Obsolescent Capitalism: Contemporary Politics and Global Disorder

Book Description

Samir Amin depicts a world in which NATO has taken over the role of the United Nations, in which US hegemony is more or less complete, in which millions are condemned to die in order to preserve the social order of the US, Europe and Japan. Amin's analyses of the Gulf War, the wars in former Yugoslavia and the war in Central Asia reveal the scope of US strategic aims. He argues that the political and military dimension of US dominance is as significant as US economic preponderance in determining the future of capitalist development.

Capitalism and the Information Age: The Political Economy of the Global Communication Revolution

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Uninformative Essays about the Information Age

Capitalism and the Information Age: The Political Economy of the Global Communication Revolution
Robert McChesney , Ellen Wood , and John Bellamy Foster
Manufacturer: Monthly Review Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Rising from the Ashes?: Labor in the Age of "Global" Capitalism
The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the Twenty-First Century
Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide
A Brief History of Neoliberalism

ASIN: 0853459894
Release Date: 1998-12-01

Book Description

Are the new technologies of the information age reshaping the labor force, transforming communications, changing the potential of democracy, and altering the course of history itself? Capitalism and the Information Age presents a rigorous examination of some of the most crucial problems and possibilities of these novel technologies.

Not a day goes by that we don't see a news clip, hear a radio report, or read an article heralding the miraculous new technologies of the information age. The communication revolution associated with these technologies is often heralded as the key to a new age of "globalization." How is all of this reshaping the labor force, transforming communications, changing the potential of democracy, and altering the course of history itself? Capitalism and the Information Age presents a rigorous examination of some of the most crucial problems and possibilities of these novel technologies.

Customer Reviews:

Uninformative Essays about the Information Age.......2003-10-22

In such a fast-moving field like information technology, it is not fair to criticize a five year-old book for being outdated. That is an issue for some of the essays here, such as the submission by Nicholas Baran from the mid-90's, in which some inaccurate predictions about the development of the Internet are made, like an incorrect perception of how wireless access technologies would develop. While that's an issue that can be mostly forgiven in hindsight, this book suffers from a more timeless problem of lack of usefulness. The most successful essay here is the introduction from editor Robert McChesney, with serious ideas about the future salience of capitalist markets in light of the cyber revolution. This is purported to be the focus of the other essays in the book, but the results prove otherwise. Submissions range in an uninspired fashion from ivory-towered theoretical exercises (Ellen Meiskins Wood) to non-analytical economic or technological histories (Jill Hills and the aforementioned Baran). A conversational lecture from Noam Chomsky is out of place, while his colleague Edward Herman merely summarizes his book that should be read in its entirety for any true insights. The submission from Michael W. Apple on the Channel One network in school classrooms comes quite close to a very important analysis, but ends abruptly with a diversion to the author's previously published works. In the end, a few informative essays on globalization issues (Peter Golding) and grassroots politics on the Web (Ken Hirschkop) can't save this book, as it does not accomplish the goals implicit in its title and introduction. [~doomsdayer520~]

Global Economy, Global Justice: Theoretical Objections and Policy Alternatives to Neoliberalism (Contemporary Political Economy Series)

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Great for students looking for alternatives to neoliberalism

Global Economy, Global Justice: Theoretical Objections and Policy Alternatives to Neoliberalism (Contemporary Political Economy Series)
G. Demartino
Manufacturer: Routledge
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Anarchy, State and Utopia
Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time

ASIN: 0415224012

Book Description

Global Economy, Global Justice explores a vital question that is suppressed in most economics texts: "what makes for a good economic outcome?" Neoclassical theory embraces the normative perspective of "welfarism" to assess economic outcomes. This volume demonstrates the fatal flaws of this perspective--flaws that stem from objectionable assumptions about human nature, society and science. Exposing these failures, the book obliterates the ethical foundations of global neoliberalism.
George DeMartino probes heterodox economic traditions and philosophy in search of an ethically viable alternative to welfarism. Drawing on the work of Amartya Sen, DeMartino proposes the egalitarian principle of the "global harmonization of capabilities" to guide economics. This principle provides a basis for resisting oppression the world over while nevertheless demanding respect for cultural diversity. DeMartino puts this principle to work adjudicating contemporary debates over global policy regimes, and completes thebook with a set of deeply egalitarian global policies for the year 2025. Global Economy, Global Justice's engaging prose will appeal to those seeking to understand the intersection between economics and political philosophy. Its focus on the normative foundations of contemporary policy disputes makes it unique in the literature on globalization.

Customer Reviews:

Great for students looking for alternatives to neoliberalism.......2005-02-19

The book begins with a thorough critique of the underlying assumptions that predicate neoclassical prescriptions. For anyone familiar with Dr. Ramstad's ECN 305 class at the University of Rhode Island, there is nothing new here.

However, DeMartino does make some sophisticated conceptual contributions here that are not easily come across in such an easy to read format.
1. We get a good discussion of the whole multicultural trade debate (a debate that really is not much more sophisticated than an oft-mentioned Star Trek gimic, the Prime Directive): between the, 'leave developing countries alone doctrine' and the 'intervention is good because of development doctrine.' DeMartino helps to break down the whole notion of growth by building on some concepts developed by Amartya Sen, which is essentially an ethic by which we can measure the effects of trade and so determine whether they are 'good' or 'bad.' This is, again, nothing especially new, but it is done in a novel way, and if this is the first time you come across these ideas, they stick to you pretty well. And for me, the debate was pretty much over at this point. Similar studies that provide alternatives to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for other variants that measure social development are worth seeking out.

2. The last major contribution that stuck with me - I read this book 4 years ago - is a newly conceptualized trade regime that was actually co-developed with Stephen Cullenberg. Some of the details are a little fuzzy now, but here's what I remember. First, DeMartino concedes that there are benefits to competitiveness. However, he is unwilling to simply then conclude that all competition is good for everyone, or that competition is not a malleable concept. In a section entitled, 'taking the x out of competition,' he then goes on to show that some competition can be destructive, others constructive, and that some variables within a competitive framework can effectively be removed so that only the constructive elements remain. This discussion becomes a little complicated at this point, as he begins to develop a variable that measures social provions / capability to provide such provisions. In short, these variants can be used to adminster a tax and tariff system that reward and punish countries for participating in these destructive trade practices. This system, then, would take the 'x' (destructive trade incentives) out of competition.

I know this review is coming across muddled - I'll have to review the text again. Regardless, if you are a reader interested in (1) understanding the neoliberal argument and its value-laden prescriptions, (2) formulating a critique of these values and prescriptions, (3) looking for alternatives to the dominant ideology - then you should not pass on this book.

After reading it, in almost every imaginable encounter, the so-called debate surrounding these issues has been pretty much resolved in favor of DeMartino's ideas.

Two Caveats:
1) This is not an empirical document. This is a theoretical critique and conceptual contribution. For something more mathematical, you'll need to go see some of the Analytic Marxists. Robert Brenner has a new book coming out in June that is supposed to be excellent.

2) How should I say this...this book is not cynical. While reading, you should keep in mind that the destructive forms of competition that DeMartino seeks to remove are quite possibly (and most likely) the exact forms of competition that capital enjoys. A trade regime that actually worsens labor standards or destroys environmental regulatory bodies is in the interest of a firm looking for a high turnover labor force or a firm that has outsourced its harmful production facilities. So, we have ot be careful to not be barred down in conceptual battles when in fact the battles to come will be fought against capital. Still, until then, we'll need allies and those allies are won on the field of values.

Contours of Descent: U.S. Economic Fractures and the Landscape of Global Austerity

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Settling Accounts
Not much new information or analysis
Forest and trees problem
An economics book extraordinary in its clarity; fascinating
Are we all neoliberals now? No!

Contours of Descent: U.S. Economic Fractures and the Landscape of Global Austerity
Robert Pollin
Manufacturer: Verso
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The Boom and The Bubble: The US in the World Economy
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The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back

ASIN: 1844675343

Book Description

The highly respected text, now updated with a substantial postscript reflecting on recent conditions in the US and global economy.

The US economy faced the prospect of a serious recession even prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The afflictions that had deepened under both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush—wage stagnation, rising inequality, wildly inflated stock markets—sharpened further. The highly unstable conditions that Clinton handed Bush were hardly noticed amid the near-universal praise for the economic stewardship of Clinton and his supposed policy maestro, Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan.

Contours of Descent reveals how these variants of neo-liberal economics, which lavish favors on multinationals and capitalists while allowing living standards for ordinary people to fall, operate in the US and less developed countries, and explores policies for economic growth with increased equality.

Customer Reviews:

Settling Accounts.......2006-12-23

Clinton boosters have not been shy about touting the Arkansas playboy's economic record while in office. After all, didn't he balance the budget after years of stunning deficits. And didn't unemployment stats fall to near record lows, with negligible inflation, no less. Wasn't capital also included, with equity prices rising to record highs. Yeah, good times for everyone, courtesy our 42nd president. Maybe his zipper had occasional problems, but the economy didn't.

Anyone looking to get beyond the hype with a real take on those years should pick up Pollin's nifty little scorecard. Sure, it's filled with graphs and stats, but how else can the hype be debunked without them. They put the record in historical perspective, and what comes out is not nearly so impressive as what went in. If you feel that somehow you were no better off in 2000 than you were in 1993, don't feel alone. In fact, the Clinton yacht left most of us behind, as the big picture shows. One thing for sure, Pollin will not be on the DLC's list of 2007 must-read's.

Not much new information or analysis.......2006-05-13

Most leftists will be familiar with almost all of the information in Robert Pollin's book. From the rightist nature of Clinton's policies, to the fact that most people's standard of living didn't improve much in the 1990s, to the failure of neoliberalism in India, Argentina, and other nations.

Some bits are interesting. He refutes various circular explanations of why a large bubble developed in the 1990s and provides a good interpretation. The information on the farmer suicides in India will be new to most readers.

At the outset he outlines the "Marx Problem" the "Keynes Problem" and the "Polanyi Problem" but these concepts are hardly used throughout the book.

This book is only recommended for young leftists (or foreigners, since most of the book is on the U.S.) who have not yet learned much about the U.S. economy and international neoliberalism. To all others it will be redundant.

Forest and trees problem.......2006-05-03

Good book, well written, highly literate, worth the effort to wade through, just a few problems. The first is he ignores a series of fairly astute +170 year-old observations by Alexis de Tocqueville. Next, he misses the lessons of classical history.

When Tocqueville looks at the future of America he is troubled not by the macro-economic policies of the Clintons, but with the fundamental materialism of American life. The seeds of the current problems have always been there, since at least 1831. Tocqueville thinks greed is mostly good, he just thinks you have to have the sense (his control mechanism is religion) not to take it too far. This is actually what Pollin is writing about.

Next, the lessons of classical history would suggest that there is a perpetual tension in republics between democrats and oligarchs. Sadly, this will be dismissed by some as neo-Marxist. It isn't; Marx reported a phenomenon, he didn't create it.

What Tocqueville feared, and Marx observed, is best summed by Napoleon's observation that if you abolished the aristocracy of the nobility, you ended up recreating it in the houses of the upper-class. It would seem that we are there, except that somehow it is now unacceptable to talk in terms of class warfare (a prohibition that does not seem to be of much benefit to the non-aristocrats).

What Pollin is reporting is how the oligarchy has gone about extending its power in the modern era. Sadly, it usually takes a pretty severe crisis to reverse that trend. Some analysis of history (classical Athens, the Roman Republic) suggests that if you go far enough over the edge you can never make it back.

An economics book extraordinary in its clarity; fascinating.......2006-04-24

Pollin shows that the Clinton economic "boom" was a [...] The average price to earnings ratio was at an all time high from 1996-99. CEO salaries became increasingly based on stock performance as corporate profits became increasingly based on speculation in their own firm's stock. That the economy was increasingly based on shaky foundations, according to Pollin, was recognized privately in September 1996 by Alan Greenspan, who privately noted that he could slow down the speculative bonanza by raising the margin requirement-but he did not. The margin requirement is where investors are supposed to give their broker a certain amount of cash on reserve, relative to the riskiness of their investment.

In July 1997 in Congressional testimony, Greenspan explained that outstanding economic performance was due to "heightened sense of job insecurity and as a consequence, subdued wages." Subdued wage increases were holding down inflation even in a period of high unemployment. In 2001 dollars, Pollin observes the average, real hourly wage declined from $15.70 in 1973 to $13.27 in 1993. The average hourly wage shot back up to only $14.16 by 2000 (for the whole of the 1993-201 Clinton presidency the average hourly wage was $13.60 exactly as it was under Kennedy and Johnson, lower than the $13.91 of the Reagan-Bush 1 presidency, the $15.11 of Nixon-Ford, and the $15.03 of the Carter presidency). The official poverty rate in 2000 was 11.3. The poverty average for the Reagan-Bush I years was 14.0. Clinton, by 2000, under the Stock market casino induced prosperity, had gotten the poverty level back down to the level (11.3) where it was in 1974. This poverty reduction was very meager considering that from 1974-2000, America's GDP had grown by 70 percent, productivity grew by 61 percent and the stock market went up 603 percent. The richest one percent of income earners in the U.S. got the predominant share of this economic success. The CEO to worker pay ratio went from 113 to 1 in 1991 but was 449 to 1 by the time Clinton left office. Even the small poverty reduction under Clinton is probably undermined by the fact of the skyrocketing child care costs, caused by Clinton's elimination of subsidies to single mothers.

And of course the meager increases in wages and poverty decrease were funded by the stock market casino induced business expansion. When that expansion collapsed in late 2000, business were left with greatly underutilized plant and machinery, and a great deal of debt, something that all of Greenspan's interest rate lowering during the current president's first term could not resolve.
In the several years after NAFTA, Pollin notes companies held down worker pressure for wage increases by threatening to move production overseas. Some firms have even been forcing their workers to work overtime without pay. In an early 2002 article in Business Week which surveyed white collar employees, most complained that they were getting little of the increased gains in productivity, that they were having to take over the functions of their downsized colleagues and were desperate to get more secure jobs. Indeed, in Bush's first term, productivity growth took off. This seems to have been because fewer workers were spending more hours at work. In his afterward to the paperback edition, he quotes a May 10 2005 London Financial Times article which stated that while productivity growth had been at an average of 4.1 per year since 2001, wage and salary growth grew by only 1.5 percent....Pollin notes that the largely male percentage of the population which has stopped looking for work altogether is not counted in official unemployment figures. Thus the real unemployment rate currently might be about 7 percent.....

Neoliberalism is the cause of the increasing inequality in the Third World. In the latter, since 1980, economic growth has been reduced significantly in contrast to previous decades. Under IMF programs, countries increasingly were forced to eliminate subsidies to farmers and to the poor, to remove tariffs against foreign competition, to remove all restrictions on capital flows in and out of their country. This elimination of protection for small farmers has led to them increasingly trying to survive in sweatshop work. Pollin gives the case study of India where in the free market showcase of the province of Andreh Pradesh, there has been a mass suicide of poor farmers. These farmers have ruined their crop because there are no longer government agencies around to supervise their use of pesticides and fertilizers and the elimination of government subsides has necessitated that they turn to loan sharks who take all their money

In Argentina he notes, from 1950 to 1971, under the "import substitution" model where the government channels subsidies to stimulate domestic industries and imposes tariffs to protect domestic industries, the GDP on average grew 3.0. While from 1971 to 2001, Argentina subjecting itself to increasingly severe neoliberal imposition after the late 70's, the GDP grew by only 2.0. Argentina's poverty rate rose from 8 to 40 percent from 1978 to 1989. From 1981 to 1989, after expanding for decades, the country's supply of machinery and equipment fell by 35 percent. The elimination of controls on the inflow and outflow of capital caused major inflationary spikes and financial instability. Argentina has gotten out of its severe 2001 economic collapse by ignoring the key prescriptions of the IMF. Indeed, Pollin observes, the most successful economies in modern history have completely avoided the extreme free market policies pushed by the IMF. Asian economies like Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, quoted by Reagan as free market success stories in his 1985 inaugural , had massive government subsidized import substitution policies and restrictions on capital flows in and out of the country.

The increasing level of inequality in the world, Pollin writes, is greatly understated, by including Chinese economic statistics. In fact, China still has significant government involvement in its economy.

Pollin discusses sweatshops and whether they are actually cost-effective for firms.........

It would have been nice if the author devoted a section to the economic policies of the Reagan years.

Are we all neoliberals now? No!.......2005-02-08

Robert Pollin's 'Contours of Descent' has been a welcomed addition to the debate over the nature and course of recent American economic history and the policies that contributed in to the making of that history. Pollin provides a well-researched and -argued look at the economic policies of the Clinton and Bush administrations. 'Contours' treats both presidential administrations as instances of Reaganomics in action - that is, as political regimes beholden to the neoliberal consensus that began to form in Washington during Jimmy Carter's term and which the Reagan administration turned into programmatic focus of American economic policy. The New Deal Order might have ended with the Reagan administration, but there has not been a return to a 'golden age' defined by full employment and an equitably distributed abundance. Consequently, Reaganomics or neoliberalism has proven to be an austerity program for the majority in the United States and elsewhere. Clinton and Bush the Younger merely follow their master in this regard.

What is most useful in Pollin's analysis is the debunking work it performs. More specifically, Pollin makes it clear that Clintonomics differs from Bush the Younger's 'New Rapacity' mostly in degree but not in kind. The stock market bubble economy of the late 1990s merely obscured the class biases inherent in the administration's policies, biases which Clinton expressed by claiming that he would be an Eisenhower Republican.

Pollin's critical work won't prove to be overly useful to those implementing the neoliberal consensus at home and abroad. They will likely ignore it and will continue to greatly exploit whomever they can, whenever they can, notwithstanding the consequences produced by their policies and actions. On the other hand, his analysis should be very useful to those on the left who believe the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party has something to offer in economic matters. It does, of course: It offers a recipe for making the rich richer and the poor poorer! What it fails to offer is a strategic path leading to a full employment and high growth economy in the United States and elsewhere. Pollin sheds a much-needed light on the methods and consequences of neoliberalism. We can only hope that it aids sensible Americans as they make their way out of the Democratic Party.

Global Political Economy: Contemporary Theories (Routledge/Ripe Studies in Global Political Economy)

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Global Political Economy: Contemporary Theories (Routledge/Ripe Studies in Global Political Economy)
Ronen Palan
Manufacturer: Routledge
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Globalization and International Political Economy: The Politics of Alternative Futures (Globalization)

ASIN: 0415204895

Book Description

What are the cutting edge debates in global political conomy? This book presents an invaluable overview of all the major contemporary debates and approaches at the forefront of European and North American global political economy. The book covers the following topics:
*the six central concepts of global political economy: state, firm, capital, power, labour and globalisation
*theories at the frorefront of GPE: from rational choice, neo-institutionalism, neo-Marxism, constructivism to postmodernity
*recent developments in theoretical approaches such as game theory, modern rational and public choice theory, development theory, historical sociology
*how global political economy is best understood in terms of three traditions of political economy: Marxism, rationalism and hermeneutics/institutionalism
*whether global political economy is best understood in terms of three traditions of political economy: Marxism, rationalism and hermeneutics/institutionalism
No other book provides suchsuccinct summaries, by international experts in the field, of such topical, wide-ranging issues and controversies; this book represents an essential compact guide, ideal for students and lecturers in IPE and international relations.

Cultural Logics and Global Economies: Maya Identity in Thought and Practice

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Cultural Logics and Global Economies: Maya Identity in Thought and Practice
Edward F. Fischer
Manufacturer: University of Texas Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

As ideas, goods, and people move with increasing ease and speed across national boundaries and geographic distances, the economic changes and technological advances that enable this globalization are also paradoxically contributing to the balkanization of states, ethnic groups, and special interest movements. Exploring how this process is playing out in Guatemala, this book presents an innovative synthesis of the local and global factors that have led Guatemala's indigenous Maya peoples to assert and defend their cultural identity and distinctiveness within the dominant Hispanic society. Drawing on recent theories from cognitive studies, interpretive ethnography, and political economy, Edward F. Fischer looks at individual Maya activists and local cultures, as well as changing national and international power relations, to understand how ethnic identities are constructed and expressed in the modern world. At the global level, he shows how structural shifts in international relations have opened new venues of ethnic expression for Guatemala's majority Maya population. At the local level, he examines the processes of identity construction in two Kaqchikel Maya towns, Tecpán and Patzún, and shows how divergent local norms result in different conceptions and expressions of Maya-ness, which nonetheless share certain fundamental similarities with the larger pan-Maya project. Tying these levels of analysis together, Fischer argues that open-ended Maya "cultural logics" condition the ways in which Maya individuals (national leaders and rural masses alike) creatively express their identity in a rapidly changing world.

The Global Economy and Democracy in South Africa

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The Global Economy and Democracy in South Africa
Thomas A. Koelble
Manufacturer: Rutgers University Press
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Partisan Politics in the Global Economy (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

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Wow!
An important book about globalization and politics!
A singularly disappointing tome

Partisan Politics in the Global Economy (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)
Geoffrey Garrett
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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Democracy and Redistribution (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)
Global Capital and National Governments

ASIN: 0521441544

Book Description

This book discusses the future of the nation-state in a world of global markets. Unlike most studies asserting that global markets dominate national politics, this book argues that countries still possess considerable autonomy over policy choices. Furthermore, citizens' demands for government protection from market forces (economic insecurity) are rising, while countries with strong trade union movements that can restrain the wage demands of workers (corporatism) are attractive to investors. As a result, there is still a viable leftist alternative to the free market in the global economy.

Customer Reviews:

Wow!.......2000-02-17

This book is not terminologically advanced. This is a book that is definitely accessible to the pedestrian. What I am interested in is the contradiction that Mr. Garrett points out between the countries and transnationals that are interested in making money and the other countries that are primarily concerned with arts and entertainment. How can we, as modern Americans, respond to this book when we know that the two are intrinsically related? I think that Mr. Garrett as a mere Australian national misses the point of fundamental problems in wood structures. Keep away, please.

An important book about globalization and politics!.......1999-03-04

This is a book which is bound to be quite controversial. Garrett explodes the argument that global economic integration is making national politics irrelevant; the evidence presented in this book is overwhelming. This is a book which must be read by all serious students of international relations, comparative politics, and political economy.

A singularly disappointing tome.......1999-03-02

This is not a good book. I was hoping for an empirical and logical analysis of the present world system of politics and how it relates to global market politics. What I ended up reading was a clarion call for protectionist measures and increased control.

While there are arguments to muster in defense of protectionist measures, they are not presented but merely assumed. The main cliam of the book- a comparative vision of partisan politics, is only really hinted at. This book amounts to an extended screed for leftist market measures, not an argument or an analysis of the same. It is a polemic dressed as alalysis.

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