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Reviews (2)

Too wordy
This book is for someone who has a pretty decent knowledge of the EU and of the governmental process. The book is crammed with information but is WORDY and Hix is a bit long winded at times. He provides a lot of references to other political theorists with whom the reader should be familiar with before he or she tries to dive into this text. I found it to be nice to read as a follow up text on the EU rather than reading it on its own.

The Political System of The European Union
In the preface to 'The Political System of the European Union' the author articulates that the central aim of the book is to provide an extensive review of the recent 'explosion' of empirical and theoretical literature, concentrating on the European Union's (EU) decision making and policy process. This aim is fulfilled admirably, in a comprehensive and accessible manner. The book begins by examining the EU system of Government. However, the conventional approach of examining separately each of the governing institutions is rejected in favour of examining in turn, the Executive (Council of Ministers and Commission), Legislature (European Parliament) and Judiciary (European Court of Justice). This classification not only increases parsimony, but also allows for the 'importation' of a wider body of political science literature in which the theories of governance have been developed to an extent far beyond those seen in the sub-field of European Studies. The book subsequently turns its attention to the politics of the EU, concentrating on public opinion, parties and interest representation. Drawing extensively on recent work by Mathew Gabel, and through original analysis of Eurobarometer data, a detailed picture is provided of the stratification of support for EU integration throughout European society. One major conclusion is made - the European issue cuts across the traditional left-right dimension - encouraging Europe's main political parties to play down the European issue in domestic competition. The consequences of this conclusion are analysed in the context of the EU's 'nascent political parties' and the prospects for majoritarian democracy - prospects which Hix concludes are extremely limited. In many respects this last point captures the essence of what Hix is attempting to convey in conceptualising the EU as a political system. For despite the author's initial claims, this book represents far more than a literature review. It represents an attempt to transfer the study of the EU from the paradigm of International Relations to the mainstream of Political Science. This has lead to the misperception that 'The political system of the EU' down plays the 'rogue' nature of the EU in comparison to other political systems. It does not. And the point is made clearly that the European Union is a political system but not a state.Amongst its many strengths, one weakness reoccurs. The book investigates and explains the EU using predominantly North American political science literature. In certain respects this is its strength: as in the transposition of US Congess literature onto the European Parliament. However, in other respects, where European literature would provide a valuable comparative framework, such literature is absent. Such a focus can be excused perhaps as a necessary counterbalance to the many 'Eurocentric' volumes on the EU. In 'The Political System of the European Union', Hix has produced an accessible and much needed literature review, whilst making a persuasive case for a change in the paradigm and methods of EU studies. It is for this latter reason that the book will become a seminal text. ... Read more

Book Description

Where Latin American government leaders once looked at free trade agreements as solely about trade and trading policies, they are increasingly viewing them as the next beacon of hope in the long and arduous road of economic reform. Integrating the Americas: FTAA and Beyond discusses how these governments have become embroiled in a larger set of issues affecting both institutions. This work, based on a conference sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, examines how this free trade process is surging ahead, while at the same time taking on a broader set of issues including institutional reform, transparency, the environment, labor, and social cohesion. The payoffs to the strategy of liberalization, privatization, and openness have been meager and disappointing to date. Will the FTAA be able to reverse this and allow Latin America to reap the benefits of globalization? ... Read more

Book Description

The Regulation of International Trade introduces the rules and institutions that govern international trade. Michael J. Trebilcock and Robert Howse examine the theory and functions of international institutions and blocs including GATT, USFTA, NAFTA and the EC and also examine current difficulties in global trade. This book also includes a comparative discussion of internal rules for the application of trade remedies to dumping and subsidies in Canada, the USA and the EC. The authors examine how trading disputes which result from protectionism are settled. Individual chapters focus on exchange rates, trade in agricultural products, trade in services, trade and development and international labor mobility. The Regulation of International Trade also covers some of the emerging issues, including investment measures, intellectual property rights and the environment.

Throughout, the insights of classic and contemporary economics and political economy are related to current issues facing the world trading order. As a comprehensive text, this book will be a valuable guide to those interested in economics, law and international relations. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Best in the Field
This book is the best written text on International Regulation of Trade currently available.

A reasonable text
This book is a standard text for International Trade Law Unit at The Australian National University. It is quite adequate for this. However I find its Canadian bias towards America bashing a bit tedious at times and I think that it oversimplifies the economic analysis. ... Read more

Reviews (41)

problems of economic globalization are daunting
Greider is clearly one of the very top liberal\populist economic analysts who writes for laypeople today. Greider proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that economic globalization as it is practiced today is fraught with contradictions and the potential for disaster. His book is simultaneously alarming and hopeful; the prospects for implementing his common sense reform proposals seem poor in the current conservative political atmosphere, meaning that global deregulation is sure to move even quicker now, causing new and frequent financial crises. The fundamental point in his book are sound: that an unequal income distribution, reinforced by the relocation of capital to low-wage areas, exacerbates a problem of inadequate aggregate demand, making recessions more likely. Greider is quite clear in his belief that a deflation of incomes, economies, and prices is the ultimate consequence of this fundamentally unjust new world economic order. To support his thesis, he takes the reader on a tour of a variety of places all over the globe, showing how, for example, the repression of labor rights in a place as far away as Indonesia contributes to a worsening of the wage-earning potential of first-world middle income workers. Greider is one of the few writers today who offers a genuinely humane and efficient economic vision that the world would be wise to follow. He suggests worker ownership of capital as a middle road between the inequities of capitalism and the disincentives of communism. He points out how transaction taxes on international capital flows would return stability to foreign exchange markets and, more importantly, national economies. He makes clear that the rule of finance capital, as manifest in high real interest rates, is only exacerbating the fundamental capitalist problems. (inadequate demand and excess capacity) Above all else, he makes apparent that economies, like all social institutions, are fundamentally human contrivances, and thus can be favorably altered by a populace with enough imagination to envision a more prosperous, equitable, and environmentally sustainable future. Greider is way left of almost anyone in D.C. today, but he is no communist, as is apparent from a reading of this book. All progressives should read this book, (though it is somewhat complex for those without prior exposure to economics) and use Greider's policy suggestions to pressure the political class to legislate real changes in our global economy so that we can create a more stable, equitable, sustainable, and democratic global community. As a final point, it is very heartening to see someone provide such plentiful evidence for what to me is a self-evident proposition: widely-shared prosperity requires genuine political democratization, everyone and anywhere in this tightly bound global economy.

Provocative, Insightful, Compassionate Look at the 3rd Wave
No one writes with more verve, insight, and human compassion than long-time Rolling Stone contributor and Editor William Greider. His perspective always centers on the human cost of social phenomena, and is always heartfelt, compassionate, and extremely well focused. In this book he centers in brilliantly on the ways in which the so-called "Third Wave" of global trading and commerce is poised to transform the social, economic, and political landscape of the countries in which it is being introduced. His writing skills are superb, and the ordinarily dry and stuffy stuff of economics come alive in this highly readable and quite entertaining work. In fact, reviewer Brink Lindsey of the Kirkus Review called this book "the best-written book on the global economy" he had ever read. Ditto, Mr. Lindsey, ditto.

I also agree with his observations calling the prose energized, clear, and sharp. However, I disagree with the negative criticism many other critics and reviewers have voiced concerning Mr. Greider's conclusions herein, which seem to center on the fact that he is not an apologist, fellow-traveler, or celebrant of the new global forces. Indeed, Mr. Greider's perspective is more sanguine, expressing concern of the many ways in which this fundamentally anti-democratic new commerce tends toward becoming a revolutionary & extraordinarily well-focused force literally power-hosing the new wealth generated by this commerce in the direction of the rich and well placed at the expense of almost everyone else.

Who can argue against the observation that we increasingly face an amazing conundrum when in face of the greatest sustained period of prosperity in the last forty years many people at the lower reaches of the socioeconomic spectrum are slipping farther and farther behind, that this prosperity is not acting to level the playing field, but, on the contrary is intensifying the distances and qualitative life styles of the affluent and the poor, or with the observation that consistently the indifferent, selfish and affluent conservative Republicans, ignoring the needs and problems of a majority of others, still demand a substantial tax refund for themselves at the expense of the rest of the populace? The truth speaks for itself in the sense that the governments of the world seem either uninterested or unable to regulate, limit, or meaningfully constrain the powers, policies, or dispositions of the multi-national corporations who now produce, distribute, and control the majority of the world's commercial efforts.

These corporations seem to be primarily motivated by motives much less socially responsive or oriented than they are profit-centered. Unless one actually believes in the silly, self-serving and patently ridiculous nonsense about Adam Smith's 'invisible hand' of the market place, believing that somehow an unregulated and unconstrained world economy will automatically and magically manage and self-corrrect itself through the countervailing forces of the marketplace (can I sell you some of my old lottery tickets?), one must take heed of the plethora of examples one can readily observe concerning the changes in our social, economic, and political environment that stem from the effects of this new 'global economy'.

In summary, Greider argues that the world is headed for a difficult & chaotic set of social & economic circumstances; disastrous levels of industrial plant overcapacity, unmanageable surplus goods, unemployable labor pools, frantic & often irrational stock speculation, unserviceable debts, and chronic massive unemployment. While all may seem to be wonderful to a casual observer watching along the surface, we are in fact skating bravely over the very thin ice of a totally new and revolutionary set of socioeconomic circumstances, and we should hardly be racing across this fragile and frozen expanse so quickly or so recklessly, trusting so blindly in so many anonymous corporate forces that historically have never bothered to concern themselves with the social, economic or political consequences following in the wake of their profit-oriented activities. Given the increasingly random & uncontrollable flow & use of capital, coming to terms with this emerging bulwark of the 'new world order' will be increasingly problematic. His conclusions are similar to those of neo-Luddite authors like Sales Kirkpatrick and Theodore Roszak, who have come to similar conclusions about the increasingly serious situation emerging concerning a technical, commercial, and economic world spiraling out of control. In my opinion, Greider's book is a heaven-sent call to arms; the first issued by a mainstream social critic whose argument we would all do well to consider.

His conclusions drive the narrative
"The Storm Upon Us ... everything seems new and strange ... nothing seems certain ... masses of people are tangibly deprived of their claims to self-sufficiency ... this revolution is steadily creating the predicate for its own collapse ... the prospect of an economic or political cataclysm of unknown dimension ... ." These and similar claims are found on just the first two pages of the book. To be fair, Mr. Greider also references the "great fortunes" thrown off by globalization and the fact that millions escape poverty, but right from the start you get the feeling that he is working backwards from his conclusions and choosing his rhetoric and his examples to sell his point of view. It's almost as if Mr. Greider is suggesting that, now that the West has gone through the very sort of radical transformation he describes with shock and dismay, the rest of humanity should just stay where they are at while we in the industrialized world figure out if and how they should reach for the security and the lifestyle that we take for granted. If you are looking to validate an anti-globalization bias you already hold then this may be the book for you, but I think it's fair to say that most readers would like to benefit from Mr. Greider's considerable experience and expertise without having to interpret his selective or overly cynical presentation. In a nutshell, my problem with the book is not that it argues against globalization and is wrong, but that it is as committed to persuasion as it is to education. I chose not to finish the book and will look for a more neutral resource.

A Close Look At Globalism
I've been meaning to write about One World, Ready Or Not (1997) by William Greider for some time since I finished reading it a few weeks ago, but it is a difficult book to describe in detail given it's scope and content. I first encountered Greider in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine where he writes about politics and economics and was impressed by his intelligence and rational thinking. Needless to say, he is somewhat liberal and progressive. This book is an excellent look at globalism, especially how economic systems and policies affect the world. Some of these sections are bit difficult to follow, but I found his case studies of different companies and labor movements quite fascinating, especially the section about the airplane industry and Boeing in particular. He explained how Boeing parcels out parts contracts to countries that order airplanes as a sort of kickback for countries doing business with them.

The section about the negative impact of free trade zones on the poor people who work in them is very telling. (For a more comprehensive look at the exploitation of third world workers see Naomi Klein's excellent No Logo, which is a good companion text to this). It is something that has troubled me since I saw a large group of peasant girls lining up at the gates of a textile factory in Cambodia, they looked like they were twelve, it was very Dickensian. The fact that they make around $20 a month for shoes that cost over $100, is absurd to me. I'd like to present some of the suggestions he has for reforming the global economic system, which has been spiraling out of control. All of them seem quite reasonable to me.

1. Tax capital instead of labor.

2. Reform the terms of trade to ensue more balanced flows of commerce, compelling export nations to become larger consumers of the global production.

3. Bring the bottom up-raising wages on the low end as rapidly as possible-by requiring trading nations to honor labor rights.

4. Forgive the debtor-that is, initiate a general write-off of bad debts accumulated by poorer nations.

5. Reform the objectives of central banks so they will support a pro- growth regime instead of thwarting it.

6. Refocus national economic agendas on the priority of work and wages rather than trade or multinational competitiveness, as the defining issue for domestic prosperity.

As Greider mentions, none of the propositions I have suggested is especially radical or even new in historical terms, since they all have been actively employed at one time or another. Nonetheless, I don't really expect to see any of these reforms adopted given the fact that there's no real economic motivation to do so. The problem as Greider states it, is that there is no governing body with the best interests of workers overseeing economic policies. As a result the gap between the haves and have-nots will continue to extend. All in all, a very thought provoking look at global economics.

Amateur Opinions in Print
Grieder likes playing the role of a public intellectual- one who cuts through it all to see what is really going on. One who sees all that escapes supposed experts, particularly economists. What he sees is a destructive machine that is out of control. There is no one at the wheel of global capitalism, it is wreaking havoc, and will undo itself. To prove this point he describes capitalism and 'free market theory' with disparaging adjectives. To make his case he needs do explain why these theories are wrong and provide valid evidence. He does neither.

His evidence is at best, anecdotal. At worst it is from questionable or unnamed sources. Discussion of the free market concepts he opposes is almost totally lacking. The author claims that free market economics is unscientific and derides it as 'dogma' and 'a value laden form of prophecy' (p48). But, he tells his audience little about these supposedly false ideas. In fact, he admits (p53) that he does not argue much with this 'dogma'. So he admits to evading a serious discussion of the concepts he slanders.

He speaks in terms of absurdly simplistic supply and demand type reasoning, and mentions arbitrage, but he ignores the real issues that pertain to his subject matter. His chapter on wages and work ignores the issue of labor productivity- he barely mentions it (p67+76). The economic arguments that he dismisses hinge on marginal productivity, but it is not clear that knows anything about this supposed dogma. Instead, he focuses on income distribution between capital and labor. He sees international competition in labor markets as benefiting capital- consumers seem not to benefit from this at all. Later in this book (p122), he stumbles into the notion that competition benefits consumers, but fails to realize that he has damaged his own argument.

Greider claims that the most successful Asian economies rejected Laissez Faire and free markets (p87). But, the most successful postwar Asian economies (including Japan) have some of the freest markets. They have some governmental intervention, but far less than other nations. This is not Laissez Faire in the strictest sense, but who would deny that Hong Kong has a high degree of Laissez Faire? Successful Asian nations developed after considerable (not complete) privatization and deregulation.

He writes that the general claim by economists that free trade benefits people generally and causes only temporary and narrowly focused dislocation (p73) is wrong. His condemnation of trade theory is strong, yet he fails to demonstrate an understanding of important concepts, like the principle of comparative advantage. If he wants to engage in idle conjecture that is fine. But if he is going to claim that the experts are generally wrong, he could at least demonstrate a basic understanding of what the experts actually say.

Greider is fond of labor unions. He employs a simplistic high wages=prosperity argument to argue that labor competition benefits capital only and is per see bad for workers (p59). Efforts to restrict competition do raise wages for some workers. It also renders other workers unemployable (productivity matters) Greider provides an example of this principle in action with his Thailand example of job losses following higher minimum wages (p 70). This contradicts his dismissal of economic theory. Greider also writes much about things like social cohesion, shared responsibility, and collective identity. These are catchy phases, but indicate little more than his own dissatisfaction with current trends. He claims that people are helpless in the face of global capitalism, but voluntary consumer spending drives it. There is 'someone' at the wheel of global capitalism- global consumers.

Greider also has nice things to say about Veblen and Keynes (p51-2). In Veblen's case, there is some reason to show some admiration. Veblen was an interesting, though mistaken thinker. Keynes is a different matter. Greider tries to substitute discredited Keynesian ideas regarding overproduction for sound economic theory. He explains neither theory, provides no relevant evidence, and instead assumes the superiority of the demand-side economics of Keynes. This is mere conjecture rather than argument.

Greider complains that America is the worlds 'buyer of last resort' that absorbs surplus production. We supposedly buy imported VCR's, TV's, cars, beer, and clothing not because we derive consumer satisfaction from these goods. We are desperately trying to prop up global Capitalism by spending beyond our means! This, of course, is doomed to failure because we cannot accumulate debt forever. So he accepts Keynesian theory, which promotes deficit spending, but complains about he practice of deficit spending.

Greider admires Keynes' optimism about the supposed possibility of abundance (p440). Once having solved the economic problem, we can 'become social beings on a larger scale, discarding barbarism' and so on. Instead of private property in capital, we should have universal capital ownership- in other words, socialism. Greider dodges all the economic objections concerning socialism, all the incentive and knowledge problems. Instead he whines about how Capitalism induces 'infantile responses'- the pursuit of self interest and evasion of responsibility for collateral consequences of actions. This all reveals that Greider is merely a utopian dreamer. Limited life spans and physical resources put abundance permanently out of reach. Self interest is a part of human nature. As for evading responsibility, that is what socialism does. It socializes costs. Property rights enforcement under Capitalism forces people to bear responsibility for their actions. Some try to avoid this, but that is a violation of Capitalist ethics, not a consequence of them.

Perhaps his most obvious error is in blaming industrial capitalism for the rise of Nazism (p38). Everybody knows that the treaty of Versailles and hyperinflation wrecked German economy and led to Hitler's rise to power- everybody but Greider.

Grieder derides professional opinion rather than criticizing it. Of course, there is no reason why amateurs cannot criticize professional opinion. But Greider does not do this. He offers conjecture, derision, and utopian fantasies, but no substantive analysis. This book should not be taken seriously. ... Read more

Book Description

In May 2004, eight former Eastern Bloc countries joined the European Union: the three Baltic republics, Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak republics, and Slovenia.

What is involved in "accession"? How have accession dynamics affected and been affected by the domestic politics of candidate countries and their adoption of EU rules? In this carefully designed volume of original essays, the editors have brought together a group of scholars with firsthand research experience in the new member-states of Central and Eastern Europe. Framed by opening and concluding chapters by Frank Schimmelfennig and Ulrich Sedelmeier that outline several aspects of preparation for accession, the empirical case studies discuss a variety of topics, including democracy and human rights, the reform of state administrations and economic, social, and environmental policies. This book demonstrates the importance of the credibility and the costs of accession conditionality for the adoption of EU rules in Central and Eastern Europe. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

How can Cuba address the challenges of economic development and transformation that have bedeviled so many Latin American and Eastern European countries? What are the universally common macroeconomic and societal challenges it faces and the specific peculiarities that have emerged after a decade-long transformation of its economy? For the Cuban and American social scientists and policy experts writing in this timely and provocative volume, the answer lies in examining Cuba's development trajectory by delving into issues ranging from the political economy of reform to their impact on specific sectors including export development, foreign direct investment, and U.S.-Cuba trade. Moreover, the volume also draws attention to the intersection between economic reform and societal dynamics by exploring changes in household consumption, socio-economic mobility, as well as remittances and their effects, while remaining steadfast in its focus on their policy implications for Cuba's future.

Book Description

Amazon.com

Michael Mazarr, an adjunct researcher at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, tries to make sense of the end of the 20th century, identifying six fundamental trends reshaping the U.S. and the world and adopting what he calls "cautious optimism" in predicting what lies ahead. While Mazarr expects little to change in the developed Western world, he predicts instability in Africa, the Middle East, and India due to rapid population growth, disease, food and water shortages, and cultural conflicts. Advances in science and technology, he continues, will fuel rapid social change and create a global culture of free-market economies--unleashing instability in the process. World economies will increasingly be based on information, reorganizing the nature of work and increasing the gap between rich and poor; the globalization of world trade, economic activity, and communication will be met by a simultaneous rise in tribalism, and Mazarr predicts the conflict between the two will be "one of the major hallmarks of the coming decade." He also projects that a transformation of authority may result in a collapse of public confidence in all social authorities, and suggests that all of these trends will result in a worldwide feeling that things have never been so good, yet also leave people decidedly negative and pessimistic about the future. The first decade of the 21st century, Mazarr writes, will see "the most profound transition in human history," a period of both opportunity and risk. "Fate has provided us with the raw material of a new renaissance in human society, but it is up to us to make that renaissance a reality." --Linda Killian ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Eye Opening
The outlook of the book is neither pessimistic nor optimistic, but as realistic as possible. This book should provide a great jumping off point for anyone interested in the specific areas discussed, which involve most trends affecting policy making today.

The author proves prescient on a number of points: the recent increased conflict in Palestine, the Mexican election results, the recent run up in energy costs, the movements of the various world markets on perception more than concrete results, and the growing gap between the world's 'haves' and 'have nots'.

If you are looking for something in the line of Alvin Toffler, but don't want to wade through all of his volumes, this is a great geo-real-politik starter. And he's at least willing to stick his neck out: Democracy in China by 2015!

Putting It Together
What I found wonderfully invigorating about Global Trends 2005 is that it draws upon so many vastly different strands of contemporary knowledge and understanding and weaves them together in a manner that is at once challenging, provocative, and accessible. Make no mistake, this is a rigorous exercise in holistic thinking. But it's also a fun--if sobering--read. That's because the author writes in a personal, plain-spoken manner that conveys an exceptionally bright yet level-headed way of making sense of our world as it lurches into the 21st century. Michael J. Mazarr points out more seriously complex problems on the horizon than most of us would care to think about. Yet he never acts the part of the shrill alarmist that is so typical of books of this nature. Nor, when he shifts his focus to globalization's potential for worldwide benefit (e.g., attacking Third World poverty), does he play the chirpy cheerleader that is all too often the alternative persona of futurologists. This book is an exemplary instance of well-balanced multidisciplinary thinking about our now deeply entrenched information society and the simultaneously good and bad prospects that it presents to the interdependent corners of the globe.

reliable?
would you consider reliable an author that cites on his book an incorrect chart?

On page 55 the table 2.1 called "water scarcities in the Middle East and Africa" includes in those geographic areas Peru, Haiti and Barbados. Peru is a South American country, and Haiti and Barbados are in the Caribbean area !!! ... Read more

Book Description

This enlightening book provides the first systematic introduction to, and exploration of, the emerging system of industrial relations in China, and draws on the authors’ extensive research and direct involvement in the developments taking place. The authors argue that there are both unifying and fragmenting elements to the ongoing development of industrial relations, but overall it is one in which the state continues to maintain a major, and direct, influence. Divisions between workers and managers may be escalating with increased open conflicts, but this book reveals that the picture is far more complex and contradictory than to assume that the solution is convergence with western style industrial relations systems. They conclude that industrial relations institutions and processes still act within a political context and with the guiding hand of the Chinese Communist party.

Industrial Relations in China draws on up-to-date material and will ensure the book’s appeal to industrial relations and Chinese scholars. It will also appeal to a wider audience of Asian labor and development studies scholars. ... Read more

Book Description

The fall of communism, the emergence of the information age, and the expansion of economic globalism are the points of departure for this new edition of Chase-Dunn's landmark book. The author shows how these seemingly new developments fit with earlier patterns of global formation and change, extending the influential model that drew wide attention to this award-winning book. The new edition also evaluates recent major studies of the modern world-system and assesses the implications for the future of the contemporary system. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Still pseudo-intellectual junk after ten years
Since the collapse of Soviet communism it's much easier to laugh at the dogmatic, unsubstantiated, absurd theories like the one presented here by Mr. Chase-Dunn. It seems hard to believe now that people actually believed in this intellectual detritus, actually studied it, pondered it, discussed it around cocktails. It's been exposed now, in the real world, as worthless left-wing flotsam, but just to refresh the potential reader's memory, let me point out a few of the most ridiculous, obvious, shout-in-your-face errors of Mr. Chase-Dunn's theory of the "capitalist world-economy":

(1) the interstate system is not a result of capitalism. If anything, it's the other way around. National sentiment and territorial integrity, hallmarks of the interstate system, provided the necessary stability for long-term capital formation and its resulting technological progression. These two factors are essential elements of capitalism.

(2) Mercantilism is not capitalism. Mercantilism as an economic theory posits an effective use of territorial resources (e.g., exporting); capitalism posits an effective use of capital (i.e., investment of capital in ever more efficient means of production).

(3) Warfare is not the result of the capitalist world economy, as Mr. Chase-Dunn claims on page 108. Rather, warfare is a fundamental part of human nature, and existed long before "capitalism" was even a word, let alone a viable economic order.

(4) Mr. Chase-Dunn cannot claim that there are multiple "semi-peripheries" and still maintain a coherent theory that examines the relationship between the "core" and the "periphery."

(5) The scramble for new periphery states is not the only cause of WW I; rather, WW I was caused by the confluences of a variety of unique circumstances, only some of which were economic and none of which were attributable to capital per se. WW I was caused by such things as: German nationalism and the unique structure of the German state (e.g., becoming a state after the other Great Powers and thereby missing the opportunity for colonial acquisitions); social Darwinism; nationalism; and advances in military technology.

(6) Mr. Chase-Dunn conveniently forgets to explain how supposedly peripheral states like Japan could, and did, progress to the level of core states, because to do so would contradict his doctrine of a permanent core-periphery dichotomy. This doctrine is really nothing more than a rehash of the "dependency" theory, a faddish doctrine popularized in the early 1970s by Fernando Cardoso (who has subsequently repudiated it and is now president of free-market Brazil).

(7) Mr. Chase-Dunn's economic analysis (to use the word loosely) that attempts to tie together four centuries of warfare is the dumbest exercise in pseudo-intellectual reasoning I've ever had the displeasure of being forced to read. Idiographic factors are just too common in warfare, and the known factors just too large and amorphous, to be able to draw *any* sound economic conclusions from their occurrence, except the obvious one that a lot of money and lives were wasted.

So Mr. Chase-Dunn should ensconce himself in some fashionable liberal East-Coast University (actually, he's already done that) and, together with his other fellow Neo-Marxist pointy-head friends, collectively mourn the fact that reality did them the discourtesy of totally, finally, completely, and crushingly destroying their economic theories.

Any idiot can reverse-engineer history
And Chase-Dunn proves it.The anonymous August 11, 2002 reviewer critiques my old review but doesn't bother with specifics.Typical.

Back to Chase-Dunn.Any idiot can say that something is the cause of something else just because it either (i) precedes it in time or (ii) has similar elements.Neither is conclusive of cause and effect.Although Chase-Dunn's "world systems" theory is more riddled with contradictions than a Valentine's Day Massacre corpse is with bullets, the mmost egregious of his errors is to tie four centuries of warfare to capitalism.

The world "capitalism" wasn't even *created* until the late 18th century.Capitalists like world stability in order to invest money.Why do you think every country in Latin America has a "country risk" premium, for crissakes?Capitalism and capitalists *hate* uncertainty because they have to make ROI (that "return on investment" for you communists out there) decisions and the uncertainty war creates makes for unprofitable investment decisions.Now, communists like Chase-Dunn on the other hand, they love war, because like radical Islam, it's a violent, universal ideology.

A masterpiece
This book is by far the most comprehensive discussion of the structure of the world-economy from the world-systems perspective.Chase-Dunn builds his theory and analyses on the earlier works of Wallerstein, Arrighi and others but takes a critically important step by emphasizing the interactions of economic, political, and military power and how they impact the structure of the world-economy and reproduce certain structural constants of the modern world-system.With all due respect to the previous reviewer affiliated with a law school--this is directly a message for you--your are wrong and your historical analysis is completely faulted.Furthermore, your critiques illustrate either your lack of understanding the text or your ignorance of history.

An Exceptional Overview of the World-Systems Perspective.
Christopher Chase-Dunn has performed a monumental service to academics and students alike by providing this overview of contemporary world-systems thinking.Global Formation provides a thorough discussion of current research, theory and application of the world-systems perspective.With this book, Chase-Dunn has done much to extend the importance of the social aspects of the global political-economy.The book should have a wide readership owing to the great utility the perspective has for integrating disciplines in the social sciences.

Economic geopolitical theory for left-wing ideologues
Since the collapse of Soviet communism it's much easier to laugh at the dogmatic, unsubstantiated, absurd theories like the one presented here by Mr. Chase-Dunn.It seems hard to believe now that people actually believed in this intellectual detritus, actually studied it, pondered it, discussed it around cocktails.It's been exposed now, in the real world, as worthless left-wing flotsam, but just to refresh the potential reader's memory, let me point out a few of the most ridiculous, obvious, shout-in-your-face errors of Mr. Chase-Dunn's theory of the "capitalist world-economy":(1) the interstate system is not a result of capitalism.If anything, it's the other way around.National sentiment and territorial integrity, hallmarks of the interstate system, provided the necessary stability for long-term capital formation and its resulting technological progression.These two facctors are essential elements of capitalism.(2) Mercantilism is not capitalism.Mercantilism as an economic theory posits an effective use of territorial resources (e.g., exporting); capitalism posits an effective use of capital (i.e., investment of capital in ever more efficient means of production).(3) Warfare is not the result of the capitalist world economy, as Mr. Chase-Dunn claims on page 108.Rather, warfare is a fundamental part of human nature, and existed long before "capitalism" was even a word, let alone a viable economic order.(4) Mr. Chase-Dunn cannot claim that there are multiple "semi-peripheries" and still maintain a coherent theory that examines the relationship between the "core" and the "periphery."(5) The scramble for new periphry states is not the only cause of WW I; rather, WW I was caused by the confluences of a variety of unique circumstances, only some of which were economic and none of which were attributable to capital per se.WW I was caused by such things as: German nationalism and the unique structure of the German state (e.g., becoming a state after the other Great Powers and thereby missing the opportunity for colonial acquisitions); social Darwinism; nationalism; and advances in military technology.(6) Mr. Chase-Dunn conveniently forgets to explain how supposedly peripheral states like Japan could, and did, progress to the level of core states, because to do so would contradict his doctrine of a permanent core-periphery dichotomy.This doctrine is really nothing more than a rehash of the "dependency" theory, a faddish doctrine popularized in the early 1970s by Fernando Cardoso (who has subsequently repudiated it and is now president of free-market Brazil).(7) Mr. Chase-Dunn's economic analysis (to use the word loosely) that attempts to tie together four centuries of warfare is the dumbest exercise in pseudo-intellectual reasoning I've ever had the displeasure of being forced to read.Ideographic factors are just too common in warfare, and the known factors just too large and amorphous, to be able to draw *any* sound economic conclusions, or all things, from their occurrence.So Mr. Chase-Dunn should ensonce himself in some fashionable liberal East-Coast University (actually, he's already done that) and, together with his other fellow Neo-Marxist pointy-head friends, collectively mourn the fact that reality did them the discourtesy of totally, finally, completely, and crushingly destroying their economic theories. ... Read more

Book Description

In The Decline of the Welfare State, Assaf Razin and Efraim Sadka use a political economy framework to analyze the effects of aging populations, migration, and globalization on the deteriorating system of financing welfare state benefits as we know them. Their timely analysis, supported by a unified theoretical framework and empirical findings, demonstrates how the combined forces of demographic change and globalization will make it impossible for the welfare state to maintain itself on its present scale.

In much of the developed world, the proportion of the population aged 60 and over is expected to rise dramatically over the coming years -- from 35 percent in 2000 to a projected 66 percent in 2050 in the European Union and from 27 percent to 47 percent in the United States -- which may necessitate higher tax burdens and greater public debt to maintain national pension systems at current levels. Low-skill migration produces additional strains on welfare-state financing because such migrants typically receive benefits that exceed what they pay in taxes. Higher capital taxation, which could potentially be used to finance welfare benefits, is made unlikely by international tax competition brought about by globalization of the capital market. Applying a political economy model and drawing on empirical data from the EU and the United States, the authors draw an unconventional and provocative conclusion from these developments. They argue that the political pressure from both aging and migrant populations indirectly generates political processes that favor trimming rather than expanding the welfare state. The combined pressures of aging, migration, and globalization will shift the balance of political power and generate public support from the majority of the voting population for cutting back traditional welfare state benefits. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest financial institution, played an important role in the expropriation of Jewish-owned enterprises during the Nazi dictatorship, both in the existing territories of Germany, and in the areas seized by the German army during World War II, particularly Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. Drawing on new and previously unavailable materials, including branch records, and many from the Bank's own archives, Harold James examines policies that led to the eventual Genocide of European Jews. How much did the realization of the Nazi ideology depend on the acquiescence, the complicity, and the cupidity of individuals and economic institutions? Contradicting the traditional view that businesses were motivated by profit to cooperate with the Nazi regime, James closely examines the behavior of the bank and its individuals to suggest other motivations. James' unparalleled access and unusual perspective distinguishes this work as the only book to examine one company's involvement in the economic persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany. Harold James is Professor of History at Princeton University. He is a member of the Independent Commission of Experts investigating the political and economic links of Switzerland with Nazi Germany, and of commissions to examine the roles of Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank. He is the author of several books on Germany economy and society, including Germany: The German Slump (Oxford University Press, 1986), A Germany Identity 1770-1990 (Routledge, 1993), and International Monetary Cooperation Since 1945 (Oxford University Press, 1996). He co-edited several books, including The Role of Banks in the Interwar Economy (Cambridge, 1991). James was also co-author of an earlier history of the commercial bank Deutsche Bank (Deutsche Bank 1870-1995, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1995) which won the Financial Times Global Business Book Award in 1996. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey. ... Read more

Book Description

This text is an introduction to international economics for upper-level undergraduates and above. The first half examines the causes and effects of international trade, how tariffs and other trade policies affect the gains from trade, and the ways in which governments try collectively to regulate those policies. The second half deals with monetary matters--the behavior of exchange rates, how trade and capital flows affect the functioning of monetary and fiscal policies, the causes and management of currency crises, and the new European monetary union. This fourth edition assesses the outcome of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, the work of the new World Trade Organization (WTO), and the challenges posed by regional trade blocs. A problem set follows each chapter. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A great reference
This book is almost alla student of economics must have in order to face international economy with solid basis. However, it is only a firstapproach and it would be useful to consult other good texts like Appleyard& Field`s or even the Krugman ones which is quite elemental. If you tryit, you won`t feel disappointed. ... Read more

Book Description

This incisive book reviews how outsiders bothe forgien and Japanese, can and have found success fixing Japan's broken service economy. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

EXCELLENT BOOK!!!
I read this book in under a week, something unusual for me!
This book is EXCELLENT! A real eye opener to what Japan has to offer in the way of investment in their service industries. I for one will be seeing what I can do to help and put in my funds to see what can grow from them!
Don't just sit there, go out and buy it!
Nick.

A refreshing look at business in Japan
The authors clearly did their homework.This book is well researched and full of interesting ideas with a fresh perspective on business in Japan.Foreigners interested in doing business in Japan should definitely read this.In fact, Ihope the authors decide to publish this in Japanese as well so that Japanese business people and bureaucrats can benefit from their insights. ... Read more

Book Description

World Financial Orders challenges the predominance of neo-liberalism as a mode of knowledge about contemporary world finance, and claims that it neglects the social and political bases as well as the malign consequences of change. He looks to the field of International Political Economy (IPE) to construct an alternative mode, one that critically restores society and politics. An 'historical' approach to IPE is advanced that accounts for modern world finance since the seventeenth century as a succession of structurally distinct hierarchical social orders. This book will be of interest to those working in the field of IPE and to those scholars, researchers and students from across the social sciences who seek to challenge the common-sense, neo-liberal explanation of contemporary world finance. ... Read more

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Reviews (1)

An introduction to alternative thought on grassroots culture
Esteva and Prakash provide sources of alternative thought about what is important in and of the world. The book offers evidence of how grassroots cultures in non-western nations are combining people interests with environmental interests to assure a future for their cultures. The book gives support to the idea that technological development is not inevitable, but a choice that may be much easier for non-western nations to make. Additionally, the authors offer food for thought for rural sustainable community development in the U. S. ... Read more