Book Description

Doing Business in China is essential reading for the manager or firm setting up a business for the first time in a complex market. The book provides vital knowledge about business practices, market conditions, negotiations, business organization and more. It emphasizes the importance of guanxi (relationships) as the underpinning of virtually all businesses in China. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

How to do the business in China ?
Doing business in China!
Relation, Relation And Relation....

If you are using your American or European style to work and even partner with China's firms, you must be failure in the end.

Relationship with the Government and officials are the major concerns when you stepping into the door of China.

Think Global and hire Local Chinese people is the only way to have the final success with your partner in China.

China means: " Always in the historical culture "
So don't think about China with your American Standard !

Try to learn with your local Chinese people (doer)

Anyway, China is opened now and also needed to face the ways for WTO ! Reckon, China can learn from their European and American business partners from today.

This book is essential to appreciating the Chinese psyche...
Particularly impressive is the author's approach at presenting the Chinese thought process in such a manner that Westerners can not only understand the Chinese psyche, but respect and learn from it as well. This book was perhaps one of the most enlightening books I have read in a while. There is a a concerted effort to show business protocol and potential avenues of entry, but more importantly this book addresses the fundamental social concepts that need to be FULLY understood before attempting to grow in China.

authorative and insightful
Of the vast number of books about China, this one is a very useful account of how successfully doing business in China. Western Managers at the forefront in China should read this book which brings together a lifetime of research and practice on China. ... Read more

Book Description

Is local economic development a "zero-sum game"? How do we know that "but for the incentives" the development would not have occurred? How important is "quality of life" in location decisions and local economic development? Is industry targeting a viable economic development strategy? This book tackles these and many other significant questionsùfrom more than one perspective. Dilemmas of Urban Economic Development assesses the "state of the art" of the field of urban economic development. Each chapter addresses a particularly pertinent issue in economic development. Following each chapter are commentariesùone written by an academic addressing research methodology and the other by a practitioner addressing both the question and the evidence. The chapters are concluded with the author of each chapter responding directly to the issues raised by the commentators. The result is a productive dialogue between academics, practitioners, and citizens concerned with economic development. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Diverse, multi-faceted
Like its subject, this book is incredibly diverse and many-sided. With so many illustrious contributors, it's hard not to be enlightened.

Mandatory Reading
As an "international development studies" major, I have leared a lot about the issue at my university but have consistently felt that something was missing or maybe wrong. After field experience in rural Bolivia and increasing doubts about the development paradigm, my advisor pointed me to this book (along with Wolfgang Sachs's "Development Dictionary"). At that moment reading these two books, which share much in common, felt like an intellectual revelation. The insights of great authors such as Escobar, Rahnema, Illich, and Shiva felt like a fresh breeze compared to my past studies. The deep insights of the writers have spurred only more questions which have occupied my time and imagination since. Given the stale manner in which development is taught and discussed in the academia and the media, I feel that this book is mandatory for any development student or practitioner regarless of experience or age. It is bound to make you think.

Must have
This book is a must have for anyone critical of the development discourse. Heavy texts from around forty different progressive scholars are accompanied by boxes with excerpts from even more, such radical thinkers and activists. Refreshing and almost invaluable! ... Read more

Amazon.com

With Fortune Favors the Bold: What We Must Do to Build a New and Lasting Global Prosperity, Lester Thurow follows on his bestsellers The Zero-Sum Society and The Future of Capitalism by addressing the path to globalization. Thurow--a Professor of Management and Economics at MIT's Sloan School--draws uncompromising conclusions: only a bold embrace of globalization will bring prosperity, and nations that fail to engage in global economics will fall behind the world's dominant powers.

He sees three simultaneous revolutions that fuel the rush to global business: the birth of knowledge-based industry, the creation of a global economy built on a worldwide information infrastructure, and the victory of capitalism. But Thurow is not naively optimistic about the prospects for prosperity in this new framework. The U.S. trade deficit, the Chinese export economy, the SARS epidemic, and the stagnating Japanese economy all offer real threats to short-term and long-term well-being.

Some readers will be frustrated that Fortune Favors the Bold does not deliver a detailed set of solutions to these impediments to global prosperity, despite Thurow's thorough research. The U.S. trade deficit, like the absence of international intellectual property rights, he labels a "dilemma": a problem that has no prescriptive answer. Crises will occur, he suggests. The challenge is to prepare for them and manage them well. Thurow urges the creation of new institutions to confront these dilemmas head on, notably the creation of a Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) for governments and major corporations. The CKO will provide a central intelligence to steer nations and corporations through the difficulties of economic revolution. For Thurow, fortune will favor those leaders who boldly shape globalization and invest in emerging technologies. Those who stand by will be doomed to marginalization. --Patrick O'Kelley ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Thurow's mistake
Lester Thurow has some choice remarks to make about China in the new century. He is certainly right that if you extrapolate China's GDP, that country will still be small in 2100. But yes, he neglected to figure exchange rates fluctuations into the equation.

China's GDP in 2001 was $1.159 trillion - a mere 28% of Japan's $4.141 trillion. (Let's ignore purchasing power parity for the moment.) After two decades of China growing at 7% per year and Japan at 2% per year, China's nominal GDP will still be a mere $4.486 trillion, versus Japan's $6.153 trillion, in 2021. By contrast the US will be $20 trillion (at 3.5% a year), which is almost twice as big as Japan and China combined. Although China will still be the fourth largest economy in the world, after the EU, US and Japan (and EU must be counted as a unit by then), China will clearly still be a small fry - less than a quarter the size of America's economy!

In the meantime, however, it seems inconceivable that the Chinese currency will still be pegged to the dollar at 8.28 yuan. Most likely China's currency will rise gradually as the central government slowly loosens its grip on the trading band over the next 17 years. Should China's yuan be worth twice its present value by 2021, China's GDP, $4.486 trillion in 2001 dollars, should double to almost $9 trillion. While $9 trillion is still small compared to America's $20 trillion and EU's even larger economy, it is no chump change. To say therefore that China will still not be an economic powerhouse by 2200 - 79 years after 2021 - is a prognostication unworthy of a C+ student at Thurow's own MIT management school. After all, in 2003 Japan's economy is only 44% as big as America's, and though it's struggling to grow, it is nothing to sneeze at. China could grow to 45% America's size in less than two decades.

In short, my calculations show that in 2021 America could be worth $20 trillion, China as much as $9 trillion, and Japan over $6 trillion. The EU may end up bigger than America - or may not. (EU's path to grow lies more in bigger membership than in economic growth.) That means China will likely be the second or third largest economy in the world less than two decades from now, measured in nominal GDP at 2001 dollars.

For those of you who are surprised by this, consider that in 2005 China will surpass the UK in nominal GDP to be the fourth largest economy in the world after the US, Japan, and Germany. Jumping from 4th place to 3rd place from 2005 to 2021 (16 years!) is not exactly my idea of a spectacular improvement. (Some Africa states can leap - or in some cases tumble down - by ten places in a single year! There are 180 some countries, remember.) Can a CEO boast that his company's sales or market value miraculously went up by one Fortune 500 rank in 16 years?

The vagaries of currency rates mean that the PPP remains the single best, if unperfect, measure of comparing economies' sizes. The best forecasts show that China's economy will be worth $20 trillion in 2020 or 2021 - exactly equal to America's - given 7% growth for China and 3.5% for America. By THIS measure China could be the largest economy in the world in our lifetime.

In either case, China will be huge - like a hot air balloon blowing up before our eyes.

How big China will get by 2100 is anyone's guesses. I won't hazard an estimate if only because anything can happen 96 years from now. Thurow should not have gone into this fortune-telling business. Leave that to other "professionals."

I cannot believe a distinguished economist like Thurow could have made such an elementary error. British astronomer Martin Rees diffidently puts his money on the Big Bang Theory at "only" 98% chances of being correct, adding, "Astronomers are often in error but never in doubt." In fairness to Sir Martin, the record of economists is far worse. Mr. Thurow is over-confindent in his views, as this book shows.

How can one be wrong so much and still be called an expert?
It is so sad how wrong someone can be proven over and over again and still, he/she is rewarded, called a genius and is allowed to teach our youth. Here is a quote from the author: "Can economic command significantly... accelerate the growth process? The remarkable performance of the Soviet Union suggests that it can... Today the Soviet Union is a country whose economic achievements bear comparison with those of the United States." This was in 1989, just shortly before the Societ Union collapsed. Unfortunately, being this wrong in economics gives one awards and allows you to teach college students while being described a genius. Sad. Mr. Thurow may be a 'genius', but geniuses can be wrong too.

Infrastructure
One of the wildest claims in this book has to do with the question of infrastructure. Thurow claims India has better infrastructure than China. But today the chairman of GE, Jeff Immelt, told his audience in India that they would never catch up with China unless they improve their infrastructure. Immelt said India lagged behind China in health and in things like airports and roads. And this, he said, was a major reason why India was a "disappointing" market for GE.

Somebody must be wrong - either the GE chairman or the MIT professor. There are many other errors in this book, not only in facts and statistics, but also in analysis. (Another whopper, of the analysis variety: Thurow says that Confucianism and Communism combined to emphasize education in China, and that this is one reason why China is so highly educated for a developing country. I don't know about Confucianism, but I do know that for years Mao decimated higher education in China, so that at one point college students had the reading ability of a junior high student while junior high students could barely read.)

Logical and important.
A thorough and logical overview of economics and globalization, with predictions as well as prescriptions to manage potential problems. Although the predictions may or may not come true, the book is important because it allows readers the opportunity to understand in a clear, readable and factual manner, the issues we face as a "world economy".

If you want to read only one book which explains globalization, the rationale behind government run fiscal policies, the impact of trade deficits, and changing roles of governments and the world bank, this is a great one.

Fortune Favors the Bold : What We Must Do to Build a New and
Thurow's premise is that globalization will proceed at a rapid pace whether or not firms and nations choose to participate, that this process has created great challenges, and that the economic future of the world is at stake. Thurow (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of numerous books, e.g., Building Wealth, CH, Mar'00; Head to Head, CH, Sep'92; The Future of Capitalism, 1996) contends that the world is experiencing three simultaneous revolutions: new technologies producing the third industrial revolution; emerging communications technologies that make possible a global economy; and a worldwide movement toward capitalism. He compellingly argues that, although no firm or country is forced to participate in globalization, firms that choose not to will be driven out of business and nations will opt out of the development process. Thurow also analyzes threats to the globalization process, including a collapse of the dollar, the lack of international guarantees of intellectual property rights to stimulate technology development, and the lack of life-saving drugs necessary for development of the poorest nations. To be successful in the global economy, nations, like firms, need a technology strategy. Although no revolutionary ideas are presented, the analysis is thorough and the ideas thought-provoking. ... Read more

Book Description

How did the rich countries really become rich? In this provocative new study, Ha-Joon Chang examines the great pressure on developing countries from the developed world to adopt certain "good policies" and "good institutions", seen today as necessary for economic development. Adopting an historical approach, Chang finds that the economic evolution of now-developed countries differed dramatically from the procedures that they now recommend to poorer nations. His conclusions are compelling and disturbing: that developed countries are attempting to "kick away the ladder" by which they have climbed to the top, thereby preventing developing counties from adopting policies and institutions that they themselves used. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An iconoclastic and sophiscated work
According to Michael Lind's book review in Prospect (Jan 2002), this book is "the most important book about the world economy to be published in years." And the author received the 2003 Myrdal Award for this book, which is awarded annually to a great academic achievement in the field of development/institutional economics following the late Swedish economist's name Gunar Myrdal who was a Nobel Prize laureate.

Prof. Ha-Joon Chang of Cambridge argues in this book that developed countries used some measures for promoting their economy in their earlier days of development, which they are now blaming for making the economies of developing country worse and the world economic order unfree.

The author reverses this logic. According to his arguments, policy-suggestions from such arguments of developed countries are in fact making the economy in developing countries lag behind and its development impossible, and such a rule of game in the world economy now can be rather unfair to them because developing countries even are often punished due to their using of the very same methods which developed ones used in the past.

As a critique of neo-liberal market fundamentalism, this book is very iconoclastic because it gives readers a sophisticated understanding of the real history of industrial development as well as pleasure of reading an academically original and creative work. This book is above all analytical in terms of using the method of historical comparisons. Some comparisons may be too bold. But its creativity and integrity in organizing the research overcome the limits of bold comparison. ... Read more

Book Description

Hardbound. The last two decades have seen exceptionally fast rates of change in every aspect of the telecommunications industry. These include major technology changes and the convergence of the broadcasting, information technology and telecommunications industries. The earlier view of telecommunications as a natural monopoly has now given way to one in which almost all parts are susceptible to some form of competition. Simultaneously, market structure has changed through the replacement of the former monopolistic, vertically integrated telephone companies by a variety of competing firms. These developments have been accompanied by major legislative and regulatory developments, including the passing in the United States of the 1996 Telecommunications Act and the introduction of a large number of new laws and regulations in Europe and elsewhere. The same changes have seen a massive expansion of independent regulatory agencies. This volume provides det ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good useful volume
As a user of this handbook for my research I have found it to be an extremely useful tool to learn about the various aspects of this field which has more or less been defined by this volume.

A real handbook
This is a real handbook. It covers the complete field of telecommunications: theories, technologies and pratice.

A MUST for everyone interested in telecommunications. ... Read more

Book Description

Providing the first theoretical analysis of regulation of public services for less developed countries (LDCs), Jean-Jacques Laffont demonstrates how the debate between price-cap regulation and cost of service regulation is affected by the characteristics of LDCs. Laffont develops a new theory of regulation with limited enforcement capabilities, and discusses the delicate issue of access pricing in view of LDCs' specificities. His evaluation of the different ways to organize the regulatory institutions makes a significant contribution to the field. ... Read more

Book Description

Peter Lindert inquires as to whether social policies that redistribute income impose constraints on economic growth. Although taxes and transfers have been debated for centuries, only recently have we been able to obtain a clear view of the evolution of social spending. Lindert argues that, contrary to the intuition of many economists and the ideology of many politicians, social spending has contributed to, rather than inhibited, economic growth. Peter Lindert is a prize-winning researcher and teacher at the University of California-Davis where he serves as President of the Economic History Association and as Co-Editor of its journal. His textbooks in international economics have been translated into at least eight other languages, and he has previously taught at the University of Essex, Harvard University, Moscow State University, and University of Wisconsin. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Clear headed and practical
This is a very informative book that clears up lots of misconceptions. It explains why the "wellfare state" is still around, even after so many death notices. The analysis shows that there is no net negative cost for comprehensive and universal social programs, and that there are often significant benefits. For those who can read this book without ideological and political blinders, there is much to learn from Peter Lindert's book. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

GDP Forecast
Chow's prediction (p. 102-3 & 384) that around 2020 China's GDP will be equal to that of the US in PPP terms is based on statistics from a World Bank study. I undertook a study of my own based on figures from the UN Human Development Report.

Here I assume that China's growth rate will be an average of 7% per year until 2020, and America's to be 3.5% per year until 2020. The 7% rate is achievable for China, which managed to maintain more than that in the past two decades (about 8.2% per year from 1975-2001). 3.5% for the USA may be on the high side though (America's annual growth rate: 2.0%, 1975-2001).

Starting from $5.112 trillion in 2001, China will have ballooned to $19.0012 trillion in 2020 (almost 4 times).

In the same period America will have grown steadily from $9.9289 trillion in 2001 to $18.9778 trillion in 2020.

(In 2019, the year before 2020, America will still be some $410 billion larger than China. For those who are curious, by 2025 China's economy will be some $3 trillion larger than that of the US: $25 trillion versus $22 trillion. $3 trillion is a lot of money today - almost the size of Japan's economy - but this is likely to be worth much less in 2025.)

Chow's projection is thus about right. In 2020, China and the US are worth $19 trillion each.

Interestingly, my calculations show that China's economy, valued at $5 trillion in 2000, will be about $10 trillion in 2010, $14 trillion in 2015, then again almost $20 trillion by 2020, and over $25 trillion in 2025 - essentially quintupling over 25 years. (If growing at 10% annually China - or any other country - could expand its economy by a factor of 8 in just 21 years! I think that's what happened to America after 1865.)

The per capita income of an average Chinese should at least quadruple from 2000 to 2025, provided the population growth rate is kept tightly under control. That brings a standard of living on a par with South Korea or Bahamas today. Already China's population growth is among the slowest in the developing world, lower even than America's.

All these figures are in PPP, in constant 2001 dollars. In nominal GDP America will likely remain larger than China long after 2025 unless there are changes in the exchange rates for the dollar and for the Chinese yuan in the meantime, which is possible.

Chow's calculations are thus correct. I've crunched the numbers from a different source and both projections match.

Of course, nothing ever happens exactly as predicted, especially in economics. Linear projections can look foolish in retrospect. Even with the best statistics, every projection can be delayed - or accelerated - by man-made and natural disasters. But this book does give us an idea of China's economic future.

Whether or not China or the US will be the world's largest economy after 2025 will depend on many factors, one of which will be the size and integration of the European Union.

Update suggestions
For the next edition - if there is one - I would like to see Professor Chow discuss at greater length two related issues: trade and currency.

Since the middle of 2003, China has become America's third largest trade partner (America is China's second largest partner), replacing Japan, according to the US Dept of Commerce.

The issue of the renminbi (yuan) is a hot potato in this election year, as many American politicians are clamoring for a "free-floating" of China's currency (as a solution to America's jobless problem, trade deficit, etc.).

Professor Chow needs to deal with this issue. I've heard counter-arguments from some real heavyweights: David Eldon, the Chairman of the global banking giant HSBC, and 2 Nobel Laureates in Economics - Robert Mundell, the world's #1 expert on international currency, and Joseph Stiglitz, the former Chief Economist of the World Bank and Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers. All three point out that fooling around with the renminbi now would destroy the world economy without doing anything to solve America's problems. The editors of Fortune, Forbes, and Business Week agree: Be careful what you wish for, because you may get more than expected.

My guess is, Professor Chow will take these issues apart with the same analytical and keen intelligence he addresses other issues related to China's economic transformation.

Comprehensive Review of China's Economy
Professor Chow is a distinguished economist who is an elected member of the American Philosophical Society and the former chief of econometrics at Princeton University. His statements carry some weight. The key point of this book may be summarized in this sentence: "Hence the Chinese economy can be expected to generate about the same real GDP as the US economy in 1998 PPP terms in 2020." (p.103)

In other words, China will be an economic superpower rivalling America in 20 years' time.

Barring an unforeseen disaster - like an asteroid from outer space or World War III - Chow's prognostication may turn out right. What does that mean? Well, China will be resuming its former position as an economic superpower which it has occupied throughout history.

The most surprising and controversial part is Chow's contention that China's population is too small (chapter 11). He considers a number of factors in making this odd point, including arguments by Malthus and counter-arguments by Mao, as well as a number of intangibles (like the higher number of intellectual elites available from a larger population base). I think he goes wrong here, because he doesn't seem to have considered one serious fact: most of China is neither arable nor habitable - virtually useless - large though the country may be. What's more, the amount of usable land is getting less by the day, due to desertification from the north. China is bone dry.

Customers who are wondering whether this book is worth the price to invest in would do well to reflect on China's importance on the world stage. China is one-fifth of humanity and is exactly equal to America in territorial size. China has the world's third largest stockpile of nuclear warheads. (The Pentagon believes China's stockpile will quadruple in the next decades fully in line with its economic expansion.) China has a highly developed rocket and ballistic missile technology, and has publicly announced its intention to be the world's third nation to launch astronauts into space (to be realized in late 2003). China is one of the top ten oil producing countries, with larger proven crude oil reserves than America's (the largest in the Fast East - much larger than Indonesia's). China's relations with Muslim countries are excellent, and is probably the only major power to be popular among people of that faith. China has the veto on the Security Council. The WTO recently reported that China overtook Britain in 2002 as the world's fifth largest trader in goods and services, after the US, Japan, Germany and France. If the EU is counted as one unit, China is now the fourth largest trader. And according to the CIA World Factbook, China's economy is already the second largest in Purchasing Power Parity (the fifth largest in nominal GDP), and at $6 trillion it is 13% of the world's total.

Now Chow is telling us that China's rapid growth rate is an average of 7% per year for the next two decades, which is by far the fastest among the major powers (about twice India's, three times America's, and more than four-five times Europe's and Japan's).

In short, China is already a giant today (hardly the "modest" country as described by Bill Emmott of the Economist). People like Margaret Thatcher, Jack Welch and Paul Wolfowitz are already predicting China's rise to superpower status. And the economic transformation taking place there, fully and professionally detailed by Chow, will make it much bigger still. On top of all these, China today is also interesting because it is the oldest civilization among the major powers (America, China, Britain, Russia, Germany, Japan) and by far the biggest of the surviving ancient civilizations: Mesopotamia (Iraq), Egypt, Palestine, Persia (Iran), China, India.

Of course, China's per capita income will remain relatively low for the foreseeable future, but given the size of its population China will be a superpower long before it achieves American levels of income and standards of living - a prospect that is beyond the timeframe of this book.

Overall this book is excellent - serious and credible, without being excessively technical. It fills a big niche, and meets the needs of students, journalists, businessmen, Western observers and analysts alike. All of us should pay attention to the most significant event of the late 20th century and early 21st - the transformation of China's economy - and this book is an authoritative guide. It deserves 6 stars out of 5. ... Read more

Book Description

From Seattle to Genoa to Johannesburg, people march in the streets protesting global capitalism. They denounce Nike and McDonald’s, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization.

Who would defend global capitalism?

A young writer from Sweden, who started on the anarchist left and then came to understand the world better. Johan Norberg has traveled to Vietnam, Africa, and other hot spots in the battle over globalization. And he has become a passionate defender of the globalization that is lifting poor countries out of poverty.

In Defense of Global Capitalism is the first book to rebut, systematically and thoroughly, the claims of the anti-globalization movement. With facts, statistics, and graphs, Norberg shows why capitalism is in the process of creating a better world. The book is written in a conversational style with an emphasis on liberal values and the opportunities and freedom that globalization brings to the world’s poor.

Norberg shows that the diffusion of capitalism in the past few decades has lowered poverty rates and created opportunities for individuals all over the world. Living standards and life expectancy have risen substantially. There is more food, more education, and more democratization, less inequality and less oppression of women.

Norberg takes on the tough issues-economic growth, freedom vs. equality, free trade and fair trade, international debt, child labor, cultural imperialism--and concludes that free-market capitalism is the best route out of global poverty. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Steam for Global Capitalism
"When I say that I mean to defend capitalism," proclaims Norberg, "what I have in mind is the capitalistic freedom to proceed by trial and error, without having to ask rulers and border officials for permission first."

He erects a barrage of facts and figures to make the case that trade is good. For example, real incomes among the top quintile of income earners have risen 75% over the past three decades and real incomes among the bottom quintile have increased 106%. Life expectancy in developing economies has increased, infant fatalities have fallen, and people living in developing economies are eating better and obtaining more education. Read the book to learn why the widening "gap" between rich and poor is a falsehood. Although most of the world is still poor compared to the West, their hardship is not because of the West. According to Norberg, "The uneven distribution of wealth in the world is due to the uneven distribution of capitalism."

Protectionists predict that capitalists will locate plants in countries where wages or environmental standards are lowest. Capitalists are not only intent on paying lower wages. "If they were," points out Norberg, "the world's aggregate production would be concentrated in Nigeria." Multinational corporations also seek "social and political stability, the rule of law, secure property rights, free markets, good infrastructure, and skilled manpower." There is evidence that the quality of the environment worsens in the early stages of development. However prosperous people can afford cleaner air and water. Norberg reports that "the turning point generally comes before a country's per capita GDP has reached $8,000." When people earn more than that, their governments adopt environmental regulations. The point is that trade and growth are the means to a cleaner environment.

In addition to trade issues and capitalism, one may also learn a lot about developmental economics and international finance. Norberg observes that people fail to appreciate global capitalism during the good times and then blame the process when the going gets tough. "Globalization will not keep moving under its own steam if no one stands up for it," he asserts. In Defense of Global Capitalism is perhaps worth a ton of coal in the engine of global capitalism.

The Good News
In this illuminating and accessible book, Norberg offers a systematic, detailed and complete rebuttal of the claims of the enemies of capitalism and globalization. Backed up by verifiable facts from a huge variety of reputable sources, he demolishes every lie of the leftists and environmentalists. He also investigates the other side of certain half-truths and gives an optimistic assessment of how capitalism, freedom and globalization are improving human lives around the globe.

Norberg looks at certain deceptive ideas, for example the one that claims the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer, giving us the good news of rapidly diminishing poverty and pointing out that the measure should be how well one is doing, not how well situated one is in relation to others. He explores the facts concerning issues like hunger, education, freedom and equality. Improvements have been particularly spectacular in China and India since these countries started reforming their economic systems.

He shows how the walls against ideas, people and goods are collapsing with dictatorships and how women benefit from the spread of capitalism. The best cure for poverty is growth; prices and profits serve as a signalling system in the market economy whereby the worker, the entrepreneur and the investor all benefit. The importance of property rights are pointed out, with reference to the work of De Soto, and the author compares the success of the Asian Tigers with the sorry state of Africa, although even here the open societies like South Africa, Mauritius and Botswana are doing well.

Norberg dismisses the hoary old argument that western countries are rich because they stole the resources of Third World countries in colonial times. The affluent world has grown faster since shedding its colonies, many rich countries (like Sweden and Switzerland) never had any colonies, whilst some of the world's least developed countries (Nepal, Liberia) have never been colonies. Nor have countries with natural resources as a rule grown as fast as those without, for example Singapore. A brilliant example of free trade success is Estonia, which soon after independence in 1992 abolished all tariffs.

The 20 economically most liberal countries have a per capita GDP of approximately 29 times that of the economically least liberal. The uneven distribution of wealth in the world is due to the uneven distribution of capitalism and the losers of the world are those that have been left out of globalisation.

Norberg attacks agricultural subsidies in the affluent countries, showing that this ridiculous practice harms those countries themselves and the developing world. He demonstrates the absurdity of Europe's Common Agricultural Policy, a bureaucratic nightmare that channels nearly 40% of the entire EU budget to less than 1% of the population. Latin America still suffers from decades of privilege and protectionism, but Chile is a good example of how quickly a country can transform itself with the right policies, to create a high standard of living.

Norberg investigates a vast range of issues, from development assistance (It is wasteful in that it normally involves the transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries), child labour and working conditions. He argues convincingly that free trade and capitalism alleviate social problems. He also proves that prosperity is beneficial for the environment, refuting the spurious claims of environmentalists and quoting from Bjorn Lomborg's remarkable book, The Skeptical Environmentalist.

Norberg considers every angle, including issues like "cultural imperialism" and the risible notion of the "dictatorship of the market", showing how capitalism and democracy go hand in hand in creating a better world. The book includes an index and 14 pages of notes. The text is enhanced by graphs demonstrating the facts and arguments. He concludes the book on an optimistic note, i.e. that people are beginning to wake up to the fact that they aren't just the tools of society but ends in themselves and that freedom and democracy will spread and continue to improve the lives of everyone on the planet.

Economics from a firehose
When a guest of my wife's saw this book on a table in our living room, he sneered "who needs to defend capitalism? It's *everywhere*!"

I start this review with that anecdote because apparently the title of this tome mustn't be terribly successful. Mr. Norberg spends 300 pages telling us in crushing detail why it isn't 'everywhere'--and more importantly, why not.

And a solid defense it is. The book is well researched and simply relentless. Page after page buries us with statistics telling us why capitalism is (in Churchhill's paraphrased words) "the worst system of government, except for all the others." Mr. Norberg tackles globalization late in the book to fill out the picture but never strays far from his main thesis: that freedom, free enterprise, democracy and the free movement of capital are mutually reinforcing.

For an American to read a vigorous defense of capitalism coming from a European was almost as exciting for me as discovering some of Mr. Norberg's references: the French economist Patrick Messerlin, for example, who points out that the $180 billion a year in EU subsidies of agriculture and basic industrial manufacturing goes to "save" 3 percent of jobs in these sectors. That comes out to a cool $200,000 per worker--a pretty fine price to keep out competition. Given these (and many, many more) eye-popping numbers, Norberg often strays from simply reporting statistics to morally defending his subject. As an answer to the "yes, but ..." critics, this was wholly welcome.

Still, the book is far from perfect. The statistical emphasis, while impressive, is occasionally numbing and I could almost hear the left wing counter-arguments ("statistics are necessarily selective" ... " you can use them to prove anything") in my head while reading. The section and chapter organization appears haphazard and the chapter titles give little or no information ("... and it's no coincidence," "Race to the top"). To be fair, these semantics could be from translation--as could an occasionally defensive tone.

Overall, however, these defects don't tarnish the overall case. Mr. Norberg has done his homework and anyone interested in a thorough--if a bit actuarial--defense of economic liberty will enjoy this read. As a bonus--if tackling this cover-to-cover becomes a bit much--a superb index lists almost every economic issue imaginable (from 'Absolute Poverty' to 'Zimbabwe') and serves as an excellent reference.

Globalization as capitalism without borders
Having lived and come over from the left, Norberg makes a compelling case for globalization as a model for success. Contrary to the negative review from the Swedish "assassin", globalization works. The assassin's list of dysfunctional democracies is, even at its worst, a list of democracies and, contrary to his opinion, examples of good progress towards economic and political freedom.

Globalization has become capitalism without borders. Capitalism means the right to own and the right to trade -- freely. The problems have more to do with what can and can not cross borders in a world economy where geopolitics and terrorism limit the rights or possibilities of people to move freely. There is still a strong urge to maintain national integrity and the natural defense of one's borders and culture. And, given the choice, people head for countries with greater economic and political freedom, not just where the natural wealth and resources exist. People are now the world's greatest resource and they are more mobile than ever.

Norberg pulls together multiple, massive statistical studies of real progress in the world resulting from greater political and economic freedom. They go hand in hand. They serve the liberation not only of countries and cultures, but also women who, one hundred years ago left any country short on its claim of true democracy by prohibiting them the ballot and/or the right to economic freedom and ownership.

David Landes' "Wealth and poverty of nations" made this case from an historic perspective. Countries and their people and institutions need to be able to produce things of value, educate their young, innovate in their methods, emulate success, discriminate based on merit, and allow people the right to retain (some or much of) the fruit of their labor. Globalization and capitalism, like democracy, are the worst of all possible forms of economics, except, as Churchill advised, for all other forms of economics that have been tried from time to time.

All these data and global views can be a bit dry at times and it should be safe to assume that English is not Norberg's first language (although he writes better than most American university students with English as their first language!) yet it is well worth the detail. He questions conventional (i.e., casual) wisdom. Anecdotes are illustrative and global.

Nothing new...
First of all, is this book really necessary? Doesn't global capitalism rule the world right now? Anyway, it's an interesting read for all right-wingers that want to hear safe and familiar stuff without too many unpleasant surprises. Also left-wingers and liberals can have some use of this book. Because it's a good chance to get to know your enemy. And all you treacherous liberals can relax now; there isn't much to be afraid of. The book is very much the usual mix of right-wing economic theories described as absolute universal truths and a bunch of disconnected diagrams that could prove whatever you want. Many of his statements are, to say the least, dubious. For example - Norberg states that capitalism is the main reason workers has it better nowadays than before. I think that that statement will make many workers from the last century start laughing in their graves. That's a bit too easy & bias. I can admit that to a lesser extent there is some truth to that statement, but without labor unions workers would still be working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week with lousy wages and without any social benefits. Just ask many workers in the third world about that. In those parts of the world many companies still harass and kill organized workers.
Johan Norberg also tends to purposely use the word capitalism instead of the word democracy. But I know several capitalistic countries/regions that are at the very best dysfunctional democracies. Places like Singapore, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Argentina, Brazil and Chile. You can also argue that people like Murdoch and Berlusconi are using capitalism to suppress democracy. I think it would be interesting with a discussion why it would be better with huge corporations like Microsoft and Monsanto monitoring and controlling us than governments. Johan Norberg doesn't like the term corporate dictatorship. But many corporations strive towards bigger unities with a monopoly as an ideal finishing point. I think that monopoly is dictatorship and it is also a very real part of capitalism. Norberg is only talking about capitalism in a very utopian way. If it doesn't work, then it's not capitalistic enough. That's a very easy way out of every problem that turns up in his argumentation. If you're a communist you can use the same argument by saying that the Soviet Union failed because it wasn't communistic enough!!
It is a very ideological text and Johan Norberg seems to have a complete trust in all corporations and companies desire to do good deeds for humanity. I don't share that trust. But some of Norbergs views are very important even for a liberal as myself - like peoples right to free movement and noticing the huge problems that the industrialized countries protectionism and subsidies creates for third world countries. I recommend that you read it together with Joseph Stiglitz "Globalization & its discontents" for a really interesting experience. ... Read more

Book Description

Development Macroeconomics was hailed on its publication in 1996 for providing a clear, rigorous, and long-needed synthesis of recent work in the field. This revised edition brings that achievement up to date. Addressing an audience of policy-oriented economists and theorists, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates, Pierre-Richard Agénor and Peter Montiel review and assess the burgeoning research done in the past two decades, paying special attention in this new edition to issues that have recently gained in importance among developing countries, such as the interaction between macroeconomic policies and long-term growth, the political economy of macroeconomic reform, the management of capital inflows, and currency crises.

As Agénor and Montiel show, development macroeconomics has become a vital subdiscipline of macroeconomics. In the past, general macroeconomic perspectives on developing countries were divided into the ideologically charged categories of "monetarist" or "structuralist," but a vast literature has since developed that treats the problems of developing countries with the analytical tools of modern macroeconomics. The authors' coherent and rigorous treatment presents this new analysis and empirical work in an unusually lucid and unified way. It includes extensive empirical material describing the characteristics of the developing-country macroeconomic context. It explores how the analytical tools of modern macroeconomics can be adapted to accommodate such characteristics, and it uses the resulting models to analyze a diverse set of macroeconomic issues that developing countries have confronted in recent years. This is a crucial book for anyone wishing to understand this rapidly changing field. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An illuminating offer for macroeconomics scholars
This book by Agenor and Montiel has succeeded to a large extent in their objective of integrating macroeconomic theory with the issues of the less developed countries. Proves to be an useful book which could be a decent alternative to the various textbooks in macroeconomics which are divorced of the diverse features of the less developed countries. Indeed an asset for the subject and the researchers. Worth possessing. But the cost is a little bit unaffordable for those in the developing world ... Read more

Book Description

The authors of The Economic Effects of Constitutions use econometric tools to study what they call the "missing link" between constitutional systems and economic policy; the book is an uncompromisingly empirical sequel to their previous theoretical analysis of economic policy. Taking recent theoretical work as a point of departure, they ask which theoretical findings are supported and which are contradicted by the facts. The results are based on comparisons of political institutions across countries or time, in a large sample of contemporary democracies. They find that presidential/parliamentary and majoritarian/proportional dichotomies influence several economic variables: presidential regimes induce smaller public sectors, and proportional elections lead to greater and less targeted government spending and larger budget deficits. Moreover, the details of the electoral system (such as district magnitude and ballot structure) influence corruption and structural policies toward economic growth.

Persson and Tabellini's goal is to draw conclusions about the causal effects of constitutions on policy outcomes. But since constitutions are not randomly assigned to countries, how the constitutional system was selected in the first place must be taken into account. This raises challenging methodological problems, which are addressed in the book. The study is therefore important not only in its findings but also in establishing a methodology for empirical analysis in the field of comparative politics. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A parsimonious argument.
When I picked up this book to begin reading it, I was quite frankly nervous. I'd heard it recommended in so many places that I wanted to read it, but I am not an economist by training and so was not sure that I was going to be able to follow the arguments that it laid out.

While I'm certainly not going to claim that I understood everything, I think that I did manage to follow the majority of Olson's points. Furthermore, I believe that this owes more to the lucid and well-structured nature of the book than it does to me being blessed with any unusual intelligence.

_The Rise and Decline of Nations_ begins with an explanation of the questions that the book will explore and sets the standards for the consideration of a satisfactory answer. It then works out the logic of the offered argument and breaks that argument down into 9 well-described implications. It then goes on to test and explain that logic and those implications. Olson does a wonderful job of providing adequate support the concepts that he introduces, even to the point of pointing out areas where non-economists might have special trouble or require further information. As a result of all his hard work, the book has the feeling of being exactly as long as it needs to be, and no longer.

I was certainly convinced by his arguments about how special interest groups affect economic growth. I understood why he was unwilling to take it farther into the area of policy, but couldn't help but wonder what the eventual policy implications would be, assuming that his theory is further tested and developed. I also found myself wondering if this argument would work in the same way *within* a corporation and whether it might say something about reorganisation and restructuring exercises.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and recommend it wholeheartedly.

Power groups disected
In this extremely well written book Mancur Olson applies his Noble Price winning 'Logic of Collective Action' to the real world. It tries to give a partial answer to the question: why do some countries get rich and others do not? Well: power groups emerge and make a society rigid. The society cannot properly respond to changes anymore. The theory is applied to a very large number of nations throughout recorded histrory: from ancient China and caste India to apartheid South Africa and post-industrial-revolution England. The only country/nation throughout the entire human histry he admids he has trouble understanding with this great theory is France. Read it!

Elegant Theory Elegantly Presented
Professor Olson describes a wide range of social/economic structures and processes (unions, big government, high and rising taxes, regulation, monopolies, etc.) that characterize most economies but more so the aging economies of Western Europe (This book was written before the unification of eastern and western Europe). He then proceeds to show us what these all have in common: They each, together and with time, contribute in increasingly slowing down and stifling a nation's economy. Reading this book leads one to see that the USA is also involved in a similar progression, albeit at an earlier stage. I first read this book as an Economics student about 15 years ago. I enjoyed it tremendously. I also learned from it. His clear and powerful conveyance of concepts have kept the ideas with me. He explains the economics simply yet completely. One need not have studied Economics to follow him. I highly recommend this book. Even though the author's forescast is gloomy, his book is brilliant. Sherry S.

A classic in the world of political economy.....
It surprises me that I haven't reviewed this book..... Anyway, this is one of the classic works on political economy: it builds on the Olson's earlier (and perhaps even better work) 'The Logic of Collective Action' using the logic contained therein to explain why and how different societies have prospered (and declined....) at certain stages in the world's or there own development.

Without writing a short book report for the undergraduate readers of this book, countries he examines are spread across the world; much of his thesis hinges on post-WWII comparisons of the US against Japan and Germany....

For prospective readers of Olson's work: first, I would start with 'The Logic...' BEFORE you read this, though a reading of this book would not be compromised by not having done so. His newer book 'Power and prosperity...' can be safely avoided (it's kinda expensive as it is still only out in hardcover...) having read both of these; you could then waste your political economy-budgeted money on either the works of Douglass North ('Structure and Change in Economic History';'The Rise of the West), Karl Polyani ('The Great Transformation'), or, well, Hemingway or Fitzgerald or something fun to read.....

I do highly recommend this book. Any student of foreign affarirs, politics at any level (though people who don't do IR or comparative stuff might benefit more from 'The Logic...'), economists, or students of history. Perhaps even to more general readers.....

An excellent study with plenty of applications.
Olson does a stellar job "proving" his theory using accepted scientific standards. His main thesis is that stable societies, over time, will be stifled by a steady growth of groups each committed to obtaining a disproportionate amount of society's goods. This theory, composed of only nine implications, is parsimonious with wide explanatory power. It helps to explain the post-war growth of coutries such as Japan and Germany, while providing a reason why the growth rates of the United States, and especially Great Britain, have been stagnated. Perhaps the most interesting chapter of the book is the last, in which Olson merges both Keynesianism and monetarism to form a new theory of macroeconomics. By using his theory, he is able to better explain involuntary unemployment than either of the more popular schools of macroeconomic theory. I was amazed at how many phenomena, such as slavery and the Indian caste system, can be at least partially explained by Olson's theory. Anyone seriously interested in knowing the way the world works will want to give this theory substantial consideration. ... Read more

Book Description

The growth of technological and scientific knowledge in the past two centuries has been the overriding dynamic element in the economic and social history of the world. Its result is now often called the knowledge economy. But what are the historical origins of this revolution and what have been its mechanisms? In The Gifts of Athena, Joel Mokyr constructs an original framework to analyze the concept of "useful" knowledge. He argues that the growth explosion in the modern West in the past two centuries was driven not just by the appearance of new technological ideas but also by the improved access to these ideas in society at large--as made possible by social networks comprising universities, publishers, professional sciences, and kindred institutions. Through a wealth of historical evidence set in clear and lively prose, he shows that changes in the intellectual and social environment and the institutional background in which knowledge was generated and disseminated brought about the Industrial Revolution, followed by sustained economic growth and continuing technological change.

Mokyr draws a link between intellectual forces such as the European enlightenment and subsequent economic changes of the nineteenth century, and follows their development into the twentieth century. He further explores some of the key implications of the knowledge revolution. Among these is the rise and fall of the "factory system" as an organizing principle of modern economic organization. He analyzes the impact of this revolution on information technology and communications as well as on the public's state of health and the structure of households. By examining the social and political roots of resistance to new knowledge, Mokyr also links growth in knowledge to political economy and connects the economic history of technology to the New Institutional Economics. The Gifts of Athena provides crucial insights into a matter of fundamental concern to a range of disciplines including economics, economic history, political economy, the history of technology, and the history of science.

... Read more

Reviews (2)

Toward an economics of knowledge
Partly because it is too wide-ranging to settle on any sound-bite answer, this is one of the better books around to examine the question of the sources of the West's technological and economic supremacy.

In "The Gifts of Athena", Joel Mokyr sets his sights on three objectives: First, to establish that expanding knowledge has been the engine driving the world's expanding economy over the last few centuries, rather than the other way around. Second, to explore the factors that control the discovery and application of new knowledge, so as to get a better grasp on why the Industrial Revolution took place in Europe, and why England might have led the way. Finally, to speculate on what I found to be a startling question: what's to prevent the explosive expansion of technology to which we have become accustomed from falling into stagnation, as lesser periods of innovation have done throughout history?

He accomplishes the first objective handily. Apparently some economists believe that the Industrial Revolution must have been driven primarily by economic forces (new means of capitalization and rising demand) rather than by the availability of science, because of the multi-century lag from Kepler and Newton to the economic blastoff. But Mokyr argues that there was a necessary intermediate stage, the "Industrial Enlightenment", which structurally altered the relationship between "what-is" and "how-to" forms of knowledge, as well as making both forms radically more accessible to artisans, entrepeneurs, and the general public.

His explorations of the other two questions are fresh and illuminating, but a bit picaresque. There's no overarching theory here and, except for parts of the chapter on adoption of new technology by households, little quantitative rigor. Where the discussion excels is in its opening pages, which lay out a useful systematic language for talking about kinds and qualities of knowledge; in its readiness to think outside the market-explains-all box; and in its unflagging supply of vivid historical examples.

Among many piquant ideas, the central insight I brought away from this work was the extent to which the phenomenon of "science" is a collection of socially enabling institutions, rather than just a Baconian method. Not that Mokyr holds much brief for the notion that the conclusions of science are socially constructed. Rather, its conclusions become accepted and transmitted, and therefore available for economic use, only by the grace of a set of social relationships and conventions that Bacon's scheme did not mandate, and which might just as easily not have taken place.

I should note that where economics are concerned, I'm very much a layman, and not really even a particularly informed one. ("Oh, Schumpeter, yeah, I heard of him somewhere.") I found Mokyr's text challenging but frequently engaging, and comprehensible throughout.

Peerless scholarship
"Gifts of Athena" is an outstanding piece of work with profound consequences for research and policy. Its intellectual radiance will finally make the remaining shadows of conventional economic history fade into oblivion. It guides the perplexed, reassures the convinced and guides the uninitiated. ... Read more

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Reviews (1)

Andybody Who Cares Should Read This
An excellent, excellent book in several ways. Anybody who cares - about society - conservative, moderate, or liberal should read this. All economists, political scientists, politicians, and students of these fields should read this book carefully. The Economist's Tale is a true morality play. It looks at the way economics plays out in real-life using the framework of food policy in Sierra Leone. The author is not against market forces - but as economic theory has recognized in the last few decades - markets work (or don't work) with many attendant frictions and imperfections. Unfortunately, in the tale told within this book, people die because of these frictions.

The Economist's Tale is also quite interesting and riveting as a read. It is also a quick read. One learns much about Sierra Leone among other non-economic subjects. It appears nobody else has rated this book yet - which tends to indicate that few people have read it - a sad state of affairs. ... Read more

Book Description

This book allows readers unfamiliar with the international political economy to go from 0 to 60 mph: it is a comprehensive yet reader-friendly exploration of the theoretical perspectives of IPE, an investigation of security, trade, finance, and knowledge, and a discussion of current global issues. Sound organization and a wealth of current and historical examples and case studies allow readers to develop an understanding and an appreciation of the relevance of IPE in their daily lives. With much broader coverage than any other book of its kind on the market, Introduction to International Political Economy discusses the historical aspects of the subject; international finance; the global security structure; knowledge and technology; state-market tensions; North and South; the human connection; transnational corporations; and global problems. An excellent read and reference resource for anyone interested or involved in politics, international relations, and economics.

Book Description

Hardbound. For this Handbook authors known to have different views regarding the nature of development economics have been selected. The Handbook is organised around the implications of different sets of assumptions and their associated research programs. It is divided into three volumes, each with three parts which focus on the broad processes of development. Volume 1 of the Handbook begins by discussing the concept of development, its historical antecedents, and alternative approaches to the study of development, broadly construed. The second part is devoted to the structural transformation of economies. The role that human resources play in economic development is the focus of the last section of this volume. ... Read more

Book Description

India's success in reducing endemic deprivation since Independence has been quite limited. Recent diagnoses of this failure of policy have concentrated on the counterproductive role of government regulation, and on the need for economic incentives to accelerate the growth of the economy. This book argues that an assessment of India's failure to eliminate basic deprivations has to go beyond this limited focus, and to take note of the role played in that failure by inadequate public involvement in the provision of basic education, health care, social security, and related fields, Even the fostering of fast and participatory economic growth requires some basic social change, which is not addressed by liberalization and economic incentives. The authors also discuss the historical antecedents of these political and social neglects, including the distortion of policy priorities arising from inequalities of political power. Following on from this, the book considers the scope for public action to