Book Description

Now that Soviet style socialism has collapsed upon itself and liberal capitalism offers itself as the natural, necessary and absolute condition of human social life on a worldwide scale. This book insists that the potentially emancipatory resources of a renewed, and perhaps reconstructed, historical materialism are more relevant in today's world than ever before. Rather than viewing global capitalism as an natural force, these essays seek to show how a dialectic of power and resistance is at work in the contemporary global political economy, producing and contesting new realities, and creating conditions in which new forms of collective self determination become thinkable and materially possible. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

interesting historical overview, useful documents
I found this publication useful and interesting in a vast field with many good publicatons.The value added here is that the authors brought together a good historical selection of the original documents fromofficial EU Member State governments and other sources.This gives a verygood feel of how the viewpoints were developing at the time.Theintroductory texts for each period covered also provide a concise overviewand analysis of the period, main events and actors.Interesting andrecommended. ... Read more

Book Description

This book offers a generic explanation of the political economy of the EU, demonstrating in a clear and comprehensive way how the present institutional set-up makes it vulnerable to lobbyism, corruption and the destruction of social capital. Gert Tinggaard Svendsen contends that this ‘EU disease’ may be avoided by strengthening the power of the EU Parliament at the expense of the EU Commission. The book also discusses issues surrounding policy design, international negotiations on climate change and renewable energy sources.

Using an interdisciplinary framework, the author examines how the current institutional set-up of the EU will determine future economic performance and will adversely affect policy outcomes. He looks at whether fundamental EU policies, such as the CAP, are consistent with economic growth or whether these policies will instead distort markets, leading to economic decline. Focusing in detail on international climate negotiations and wind energy, the author explores the way in which the design of a policy proposal can be affected by the interactions between interest groups and the institutions and bureaucrats of the EU. The case of greenhouse gas emissions trading is a unique example because it allows the author to actually measure lobbyism as the difference between the proposed design and the final EU directive.

The interdisciplinary approach of the book and the original treatment of a very pertinent subject will appeal to academics, economists, political scientists and decision-makers. It will also interest and inform a wide readership in the social sciences, particularly those with an interest in the institutional structure of the EU. ... Read more

Book Description

Arriving in Beijing in 1998 along with other Americans searching for the riches of the new China, Ethan Gutmann rapidly made his way into the expatriate community of American entrepreneurs. For them, Beijing was an Open City inside a controlled world. Entering this well-catered equivalent of a corporate boot camp, Gutmann was indoctrinated in the creed that China's growing strength presented untapped opportunities for profit and expansion. American entrepreneurs might say -- and even believe -- that they were bringing freedom to China, but they were actually engaged in what Gutmann calls "climbing the Gold Mountain."Over the next three years, as Gutmann worked his way into comfortable positions at a Chinese television documentary company and a public affairs firm conducting U.S. politicians on carefully choreographed tours of the New China, he became an insider.

What Gutmann discovered in the company meetings, cocktail parties, and after-hours expat haunts made him uneasy.Motorola reps bragged of routinely bribing Chinese officials for market access; Asia Global Crossing executives burned through company expense accounts while racking up massive losses for the corporation; and PR consultants provided svelte Mongolian prostitutes and five-star hotel suites for home office delegations. In Beijing's expat fast lane, success was measured not only by market share, but also by the ability to pay off favors by building hot-swappable research centers for the PLA and lobbying for Chinese interests in Washington. Treating the New China as a combination of El Dorado and Lotus Land, American businessmen allowed themselves to be seduced by a hallucinatory Orientalist dream world of easy money, moral complicity and exotic sex.

Gutmann too felt the seductive powers of the Beijing Boot Camp and at one level "Losing the New China" is a trip log of an unexpected personal journey.But above all, this book is a carefully documented report on a commercial world without moral landmarks or boundaries, where actions have unintended consequences. Writing from the ground zero of his daily experience, Gutmann shows how massive American investment generated prosperity -- but also a feverish new nationalism which surged into China's universities, the dot.coms, and the entrepreneurial centers. Beginning with the riots over the 1999 Belgrade embassy bombing, he witnessed an eruption of anti-Americanism and a spurning of democracy even as U.S. technology and communication companies executed wholesale transfer of America's most sophisticated technologies to the Chinese market. With the full cooperation of companies such as Cisco, Sun Microsystems, and Yahoo!, Chinese authorities used American technology to monitor, sanitize, and ultimately isolate the Chinese web, creating the world's greatest Big Brother Internet.

After three feverish years, Ethan Gutmann returned to the U.S. hardened by what he had experienced in the New China.But he brought something of value with him -— an intimate insider's story of American business in 21st-century Beijing. Filled with character and event, "Losing the New China" tells a fascinating story of strangers in a strange land. Readers will come away from this book understanding how and why U.S. corporations helped to replace the Goddess of Democracy that once stood in Tiananmen Square with the Gods of Mammon and Mars that dominate China today. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Not Worth the Time or Money
In his book REDISCOVERING CHINA, Cheng Li quotes a sinologist who said, , "If you visit China for two weeks, you want to write a book; if you stay in China for two months, you want to write an article; if you live in China for two years, you don't want to write anything." Unfortunately, Ethan Gutmann chose not to follow this sage advice and ended up authoring a rambling, self-aggrandizing, anti-China screed.

I have spent a substantial amount of time in China since 2001 and have read numerous non-fiction works about that country. Without a doubt, LOSING THE NEW CHINA is among the worst I have ever seen. Prospective readers should be aware that the publisher, Encounter Books, is backed financially by a number of Conservative organizations, among them the Olin and Koch Foundations. Enough said.

The trouble begins on the opening page of the Preface where Gutmann writes messianically, "I was more motivated by the idea of changing China than by the prospect of profit." The first hundred pages is pure, self-serving public relations from a PR professional, filled with name dropping and insider-status trivia about AmCham, the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. Skip it and go straight to Chapters 5 and 6 where Gutman switches gears and actually offers some interesting insights into Motorola's successes in China and that government's control of the Internet, aided and abetted by Western networking and security companies.

By this point, however, Gutmann claims to have had a George W. Bush transformational experience in which his enthusiasm for China becomes an insecure loathing, apparently triggered by his realization that nothing he or any other Western businessman does will likely convert China to Western ethics and business values (as if our Enron, Adelphia, Tyco, Global Crossing, Martha Stewart, Jack Grubman hands are so clean). Wonder of wonders, another Westerner learns that 5,000 years of history and culture and 1.3 billion people cannot be changed in a decade!

The last chapter of LOSING THE NEW CHINA is truly bizarre. Gutmann offers a self-pitying wallow into the sex-filled nightlife of Beijing, where any Westerner can find anything he wants, as much as he wants. While describing the sexual escapades of an acquaintance named Rex, Gutmann seems torn between disgust and envy, practically indicting the country's entire female population as empty-headed prostitutes. The author nearly tastes the forbidden fruit himself, having entered his "personal heart of darkness" in the summer of 2001. Oh, the horror! The horror!

Thankfully, Gutmann heroically comes to his senses, returns to his wife in Vermont, and sets out to describe his experience in the evil, godless empire of Communist China. He wears his distaste on his sleeve, foregoing any pretense of objectivity by "cleverly" using the Chinese character for greed ("tan") as a decorative symbol at the beginning of each chapter.

LOSING THE NEW CHINA fails to fulfill the promise implicit in its title, but then, it never really had a chance. The author evidences no sense of Chinese history or China's shamed sense of inferiority to the West, demonstrates no affinity for Chinese culture beyond a condescending appreciation of hutong life (even his dabbles in the Beijing culture scene seem little more than opportunities for personal networking), suggests no familiarity with Chinese life beyond the five square miles around Tiananmen Square, and shows no interest in contact with average Chinese people. The world he describes is an isolated and insular community of expatriates whose contacts are limited to the opportunistic Chinese capitalists most like themselves.

Gutmann concludes that China is not to be trusted, that the Chinese government will do anything to preserve its power and extend its global influence. His China is not a vast commercial market or a "strategic partner," it is a patiently brooding and devious enemy bent on achieving economic and military power. Chinese companies are just tools of the State, willing to lie, cheat, and steal without a second thought. Gutmann laments the behavior of Western companies willing to play by China's rules (or lack thereof) for the sake of making a buck, yet conveniently ignores decades of identical corporate behavior in Mexico, Central and South America, the African continent, and other parts of Southeast Asia. Western companies giving Beijing the tools to police the Internet is inarguably lamentable, but so is marketing arms and munitions to dictators, selling cigarettes to Third World countries, pricing medicines for malaria and AIDS beyond the reach of millions of dying people, and profiting from the sale of a country's own water to its people.

Trust me, this is a book well worth skipping. I only wish I had known better before I started. The same topic - the frustrations of doing business in China's nascent capitalist economy - is covered far, far better and in a much more detailed and entertaining fashion in Tim Clissold's MR. CHINA. I highly recommend it instead.

Uncovering the "New China"
There is a conventional wisdom about China's modernization that covers a surprisingly wide range of American opinion. In U.S. business, government, and academic circles, the prevailing view is that China's current direction of market liberalization is the surest way to a more democratic future for the country. Chinese leaders might be nominally Communist, but their decision to open China up to the world will eventually undermine their authority. While challenges to this conventional wisdom have occasionally been broached -- particularly by some U.S. elected officials -- they have never gained the critical mass to effectively change the direction of U.S. policy.

An important reason for this stability in the Sino-American relationship has been due to the efforts of U.S. corporations. American businessmen have been the bedrock of American support for greater openness towards China. When crises between China and the U.S. have erupted - Tiananmen, the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia, the spy plane incident - it was usually U.S. corporations that were at the forefront of keeping the relationship stable. As Ethan Gutmann points out in his book "Losing the New China", businesses in China even evolved rote, but effective responses to concerns about China's human rights' problems - the most important of which is that "American business is the long-term catalyst for better human rights in China."

What makes Gutmann's book so effective in exposing the emptiness of this claim is that he was once a true believer in it. Only while living at the margins of the business world in Beijing for two years, and witnessing the cynical uses of this self-serving rhetoric by businesses in China, and how often it was a mere cover for business deals that actually strengthened the Communist party's hold over the country, did he begin to realize "China was moving in a strikingly different direction" than he earlier imagined.

Gutmann's two years in China were eventful. He arrived in time to witness the reaction to the U.S. bombing of China's embassy in Yugoslavia. He made connections easily, dealing with a wide range of people, including what appears to have been a Chinese intelligence agent. He met many of the most important ex-pats in Beijing. As a result, his book has more depth than a reader would expect from the limited time he spent in the country.

The centerpiece of the book is a long chapter on China's policies to control the internet. Gutmann details how the conventional wisdom that Beijing cannot control the forces of online is simply untrue. Not only can the Chinese government maintain a surprisingly effective control over the net, but it is showing an ability to increase that control over time. Search engines, online media sources, and even the computer code used by major multinationals are all manipulated to ensure the internet is sanitized for Chinese web-surfers. That China actively tries to control online content to its citizens is hardly surprising, but what will probably shock most readers is the degree to which U.S. and European corporations are complicit in Beijing's control. Gutmann is no wild-eyed anti-capitalist protestor. He went to China to make a movie and, with any luck, some money; he obviously enjoyed hanging out with businessmen in China - they seem to have been his preferred company; he worked closely with the American Chamber of Commerce for a spell. But even he is shocked at the degree to which Western companies have cooperated with the Chinese government to make the internet a state vehicle for oppression.

Gutmann also touches on other issues: China's military modernization, the surprising fact that almost all U.S. businesses in China lose money, and the way some Westerners sell out to China's government by accepting the party line. These are good write-ups, but with the exception of the chapter on the internet, Gutmann is at his best when talking about the people he meets. A young man who visits Beijing, looking for work, and discovers a sexual paradise, is one example of this. Never that successful with women in the states, the twenty-six year old posted on an internet dating service that he was a foreigner and was immediately deluged with e-mails from Chinese women as far away as Chongking. Thus he began a sexual odyssey - one-night stands, a ménage à trois, and even an orgy followed. In one particularly wild night, he was invited to participate along with three other men and ten Chinese women in group sex. The host was accustomed to such parties. Viagra and condoms were handed out like small treats. Despite all this, the young man remembers his time in Beijing as a period of loneliness.

Gutmann sees the young man's series of sexual escapades as a sort of metaphor for what China does to Americans: it seduces them into letting down their defenses. The young man agrees: "Rex [the young man] points to a Xinhua report from July 2002 that the owners, bouncers and call girls of Sanlitun Bar Street have set up a new branch of the Communist Party. The Party was already letting capitalists in, but the inclusion of sex workers who specifically cater to foreigners raises a question: Why does the Chinese government allow foreigners such freedom? The Chinese conceive of Americans as barbarians - oversexed, easily corrupted fools. Seduction softens them up. Sex is good for business, Rex says, and good for China."

To close followers of China, Gutmann's account will probably hold few surprises. But his book has an entertaining sass to it, including numerous self-deprecating comments, some of which closely border on the self-loathing. He finds it necessary to write about a few near-sexual encounters he had with Chinese women (some of which he initiated), after his wife returned to the states early. How this went down on the home front, he neglects to mention.

A dark and shocking wake-up call
Losing The New Chinca: A Story Of American Commerce, Desire And Betrayal is both a personal memoir and testimony to escalating American submission to greed. True stories of bribery, pandering to the interests of Big Brother, and a corporate mentality that brings popular hatred of the U.S. both at home and abroad. A dark and shocking wake-up call to failure of morals and conscience upon the part of American businesses overseas.

Not a primer but thought provoking and important
This is not a primer for the China novice nor is it meant to be. It is instead a thought-provoking and interesting book, and, in advancing an alternative view of American businesses in China it is an important contribution to the debate on US-China relations. Brilliantly-written it is collection of stories that advance the simple thesis: American business in China is compromising US interests.

Gutman is clear about his neo-con political views, clear about his (many) prejudices, and clear about his disaffection with Beijing and with the American business community there. This is not, as other reviewers have labeled it, simple realpolitik propoganda. Having laid out his prejudices for all to see Gutman dives into poking around Beijing, investigating his thesis.

Beijing is a complex, sprawling city in an even more complex country. As an ex-China expat I know that just about as well as anybody. Understanding China is like the blind man trying to comprehend the elephant by touch. What most expats lack is the humility to admit how little they understand no matter how much they know. What Gutman does through racy writing and personification of the issue is shine a little light on issues such as US tech companies selling tracking software to China's security services, or pharmaceuticals moving R&D and manufacturing to American's so-called strategic competitor. His conclusion: that American, European and Asian businesses bend over backwards to secure contracts. In the process American firms ignore the formal and informal rules that govern business domestically, while expats ignore the social norms that govern their lives at home.

I disagree with many of Gutman's conclusions, but that does not detract from it being a thought-provoking and engrossing piece of investigative writing on an important and always timely subject.

Gutman -- starring as the repentant sinner -- believes his moral compass is now sure. It should be up to each individual reader to decide where theirs lie.

Decent writing but not much depth
Beijing is a big place, and so is China. There's lots to write about and lots to learn. The author, though, spends barely three years in the country and feels able to pass judgment on many things. 3 years is really not enough time to grasp the intricacies of China/Beijing/Shanghai/etc.

First, he is an American and comes across as expecting America's multinationals to export all of America wherever they go. What a Big Mac fantasy! Sure, American multinationals have to stick to their guns and follow laws of the US, but they are far from being American anymore--they are multinational staffed with people from all over the world and PAYING TAXES to governments all around thew world.

Second, the author never owned a business in China and could not speak the language. He SURELY missed out on many things and SURELY misinterpreted situations among Chinese. It's to his credit that he does rely on the good analysis of many local Chinese, as well as his wife (a China scholar). But even with those things, he still gets only a surface texture of what is going on in Beijing right now.

The writing of the book was decent, but the segments into 4 main areas (with a Chinese character for "greed" at the beginning of each chapter--was this for the Chinese greed or American greed?) were a bit haphazard and disjointed.

It's almost as if he came of age in China (nothing wrong with that) but it's frustrating to see he walked away after 3 years still naive and lost. You sense that he was lonely throughout his stay and perhaps was not well received by those already in Beijing. However he overcame thee things and does provide decent background to an expat's life in China.

Overall, it needs to be rated with 1 star only because it really lacks much depth--if you have never been to China you will most likely think WOW THIS IS GREAT, but trust us that it is not and there is far far more that the author never discovered and parts of the book were written upon the reliance and auspices of public relations companies and professionals who spun him in certain ways as to make him believe certain companies prospered or went down, when in fact the opposite may be true. The Old China Trap! What a fool... ... Read more

Book Description

This up-to-date book provides a balanced, in-depth background to main IPE theoretical approaches, examines IPE issues in historical perspective, and discusses domestic-international linkages. Managing the Global Economy Since World War II: The Institutional Framework; The Realist Perspective; The Liberal Perspective; The Historical Structuralist Perspective; International Monetary Relations; Foreign Debt; Global Trade Relations; Regionalism and Global Trade Regime; Multinational Corporations and Global Production; International Development; Current Trends in the Global Political Economy. Anyone interested in international political economy.

Book Description

Globalization Has Triumphed, But Can We Save the Poor?

For most people except the world’s very richest, globalization is failing—catastrophically. If we don’t act, its failure will lead to a global upheaval worse than any in human history. But there’s another, better path. Isaak shows how a new globalization can give the poor a powerful stake, both here and abroad. Isaak's ideas can lead toward a more stable, peaceful world, in which we can all build our futures—rich and poor alike. ... 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

Latin America in the World Economy considers the dual aspect of Latin American development: how external factors (phases of world capitalism since Columbus) interweave with internal factors (Latin American culture, politics, and social groups). Within his skillful approach, Weaver demonstrates how domestic social conflicts and power relations have consistently capitalized on changes in the international economy, while, conversely, engagement with the international economy has consistently constrained local struggles and patterns of change. With over half of the book dedicated to the "short" twentieth century (after 1930), Latin America in the World Economy is appropriate for courses in Latin American economic history, political economy, and development. ... Read more

Book Description

The Economics and Ideology of Free Trade makes an important contribution to the debate on globalization by providing much needed intellectual and historical perspective on the issue of free trade versus protection.

The book does so by reviewing and integrating doctrinal history and past policy debates. Firstly the book deals with the doctrinal evolution of the economics of free trade from the mercantilists onwards (including the reaction against classical economics by Friedrich List and the American national economists). It then goes on to critically examine the debates, policies and events that mark over two centuries of fierce but intellectually stimulating controversy over free trade and protection (including the debate on the Corn Laws, the British Tariff Reform Controversy 1903, and Keynes on protection).

In this stimulating and highly informative volume, the author summarizes and encapsulates a vast amount of material in a singularly economical and succinct manner that will appeal to academics and students interested in the history of economic thought, international economics, economic history and also international relations. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is the eagerly awaited successor to Robert Gilpin's 1987 The Political Economy of International Relations, the classic statement of the field of international political economy that continues to command the attention of students, researchers, and policymakers. The world economy and political system have changed dramatically since the 1987 book was published. The end of the Cold War has unleashed new economic and political forces, and new regionalisms have emerged. Computing power is increasingly an impetus to the world economy, and technological developments have changed and are changing almost every aspect of contemporary economic affairs. Gilpin's Global Political Economy considers each of these developments. Reflecting a lifetime of scholarship, it offers a masterful survey of the approaches that have been used to understand international economic relations and the problems faced in the new economy.

Gilpin focuses on the powerful economic, political, and technological forces that have transformed the world. He gives particular attention to economic globalization, its real and alleged implications for economic affairs, and the degree to which its nature, extent, and significance have been exaggerated and misunderstood. Moreover, he demonstrates that national policies and domestic economies remain the most critical determinants of economic affairs. The book also stresses the importance of economic regionalism, multinational corporations, and financial upheavals.

Gilpin integrates economic and political analysis in his discussion of "global political economy." He employs the conventional theory of international trade, insights from the theory of industrial organization, and endogenous growth theory. In addition, ideas from political science, history, and other disciplines are employed to enrich understanding of the new international economic order. This wide-ranging book is destined to become a landmark in the field. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

complex but more depth wold be desirable
Gilpin'book is a quite complex survey on the functioning of the global economy. However, taking such a broad issue in the limitid scope of the book allows him not to analyze the topic in the broader detail. What I find interesting is that the author asserts the world economy is dominated by the United States and they are maintaining their dominance by certain privileges: dominance of US dollar in the international monetary system, creating the international financial architecture with controling its institutions and making the rules of the international trading system. He employs for this setting the international regime, whose main attribute is the presence of the hegemon in the background of the system. He realistically analyzes the position of nation-state in contemporary world economy. He originally finds the new roles for the nation-state as growth promoter of high-tech industries, constructer of the international trade and financial regime. He puts evidence of the continuing differences between three models of capitaism: that of Germany, USA and Japan. In the analysis of the relationship between MNCs and the nation-states he asserts the depence of the former on latter and not conversely as frequently claimed. In every chapter he provides the range of opinions on each particular segment of GPE and combines it with his own view, trying to pick up the best from each of the political economy branches. However, in the chapters about international trading, financial and monatary system I miss a more deep and sophisticated perspective about future development.

Robert Gilpin's Global Political Economy
This is an outstanding update of the author's earlier book, The Political Economy of International Relations (1987). It is meant to complement Gilpin's more recent work, The Challenge of Global Capitalism (2000). In Global Political Economy, Gilpin discusses a wide range of theories in the field combining careful textual analysis with advocacy of his own views. The author's own theoretical stance is one of "state-centric realism." He identifies with authors like Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Hans Morgenthau, but not with what he calls the "systemic realism" of authors like Kenneth Waltz. While he admires and uses the work of contemporary economists, he also carefully differentiates his approach from theirs (in Chapter 3). Except for a brief acknowledgement of the difficulty of explaining European integration in state-centric realist terms (in Chapter 13) and a bit of defensiveness on the continued value of theories of hegemonial stability (in Chapter 4), Gilpin does a good job of defending his views.

The author does an excellent job of surveying recent work in economics without resorting to jargon. There are outstanding treatments of topics like the continued relevance of Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory, strategic trade, endogenous growth theory, and the new economic geography. The discussion of the globalization of international finance in Chapter 10 emphasizes the need to take into account the "increased interdependence of trade, monetary, and other aspects of the international economy" that results from "[m]ovement toward a single, globally integrated market for corporation ownership" (277). Chapter 11 provides a state-of-the-art discussion of the role of multinational corporations in the world economy. Chapter 12 does a fine job of discussing the likely future of theories of the developmental state in light of the Asian Crises of the late 1990s. The final chapter lays out three major scenarios for governance of the world economy, informed as always by the author's realist views.

This book is long and dense. There are few wasted or unnecessary words. It is not easy to read. However, it could be used for graduate seminars or upper-division undergraduate courses in international political economy in conjunction with texts that are more empirical or descriptive in their treatment of international political economy.

Global Political Economy is an excellent book. It represents a major and successful updating of The Political Economy of International Relations. Any person interested in international political economy can profit from reading it.

An i.p.e. "must."
Gilpin's survey offers undergrads an introduction to globalization by discussing the substance and the theoretical debates on "What is political economy," international trade and finance, MNCs, and the role of the state and international institutions. I found its chapters worked great with students when combined with a relevant current events article from the Economist or FT, for example. For graduate students and other professionals new to i.p.e., it provides a summary or introduction to several important debates, with direction to the original texts and critics - useful that way as a primer or a reference book. (February 2002)

Gilpin's new testament on globalisation and governance
Robert Gilpin, Professor Emeritus Robert Gilpin of Princeton University, has done it again. Gilpin's Global Political Economy is a completely rewritten version of his classic The Political Economy of International Relations, which appeared back in 1987.

The latter has been standard reading in the courses on international politics and political science - and should have been for the students of economics and business administration as well. The new volume can be expected to meet with the same success.

Gilpin's new testament has been prompted by the changes in the world economy that have come about since 1987. The end of the Cold War removed the Soviet threat that had unified the United States, Europe and Japan. The globalisation of the economy has intensified. The breakthrough of information technology, and especially of the Internet, has boosted the importance of the knowledge-based economy. Together these factors have thoroughly shaken the foundations of governance of the world economy.

Gilpin does not subscribe to the pure free-market vision of economics. Neither does he accept such populism that puts all blame on globalisation:

"The idea that globalisation is responsible for most of the world's economic, political, and other problems is either patently false or greatly exaggerated. In fact, other factors such as technological developments and imprudent national policies are much more important than globalisation as causes of many, if not most, of the problems for which globalisation is held responsible."

Gilpin does not set the nation state free from its power and responsibility. On the contrary, he stresses the state's capability to influence economic development and job creation, even in a context of increasing globalisation.

Especially now that the dust has settled after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the focus of world politics has turned to the effect these terrible events have on U.S. foreign policy. Thus far, we have witnessed a return to a multilateral approach from nascent unilateralism.

The tension between isolation and cooperation has not been born in an instant, but has marked U.S. foreign policy at least since the First World War. In the academic community this discussion has a long history.

In Gilpin's view the United States should commit itself to multilateral co-operation. Although at this particular time this commitment means in the first instance building an anti-terrorist alliance, it is clear that it cannot fail to be reflected also in international economic relations - and vice versa.

Take the World Trade Organisation, for instance. A failure to launch a new round of negotiations would send the wrong signal about the ability of the EU and the United States to cooperate, and erode belief in an international order based on common rules - just when that is most needed.

Although rather by default than by design, China's membership in the WTO could not have come at a better time for the building of the alliance. Russia's rapprochement with NATO and even its WTO membership may be boosted if the U.S. and the EU rely on its support in rooting out terrorism.

Even if most of Gilpin's interpretations evoke a sympathetic response, on certain points one is of necessity inclined to contradict. This is the case when he considers "regionalism" - i.e. free-trade and economic areas such as the European Union or the North American Free Trade Agreement - to be contrary to multilateral free trade. Yet the two are mutually complimentary rather than conflicting arrangements.

The cornerstone of Gilpin's work is the method, the conceptual framework. Globalisation does not stem from economic forces merely, but is a result of an interaction of political and economic forces. Even if one knows that, reading Gilpin does not decrease one's chances for understanding the world.

a solid and comprehensive survey....
and that is its strength and weakness.

On the one hand, the Gilpins put thinking about the global ec in perspective: there are the economists who are more interested in the mathematics of their models, ignoring unquantifiable things that won't fit within them. The author is very very hard on them, while respecting what they contribute. Then there are the political economists, who believe that history and the functioning of institutions need to be taken into account for a full and accurate picture.

This really put things in perspective for me in a clearer way than I knew, and I have been writing about economics for years. The Gilpins demonstrate why economists need to transcend the basic algebra and esoteric game theory models that obsess them.

On the other hand, being a survey means that there is not great depth in the book. Just when things are getting interesting, the author abruptly moves on to another subject, leaving me frustrated and wanting more, much more in the case of the issues I am currently researching. Moreover, the coverage of the footnotes is uneven, leaving me wondering what sources the author used. Gilpin's view, if I read it correctly, is that of a moderate conservative believing in free trade while attempting to take into account the complexity of the issues, such as the failure of the LDCs to develop.

Moreover, the Gilpins prove once again that American academics are rarely good writers. The prose bristles with repetitions and leaden, if clear, writing style. It made the book a chore to read at times, however useful the content.

Nonetheless, this is a useful book, written at the high undergraduate level. Recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

The history and current status of the important oil industry are reviewed in this study of the geological origins of oil and gas. Assessed are how much oil and gas has been produced, what remains in known fields, and what is yet to be found, with attention to how to properly interpret published numbers, many of which are false or distorted by vested interests. The contention is made that the growing Middle East control of the market is likely to lead to a radical and permanent increase in the price of oil before physical shortages begin to appear within the first decade of the 21st century. The book further argues that the coming oil crisis will create economic and political discontinuity of historic proportions, as the world adjusts to a new energy environment. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Very good, timely and appropiate.
This book is an excellent work treating the current hydrocarbon depletion issue. Readers will be well rewarded for their money. This book, however, should be read with two more:

"Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage", by Kenneth S. Deffeyes

"The Oil Factor: How Oil Controls the Economy and Your Financial Future" by Stephen Leeb, Donna Leeb

One thing the author does not treat is the transitional period from hydrocarbon to renewable sources. Since these are hard topics, and the uncertainty is very high, their omission from the work is quite understandable.

As to the comment by the reader from Portland, OR, I have worked on the floors of the largest energy companies in Houston, currently working for the California energy markets, and yes, C. J. Campbell does have a pretty good understanding of how the energy markets work. Although I do not quite share the author's a bit doomsday view of the years to come, we will be up for a significant challenge.

a waste of paper
Campbell is the 43rd author to warn us about the impending doom reulting from "running out of oil." If any of the 43 authors would bother to learn basic economics, the public might have a decent book which explains the coming transition to alternate sources of energy. In Campbell's book, you not only find a basic lack of understanding of how the oil market works, but interviews with doctors and charlatens which need to be excised from the book in a future edition. Maybe he can write this edition in 2015; "The Coming Oil Crisis: This Time I Mean It"

Save yourself time and money and go to his free website before buying: http://dieoff.org/page131.htm

A fascinating book
This is a fascinating book, one that dares to go to examine the very core of the mechanisms which make our society function. Our way of life depends on fossil fuels for about 90% of all the energy we produce. Without oil and the other fossils, the planet would never been able to support 6 billion human beings, to say nothing of the extravagant lifestyle of the fraction of them living in "rich" countries.

Campbell's book is an attempt to foresee how long this bonanza can last. The uncertainties in the field are enormous, already the estimates in the amount of "recoverable resources" vary of almost a factor of two depending on who is doing the estimate. Then, there comes the need to estimate the rate of consumption which, in turn depends on complex and economical factors. Nevertheless, reason can guide us to determine that in no case we can expect more than a few decades (at most) of oil abundance. It is time to think seriously of alternatives.

Campbell's book is written by one of the foremost experts in the field, it is well balanced, entertaining, and overall fascinating. Highly recommended!

pretty good-but it had some fluff
This book has a lot of interesting, hard to find information on oil reserves and petroleum geology. Its a must-read for someone interested in the subject of oil depletion. It has some shortcomings though:

1-It has a lot of superfluous stuff. For example, there is an interview with a medical doctor on topics quite remote from oil depetion. It was annoying to find this material in the book. But it was easily avoided.

2-At times, Campbell didnt stick to the topic. He waders off into simplistic philosphical musings about the meaning of oil depletion. It wasnt helpful.

3-An explanation of why oil is only found in special geological formations was not provided. This is a very important aspect to understanding oil depletion.

But all things considered, this is a good book to read if you want to understand how much oil is left in the ground, and how much has already one up in smoke.

Very comprehensive
The book is based on total cumulative oil production of 1800 billion barrels with peak global production at aprox 10,000,000,000 litres per day in 2001 with a plateau until 2008 and declining until aprox 2100.

Large cities and energy intensive industries such as mining, aircraft, shipping and railways will bear the brunt of declining world oil production from present day global usage of 10,000,000,000 litres per day, declining to around 1,000,000 litres /day in 2080.

The book has extensive production profiles for many regions, but not Australia. It illustrates how Germany's oil production has been in decline from 0.058 Gb/a since the mid 1960's and US oil production has been in decline since the early 1970's peaking at around 9500 kb / day.

An extensive web site is discussed regarding renewable energy.

The rise in human population from 1 billion to 6 billion over the last 100 years is also discussed and the author predicts a decline in human population with declining oil production.

There is a brief discussion in regards to how the temperature rises 33 to 36 deg C for every km decrease in depth and how oil is subsequently cracked into gas at high temperatures, however it doesn't mention at what pressures the cracking would take place or if there is any difference in temperature between 4 km below sea level or 4 km below land.

The book rarely discusses synthetic fertilisers, such as sulphate of ammonia, which need oil or gas as a feedstock to fix nitrogen, etc. Brian Fleays book "The decline of the age of oil" discusses this in greater depth.

There is no discussion of the chemicals that are made from oil such as: Acetylene, rubber, explosives, insecticides, soaps, cosmetics, chewing gum wax, carbon brushes, etc which can be found in an encyclopedia.

However, the book is a very comprehensive discussion of the search for oil and the geological constraints of production. ... Read more

Book Description

Cities in a World Economy presents sociologists with a new perspective on the study of urban sociology. The decentralization and privatization of the world’s economies has radically altered such things as the organization of labor, the structure of consumption, and the distribution of earnings in ways that have yet to be fully realized.In a world economy that is truly more global than it has ever been, Sassen addresses the need to account for the global economies increasing influence on the social structures of cities. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good for general information on a new economic order
I've read the book due to an examination about "the new city structure - contemporary geography" and it's quite good, she has a global wiew of the new city-status and its new users, the less and less importance the homless has for the city governament and the new power of the corporation, all in all a good compendium if you need to improve your knoledge about the matter. ... Read more

Book Description

Written by a premier group of thinkers from around the world, Alternatives to Economic Globalization is the defining document of the antiglobalization movement. The culmination of a three-year project by the International Forum on Globalization, whose members include Ralph Nader, David Korten, John Cavanagh, Lori Wallach, and Jerry Mander, it presents both a sober critique of globalization as well as practical, thoughtful alternatives. The authors assert ten core requirements for democratic societies, including equality, basic human rights, local decision making, and ecological sustainability, and demonstrate how globalization undermines each. Offering specific strategies for reining in corporate domination, they address alternative systems for energy, agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing; ideas for weakening or dismantling the WTO, World Bank, and IMF; and rebuilding economies that are responsive to human needs. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

The core is hollow
If this book represents the views of the anti-globalization "movement", then the movement is nothing more than regurgitated Luddite socialism. The authors have a romanticized view of subsistence farming and believe it should be promoted, its past association with famine and poverty escape mention. Trade per se, is an evil that should be discouraged in place of protectionism. Again there is a selective reading of history, the hyperinflation and instability associated with populism and protectionism gets no mention. Even when they toss out some laudable ideas about alternative energy sources, they oversell its virtues.

Far worse is the outright disingenuousness of the authors. They drag out the tired canard that less developed nations were "forced" to open up and globalize. No nation was forced to lower trade barriers or join the WTO, they did so because they wanted access to foreign markets and credit, for better or worse. This is a phony argument because otherwise the authors would be forced to admit there are nations that are following their prescription: Zimbabwe, Cuba, Venezuela and perhaps soon Bolivia, to name a few. In truth they don't have a successful or worthwhile recipe for an alternative to the alleged evils of capitalism. It would be wonderful is some nation would anoint itself as the model alternative, all they have to do is close their economy from the rest of world. It would be interesting to watch, if you're lucky enough not to be a resident.

Tiresome Trash
Any one with a modicum of knowledge in economic would find this book laughable. The leftist idoits make no new points, moreover, they lack a basic understanding of economics. Globalization and free trade are the future of the world, you can accept that and grow rich, or go protectionist and become poor. Examples, Hong Kong, after WW2, chosse to become an open free maket nation, it know has GDP per Capita greater then the UK, India however, chosse to become protectionist and know is a third world hell hole, with GDP per capita is three digit range.

Power to the People
Unlike THE CASE AGAINST THE GLOBAL ECONOMY, an anti-globalization compilation put out by many of the same people who contributed to ALTERNATIVES TO ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION, this book is more slim and concisely articulated. If you are in any way interested in the debates surrounding democracy, ecology, sustainability, resource management, globalization, locatization, the environment, corportism, bio- and cultural-diversity, human rights, food security, job security, energy, transportion, manufacturing and the general measure of progress, this book is a must. I was particularly impressed with the way ALTERNATIVES was able to blend an argument for global regulations while at the same time stridently championing the rights of local, autonomous indigenous peoples. This is THE document for anyone interested in understanding globalization and its possible alternatives.

The Anti-Globalization Manifesto!
This provocative text is the work of an impressive collection of luminary scholars, writers, and environmental activists, all of whom have something important to contribute to the issue of economic globalization and how it is affecting the environment. This distinguished group of authors, including Jerry Mander, Ralph Nader, David Korten, John Cavanaugh, and Lori Wallach, have joined in a collaborative effort herein to render what is likely the single most definitive and sober critique of the current state of globalization as well as the rising tide of anti-globalization efforts across the planet. As the culminating product of a three-year effort by the International Forum on Globalization, the book can best described as being both painstaking and muckraking, providing a series of ten core requirements which must be instituted to make democratic societies sustainable; among which are equality, human rights, local decision-making, and of course, ecological sustainability. In the narrative, each is addressed in terms of both how they are affected by the globalization process as well as what kind of strategies work to counteract these untoward effects.

Moreover, the individual contributors offer a series of quite specific collective strategies for combating and limiting the extent of corporate domination, and also discuss various alternative systems in the critical areas of energy, agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing. There is also a lively discussion pertaining to modes of political action to deconstruct and even destroy the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well its predecessor and corollary institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund or IMF. From the time of the creation of the post WWII international monetary system at Bretton Woods in 1944, through the institution of the World Bank, the IMF, and GATT, the rise of globalization has necessarily towed in its wake an increasing pressure both on the natural environment and the natural resources the corporate forces must dominate and control to continue its essential core function of international economic growth.

With the rise of an organized opposition and a declaration of that organization's policies to systematically resist and counter the effects of the WTO, the anti-globalization forces around the world now have a formal manifesto for the systematic resistance to the forces of corporate sponsored economic globalization. Of course, given the fact that the existing corporate effort is so widespread, pandemic, and attractive to a variety of international corporate forces, any prospect for reversing the trend will be problematic indeed. Yet, given the potential for catastrophic consequences stemming from the movement toward the expanding influence of such global corporate enterprises, the authors argue that we would do well to try.

This is an important book, one that arms the reader with an array of facts regarding what the so-called "New World Order" really means in terms of its potential impact on each us in every aspect of our lives, as individuals, as members of the local community, as consumers of necessary (and other) products, and as citizens of a nation and of the world at large. The scope of the change to come is immense, and it is obviously in the interest of each of us to better understand exactly what is at stake in terms of our lives, our freedoms as citizens, and our survival in a world increasingly endangered by reckless corporate activities that are destroying the biosphere. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

Essential reading on globalization
Drafted by a committee of 19 (but sufficiently well edited to read as if it were written by a single author) this book provides a well-argued, detailed and wide-ranging analysis of the consequences of economic globalization (the term corporate globalization is also extensively used in the book) and an examination of alternatives and the action required to move towards those alternatives. It has succeeded brilliantly, and deserves very close study, whether or not you agree with the drafting committee's views.

This is no extremist anti-corporate, anti-capitalist text, although it does clearly come to the conclusion that the vector of economic globalisation that we are on is neither inevitable, desirable nor sustainable. It is notable for arguing at the level of underlying principles and their practical consequences - it makes explicit the assumptions underlying corporate globalisation and questions them. This, in itself, is a valuable service as so much of the 'debate' in the media proceeds on the basis of bald assertion of essentially fallacious economic dogma.

The report starts with a critique of 'corporate globalization'. The term itself is useful, because the term 'globalization' has become something of a 'Humpty-Dumpty' word ('when I use a word, it means exactly what I want it to mean, neither more nor less'). 'Corporate globalization' describes a process driven and promoted by the large global corporations which, whatever its other consequences, gives primacy to the benefits that will flow to global business.

The critique identifies eight key features of corporate globalization:

1. 'Promotion of hypergrowth and unrestricted exploitation of environmental resources to fuel that growth
2. Privatization and commodification of public services and of remaining aspects of the global and community commons
3. Global cultural and economic homogenization and the intense promotion of consumerism
4. Integration and conversion of national economies, including some that were largely self-reliant, to environmentally and socially harmful export oriented production
5. Corporate deregulation and unrestricted movement of capital across borders
6. Dramatically increased corporate concentration
7. Dismantling of public health, social, and environmental programs already in place
8. Replacement of traditional powers of democratic nation-states and local communities by global corporate bureaucracies.'

It demonstrates each of these propositions and explores who are the beneficiaries of application of these policies. One of the complexities of trying to follow the arguments of the pro- and anti- globalisers is that both use statistics, both from apparently authoritative sources, that directly contradict each other. It is almost as if the two sides inhabit parallel universes that operate in different ways. Suffice it to say that the report puts forward convincing arguments in support of its case.

The critique proceeds to a devastating analysis of the impact of the World Bank, The IMF and the WTO, the three pillars of corporate globalisation, over the last four or five decades.

The report then argues ten principles for sustainable societies, as a basis for identifying ways of realising these principles in the subsequent chapters of the report. It argues that these principles 'seem to be the mirror opposites of the principles that drive the institutions of the corporate global economy.'.

One of the minor problems in the debate is that, whereas 'globalization' rolls easily off the tongue, 'the principle of subsidiarity' is neither easy to say nor obvious in its meaning. The report contains a chapter on the case for subsidiarity, and it is a strong one. The counter argument is almost entirely concerned with power. While there are many elements of conflict between corporate globalisation and the principle of subsidiarity - local control - they are not entirely antithetical. But the reach of the large corporates would unquestionably be reduced.

You may or may not agree with the arguments in this report, but they deserve serious attention. They are well and carefully argued, they represent (in fairly sophisticated terms) the views of a growing number of people around the world who believe that current beliefs and institutions serve them poorly, and they show those who wish to promote change a path for doing so. ... Read more

Book Description

powerful and prophetic challenge to globalization from a former partisan of the New Right. Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as both "a convincing analysis of an international economy" and a "powerful challenge to economic orthodoxy," False Dawn shows that the attempt to impose the Anglo-American-style free market on the world will create a disaster, possibly on the scale of Soviet communism. Even America, the supposed flagship of the new civilization, risks moral and social disintegration as it loses ground to other cultures that have never forgotten that the market works best when it is embedded in society. John Gray, well known in the 1980s as an important conservative political thinker, whose writings were relied upon by Margaret Thatcher and the New Right in Britain, has concluded that the conservative agenda is no longer viable. In his examination of the ripple effects of the economic turmoil in Russia and Asia on our collective future, Gray provides one of the most passionate polemics against the utopia of the free market since Carlyle and Marx. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

a sober critique of american chauvinism
For most of the world, this book is unnecessary for the simple reason that the hollow ring of the self-congratulatory rhetoric of unitedstatesian freemarketeers has always been apparent to those who exist on the poorer borders of its rule. The WTO and World Bank protests in the US echoed what so much of the developing world already knew for so long. It's rare that someone who is so critical of contemporary capital formations -- and american triumphalism -- is heard, let alone promoted in mainstream bookstores, as well as Gray seems to be. I found much to admire in this book -- in particular, his insistence that economic markets have historically always been, and still are, embedded within social institutions -- it's just that freemarketeers have a real interest in concealing the particular social vision they're promoting with their claptrap. It is this vision, the central lie of freemarket ideology, that Gray is interested in pointing out: he convincingly argues that freemarket ideology relies heavily on a strong state and is really aimed at eliminating those vestiges of civil society which still exist that have the power to check the ambition of corporate capital. For those of us who still promote the idea that some aspects of human activity should not be subordinated to the profit motive, this book provides some analysis and some comfort: as Gray points out, this moment of American hegemony is not destined to last forever (as Greenspan's followers would believe) -- global capital in the american mold? This too shall pass! My only complaint is that much of Gray's argument is repetitive -- perhaps a habit of working for Thatcher for as long as he did?

Strong and timely words
Gray argues that the attempt of global hegemons to bring about a single global market is largely the political project of a few planners. Gray asserts that power-based free-marketeers have a compelling interest in concealing the particular social vision they are promoting within their discourse. It is this "vision" that Gray points out as the central "lie" of "free market' ideology. Gray argues that free ma