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Praise for America Beyond Capitalism

"At a time when the national media’s been transfixed by the imperalist adventures and crony capitalism of the Bush administration, Gar Alperovitz discovers that not only have the seeds of a legitimately democratic political economy been planted, they are bearing fruit. Addressing a range of necessary changes, from urban design to health care to the distribution of wealth, Alperovitz’s Pluralist Commonwealth is the kind of careful, well-researched, and practical alternative progressives have been seeking. And it’s more–visionary, hopeful, even inspirational. I highly recommend it."
–Juliet Schor, author of The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need, and Professor of Sociology, Boston College

"An important guidebook to the future. First, Alperovitz leads a grim tour of the deteriorated values at the core of the American experience–equality, liberty, democracy, and the wise use of our collective wealth. Then he takes us to the mountaintop with a broad and optimistic mapping vision of how Americans can remake their economy and society to restore those values. A compelling and convincing story of the future."
–William Greider, author of The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy

"Succeeds brilliantly in taking the Jeffersonian spirit into the last bastion of privilege in America, offering workable solutions for making the American economy one that is truly of, by, and for the people."
–Jeremy Rifkin, author of The End of Work ... Read more

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Since 1990, the United Nations Development Program has been providing annual "Human Development Reports" that set out the basic social and economic indicators for the nations of the world.The "Arab Human Development Report," which is focused exclusively on the twenty-two Arab states, provides a comprehensive and comparative examination of the region.Filled with charts, tables, and sidebars, the book provides analysis of the current situation, compares Arab performance with other world areas, and provides an agenda for action.Past AHDRs have focused on the deficits of freedom, knowledge, and women’s empowerment that exist in the region; the 2004 edition focuseson freedom and good governance.

The Arab world finds itself at a historical crossroads. Caught between oppression at home and violation from abroad, Arabs are increasingly excluded from determining their own future. Freedom in its comprehensive sense, incorporates not only civil and political freedoms (in other words, liberation from oppression), but also the liberation from all factors that are inconsistent with human dignity. To be sustained and guaranteed, freedom requires a system of good governance that rests upon effective popular representation and is accountable to the people, and that upholds the rule of law and ensures that an independent judiciary applies the law impartially.

The report describes free societies, in their normative dimension, as fundamental contrasts with present-day Arab countries. The enormous gap that separates today’s reality and what many in the region hope for, is a source of widespread frustration and despair among Arabs about their countries’ prospects for a peaceful transition to societies enjoying freedom and good governance. Moreover, persisting tendencies in Arab social structures could well lead to spiralling social, economic, and political crises. Each further stage of crisis would impose itself as a new reality, producing injustices eventually beyond control.

The Arab world is at a decisive point that does not admit compromise or complacency. If the Arab people are to have true societies of freedom and good governance, they will need to be socially innovative. Their challenge is to create a viable mode of transition from a situation where liberty is curtailed and oppression the rule, to one of freedom and good governance that minimises social upheaval and human costs, to the fullest extent possible. History will judge this a transcendent achievement through which the region finally attained its well-deserved freedom. ... Read more

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This award-winning book explores one of the most successful cultures and society the world has ever seen-capitalism.From its European roots more than 500 years ago to the present, the book examines the problems of capitalism's expansion, inequality, environmental destruction, and social unrest.Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism provides the reader with the anthropological, economic, and historical framework to understand the origins of global problems, why globalization and the global expansion of the culture of capitalism has generated protest and resistance, and the steps that are necessary to solve global problems. As one reviewer said, "This is a book that will doubtless create debate and controversy, but its topic should be pondered seriously by all who consider themselves citizens of our world society today."For anyone interested in global issues and international affairs. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent book for anyone who cares about the world today!
I admit I'm a little biased. Richard Robbins was actually a professor of mine at SUNY Plattsburgh, and I had the opportunity to read this book while at the same time taking his global issues class. This book not only changed my mind about a few of the world's issues, it also gave me a broader perspective about the world in general. I now think about things such as 'where do my clothes come from?' and 'how did my fruit cup get here?'. Robbins is an extremely talented man and writer who asks the question, 'Is Disneyland for Everyone?' The answer: a resounding 'No, and here's why!' This book would benefit anyone seeking to gain an understanding about the world and his/her place in it. It truly is a global world, and Robbins' book is the first step to living in it.

Great textbook!
At last: a textbook which confronts the cultural power of capitalism. Robbins looks at how capitalism shapes cultures and how it has evolved into the most powerful cultural influence on the planet. A great resource for anthropology, geography, or history. Not your run of the mill textbook, it offers forceful critiques and compelling history. An excellent book for college students. ... Read more

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Reviews (108)

Outstanding
Hayek's classic book is a dissertation on why political freedom is, and can only be, inextricably linked to economic freedom. Originally published in 1944, his specific examples of socialist planning gone wrong are (were) Italy, the USSR, and most prominently, Germany. He primarily uses the British for comparison and contrast purposes, and directs many of his remarks toward Western European nations who were flirting with their own versions of socialist economic planning. He felt that these nations were ultimately going down the same road that the Germans had already traveled two or three generations earlier.

Hayek's central thesis is that individual liberty (economic and political) and collectivism are mutually exclusive, and that even the most well-intentioned socialist society will ultimately evolve into a totalitarian state. Hayek elaborates upon the following key arguments (and others): (1) Collectivism represents the undoing of liberalism (in the classic sense). (2) Socialism necessitates that the efforts of the populace be directed towards a common goal, often called something like "the common good." The economic system must be centrally planned in order to achieve this goal. Such planning amounts to coercion, and individual liberty is sacrificed for the degree of security a socialist state provides. (3) A free society operates according to the Rule of Law, where the rules are known beforehand. The economy of a free society consists of the net sum of individual decisions made within the known legal framework. By contrast, a centrally planned society relies upon government decisions that must be made on the basis of current necessity, what Hayek calls "arbitrary government." (4) Money promotes economic liberty, acting as the medium to provide the individual with the freedom to use his compensation in whatever manner he chooses, rather than being dependent upon a compensation whose specific nature is determined by others. (5) Socialism is inherently nationalistic or ethnocentric, because the leading party often must rally the populace to focus against a threatening group in order to effectively promote its own agenda. A "one-world" socialism that unites across peoples, nations, and ethnic backgrounds is not workable. (6) True believers in a socialist society must hold the interests of the State as higher than their own. Those who will move up the ranks in a socialist society are often prepared to do anything on behalf of the state, no matter how much this opposes one's own moral principles. Those who are amoral are thus more likely to "succeed" in a socialist hierarchy. Hayek holds out little hope that a socialist utopia will work if only "good people" are put in charge.

Contrary to some of the negative reviews below, I must argue that Hayek's book is certainly not "vicious propaganda," (and, I might add, that I sincerely doubt that Hayek's own lips were "lice-ridden.") Nowhere in the book does Hayek celebrate wealth. There is not one sentence in the book extolling the virtues of material riches. He DOES celebrate individual liberty and the superiority of a free market economy. To intelligently oppose Hayek, one must provide a literate argument against the points Hayek actually argues. In addition, one would be compelled in this debate to explain how a rigid socialist system would NOT degenerate into Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, or Stalinist Russia (or, for that matter, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Castro's Cuba, Communist China, etc.)

That said, Hayek's book is not free from criticism. He takes a few swipes at the Germans -- Hayek all but proclaims that because of their general ethnic personality the Germans as a people were an ideal setup for Naziism and ruthless obedience to Hitler. Not surprisingly, some readers may take offense to this. Hayek also concedes that in a prosperous economy a basic minimum standard of living should be guaranteed everyone, although he makes no mention of how it could be guaranteed in a manner consistent with his overall free market vision. There is not a single statistic in the entire book (some may find this a GOOD thing), nor is there mention of any specific historical event, except the ongoing war at the time. Hayek's arguments are essentially based upon logical deductions, relying upon assumptions of human nature - as individuals, large groups, or those in authority. I suppose some will find Hayek's logic dubious, although arguably the history of the fifty-plus years since Hayek wrote The Road to Serfdom would back him up quite well.

A Snapshot of History - A Profile in Intellectual Courage
The late Professor Hayek's book is one of the most important books of the twentieth century. It is dedicated to "the socialists of all parties". When Hayek wrote the book, virtually no one was left believing in a competitive market economy in mainstream English politics. The book was utterly defiant in terms of the zeitgeist. Indeed, the Attlee Labour government in England was elected not long after the book's publication and Hayek had long enjoyed a substantial connection with the London School of Economics. A wave of socializations followed - coal, steel, electricity, gas, water utilities, etc.

Whilst Hayek's arguments are valuable and important and should not be forgotten, because we are doomed to repeat history that we forget, the world has moved on. The truths Hayek had to argue for trenchantly are today commonplace. No one of any political significance in the English speaking Western world believes that he or she can secure election by promising to end private property and inheritance rights, for example.

The Holocaust, which was not fully appreciated in 1944 by the public and the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 have concretely made Hayek's points.

However, Hayek's surmounting of the vilification that he suffered for writing this important work and and his having the courage to speak against "the powers that be in academia" who expected an ocean of jobs from the socialization of the economy mark him as a man of profound intellectual courage, vigour and honesty.

It is noteworthy that Professor Hayek lived to see the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is an important book written by a Nobel economics laureate at the height of his intellectual powers, against the impending death camp of a totalitarian future. We are all in his debt for his courage. That one can read the book today in horror that his arguments were arrogantly dismissed shows how far the world has come.

The Corporation Bible
If you love Enron and Halliburton, and you support corporate opression of the middle-class, read this hogwash.

If capitalism is so great, why is it easier to get health care in former Communist countries like Poland? Why does Cuba have a lower infant mortality rate than the United States?

Paradox of success
Hayek distinguishes liberty, or true freedom, from license and "serfdom." In the tradition of Adam Smith, he analyzes economic and political questions from moral and practical perspectives, with emphasis on individual liberty. His central conceit, that increasing government activity in the economic sphere would devalue individual dignity and stifle human progress, might seen overblown to some readers; it could be that the influence of this book on conservative political leaders and thinkers in the latter half of the American century may have corrected some of the impending problems Hayek foresaw. The Road to Serfdom is a pleasurable, thought-provoking read, persuasively written.

Why we have to fight government
Hayek, the great communicator of libertarian thought, meticulously explains why every scheme aiming for an utopian goal through state power, whether it be the well-being of a "race" or the universal socialist Eden, _must_ end in tyranny.

At first glance, his analysis seems to apply to a bygone era, before "the end of history" where liberal democracy triumphs over statist terror. However, his words are as important today as ever - liberty is as threatened today by both the well-meaning and the self-interested.

The most interesting part of this book for me was his explanation of how Nazism, Fascism, and Communism are of the same cloth, not only in their effects, but also in their influences. Major figures in the National Socialist movement made their way there from a communist background, well documented in this book.

It is illuminating, and sad, how society still considers Nazism to be to the "right" of the political spectrum and communism to the "left", and therefore less evil than Nazism. This despite the fact that communism killed many more people than Nazism ever did. Compare only the 14 million Ukranians with the 6 million Jews, and then we have not even mentioned the Poles and the other statistics on the road to tyranny.

In fact, fascism, national socialism and communism are the same - they meet in the oppresion and killing of people. That should give pause to the left and the right today, but still they persist in their schemes to achieve their idea of "justice" at any cost - even if that cost is tallied in human lives. Killing civilians in Iraq is good for them - because their childrem might be free. Or, it is unfortunate that you will die because the FDA forbids you to try unapproved drugs, but, it is better for the other people, don't you see? ... Read more

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Corporations are often so focused on making short-term profits for theirstockholders that they behave in ways that adversely affect their employees, theenvironment, consumers, American politics, and even the long-term well-being of thecorporation, says Lawrence Mitchell in this provocative book. This is a significant issuenot only in the United States but also in the world, for many countries are beginning toemulate the American model of corporate governance. Mitchell criticizes this emphasison profit maximization and the corporate legal structure that encourages it, and he offersconcrete proposals to bring about more socially responsible corporate behavior.Mitchelldeclares that managers should be freed from the legal and structural constraints that makeit difficult for them to exercise ordinary moral judgment and be held accountable for theiractions. He suggests, for example, that earnings reports be required annually rather thanquarterly, that the capital gains tax be increased on stocks held for fewer than thirty days,and that elections of corporate boards of directors be held every five years rather thanevery year. Mitchell places the problem of corporate irresponsibility within the broadercontext of American life and demonstrates the extent to which contemporary corporatebehavior represents a corruption of our cherished liberal values of personal freedom andindividuality. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Suggestive But Too Theoretical
This fascinating and suggestive book makes a strong argument that an undue emphasis on financial performance has caused American corporations to shirk their responsibilities to workers, creditors, communities, or any other group except stockholders. To prove his point, author Mitchell, a business law professor at George Washington University, tackles a vast range of topics, from industrial sociology and shareholders' derivative suits, to Enlightenment individualism and comparative corporate governance. This makes for fascinating reading, and is designed to show that capital markets force corporate managers to focus on short-term financial results. However, it also left me with the sense that Mitchell's theoretical stretch exceeds his empirical grasp: none of the issues is really developed in any depth.

In particular, Mitchell fails to systematically compare the behavior of public and non-public corporations in the U.S., or to compare American corporations with corporations operating in less-individualistic legal and cultural environments abroad. Yet such comparisons would be crucial to testing his points about the harmful impact of financial markets on American corporate management. In reading the book, I also wondered whether the pressures to maximize short-term returns are less the result of "American individualism" and more the result of a business environment where hostile takeovers are easy and executive compensation is tied to stock prices. In any event, these issues can't be resolved by theorizing. Mitchell needed to interview some managers to find out what really makes corporations tick.

This is a pity since Mitchell writes well, has common sense, and cares about ordinary Americans who spend most of their working lives in large business organizations. His concerns about warped corporate priorities were entirely vindicated by the scandals at Enron (where shareholders as well as workers were screwed by corporate managers bent on boosting short-term share values), which were exposed only AFTER his book appeared in 2001. We need more books pointing out that American-style capitalism isn't the last word on business and can take a heavy toll on humane values. I just wish that Mitchell had crossed his T's and dotted his I's.

Learned but heavy
I found myself being frustrated by the convoluted nature of his arguments to prove - IMO - unnecessarily academic and esoteric points. The writing style, while reasonably light, does labour on some issues to justify and support his arguments to a degree that is a little too involved. While I fully appreciate that Mitchell needs to properly formulate and support his arguments (and he is right in most of what he says I must add) - the shear "readability" suffers from the overly-academic rigour present. I would happily accept less rigour for have more anecdotes of misbehaviour for a more "easy read". Nevertheless what he says is very important, solid and I agree wholeheartedly with it.

Superb.
The way Mitchell breaks down the corporate system in America today is outstanding. The way it practically predicts Enron is eventfully precise. His view for the future is one that is intricately complex, but at the same time simply logical. Great reading for those who are already knowledgeable about the subject or those newly acquainted with it.

Lawyer-Author-Reformist: Double Oxymoron Overturned

I just realized this is the third book by a lawyer I have absorbed in this month's reading, and that is somehow a scary thought. If lawyers are starting to write popular reformist tracts against unfettered capitalism and the export of the flawed U.S. approach to capitalism, something very interesting must be happening in the dark recesses of our national mind.

This is not an easy book to read but on balance it is a very important book and one that would appear to be essential to any discussion of how we might reform the relationship between the federal government with its 1950's concepts and regulations, corporations with their secularist and short-term profit and liquidation notions, and the people who ultimately are both the foundation and the beneficiaries (or losers) within the political economy of the nation and the world.

The author lays out, from a business law perspective, all the legal and financial reasons why our corporate practices today sacrifice the long-term perspective and the creation of aggregate value, in favor of short-term profit-taking. He makes a number of suggestions for improvement.

Toward the end of the book, citing Lipsett but adding his own observations, he digs deep and summarizes our corporate culture as one that threatens traditional forms of community and morality (Lipsett), while increasingly dominating--undermining--foreign governments and cultures. Elsewhere in the book the stunning failure of our form of capitalism in selected countries is explored.

Although there are adequate notes, there is no bibliography and the index is extraordinarily mediocre--not containing, for example, the references in the book to oversight, political, or regulation. One star is deducted for this failure by the publisher to treat the book's content seriously. ... Read more

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Fine analysis, uncertain resolution
As someone who lived and worked in Latin America during one of the region's recent attempts at major economic reform, I found myself frequently mumbling "right on" while marking up my copy of Alvaro Vargas Llosa's "Liberty for Latin America." One of the most refreshing elements of the book is that the Peruvian journalist does not blame European colonizers for Latin America's seemingly insurmountable struggle to pull its population from poverty.He takes the root of the problem back to the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas, when the sacred nature of authority was first instilled in the population. People existed not as individuals, but as members of social strata with specific functions, with the number one function of everything being to support the group on top. This fit in perfectly with the kind of top-down hierarchy practiced by Iberian colonizers.Independence and revolution put governments in charge, with peasants working land that now belonged to their government as opposed to a big landowner. In one way or another, the state kept its fingers in every possible pie while the majority of the population remained infantilized, expecting the government provide for them, to be the biggest patrón of all.

What a relief not to have all the region's woes blamed on Spanish or Portuguese colonizers, and to recognize that many of the practices that still hold Latin America back were institutionalized long before Cortez dropped anchor. But while Vargas Llosa's analysis is intelligent and thought-provoking, his recommendations for reform don't fit with what he's just said. We've read how the population has been conditioned to expect a higher authority-God or the government-to take care of everything. People who feel they have no power are not going to know what to do with school vouchers or how to apply for credit when their squatter communities are granted legal status-two of his recommendations. Have school vouchers actually worked anywhere? So much wealth is concentrated in so few hands in the region that it is hard to imagine that the oligarchs will voluntarily give any of it up, and we've seen that revolution doesn't work, and outside prodding backfires . . .Even after reading Vargas Llosa's intelligent work, liberty for Latin America still seems a long way off.
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Over fifty years ago,Vannevar Bush released his enormouslyinfluential report, Science, the Endless Frontier, which asserted adichotomy between basic and applied science. This view was at the coreof the compact between government and science that led to the goldenage of scientific research after World War II--a compact that iscurrently under severe stress. In this book, Donald Stokes challengesBush's view and maintains that we can only rebuild the relationshipbetween government and the scientific community when we understand whatis wrong with that view.

Stokes begins with an analysis of thegoals of understanding and use in scientific research. He recasts thewidely accepted view of the tension between understanding and use,citing as a model case the fundamental yet use-inspired studies bywhich Louis Pasteur laid the foundations of microbiology a century ago.Pasteur worked in the era of the "second industrial revolution," whenthe relationship between basic science and technological change assumedits modern form. Over the subsequent decades, technology has beenincreasingly science-based. But science has been increasinglytechnology-base--with the choice of problems and the conduct ofresearch often inspired by societal needs. An example is the work ofthe quantum-effects physicists who are probing the phenomena ofsemiconductors from the time of the transistor's discovery after WorldWar II.

On this revised, interactive view of science andtechnology, Stokes builds a convincing case that by recognizign theimportance of use-inspired basic research we can frame a new compactbetween science and government. His conclusions have major implicationsfor both the scientific and policy communities and will be of greatinterest to those in the broader public who are troubled by the currentrole of basic science in American democracy. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

How to make science more accountable?
This book is not about antiscientism, it is about accountibality of science funding. There are several economical myths related to the state policy of basic science funding. Two of them : "..basic research is performed without thought of practical ends" and "...basic research is the pacemaker of technological progress" as well as famous Baconian "linear model",( a sequence extending from basic science to technology: basic science - applied research - development - production and operations) are dramatically reevaluated and critizied in the reviewing book. The most important implications of agruments presented in this well written book are: a) Basic science must be accountable as any other state funding activities and based on "informed judgments of research promise and social need"; b) Progress of science and technology have "semiautonomous trajectories", therefore state investment in basic research does not provide progress in the technology and economical growth. It looks like it is a good time "to end" so-called "endless frontiers" of unaccountable spending of taxpayer's money for funding useless basic science research. Everybody who is interested in the basic science funding policy must read this excellent book. It demonstrates a difference between the economical reality and propaganda of illusions. ... Read more

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By the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Economics,an essential andparadigm-altering framework for understanding economic development--for both rich and poor--in the twenty-first century.

Freedom, Sen argues, is both the end and most efficient means of sustaining economic life and the key to securing the general welfare of the world's entire population. Releasing the idea of individual freedom from association with any particular historical, intellectual, political, or religious tradition, Sen clearly demonstrates its current applicability and possibilities. In the new global economy, where, despite unprecedented increases in overall opulence, the contemporary world denies elementary freedoms to vast numbers--perhaps even the majority of people--he concludes, it is still possible to practically and optimistically restain a sense of social accountability. Development as Freedom is essential reading.
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Reviews (33)

Not just another economics book
The central theme of this book is that national development has to be seen in the context of the freedoms of the individual. These freedoms include, but are not limited to: freedom from hunger and disease, political freedom, and economic solvency. The measure of a nation's development stems from the extent to which its citizens enjoy these freedoms. One of Professor Sen's areas of expertise is the study of famines throughout the world. He demonstrates that famines do not occur because of a lack of food, but because of a lack of economic resources to purchase that food. In addition, he makes a strong case that famines do not occur in democratic countries, no matter how poor they might be. This is a must-read book for anyone interested in pondering a fresh perspective on the meaning of development. The only criticism I have of this book is that the prose is at times convoluted and does not make for particularly smooth reading.

valuable contribution to the dialogue on development
Development is a worldwide, ongoing dialogue, and Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen makes a valuable contribution to it. He argues for the position that development is ideally conceived in terms of building a society that in its social, political, and economic institutions allows the individual to maximize the exercise of "substantive freedoms--the capabilities to choose a life one has reason to value" (p. 74). In this view, individual agency is both the means and end of development. Means, in the sense that "greater freedom enhances the ability of people to help themselves and also to influence the world, and these matters are central to the process of development" (p. 18). End, in the sense that "the success of a society is to be evaluated, in this view, primarily by the substantive freedoms that the members of the society enjoy" (p. 18). He calls this conception "development as freedom."

It is not novel. Indeed, Sen squarely locates in the liberal tradition flowing from the eighteenth-century philosophes. However, Sen makes an eloquent case for his own uniquely nuanced interpretation. He recalls the finest traditions of the classical orator, drawing on his unquestionable economic expertise, broad knowledge, and warm humanity.

The crux of his argument lies in what he believes "substantive freedoms" consist. He defines freedom in a negative way, what he calls "unfreedoms," as "elementary capabilities like being able to avoid such deprivations as starvation, undernourishment, escapable morbidity and premature mortality" (p. 36). He also defines freedom in a positive way, giving examples of "freedoms associated with being literate and numerate, enjoying political participation and uncensored speech" (p. 36).

There is little dispute that "substantive freedoms" generally work together, synergistically, in advancing development, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Sen cites very poor countries like India, Botswana, or Zimbabwe, in which he believes the establishment of democracy has successfully thwarted famine, while in Maoist China, in sharp contrast, massive famines arose in the fifties despite its superior economic performance vis-à-vis India. He also cites the well-known inverse correlation between higher female literacy rates and lower child mortality rates.

But there is some debate about whether the expansion of political freedoms, specifically, go hand-in-hand with the growth of economic benefits, that is, in Sen's framework, economic freedoms. Here is the real bone of contention. Sen argues against what is known as the "Lee thesis," meaning the claim that authoritarian regimes, with concomitant restriction of civil and political rights, purportedly have some advantage over democratic regimes in promoting economic advancement. He devotes two chapters--"The Importance of Democracy" and "Culture and Human Rights"--to rebutting this position, and in my opinion, they are the most important part of the book. But Sen is never entirely successful in his rebuttal because at one point he concedes:

...Systematic empirical studies give no real support to the claim that there is a general conflict between political freedoms and economic performance. The directional linkage seems to depend on many other circumstances, and while some statistical investigations note a weakly negative relation, others find a strongly positive one (p. 150).

Sen does not adequately account for the unusual success of the East Asian economies--we must include Japan here--as prospective models in the transition toward development. There may indeed be undisclosed factors operating among these cultures, perhaps even a communal ethos working in a manner distinct from the individualistic ethos on which Sen's conception of development is based.

Sen's objective is to contribute to the dialogue on development. In his words, his motivation is "to draw attention to important aspects of the process of development, each of which deserves attention" (p. 33). In this endeavor, he is eminently distinguished.

A brillant and provocative book
Amartya Sen, winner of 1998 Noble Prize in Economic Science, in this book, not only turns decades of economics on its head by arguing that economic development and individual freedom should go hand-in-hand, to counter poverty, but also lambastes Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's "Asian Values thesis", also known as "the Lee thesis", that promotes economic development at the expense of freedom in the initial stage of development.

In a clear departure from the main stream of economic thoughts that concern with achieving economic well-being for individuals, Sen, however, contends that freedom of individuals - economic and political freedom and civil liberties, should not be divorced from economic well-being. In fact, he believes freedom should be the principal goal of economic development as well as as the principal mean to counter poverty and insecurity. Freedom and development, rather than being hostile to each other, actually reinforce and complement one another to achieve economic prosperity and ultimately freedom for all. Democracy is not a luxury whereby only rich or developed nations can splurge, but should be seen as an end per se as well as a guiding force to foster and promote economic development and individual freedom.

Clearly, Sen is up against most economists who confine themselves to only measuring individual well-being in economic terms like GDP per capita and neglect the non-economic factors like freedom of speech and press freedom. Sen, instead, attaches great importance to freedom. He believes the goal of achieving freedom need no justification and every society should also work towards achieving it regardless of whether it promotes economic development.

The book on the whole provides much insights to what we usually known as economic development and how we should see it in the light of freedom for individuals. Though I may not totally agree with his analysis, I am sure that I will not see the issue of development and freedom the same as before.

Sensible Economics for Everyone
I read this book because Sen had written the preface to one of my favourite books, Paul Farmer's "Pathologies of Power." I had absolutely no knowledge of economics when I went into this book, but a friend assured me that it was very accessible. It was fairly accessible: but perhaps my ignorance was just extreme. There were a few terms that I had to google, but overall it was a good introduction to some economic theories.

As to the economic theories themselves: just plain brilliant. Who says that economists have no common sense? This book just made complete and utter... sense! I just sat there shaking my head, because sentence after sentence was phrased in just a way to make it so obvious that I wondered why I had never thought of it... and why those who have the power to listen to this book don't do something about it.

I recomend this book to anyone who is interested in the state and the future of developing economies. Frankly, this should cover everyone who lives in North America and Western Europe because (as Sen shows) what affects horribly impoverished people on the other side of the globe affects us too. No knowledge of economics is required (though you might find Google helpful ;-) ), but an open mind and a modicum of common sense is necessary.

A Solid Effort!
Nobel Prize-winning economic scientist Amartya Sen attempts to popularize a series of lectures he presented to executives at the World Bank in 1996. He challenges traditional economic theories to justify a more aggressive, humane and generous funding formula to benefit the world's poorest nations. This goal is based on his theory about individual capabilities and functionings, and how they affect opportunity, both person by person and in a society. Even though this is aimed for general discussion rather than Ph.D. course work, it is an extremely daunting book to read, a mental maze land mined with quirky thoughts and a thick lexicon only an academic could love. More thesis than not, the text is 298 pages plus 60 pages of small type footnotes. The short version: the rich get richer and the poor remain deprived of abilities and awaiting enlightened development. We recommend this dense, challenging but, as they say, important book to insomniacs, liberal world bankers, economic policy makers, the Kofi Annan fan club and students of economic science. ... Read more

Book Description

Applied Austrian economics doesn't get better than this. Murray N.Rothbard's America's Great Depression is a staple of modern economic literature and crucial for understanding a pivotal event in American and world history.

The Mises Institute edition features, along with a new introduction by historian Paul Johnson, top-quality paper and bindings, in line with the standard set by The Scholars Edition of Human Action.

Since it first appeared in 1963, it has been the definitive treatment of the causes of the depression. The book remains canonical today because the debate is still very alive.

Rothbard opens with a theoretical treatment of business cycle theory, showing how an expansive monetary policy generates imbalances between investment and consumption. He proceeds to examine the Fed's policies of the 1920s, demonstrating that it was quite inflationary even if the effects did not show up in the price of goods and services. He showed that the stock market correction was merely one symptom of the investment boom that led inevitably to a bust.

The Great Depression was not a crisis for capitalism but merely an example of the downturn part of the business cycle, which in turn was generated by government intervention in the economy. Had the book appeared in the 1940s, it might have spared the world much grief. Even so, its appearance in 1963 meant that free-market advocates had their first full-scale treatment of this crucial subject.The damage to the intellectual world inflicted by Keynesian- and socialist-style treatments would be limited from that day forward. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Helps us understand the REAL CAUSES of the Great Depression
This book is so good that I read it twice.

Rothbard shows us clearly that the real causes of Economic Depressions is GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION in the economy. Of course this is understood widely nowadays (at least among those who think). But 40 years ago it was popular to believe in other causes like "overexpansion of productive capacity" or other fallacies. Rothbard convincingly flushes these other theories down where they belong.

I believe the most lasting contribution of this book is to clearly show the basics of economics, in language that anybody can understand (Ludwig von Mises is considered the greatest ecnomist of the Austrian School of Economics, but have YOU ever tried to read his "Theory of Money and Credit?". I couldn't wade through it even with a dictionary in hand. Trust me, Rothbard is a better spokesman for free-market economics, in my opinion).

Definitive work
In "America's Great Depression", Professor Rothbard effectively demolishes the myths surrounding this tragic event. However, semi-literate pop-historians continue to ignore the fact that the depression was caused by government intervention. Rothbard's book stands out due to his refusal to reduce this complex event to a simple story of good (New Dealers, Socialists) versus evil ("capitalism"). Upon close examination of such accounts, it becomes clear that not only do "historians" get the facts wrong, they simply fail to comprehend them. Mainstream historians who refuse to even attempt to gain a basic understanding of economics have had their interpretations rendered embarrassingly obsolete by Rothbard. ...

Popular opinion breeds free market stupidity
this is one of the most enraging books I have ever read about anything related to economics. The author seems to forget that underneath ALL of the formulas and "trends" in any field of economics lies WEALTH. REAL, SUBSTANTIAL, PRODUCTIVE, LABOR-RELATED WEALTH. This is something even Keynesian economists fail in recognizing...any book which does not recognize the intervention of FDR's fiscal policy as a return to the philosophy of our founding fathers (IE. Henry Clay, Alexander Hamilton)and the only way we could have possibly survived the depression and the mobilization to fight fascism is a POORLY written book from an author who is obviously misinformed by the popular trash of classroom and related ivory tower academia.

worth it's weight in Gold
This book destroys the left myth that the Great Depression was caused by the free market being allowed to run rampent, and "fixed" by various government programs, mandates, and laws.

To answer one reviewer's question -- a reviewer who obviously didn't even read the book -- "How can the Great Depression have been caused by government policy when ALL of the government intervention took place AFTER the GD had already come close to peaking?"...The reality is that the Great Depression was caused by inflation and various other government intervention before it started (the buildup of malinvestments during the boom), and prolonged and prolonged and gravely deepened by various government interventions after it started. The Great Depression would have ended relatively quickly, had not the government intervened in attempting to restart another round of boom, and doing such foolish things as allowing banks to renig on their contractual obligations.

The Real Story Behind the Great Depression
As a student of the boom and bust and subsequent Depression following the crash of 1929, I have read numerous books on this important subject. It is in knowing the past that we can control the future.

Most books cover the human aspect of this period in American history and that's important. And most of the books cover the events leading up to the crash and depression. But this is the only book I've read that exposes the dynamics behind the scenes that caused the crash and it's terrible crushing length and enormous suffering.

Rothbard explains in great detail how government butted in where it was not needed and created untold suffering. He explains how we allowed England to dictate to us and how in our desire to help Her, our government intentionally hurt its own citizens.

Rothbard was a great economist and a great proponent of the libertarian cause. His belief in Laissez-faire economics is behind his philosophy. It is Laissez-faire that created this country and it is the loss of it that has and is causing us grief and loss of liberty.

This is an excellent book. Published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, it is a book you'll want to read again and again. Austrian economics are exciting and workable and the Ludwin von Mises Institute is a dynamic proponent of this very workable economic philosophy.

If you are interested in economics and the Great Depression and its real causes, you must read this powerful, well written book. ... Read more

Book Description

Far more than an intellectual puzzle for pundits, economists, and policymakers, economic growth--its makings and workings--is a subject that affects the well-being of billions of people around the globe. In The Mystery of Economic Growth, Elhanan Helpman discusses the vast research that has revolutionized understanding of this subject in recent years, and summarizes and explains its critical messages in clear, concise, and accessible terms.

The tale of growth economics, as Helpman tells it, is organized around a number of themes: the importance of the accumulation of physical and human capital; the effect of technological factors on the rate of this accumulation; the process of knowledge creation and its influence on productivity; the interdependence of the growth rates of different countries; and, finally, the role of economic and political institutions in encouraging accumulation, innovation, and change.

One of the leading researchers of economic growth, Helpman succinctly reviews, critiques, and integrates current research--on capital accumulation, education, productivity, trade, inequality, geography, and institutions--and clarifies its relevance for global economic inequities. In particular, he points to institutions--including property rights protection, legal systems, customs, and political systems--as the key to the mystery of economic growth. Solving this mystery could lead to policies capable of setting the poorest countries on the path toward sustained growth of per capita income and all that that implies--and Helpman's work is a welcome and necessary step in this direction.

Amazon.com

CEO Jeffrey Hollender, whose Vermont-based company Seventh Generation is a poster child for corporate conscience, has written a brave and detailed blueprint for a new paradigm of "responsible business." Written in the dog days of Enron/Inclone/Martha Stewart scandals, Hollender's vision is passionate and panoramic. "Corporate responsibility is a broad social movement centered in the corporation as much as the anti-war movement of the 1960s was centered in college campuses."He builds a persuasive case for global citizenship, with in-depth analysis of case histories (For example, the "peace pops" controversy after Ben and Jerry's ice cream was acquired by Unilever, the commitment to healthcare coverage during Starbuck's global coup d'etat).

Hollender borrows from best sellers such as Built to Last but he is willing to ask the tough questions: When do core values conflict with goals and commitments? Does being a responsible business really cost shareholders more money? How do corporate charters inhibit social responsibility? How can reputation become a corporate pressure point?His answers are provided in seven approaches to social responsibility. Each defines new metrics to define prosperity, environmental stewardship and corporate citizenship. For example, he unpacks the strategy of "transparency" in descriptions of Challenger explosion, the embedded journalists of The Gulf War and the SARs epidemic.Sometimes these powerful strategies are swamped in an overabundance of examples, sources, or acronyms of activists groups. But Hollender's comprehension shows us the forest and the trees. --Barbara Mackoff ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Highly Recommended!
This is an insider's stroll through the confusing and ominous woods where the beasts of economic reality meet the lambs of social responsibility. Author and corporate survivor Jeffrey Hollender (who wrote this with scribe Stephen Fenichell) clearly admires the cast of socially responsible companies, such as Ben & Jerry's and The Body Shop. He covers the informal history of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement and his own troubling experiences as chief of a company that saw itself as socially responsible. His presentation is heartfelt, if short on rigorous logic. He candidly discusses having his ideals challenged and trying to justify his compromises. The book labels some behavior socially responsible and some socially irresponsible, but its yardstick is not clear. For example, it condemns the use of child factory labor in developing countries, yet never expresses awareness of the lack of practical alternatives for those children - perhaps starvation. The book explores both the value of the Corporate Social Responsibility movement and its uncomfortable contradictions. We recommend this trip inside the hard work of melding social responsibility with business.

corporate social responsibility documentary in a book
This book provides evidence for those trying to promote socially responsible business practices, hope for those feeling disillusioned and inspiration for those trying to put the business community back on to a sustainable foundation. It is comprehensive, informative, and a great book for anyone looking to "green business" as a way of working all the time, not just an ideal to be gabbed about at cocktail parties.

Hollender identifies the real heroes and heroines of today's CSR movement - those people taking strong stands, putting their wallets and mouths where they claim their values to be.

If you have any interest in changing the way business relates to the rest of society so we all can see a better future, get this book!

- John Renesch, author, Getting to the Better Future

People who have read the book and commented:
This is corporate social responsibility up close and personal.
Through the experiences of real executives and entrepreneurs,
Hollender and Fenichell show that social responsibility is not just a slogan but a way of doing business. The authors are clearly sympathetic to their subjects, but they do not blanch when it comes to controversy and debate. Readers will appreciate their realistic take on the challenge of merging financial success with social commitment in today's global economy. A good read with practical lessons for anyone in business.
Prof. Lynn Sharpe Paine - Harvard Business School

In a readable and optimistic manner, Jeffrey Hollender defines the need for both small businesses and large corporations to practice social responsibility. Then, he takes the next step in offering practical ways to reach this goal.
Nell Newman, Co-founder and President of Newman's Own Organics

This is an important book, not only because Jeffrey describes the shift going on in society making responsible corporate behavior an imperative, but why it is that consumers, employees and non-profits play a critical role in keeping corporations "honest" - this book is a must read, for the business person as well as the consumer - governments will never do this because they are economic governments, businesses will never do this on their own because they are incapable of truth, it is the ethical consumer, the vigilante consumer, that will make this happen. This book is really really relevant.
Anita Roddick - CEO The Body Shop

Our environment is a direct result of how we design our things and how we get them. Without leadership and social responsibility from business, we will fail in our efforts for a better environmental future. Jeffrey Hollender represents the next wave of environmental leaders - people who produce visible examples of how we need to do things and show artistry in pointing the way to better design.
Peter Bahouth - former Executive Director of Greenpeace

In What Matters Most, Jeffrey Hollender and Stephen Fenichell persuasively demonstrate that it is not only possible to run a profitable and socially responsible business, but that it is vitally necessary for the future of our planet
Tensie Whelan - Executive Director, Rain Forest Alliance

Jeffrey Hollender has been a pioneer in the world of environmentally proactive business for over 15 years. . He has shown that doing the right thing does pay off both in terms of building a brand that generates great customer loyalty and a business that has consistently generated superior growth. Now if I can only get my supermarket to stock the seventh generation line.
Ben Cohen - Ben and Jerry's

I just received a copy of What Matters Most. I must admit I was skeptical that it would be a good read, as much of the CSR literature strikes me righteous and irrelevant. I have to admit I was wrong. I loved your book! I really like both the effort you made to talk directly with so many key players, and your analysis of each interview. Even if the latter is usually "yes and no," I got the sense of a serious and consistent analysis. I got a good sense of business people really struggling with difficult questions. I also carefully noted mentions of the interplay of business and government, which were interesting and enlightening to my interests.

I've read a number of visionary business books now -- including Cradle to Cradle, Natural Capitalism and Midcourse Correction. They are excellent books on the nuts and bolts of innovation, but leave me feeling, How are these lovely ideas going to be implemented society-wide? I got more of a sense of the big picture from your book.
Bill Sheehan Product Policy Project ... Read more

Book Description

Now beyond its 11th printing and translated into twelve languages, Michael Porter's The Competitive Advantage of Nations has changed completely our conception of how prosperity is created and sustained in the modern global economy. Porter's groundbreaking study of international competitiveness has shaped national policy in countries around the world. It has also transformed thinking and action in states, cities, companies, and even entire regions such as Central America.

Based on research in ten leading trading nations, The Competitive Advantage of Nations offers the first theory of competitiveness based on the causes of the productivity with which companies compete. Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient. The book introduces Porter's "diamond," a whole new way to understand the competitive position of a nation (or other locations) in global competition that is now an integral part of international business thinking. Porter's concept of "clusters," or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in particular locations, has become a new way for companies and governments to think about economies, assess the competitive advantage of locations, and set public policy.

Even before publication of the book, Porter's theory had guided national reassessments in New Zealand and elsewhere. His ideas and personal involvement have shaped strategy in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and India, and regions such as Massachusetts, California, and the Basque country. Hundreds of cluster initiatives have flourished throughout the world. In an era of intensifying global competition, this pathbreaking book on the new wealth of nations has become the standard by which all future work must be measured. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Why Certain Countries Make What They Make
Michael Porter with "The Competitive Advantage of Nations" deserves to be considered with the likes of Adam Smith and Milton Friedman in the pantheon of economists. Porter has presented with this book exactly how states like the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan have risen to the top of the heap in certain industries and remain constrained in others.

In a word, what each country that has achieved a competitive advantage in a particular industry has going for it is competition. Domestic competition is what pushed these countries to the forefront in their respective industries. What's more is that Porter makes a convincing case that the current national champion model of economic growth is doomed to failure precisely because it wipes out domestic competition. The countries that most often practice the national champion model of economic growth are the ones that have remained the most backward or have stopped growing. Porter does give one example of where this is not the case, tires. Tires are an exception where national champions work well because no country in the world has much of a domestically competitive tire market that would give them an advantage.

Furthermore, Porter describes the life-cycle of national industries. They go from nascent competition to increased competition for an expanding market to increased innovation to stagnation to consolidation, and then decline. He goes into detail with several industries in several countries. My favorite analysis that Porter undertakes is of the ceramic tile industry. Two countries have become the primary manufacturers and designers of ceramic tiles: Italy and Spain. These two countries have national cultures and economic advantages that play right into ceramic tiles. Porter expertly explains why Spain and Italy have come to dominate this industry when they have been so inept in other industries.

Porter has written the definitive book on national competitive advantage. "The Competitive Advantage of Nations" should be required reading for all government personnel around the world.

Virtuosic analysis of national productivity and technology
Forty to fifty years ago economists and political theorists did much armwaving about what makes nations competitive. In the past 20 years tools like analysis of patents, R&D expenditures, the numbers of scientifically educated people, have provided more quantitative insight. To these tools Porter adds realistic analyses of top industries in various countries - from shoes and couture in Italy, to Silicon Valley in the U.S. He points out that the fastest growth comes when favorable factors are concentrated in centers where diverse groups - industrial, academic, sometimes government or traditional industries come together and have intense interactions. This book glitters with insights and ideas. The author is among the leading US analysists of economic performance, heading a study discipline at Harvard and working with the National Bureau of Economic Research

Reasons for success and failures of nations
Michael E. Porter is a Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a leading authority on competition and strategic management. Porter is the author of the legendary business and management books 'Competitive Strategy' (1980), and 'Competitive Advantage' (1985). I cannot start this review without a word of warning: This book is consists of 850 pages and is thus not a quick weekend-read.

In this book, the author aims to answer the question, "Why do some social groups, economic institutions, and nations advance and prosper? ... I titled the book 'The Competitive Advantage of Nations' to highlight the crucial distinction between my broader concept of competitive advantage as a source of wealth and the nation of comparative advantage which had long dominated thinking about international competition." In order to answer this question, Porter uses his traditional extensive research methods and tools to prove his point.

The book is split up in four parts: (i) foundations; (2) industries; (3) nations; and (4) implications. In Chapter 1 - The Need for a New Paradigm, the author discusses the reasons for his research: "The central question to be answered is why do firms based in particular nations achieve international success in distinct segments and industries? The search is for the decisive characteristics of a nation that allow its firms to create and sustain competitive advantage in particular fields, that is, the competitive advantage of nations."

In Part I - Foundations, the author presents the theoretical frameworks which form the basis for the rest of the book. In Chapters 2, 3 and 4 Porter revisits most of his previous work, such as the five competitive forces, generic strategies, the value chain, and the advantages "diamond". Porter makes an important notion before turning the second part of the book: "The theory can and must be applied at two levels, the industry and the nation."

In Part II - Industries, the frameworks of Part I are applied to explain the histories of four industries (German printing press, American patient monitoring equipment, Italian ceramic tiles, and Japanese robotics). In addition, Porter applies the frameworks to the service sector. This is a sector which Porter has discussed very little in his previous books. "... an increasingly important class of industries where international competition has not been widely studied."

In Part III - Nations, the frameworks of Part I are applied to ten nations. Porter splits these ten nations up in early post-war winners, emerging nations in the 1970s and 1980s, and the traditional business countries (Britain and USA). Thank God, the author discusses both successes and failures within the different countries, plus identifying the reasons behind them. He also advises which steps can be taken to improve national advantage.

In Part IV - Implications, Porter discusses the impact of the frameworks of Part I on company's strategies and government policies. In the final chapter Porter tries to answer the question, "What of the future?" According to Porter "the central economic concern of every nation should be the capacity of its economy to upgrade so that firms achieve more sophisticated competitive advantages and higher productivity. Only in this way can there be a rising standard of living and economic prosperity."

This book is an impressive piece of research and Porter gets assistance from over 30 research assistants from all around the world. The book is not a simple read due to the amount of information provided and the length of the book. For readers who have read Porter's previous masterpieces I would like to stress that this book is considerably different than his previous masterpieces. It focuses less on industries and companies themselves, but more on national, international, and governmental issues. This book shows the author's education and training (Harvard PhD in economics). Still, the book is an impressive piece of work, although not for the fainthearted.

Act Three of Three in a Symphony
A model for localize advantage not exclusively predicated on geography, geography, geography (location, location, location). A guide for what a government can effectively do to attract, grow, and sustain world class competitive industries. Should be read by every sub-saharan nation that has try to create industries without much success. It's Balanced Regulation, Respect for Private Property, Even Handed Law, and Education STUPID! If every tin horn dictator would read Dr. Porter and Dr. Olson we may eventually all live in a better planet.

the competitive advantage of nations
In order to making research on the banking system of Turkey agains the European Union Banking System. so how to determine the competition advantage and how to set up the standards of the competition advantage of any country. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

An economic fable
Prof. Roberts, an economics professor, has created series on interesting little novels to teach his readers about libertarian economic thought.

In The Choice, Roberts borrows from Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life" to introduce his protagonist Ed Johnson to alternate worlds where free trade does and does not exist. Instead of Clarence the Angel, Ed is led around by David Ricardo, the economist who developed the Law of Comparative Advantages, which forms the foundations for supporting global free trade.

Throughout the novel, Ed raises questions based on his traditional thinking on protectionsim. Ricardo addresses each key concern in turn. The concepts debated include: loss of jobs, loss of our nation's economic status, national security needs, etc. More importantly, Ricardo convinvingly makes the point that total national economic self-sufficiency is a recipe for economic disaster/failure.

I found this to be an entertaining way to learn more about the debate on free trade and protectionism. This novel is easily more enjoyable than the typical economics text or article, and hence its message was delivered more effectively.

Economic Solace
This is a wonderful story for all in need of a little economic solace. Russ Roberts (who is wonderful in person) illustrates a world of free trade in a charismatic fictional story. Reminiscent of It's A Wonderful Life, the "angle" David Ricardo teaches an american tv manufacturer why free trade is so important even if it does destroy his business, so convincing is Roberts that I teared up on occasion and bought a copy for everyone I knew. The Choice is a book too compelling for anyone with any kind of education not to believe in the power of the Market.

Superb Book
I'll make this as brief and simple as does Mr. Roberts. This is, without question, a superb book. It is the title to which I refer almost everyone interested in the free trade debate. Thank you, Russell Roberts.

A complicated topic made simple
Roberts puts things in a language that all can understand. Simply said this book is a must read. Roberts provides in depth examples making it not only easy to follow but also easy understand. Roberts makes the basic foundation of economics simple. It's a great and easy read! A must have!

Insight without economic jargon
This book clearly states the case for free trade without falling back on dense economic theory and technical jargon. Especially with the protests and controversy surrounding globalization and trade today, it is more important than ever for people to understand that free trade makes us all better off. In fact, there is no better way to improve the lot of two countries (and their overall welfare) that to reduce trade barriers between them and allow each to concentrate more energy and resources on their comparative strengths. The Choice delivers this message clearly and articulately in the context of a fun and simple story that even the most protectionist leaning person would have difficulty refuting. ... Read more