Book Description

Ronald Dore places recent developments in Japan in the broad context of gradual changes in modern patterns of capitalism common to all industrial societies--a process that he labels marketization plus financialization. His central focus is on the tendency for shareholder value to be preached as the sole legitimate objective of corporate executives, against the traditional aligment of Japan on the productivist,

employee-favoring side of the divide. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Review of Journal of Economic Literature
This review appeared in JEL, Dec. 2002, by RICHARD A. WERNER Sophia University, Tokyo.

Hardly a day passes without the financial press asserting that Japan's economic structure is responsible for the long recession and demanding "badly needed" structural changes. The results of a decade of apparently vigorous counter-cyclical policies have been disappointing. It is therefore not surprising that many experts agree with the Bank of Japan's argument that deep structural reforms are needed to enhance growth. A similar story is being told about Germany. Recent economic weakness is seen by the European Central Bank as evidence that structural re-form is "needed"-a view enthusiastically sup-ported by the financial press (who, according to Dore, constitute an interested party benefiting from the "financialization" that results from introducing U.S.-style capitalism). As Francis Fukuyama argued, the "Anglo-Saxon" free market and stock market based system has become the global standard. It is this mainstream view that Ronald Dore's important and refreshing book is directed against. It deserves praise not just for Dore's courage in defending an unpopular cause.

The book is very timely: it points out the advantages of German/Japanese welfare capitalism just when it is becoming an endangered species. It is rich in detail, yet surprisingly concise. It is analytical, yet highly readable and full of illuminating examples. It combines an eye for macro-economic implications with sound micro-economic and management- level insights. Finally, Dore's book provides an analysis of the ongoing pressures on welfare capitalism and how its salient features are now changing. Dore's readers benefit from his decades of experience and seminal work on the Japanese firm. The relatively smaller weight given to Germany is the book's main (though acknowledged) weakness.

Dore identifies key features that make Ger-man/ Japanese capitalism different from the "Anglo- Saxon" variety familiar from textbooks. The former produces benefits due to its cooperative nature and long-term orientation. The Anglo-Saxon model is good for the shareholders. The Germans and Japanese maintained market mechanisms, but eliminated shareholders as the main beneficiaries. Instead of serving the few, a form of capitalism was born that succeeded in creating a decent quality of life for the many- employees and society at large.

Dore is a must-read for any economist, precisely because he challenges our preconceptions. As is increasingly recognized in the literature, once unrealistic assumptions such as perfect information and efficient markets are relaxed, there is no guarantee that markets left to their own devices will produce socially optimal results. The designers of the German and Japanese systems based their institutional designs on a more realistic description of the world. By focusing on mutually beneficial cooperation and coordination, they managed to internalize externalities, minimize information costs, and, most of all, motivate individuals. They recognized that "utility functions" are interdependent, people compete in hierarchical fashion and have a common desire for justice and fairness of organizational arrangements. Recent growth theories acknowledge the importance of the human resource aspect of "labor." While neglected in static models and policy advice, human resources are at the center of the German/Japanese model.

With regard to the premise that capital is the scarce resource and that "labor" will normally be in fairly abundant supply, Dore says, "It is amazing that anyone can seriously sustain this view in a world awash with so much liquidity that its movement from one country to another keeps exchange rates in perpetual motion" (p. 15). Human resource mobilization requires institutional design. "The whole discussion of modal behavioral dispositions as a factor in the functioning of economic systems tends to be avoided among economists who wish to believe that what they teach their students are theorems about THE economy, determined by the universal utility function of MAN" (p. 38). Not so in Japan, where people tend "to be good at discerning possibilities of cooperation which can be of general benefit, and at devising organizational forms which can reap those benefits in ways which all participants can consider fair" (p. 38).

One such organizational form is the system of industry associations, which are modern incarnations of the medieval guild structure. Due to their public goods character, resulting cartels may be welfare-enhancing. The cooperative orientation does not mean there is no competition. As Dore explains well, competition can be fierce, as the system combines markets and hierarchies. The tendency towards the formation of cartels is counteracted by relatively low concentration ratios in many industries (due to bank finance and cross-shareholdings which result in fewer hostile takeovers) and inter-firm rivalry due to lifetime employment.

Just when economists are beginning to recognize these issues, Germany and Japan are moving toward adopting the Anglo-Saxon model. These changes increase "financialization" and thus the share of economic activity devoted to profit-seeking by shifting ownership certificates from A to B. Adopting U.S.-style capitalism means that Germany and Japan are importing its disadvantages and social problems. Dore asks: Can it be efficient to devote ever more people to servicing "gambling on uncertainties in financial markets" with analysis, advice, appraisal, advertising? As increasingly strong shareholders demand "value," will social welfare or overall fairness increase? One issue remains: If it is so successful, why is Dore one of the few to defend welfare capitalism?

Recent weak economic performance is blamed on the system, and it is seen to have out-lived its usefulness. Whether this is really true must be investigated, though it is beyond the scope of Dore's book. In my forthcoming book (2003, Princes of the Yen, Japan's Central Bankers and the Structural Transformation of the Economy, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe) I provide evidence that the Japanese recession was not due to the economic structure but instead to a central bank aiming at dismantling welfare capitalism.

All in all, Dore's book succeeds in raising and illuminating these challenging issues. It deserves much attention. It also shows the need for further research on this topic-and soon, before this species of capitalism becomes extinct.

Stock Market Capitalism
"...a thoughtful and provocative book on how global capitalism may evolve" Jeffrey Garten, Dean of Yale Management School ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

Important critique on neoliberalism and democracy
Orenstein's book provides a compelling critique of neoliberal strategies implemented in Poland and the Czech Republic emphasizing the underappreciated role of democratic change in policy reform. He clearly outlines his arguments for what he calls "policy alternation" providing substantial evidence of 1) its existence and 2) its effect on policy.As a student of East European studies I found the book to be extremely useful in painting a clear picture of the policymaking process in these two post-communist countries and in filling in many gaps in the relevant literature. The book is very approachable and I highly recommend it to those interested in post-communist democracies - scholars and casual observers alike.

Clear, comprehensive, and compelling
The reviewer from New Brunswick, NJ is totally off base and shows remarkably little sign of actually having read the book.Out of the Red is not about "a bad neoliberal Poland and a good social democratic Czech Rep."Instead, the book argues that democratic policy alternation since 1989 has led to better economic performance in both countries, and that Poland has benefited more than the Czech Republic from policy learning as a result of more policy alternations in recent years.Moreover, democratic policy alternations have had such positive effects because the two countries share a common goal - membership of the European Union.Out of the Red offers a subtle and nuanced argument, with rich descriptions, and does not characterize either country as good or bad.In addition, the book is exceptionally well-written and provides a clear and comprehensive analysis of what has happened in these transition countries over the past ten years.It's a must read for anyone interested in the contemporary politics of economic reform.

Missed the point
The book is a story of a bad neoliberal Poland and a good social democratic Czech Rep. During the transition. Author begins with the claim that the success of reforms depends on policies and not initial conditions. A poor comparative frame to prove this: Poland's initial conditions were much worse than those in Czech republic indeed. Take foreign debt and hyperinflation for example. The most important, what the author portrays as a social liberal approach in Czech Republic turned out to be a combination of short-term policies to avoid unpopular policies that caused a major economic downturn in Czech Rep. since 1996. Indeed, it was the first country in the region to go into the second post-transition recession! The author's scheme does not explain some obvious facts:
1) Poland experienced the lowest GDP decline and enjoyed the fastest and the most robust recovery in the whole post-Communist world.
2) The amount of social spending to GDP actually grew in Poland during first years of transition.
3) Czech privatization scheme turn out to be a disaster in terms of investment and corporate governance: the companies replaced FDI with acummulation of debts from the banks inside and outside the country, which put a pressure on Czech currency and caused its collapse in 1997.The lack of clear owners did not allow to turn around companies and profitability slipped - so did the employment (so much for socially-oriented policies).
4) "Social liberalism" in Czech Republic was financed from abroad and brought forward acummulation of foreign debt per capita much higher than it is now in Poland: in the beginning of transformation Czech was virtually debt-free.
5) After Czech government was no longer able to purchase social stability on credit card, unemployment soared.
6) Czech privatization worked the way to make the banking sector responsible for the liabilities of the rockbottom companies (Many banks controlled investment funds that acummulated vouchers). As a result, savings were hurt.
7) After bad liberals were removed in Poland, social democrats continued their policy course: for what reason?
8) The much-trumpeted "Strategy for Poland" of Kolodko, mentioned by Orenstein, proved to be a cosmetic alteration of the neoliberal policies. BTW, today it is the left again that imposes fiscal discipline in Poland.

Overall, the book gives an inadequate picture on what happened in the region during transition. It is, however, a good record of the basic misconceptions in the debate about transformation and neoliberalism in general. I would still recommend to read it because of this.

A well written book on eastern Europe and democracy
I bought _Out of the Red_ because I have a general interest in the relation between capitalism and democracy and in eastern Europe.It turned out to be one of the most interesting and enjoyable books I've read in a long time.First, the writing is terrific:it's not only clear and straightforward, but also really punchy, with a marvelous sense of irony.I'm sure it would be more than appropriate for undergraduate readers in terms of its style and approach.Second, the thesis really shed new light for me on the different strategies countries in eastern Europe have taken in their transition to capitalism and democracy, specifically Poland and the Czech Republic.The basic idea, as I see it (though I'm not expert in the field), starts with the assertion that Poland and the Czech Republic took contrasting approaches to their political and economic transitions, especially in the area of privitization policy, on which the author focuses a whole chapter.Where Poland followed a "shock therapy" route, the Czech Republic provided more of a social safety net to maintain popular support for "neoliberal" reform policies (the author calls this a "social liberal" route to reform).Here's where it gets interesting.The author suggests that the Polish reformers in instituting shock therapy under conditions of political democracy were able to learn from their mistakes when the social difficulties their policies produced brought their political opponents to power (a rise that, later, produced a pendulum swing in the opposite direction, once again toward shock therapy).In the Czech Republic, in contrast, the political stability created when the government instituted both neoliberal and "cohesion-oriented" policies at the same time actually extended the life of bad policies.The author calls the process by which, under conditions of democracy, eastern European policy reformers have learned from their mistakes, with the pendulum of reform swinging from "neoliberal" to "social liberal" policies and back again, "democratic policy alternation.""Eastern Central European countries that have succeeded in the transformation to capitalism and democracy," the author writes, "have done so not by sticking to a single strategy of reform, but rather by vigorous policy alternation and learning."This was really fascinating to me, and it seems to have implications far beyond its immediate subject, in political science, economics, policy, law, and even "information science" and "knowledge work."A terrific read and a very interesting book! ... Read more

Book Description

Free trade, indeed economic globalization generally, is under siege. The conventional arguments for protectionism have been discredited but not banished. And free trade faces strong new challenges from a variety of groups, including environmentalists and human rights activists as well as traditional lobbies who wrap their agendas in the language of justice and rights. These groups, claiming a general interest and denouncing free trade as a special interest of corporations and other capitalist forces, have organized large and vocal protests in Seattle, Prague, and elsewhere.

Based on his acclaimed Stockholm lectures and picking up where his widely influential Protectionism left off, Jagdish Bhagwati applies critical insights from revolutionary developments in commercial policy theory--many his own--to show how the pursuit of social and environmental agendas can be creatively reconciled with the pursuit of free trade. Indeed, he argues that free trade, by raising living standards, can serve these agendas far better than can a descent into trade sanctions and restrictions.

After settling the score in favor of free trade, Professor Bhagwati considers alternative ways in which it can be pursued. Chiefly, he argues in support of multilateralism and advances a withering critique of recent bilateral and regional free trade agreements (including NAFTA) as preferential arrangements that introduce growing chaos into the world trading system. He also makes a strong case for "going it alone" on the road to trade liberalization and endorses the reemergence of unilateral liberalization at points around the globe.

Forcefully, elegantly, and clearly written for the public by one of the foremost economic thinkers of our day, this volume is not merely accessible but essential reading for anyone interested in economic policy or in the world economy. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO READ
Bhagwati is an extremely intelligent man. He has a lot of interesting information to share with us. Now, only if he could write better...this book is extremely difficult to read and and to understand. It is NOT recommended for those without excellent understanding of economic trade policy. There are many other better written books.

Great Essays - Best If You Already Have Background
Don't let this slim volume lead you to believe this is a book of light reading. The essays it contains are extremely valuable and packed tight with information, insight, and great thinking.

There are also many very valuable footnotes that can lead you to deeper reading on the subject of the current state of thinking on the very important topic of Free Trade.

Dr. Bhagwati is a stalwart of Free Trade and has the intellectual and verbal firepower to stand up for this very important concept and its role in relieving poverty around the world. He isn't a beautiful writer, but he certainly is effective and I am so glad to be able to have his writing and thinking available to me.

This book is a fine addition and should be read by those on both sides of this issue with an open mind. Dr. Bhagwati is one of those important thinkers that will benefit your own thinking even when you disagree with them because it will force you to sharpen your own thinking and force you to build better arguments.

One of the great parts of the first essay is when he takes us through the sequence of thought as arguments were put forward, successfully attacked and new models were built, attacked, and re-built until the present day. He is also very honest about the current weaknesses in present models and possible paths to pursue as a way to solve them. Just very valuable stuff. ... Read more

Book Description

Private enterprise is rapidly taking hold as the world's dominant economic paradigm, but business scandals, environmental degradation, and rampant poverty are stark reminders that business alone - unregulated and unsupervised - will not solve the world's problems. Using a unique market-based approach and a socially inclusive definition of wealth, Corporations and the Public Interest offers a refreshing new system for assessing corporations' real commitment to the public. Steven Lydenberg's plan includes strategies for steering companies in socially responsible directions and imposing costs on those that neglect their responsibilities to the community. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A clear and eloguent guide to a difficult subject
Corporations and the Public Interestis very helpful in understanding the structure of the investment side of CSR. I finished Corporations and the Public Interest understanding how to achieve CSR though pressure from shareholders and the investment community, quite an achievement in a single short read.

The book's contention that altering the balance between business and government to make companies more accountable grounded this reader in the author's underlying thesis, creating the tension that makes the book so absorbing while maintaining objectivity. The author makes a compelling case that the most efficient way to change behavior is by establishing government standards and measurement, with tangible penalties administered through the investment marketplace. Examples of successful re-balancing, as with CRA, show how effective that method can be. In addition, Corporations and the Public Interest cites European examples in government regulation, data collection and rating, and points out how remarkable their success with CSR has been.

The tone is optimistic while maintaining objectivity. I closed the book thinking that corporations doing the right thing was not only inevitable, but would happen in the very short term. As the author puts it in his very clear and eloquent style, "Distinctions between socially responsible investing and the mainstream financial world will blur, as will the lines between CSR and the responsible management of a firm." ... Read more

Book Description

Literally encyclopedic -- almost the length of a volume of the Britannica in terms both of number of pages and content per page--Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics is the philosophically and intellectually strongest and most comprehensive book in the defense of laissez-faire capitalism that can be found anywhere in the world at the present time. It is state of the art in economic theory and political philosophy.

The intelligent, open-minded reader who seeks to understand the economics and politics of the modern world (along with much of its closely related history and social and cultural phenomena), and what is required to improve mankind's lot in these two vital areas, need look no further than to this book. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Capitalism breaks new theoretical ground.
I expected "Capitalism" to be a worthy successor to Ludwig von Mises' Human Action, as the best single-volume treatment of economics, but was delighted to be treated, in addition, to major theoretical advances. Advances, for example, like Dr. Reisman's concept of invariable money, i.e., of a money of invariable value. He identifies the essential characteristic of invariable money as a constant economy-wide volume of spending for products. This concept of invariable money works rather like a conservation law in physics: a dollar extra spent here means a dollar less spent there. It leads to a quantitative explanation of the average rate of profit, a new system of economy-wide accounting, a deeper understanding of the effects of inflation, and much, much more! In Chapter 12, Section 5, Dr Reisman lists more than a dozen crucial findings which rest on analysis in terms of his novel concept of invariable money. Until you've read and absorbed Reisman's "Capitalism," your economic thinking is behind the state of the art.

Brilliant, insightful, comprehensive, but unfair to Rothbard
This brilliant exposition of capitalist economic theory belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in either liberty or economics. Professor Reisman's treatise offers a thorough understanding of capitalism, a synthesis of Austrian and classical economics bristling with new insights into the bargain, and refutations of the major opposing camps. (The chapter on the "environmentalism" may be the only writing on this subject, other than Ayn Rand's own, clearly to identify the anti-human motivations of the "green" movement.) My only misgiving is that Reisman's introduction, footnotes and bibliography continue the Objectivist tradition of unfairly criticizing Murray Rothbard. Neither Rand nor her followers have ever come thoroughly to grips with the claims of anarchocapitalism that defense and court services can be provided by the market without a central government; nor have they adequately faced the difficulties (if not actual contradictions) inherent in the creation of a State from scratch without violating anyone's rights in the process; nor do they ever seem to have grasped why Rothbard describes many of the actions of the U.S. government in the twentieth century as "imperialistic." There is thus a little hubris in dismissing Rothbard's work as egregiously self-contradictory. (And who ever said -- as Reisman implies in his bibliography -- that Rothbard's _Man, Economy and State_ should be read as a "substitute" for Ludwig von Mises's _Human Action_?) Reisman does not accept Mises's neo-Kantian and ethically subjectivist foundations (as Rothbard also did not), yet he recommends that students of economics read _all_ of Mises's works. Would that he showed the same generosity toward another of Mises' most brilliant students. But these are small issues that do not affect the main thrust of Reisman's presentation. Anyone who wants to defend capitalism should study this outstanding treastise in detail.

A book bound together by glue and string? Brilliant!
I'm only writing this review because I'm a hopeless mindless doctrinaire dodobird nerd who reads too much specialized literature because he has no life, too much money, not enough money, or.... OK guys I'm just kidding! This is really an epic, a tour de force, a watermark in the history of ideas, etc. Unfortunately, like Mises' Human Action, this holy grail of magnanimous and logical reasoning may remain in the dustbins of many libraries, professorial shelves, and Amazon warehouse stock rooms. It's just too long, too deep, and too un-Keynesian (I know that's the point, I'm just saying) AT THIS POINT for it to have the impact it would in another, perchance a more libertarian, epoch.

OK, a couple of comments on the gentleman's review focusing on Professor Reisman's attacks on the mathematics of our science. Firstly, you should have saved your breath and said, "I'm a big 'ol positivist and would prefer you bow to our wonderful method". Would have been more honest. Reisman is not a positivist, nor a cliometrician, nor an econometrician. So he didn't write the book YOU would? So what? You're COMPLAINING about a method that Prof. Reisman implicitly, explicitly, and overtly ATTACKS, an argument that undergirds virtually every sentence, chapter and verse, of this gargantuan tome. I don't agree with positivism, and think it's outmoded, lazy, and thin, but that's not my point here. I don't hate math; I'm thoroughly trained in it. Engage the book.

However, I equally find dismay for Reisman's Randian Objectivism. Does he really help its cause by hewing towards it's every pillar apparently with blinders on? What I mean to say is that 95% of the sentences in the review in question do a fine job if Reisman were a staunch positivist who didn't understand the essence of his own chosen method (positivism). Engage the text. Most readers simply won't. This one didn't.

Secondly, I don't think the reviewer actually read the book. That's just my opinion. At bare, not in a way he would surely demand of an opponent.

I also agree with the earlier reviewer who was curious about Prof. Reisman's attacks on Rothbard. They seem a little, er, personal, don't they? Or should I say political? I'm actually not sure. I get the notion throughout this book that Reisman is somehow resentful of Rothbard's ginormous influence in the libertarian community. I know this because there is no possible way we could assume that he didn't know about Rothbard's stature in the libertarian milieu, yet he conspicuously plays it down and childishly ignores it. That, and his primary attack on Rothbard centers on a claim the doctor made in his book "For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto" about the U.S. being the aggressor against Communist Russia. In a somewhat trivial, anti-nonaggression sense, he's right. But Dr. Reisman takes it out of context and runs with it, brown journalism style. I think that the both of them are heavyweights in this the world of ideas and persuasion. I know that Reisman creeps people out a little with his incestuous (connation) with Rand, and Rothbard in his out of fashion a priori proclivities, but the beauty, passion, elegance, and profundity of their writings deserve much attention.

Anyway, on to Reisman. I wish I'd studied under him @ Pepperdine, but I didn't, I went to UCSD. And frankly, I wish he'd come out with a summary of this book but I guess one's already out, it's called "Economics for Everyday People" by Gene Callahan. Read this book, positivists, collectivists, and dodobird doctrinnaires alike. It is a beacon, and a sigil, for brilliant minds and protean intellects who want to understand the logic of action behind business cycles, the theory of interest (time preference), statist interventionism, the architectonics of the structure of production, the capitalist process, entrepreneurism, and the deeply complex economy in which we live.

Dr. Reisman's crowning achievement, however, is his reconciliation of the "classical" economists, primarily Adam Smith, David Ricardo, James Mill, John Stuart Mill, and J. B. Say with modern Austrian economics as being basically part and parcel to the same intellectual mise en scene. His commandeering of these thinkers from the grips of Marx, Engels, and the rest is a beautiful coup, and I think you'll agree as to the verdict when you finish this great and very important opus.

A through defense of Capitalism: The Moral and the Practical
Reisman defends Capitalism on the only grounds that it should properly be defended on: Reason. His approach is not pragmatic - merely that it is the system that has happened to work, rather he develops theory and then shows the practical results.

This book is a MUST for any serious defender of Capitalism. Among other topics, Reisman destroys the prevailing ideas of Environmentalism and Monopolies.

The "Das Kapital" of Liberalism
Capitalism, which appeared in 1998, is the life work of George Reisman, an economist unfortunately hardly known, who teaches at a private American university. This work can rightly lay claim to being one of the most comprehensive and intelligent defenses of capitalism that has ever been written. In over 1,000 closely printed pages, Prof. Reisman not only deals with all conceivable economic subjects, but places special value on demonstrating the errors of anti-capitalistic doctrines - from Marx, to Keynes, to the environmental movement. His foundation is, on the one side, the Austrian school, above all von Mises, with whom he studied, and, on the other side, the Objectivism of Ayn Rand, with whom Reisman was also acquainted and - together with Rothbard - debated. On this foundation he places a crystal clear, convincing structure of thought; in its totality a stirring plea for Laissez-Faire capitalism as the only system that is consistent with the nature of man and a free society. Rothbard and Reisman, incidentally, seem to have become estranged after their studies together. While in the case of Rothbard, to my knowledge, Reisman is never mentioned, Reisman in Capitalism shows Rothbard among others to have accepted the fundamental tenet of the Marxian exploitation theory, namely, that in reality the workers are the producers of goods.

If Reisman deals with Rothbard this way, then one must not be surprised when he deals with the real anti-capitalists in such a devastating way that only tatters remain. All this without ever becoming abusive or polemical, for he is concerned with ideas, not persons. Drawing the conclusion that only irrational dolts could hold the erroneous doctrines just refuted is always left to the reader. And, indeed, I admit it, not a few chapters made me ashamed. I was ashamed of what nonsense I myself had partly believed, had partly simply never questioned. All the more, as after working through a chapter of Reisman's, everything seems very simple and logical. "You too could have gotten there yourself if you had only thought for a moment," one says to oneself. Later the shame gives way to the good feeling of having mined an intellectual treasure.

Reisman devotes special attention and its own chapter to the environmental movement, which he conceives as the ideological heirs of the socialists and for the present the most dangerous enemies. Socialism in its time set out as a movement which claimed reason and rationality for itself alone and proclaimed itself as the only scientific world view. After the catastrophic failure of the socialist experiment, this anticapitalistic movement did not inquire into the rational and economic causes of the failure, but preferred to throw reason as such overboard. The result was a green movement dangerous for freedom, which, for example, in all seriousness and partly with success, can declare inhospitable frozen wilderness in Alaska to be "sacred ground, which must never be desecrated by oil derricks and pipelines."
In view of the new bugbear of the anti-globalization movement, this view seems to be out of date. Nevertheless, one will discover rather that the philosophical foundations of the environmental movement, which Reisman elaborates, appear much more open in the case of the enemies of globalization. Here they also erupt in concrete acts of violence, while in the case of the Greens they are rather obscured, present in the background. They include hatred of the free, productive human being, who applies his reason for the improvement of his condition and sees himself as well as his equals as the only instance constituting value. The anti-globalization scene uses indiscriminately the arsenals of socialists, statists, nationalists, and environmentalists in order to recommend to us mankind, state, nation, or mother earth, indeed, even "animal rights" as the highest, sacred values. The point being, "my concerns shall never be my concern," as Stirner said.

Politically, Reisman is an advocate of the minimal state. In the last chapter of Capitalism, titled "Toward the Establishment of Laissez-Faire Capitalism," a strategy is outlined for achieving the minimal state. This is also certainly worth reading by those anarcho-capitalists who are realistic enough to seek the way to their ideal in the gradual weakening of the state. Hopefully, they will do so in common, up to a point in time who knows how remote, with the advocates of the minimal state.
In short, the approximately 200 marks which I spent for Capitalism have been the best investment of my life in books. One cannot recommend the purchase only to people who enjoy reading the daily newspapers: after the reading of Capitalism, the fallacies of the untaught and the unteachable jump out at one in thick, fat letters, day in and day out-and not only out of the economics section. ... Read more

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Reviews (1)

A View From the Other Side of the Fence
For any American who is curious about how the rest of the world views the political and economic leadership in the US, this book is a great place to start. Both clever and funny, El Fisgòn presents an overview of the history of Capitalism as viewed by those who have benefited from it the least. Economists, surely, would dismiss his views. The poor and the thoughtful, though, even in the US, will sense the truth in it.

If you've asked yourself, "Why do they hate us so much?" then this book is for you!

If you're involved in or sympathetic to the labor movement, then this book is for you!

If you want to understand the worldwide protest against recent US government policy, even from our allies, then this book is for you!

If you're confused or curious about the results of globalization and free trade and how they work, then this book is for you!

Challenge yourself! Read this book! ... Read more

Book Description

The capital markets can be defined as any organized marketor indeed private exchangeswhere capital funds (debt and equity/shares) are traded in order to raise capitalcashfor the issuer or holder of the shares or debt. This also includes the multi trillion dollar commodity business and bond and stock trading. Essentially, any market where various counterparties are brought together to conduct business. ... Read more

Book Description

For the most part, competition policy literature has focused on large economies. Yet the economic paradigms on which such policies are based do not necessarily apply to small market economies. This book demonstrates that optimal competition policy is very much dependent on the size of an economy. Whether and how firms compete is a matter of the natural conditions of the markets in which firms operate. A critical feature of small economies is the concentrated nature of many of their markets, which are often protected by high entry barriers. Competition policy must be designed to deal effectively with these unique obstacles to competition. Accordingly, applying the same competition policy to all economies alike may be contrary to the policy's goals.

Michal Gal's thorough analysis shows the effects of market size on competition policy, ranging from rules of thumb to more general policy prescriptions, such as goals and remedial tools. Competition policy in small economies is becoming increasingly important, since the number of small jurisdictions adopting such policy is rapidly growing. Gal's focus extends beyond domestic competition policy to the evaluation of the current trend toward the worldwide harmonization of policies. This book will provide important guidance to academics, policy makers, and practitioners of competition policy as well as to anyone interested in the globalization of competition laws. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Wonderful glance at economic theory
Mr. Schmookler does an excellent job critiquing conventional economic theory of all stripes in this book. He shows the virtues and flaws of markets in good detail. The finest part of this work, though, in my opinion, was its fine rejection of libertarian economic ideas, especially since it utilizes the words of the libertarians themselves in doing so. Mr. Schmookler has obviously studied the views of numerous conventional and alternative economists and he does a fine job of explaining their views and problems with them. Just an excellent work - easily the finest text I've seen on economics yet. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

In this book, sociologist William I. Robinson offers a theory of globalization that follows the rise of a new capitalist class and a transnational state. Growing beyond national boundaries, this new class comprises a global system in which Japanese capitalists are just as comfortable investing in Latin America as North Americans are in Southeast Asia. Their development of global, interconnected industries and businesses make them drivers of world capitalism.

Robinson explains how global capital mobility has allowed capital to reorganize production worldwide in accordance with a whole range of considerations that allow for maximizing profit making opportunities. As a result, production systems that were once located in a single country have been fragmented and integrated externally into new globalized circuits of accumulation. What this means, however, is not simply that factories are located overseas where labor might be cheaper, but rather that the whole production process is broken down into smaller parts and each of those parts moved to a different country, depending on where investment might be highest. Yet at the same time, this worldwide decentralization and fragmentation of the production process has taken place alongside the centralization of command and control of the global economy in transnational capital.

In turn, this economic organization finds a political counterpart in the rise of a transnational state. The leaders of global businesses and industries think about themselves and how they live in new ways. Hegemony in the twenty-first century, Robinson argues, will be exercised not by a particular nation-state but by this new global ruling class through the machinery of this transnational state. Robinson observes, for example, that global elites, regardless of their nationality, increasingly tend to share similar lifestyles and interact through expanding networks of the transnational state. Globalization is in this way unifying the world into a single mode of production and a single global system and bringing about the integration of different countries and regions into a new global economy and society. But the new global capitalism is rife with contradictions, such as the growing rift between the global rich and the global poor, concludes Robinson. The twenty-first century is likely to harbor ongoing conflicts and disputes for control between the new transnational ruling group and the expanding ranks of the poor and the marginalized. Sure to stir controversy and debate, A Theory of Global Capitalism will be of interest to sociologists and economists alike. ... Read more

Book Description

A fascinating insider’s look at the way criminals, terrorists, and businesspeople move money around the world, impoverishing people and corrupting capitalism’s ideals of fair play

From his experiences in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe, Raymond Baker shows how Western banks and businesses use secret transactions and flout laws in order to generate and transfer "dirty money." In Capitalism’s Achilles Heel, Baker examines three categories of illicit proceeds–corrupt, criminal, and commercial–and explains how some one trillion dollars pass to the West annually, most of which is solicited and channeled by Western corporations and financial institutions. Baker also reveals how fraudulent financial activity, global poverty, and inequality are inextricably intertwined. Readers will discover how businesspeople, drug kingpins, other criminals, and terrorists have perfected the art of shifting funds through transfer pricing, false documentation, fake corporations, tax havens, pass-through accounts, and other tricks of the trade. He illustrates the economic consequences of dirty money and the abuse of the underpinnings of capitalism, and offers specific reforms to counteract abuse and spread global prosperity. ... Read more

Book Description

Acclaim for Against the Dead Hand

"Informed, lively, and challenging, Brink Lindseys book illuminates the tough road ahead in the fight for free markets and against the dead hand of the past. I have benefited greatly from reading this book and so can everyone who cares about freedom." —George P. Shultz, Former U.S. Secretary of State

"There are few higher callings than exposing the antiglobalization movement for what it really is: an enemy not just of clear thinking but also of economic progress. Brink Lindsey rises to this task manfully. In this eloquently written and powerfully argued book, he shows that, far from being complete, the current wave of globalization has just begun. And to charges that globalization is responsible for the problems of much of the developing world, he explains that the real blame lies with years of failed experiments with big government and closed borders. Read this book if you want to understand the most important debate of our time." —Adrian Wooldridge,Coauthor, A Future Perfect: The Challenge and Hidden Promise of Globalization

"In this fascinating and wide-ranging book, Brink Lindsey destroys two dangerous myths: that trade is bad for the poor and that globalization is inevitable. From the Thai countryside to the streets of New Delhi, he shows how todays economic problems spring from choices made decades ago, when the worlds governing classes were enamored of the gospel of centralization and control. Only if we turn away from that Industrial Counterrevolution, he argues, will we find our way toward international peace, prosperity, and progress." —Virginia Postrel, Author, The Future and Its Enemies: The Growing Conflict over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress

"Despite globalization, recent years have been filled with cruel disappointments for many of the worlds poor in developing and formerly communist countries. Brink Lindsey insightfully identifies the formidable obstacles that block their progress. In particular, he shows that the failure to build adequate legal institutions that define and protect property rights is of critical importance." —Hernando de Soto, Author, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else ... Read more

Reviews (21)

A Realistic Look at Globalization
This is a terrific book. So much of what has been written about globalization so far has been either dry or full of hyperbole (both for and against it). "Against the Dead Hand" explains the world as it really is in a way that was a pleasure to read. The book combines history, first-person reporting, and clear analysis. Lindsey begins by telling the story of the first round of globalization that ended with World War I. In many important ways the world was more globalized a hundred years ago than it is even today, but the whole system fell apart in the face of anti-market ideologies and rising nationalism. The warning I took from this section is that there is nothing inevitable about globalization today. It can all fall apart again, plunging us back into the same kind of political and economic darkness that plagued the world for decades after 1914. Lindsey explains convincingly that globalization has returned not because of some grand vision of free-market thinkers but because socilaism proved to be such a failure. He points out that some of the great "reformers" in recent years have been communists and socialists themselves. The most important contribution of the book, in my view, is to remind us of how far we still are from a world were free markets and free trade predominate. The "dead hand" of the old collectivist systems still dominates economic life in most countries. Countries such as Argentina are still struggling against runaway government spending and corrupt legal and political systems. In one of my favorite passages, Lindsey describes a visit he made to a village in India where the villagers were assembling their own cars from kits. Import duties and regulations make it cheaper in India to build your own car! If you want to understand what is going on in the world today, why some nations are making progress and why others seem to stumble from one crisis to the next, "Against the Dead Hand" provides compelling answers. This book is realistic but in the end hopeful that we are headed to a better place. I highly recommend it!

The Real Deal on Globalization
The popular perception of globalization portrays political leaders fighting against corporations and unfettered financial markets being manipulated by greedy speculators using lightening fast electrified capital. According to Brink Lindsey, author of "Against the Dead Hand - The Uncertain Struggle for Global Capitalism", this formulation has the main direction of causation backwards.

The failures of central planning have led governments groping for market reforms as a pragmatic response to the failures of big government.

The trend toward what we now refer to as "globalization" was interrupted during the nineteenth century by what the author calls the "Industrial Counterrevolution". World leaders, impressed by the productivity and efficiency of big business, began to apply the same techniques as those used in business. Merged with these techniques were different theories of collectivism which arose as a result of the apparent chaos of the marketplace.

Though the U.S. never plunged headlong into state control, political leaders of both parties were swept up by its own version of the Industrial Counterrevolution, the Progressive movement.

We now have over a century of experimentation in various social and economic policies in several countries. The evidence shows free market principles produce better results, but market proponents should not confuse a change in trend with victory in the battle of ideas. Those general principles - competition, choice, limited government, private property, sound currency, free trade - are now seeping deeper into more areas of society that had been impervious to them. The change could be seen in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. recently when the Court took up the constitutionality of school vouchers. On one side were minority parents demanding educational choice who were pitted against public school teachers protecting the status quo.

Educational choice is one reminder that market proponents do not have a free ride. Laments Lindsey: "The defunct ideas of centralized control exert a waning but still-formidable influence on the shape of the world economy... The invisible hand of markets may be on the rise, but the dead hand of the old collectivist dream still exerts a powerful influence."

A belief in market economics is not simply the hope for the absence of government. Among government's most important responsibilities is maintenance of a legal order that protects property and enforces contracts to exchange that property.
Mr. Lindsey's entry is an easy reading but serious antidote to the double dose of hype from pro-globalization cheerleaders and anti-globalization protesters. I recommend it.

Economics & history that is plainspoken and factual
I'm not surprised that preceding customer reviews are love-or-hate. Lindsey is a free-market advocate, trying to zap anything that remotely resembles marxist, top-down central planning. He clearly advocates a strong and responsible role for government, for important duties such as: protecting individual rights (including orderly transfers of property), centralized functions that cannot compete with market driven processes (e.g. defense), and providing economically sustainable safety nets for those who need help and care and have no resources.

It might be hard to see if Lindsey's heart is a youthful 16 or 20--he definitely doesn't come across as a socialist. But his principles have anecdotal, qualitative and quantitative truths from more than a century of history, so his brain is certainly working just fine. For example, Lindsey presents a compelling case on protectionism leading to trade wars and world war. His equating pay-as-you-go entitlement systems (legislated by leaders such as Bismarck, chiefly concerned with opiating the masses) with Ponzi or pyramid schemes (deemed illegal by the same governments) is unassailable.

If you care about shaping the socioeconomic world that our children and grandchildren will be inheriting, and if you are concerned about what fiction will be taught to them in most universities (e.g. liberally spun Keynesian economics, without contrasting neoclassical or monetarist economics, or even historical resultants of collectivist policies), this is a great book.

If you want to revisit the Dark Ages, then disparage this book and its commendable author.

Painfully ignorant and simplistic--an embarrasment to Cato
Brink Lindsey is a fundamentalist. He believes that "free trade" will cure every problem in the world. And he believes that a lack of "free trade" is to blame for wars, poverty, and all other ills of humankind. Unfortunately, Lindsey seems to possess a childish understanding of "free trade," of world history, and of economics.

To take just one flaw, in a book filled with flaws... Rather than carefully examine the wholesale gutting of Russia, when free trade fanatics took over (in the early 1990s), and when the Russian economic nearly collapsed, industrial output plunged, corruption and crime roared, prostitution exploded, AIDS and drug epidemics devoured the nation, poverty is up exponentially--and Lindsey can only say that they didn't go far enough!

Three billion humans live on less than a dollar a day--and while 45 million human beings face death from AIDS, Lindsey offers them only the market. Most of them will die, while free marketeers talk of future salvation.

One need only read Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz's Globalization and its Discontents for a far more intelligent overview of capitalism today. Stiglitz, who is an ardent fan of capitalism, carefully disects the ways in which "free trade" is often anything but.

The problem with free market lunatics like Lindsey is that they fail to see the ways in which powerful nations and corporations bully the marketplace, control politics, and stack the deck in their favor. Just look at the cartels which control oil, fruit, cocoa, diamonds, automobiles, etc. They control prices, laws, wages, and politics around the globe. They profit from wars and from child labor. It takes either a fool or a free market fantasy to miss these basic problems with unregulated "free trade." Like all fundamentalists, Lindsey needs less faith and fervor and more critical analysis.

Wide-ranging but one-eyed.
Lindsey is a neo-conservative and this book represents a wide-ranging but finally unsatisfactory addition to the non-debate about globalisation. It divides the world into two groups - the free marketers, who are good, and the collectivists, who are anti-modern and the cause of most if not all the failings of the current highly imperfect free markets. Anyone who can lump George Soros' concept of the Open Society with collectivism, really has a bad dose of the current tendency to declare 'if you are not with us, you are against us'.

Read the book for a sometimes fascinating excursion into history, politics, the informal economy, the failings of collectivism and state control (but not the failings of the market), but do not expect to have much light cast on the underlying issues of wealth and poverty, sustainability and the proper place of money in judging the progress of society. Equally, do not expect to see useful engagement with the issue of the role of great international economic agencies (WTO, IMF, World Bank) and the processes by which nations, corporates and the common people influence their decisions. ... Read more

Book Description

"In Capitalism and Commerce, Edward Younkins provides a clear and accessible introduction to the best moral and economic arguments for capitalism. Drawn from over a decade of business school teaching, Younkins's work offers the student of political economy and the educated layperson a clear, systematic treatment of the philosophical concepts that underpin the idea of capitalism and the business, legal, and political institutions that impact commercial enterprises. Divided into seven parts, the work discusses capitalism and morality; individuals, communities, and the role of the state; private and corporate ownership; entrepreneurship and technological progress; law, justice, and corporate governance; and the obstacles to a free market and limited government." ... Read more

Reviews (24)

The Total Package
In Capitalism and Commerce, the fundamental concepts of a free-market economy are thoroughly discussed and extensively examined. The book is written in a manner that is easily understood, yet remains extremely thought provoking through the presentation of its content. While seemingly written as a philosophy book, Capitalism and Commerce offers much more. Through commentary on morality, law, justice, the common good, work, and personal flourishing and happiness, Dr. Younkins creates a work that brilliantly articulates what many people have a difficult time explaining when it comes to the roots of capitalism. Each chapter builds upon the last; yet, Dr. Younkins has also cunningly written each chapter as an end in itself. Other works are referenced throughout the text, giving the reader a more concise description of the instruments found in capitalism. Also, at the end of each chapter the reader is greeted with a list of recommended readings, serving as a wonderful segway for further reference and/or enjoyment. Upon completion of Capitalism and Commerce, any person will have a clear and definite understanding of what it means to live in a capitalistic society; this, in itself, is priceless.

Capitalism and Commerce--Telling It Like It Is
In his book, Capitalism and Commerce, Dr. Edward Younkins succeeds in providing the reader with two benefits from reading his book. First the book provides an education on free enterprise and a capitalistic society. Secondly upon digesting the information provided in the book, the reader is stimulated into thinking about our society and how it actually operates. I believe that many people just accept the way our economic society operates and leaves it at that. Dr. Younkins not only explains how things are today, but he points out how things were. Many of us are probably unaware of how our government was originally designed to operate. We man not have known that drastic changes occurred because of the "New Deal" implemented by the President F. D. Roosevelt's administration during the 1940s. Capitalism and Commerce provides a plethora of examples detailing how our current government interferes with the true concept of free enterprise. Topics such as Labor Unions, Antitrust Laws, and the State are just a few of the many factors covered by Dr. Younkins.

One concept that is given ample coverage by Dr. Younkins is that of morality and capitalism. The concept is that in a truly capitalistic society morality will flourish. I also believe this to be true. This concept helps to shed the image of businessmen as greedy and immoral monsters. When our exchange of goods or services occurs between two parties and is deemed satisfactory by both parties, then pure capitalism has taken place. In conclusion, Capitalism and Commerce is an easy to read book well worth your investment in time and purchase price.

Economic Eye Opener
Dr. Younkins exposes to the world the truth behind the current United States entitlement system. The easy to read chapters discuss each aspect of a capitilistic system in its purest form. Each chapter builds on each other allowing the reader to discover the mirage of free enterprise in this country.
This is a very good book and Ed has been able to lubricate the previously dry subject of economics. Any person who believes that Americans live under a free enterprise system should read this book. If you believe that you are entitled to some economic aid from the "Government," read this book.

Extraordinary Thoughts for the Ordinary Thinker
Over the last 4 years, I've amassed a collection of philosophical works consisting of several dozen books and a few hundred articles, all of which contain timeless principles, fundamental ways of thinking, new insights, and bold statements. Capitalism and Commerce by Ed Younkins shares all these things with the others, but has one characteristic that separates it from all the rest: I didn't get a headache from reading it.

While other writers spend pages saying what could have been said in a single paragraph, filling line after line with extensive and often unnecessary use of uncommon words which do little more than restate over and over a point conveyed in the first line, Younkins gets to the point. You won't find any of that filler in this book, which is a refreshing departure from the norm.

Another thing I can say with conviction about this book is that Ed Younkins means every word he says and has great reasoning behind every concept. Many writers make philosophical statements without making a connection between their writing and day-to-day living. Younkins, however, uses examples and concepts that anyone can relate to, making the ideas easy to apply to one's life immediately.

Whether you have a doctorate or a GED, this book will change your way of looking at the world, and you will be made better by it. As a writer, a professor, and a person, Ed Younkins is brilliant, and I am happy to have had the pleasure of studying under him.

You get the idea...

Capitalism and Commerce
Capitalism and Commerce is an excellent book for not only the beginning business student, but for the layperson who want to find out what capitalism is and what it can be if practiced to the fullest. Younkins gives good examples and explanations on how capitalism is meant to work in a free-market society. Chapters are well written and easy to comprehend. It's a great book for those who are skeptical about capitalism and how the whole process works in a free society. ... Read more

Book Description

Within the framework of increasing decentralization, the need for local governments to access financial markets is growing. As urbanization expands, local authorities need to provide more services with fewer resources from the central government. Subnational borrowing, leveraging reliable cash flows and prudent fiscal management, can be alternatives to fund such investments, especially when the useful life of the service is long and an adequate legal framework is in place to ensure fiscal and financial stability. This book, prepared by staff members of the World Bank and selected guest contributors, consists of two parts. The first part comprises a framework to study subnational governments as borrowers and the array of credit markets in which they may operate. The second part consists of case studies that document the recent experience of 18 countries in developing markets for subnational borrowers and offer lessons about fostering responsible credit market access within a framework of fiscal and financial discipline. The book pools information on the issuing of municipal debt and its characteristics, analyses the role of macroeconomic conditions and market development in the success or failure of those borrowings, and suggests recommendations to guide ongoing efforts. The goal is to assist local governments in working as strategic partners in the development and strengthening of the capital markets in emerging economies. ... Read more

Book Description

There is no doubt something new is going on in business, though it may not be clear exactly what . . .

Why is it that, given two companies with approximately the same assets and number of skilled employees, one struggles and the other grows profits? From where do those profits come? The answer is that they come from how work gets done: how companies "do" what they do, how they operate.

"Operational Transformation" is the next frontier of business advantage. Lacking growth markets, and facing global competition in uncertain times, companies must change the way they conduct business -- or competitors that reinvent their operations will run circles around them. This is a book about new sources of competitive advantage. It's about operational transformation, time-based competition, and flawless execution of business strategy.

Drawing on years of front-line experience across many industries, Fingar and Bellini explore what GE, Wal-Mart, Virgin Group,Toyota, JetBlue, Dell, Progressive Insurance, Amazon, and other pioneers have done to change the game in their industries. The authors show that deep structural changes -- made possible by business process innovation -- have enabled these companies to reinvent the fundamental ways they operate their businesses.

Most companies have plenty of innovative ideas for change, but they’ve lacked the capability to execute on those ideas -- until now. Companies that transform their operations by mastering the new competitive weapon, the "strategy-execution (SEx) machine," will prosper in the decades ahead. ... Read more

Book Description

This book offers the most comprehensive empirical analysis of the economic transformation of the countries comprising the former Soviet bloc during the first decade after communism.It debunks many myths, seeing transition as a struggle between radical reformers and those thriving on rent seeking. Privatization has undoubtedly been beneficial, and its positive effects will grow over time.The main problem has been the continuation of large, unregulated and ubiquitous state apparatuses living on corruption, while no country has suffered from too radical reforms.Where malpractices of the elite can be checked, market reforms and democracy have proceeded together. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Market Bolshevism
Aslund can only be described as a right-wing free market ideologue bent on coloring the Post-Soviet transition in the most glowing terms for free markets and the IMF. Read any unbiased author and some clear and valid critiques of the "shock therapy" economics that Russia endured are explained. Aslund, on the other hand believes that a problem like crime, endemic in post-Soviet Russia, only occurs because of the imperfect transition to completely free markets. Believing that once the markets are completely free and unfettered crime will magically disappear as the economic incentive decrease and opportunity costs rise. Thouroughly unconving to me, or anyone else who believes in the costs of social turmoil.

Read this book only if you want to know how the "Washington Consensus" works and the lengths that one of their own will go to justify (at times the justification is so one sided it is humorous, is anyone comforted that the murder rate in Russia is still only a fraction of Colombia's?, Aslund, apparently is....) their damaging and ill-conceived policies. ... Read more

Book Description

Capitalist democracies have always displayed considerable diversity in their key political and economic institutions, such as the organization of economic interest groups and private enterprises, the public sector and the welfare state, as well as political parties and social movements. This book asks whether the challenges of new technologies, citizens' preferences, and growing political and economic interdependence in the 1980s and 1990s force all polities to adopt similar institutional reforms.The authors argue that established arrangements have become difficult to sustain, but that countries choose unique trajectories of reform, not a common approach.The diversity among capitalist democracies persists in a new fashion. ... Read more

Book Description

As the Internet revolution continues to unfold and transform telecommunications, pressure is building for faster, less expensive, and more widely accessible broadband service. Such a development would facilitate improved and less expensive traditional applications such as voice telephony and web browsing. It would also enable new and useful applications such as Internet-based television, videoconferencing, and sof