Summary
Reflecting the viewpoints of politicians, workers, and others, the author assesses the global economy, points to problems of unregulated capital and labor, and proposes solutions the U.S. must take to lead the world economy onwards.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review:
"Greider is best known as a columnist and writer for Rolling Stone, that magazine's counterpoint to another of its writers, libertarian gadfly P. J. O'Rourke. In the past, Greider exposed the growing doubts about the viability of Reaganomics held by the then-budget director (in The Education of David Stockman and Other Americans, 1982). He provided insight into how the Federal Reserve System is run and what it does in the highly readable Secrets of the Temple (1987); and most recently, in Who WIll Tell the People (1992), he inveighed against the American political system. This time Greider takes on the global industrial revolution, arguing that it may be a "wondrous new machine" but that it is one with no one at the controls. From the Pacific Rim to eastern Europe, he documents the abuses of a rampant capitalism with compassion, wit, and perception. Greider's journalistic eye for detail and human interest helps make this book as absorbing as his previous ones. --David Rouse"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review:
"Greider (Secrets of the Temple) here surveys the dynamics and contradictions of the corporate-driven global economy, which, he says, is heading toward "an economic or political cataclysm." His selective tourhe avoids Africa and much of South America, and focuses on U.S. corporationsnonetheless vividly introduces this changing economic world and suggests populist reforms well worth discussion. In developing Malaysia, Greider sees multinational corporations seeking not just cheaper workers but another power base. He observes that technological improvement has actually led to overcapacity in the global auto industry. He notes that the industrialization of Chinasubstituting low-paid workers for higher-paid Westernerswill erode the world's purchasing power. He perceives the U.S. as ominously failing to decrease its trade deficit or to defend domestic producers and jobs. Then Greider looks at the metastasizing world of finance capital and proposes a transaction tax to slow down the "furious pace" of computer-driven traders impelled to seek higher returns. He suggests debt forgiveness for poor nations. To foster a more responsible capitalism, he proposes taxes on capital, not payrolls, reciprocity with mercantilist countries such as Japan and labor rights for workers in poor countries. Greider devotes a final section to emerging examples (e.g., employee ownership) of his proposed "global humanism." But he skirts the question of how religious and ethnic nationalism might affect global economic convergence. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
| Subjects |
Capitalism.
Economic history
-- 1945-
|
| Publisher |
New York :Simon & Schuster,1997
|
| Language |
English
|
| Description |
528 pages ; 25 cm
|
| Bibliography Notes |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
|
| ISBN |
0684811413
|
| Other |
Classic View |