique of conventional consumption theory to a new understanding of collective action and of universal suffrage. ... Read more

Book Description

Big business has been the lever of big change over time in American life, change in economy, society, politics, and the envelope of existence--in work, mores, language, consciousness, and the pace and bite of time. Such is the pattern revealed by this historical mosaic. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Macro Perspective...Micro Analysis
How to describe this book? It has immense scope ("how the corporation changed America" during the past 350 years) but, under Beatty's brilliant supervision, the narrative somehow retains a sense of intimacy as he and others focus on defining moments, pivotal developments, heroes and villains, great business successes as well as failures, shifting roles played by the federal government, westward expansion, two world wars, natural disasters, and the emergence of high technology This is indeed an epic narrative worthy of Tolstoy with a diversity of "characters" worthy of Dickens. Beatty skillfully blends all manner of different sources with a series of his own commentaries. Great stuff.

Insightful!
Jack Beatty combines his own analyses with writers' essays, articles and other materials to chronicle the American corporation from its inception in the 1600s through the present. His overall conclusion seems to be that corporations are a source of more evil than good, but don't let this bias throw you - this collection of sometimes brilliant writings is captivating reading. We from getAbstract highly recommend this book to all students of business history, especially those whose views of the corporate colossus tend toward the darker side.

America Inc.
This book is a collection of essays written about the history of corporations in America and the role those corporations have played in influencing our history.

The book covers many subjects such as the first corporation chartered by the British crown to explore and exploit New England, how corporations developed in America, the many benefits corporations have provided us, the abuses, how coporations changed our culture, and how our culture has changed corporations.

Specific essays chronicle how Henry Ford started manufacturing cars that regular people could afford, and paid his employees enough to afford them. Another essays discusses GM's rise to compete with Ford and overtake them by not being rigid. There is an essay that discusses how people devote themselves to the business. Another essay discusses the abuses that resulted as Safeway was bought in a Leveraged Buy out. Another discusses racism in business. Etc.

The reason this book gets 3 stars is that some of the essays were fascinating, but some seemed to be just filler.

Big Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex v. The People
Jack Beatty assembles a chorus of voices, in Colossus, singing the effects of the corporation upon America. These voices cohere in contrapuntal fashion, in such a way to leave one wondering for some time as to the bent of the author toward the corporation.

From Vanderbilt to Gates, he describes the "financial fathers" and the edifices which they have created. We are given the stories of their evils and virtues, much rehearsed in other works by various authors. What Beatty achieves, however, through using a chorus of voices is a perspicacious view, all congealing to a fine conclusion, which so often falls hollow in historical works.

Beatty succeeds in making concerns about the future of the corporation very relevant by demonstrating a trajectory of the corporation through history. First, corporations are a set up for public works...then for profit with the public good in view. The public good recedes further and further from the purpose of the corporation.

All the while the government sector does a dance of power with the corporation. While the corporation spirals to ever greater spheres of influence, Government takes on more and more protective roles. Sometimes the corporation is out of control, other's government is implementing a disciplinary measure. The now popular whipping boy of the media, Big Government, has nothing on the evils of corporate power.

What could be more relevant to a time when we have seen the concentration of power into the board rooms of few corporations? When we have seen the installation of a corporate lackey into one of the highest positions of power in the world? A very important read for any person concerned with the role of the corporation.

Essays, poems, editorials and company histories
These writings consider the impact on American history and events of the rise of big business, using essays, poems, editorials and company histories to reveal that it's the corporation which has ultimately served as the agent of social change in this country. An intriguing collection of writings provides a different kind of economic and social history: one based on business events. ...