Product Description
By the early 90s, a raging bull market was delivering spectacular returns, causing some to believe that a market collapse and subsequent depression would soon appear. As a result of these fears, some exited the capital markets altogether. Thereafter, the Internet took off causing the market bubble to swell, many high-tech stocks with seemingly limitless valuations. Over the course of its 13-year stretch, the market appreciated by over 600 percent, with average annual returns in excess of 18 percent. And we all remember what happened at the start of the new millennium. Even after the deflation of the Internet bubble, cautious investors who pulled out of the market a decade earlier missed out on spectacular returns since then. Many investors who entered the market near its peak suffered devastating losses. But most who remained invested since the early 90s are still much better off today. While this correction revealed the most recent illusions embedded within the economy, it s only a small part of what will be a larger correction in the coming years. Despite the scandals in corporate America and Wall Street, many investors fail to recognize that the post-bubble period is quite different from the Bull Run in the 90s. But today, the capital markets have been realigned with authenticity, and economics now control the investment cycle rather than hype generated by Wall Street. Accordingly, Wall Street and the U.S. Government can only hide the realities of America s decline for so long. Unfortunately, America entered the free trade paradigm as a losing participant from the start. While America remains as the centerpiece for the global economy, it relies on record debt to maintain its status as the world s strongest consumer marketplace. But this cannot last much longer. America s vulnerable role in the new economy threatens to erode the strength of its empire. Already, America has witnessed a gradual disappearance of its core citizens; the middle class. As well, poverty continues to grow while America s wealthiest quintile increases their wealth. These trends have been masked by record levels of credit-based spending and manipulation of economic data. For over two decades, several nations have benefited at the expense of America s job base and living standards. This led to a long period of excessive consumption relative to productivity. When the economic boom from the post-war period began to lose steam in the 60s, consumption began to exceed productivity, as Americans refused to acknowledge a decline in living standards. Up until the 70s, America fueled this consumption-production disparity using the surplus wealth generated during the post-war boom. During the 80s, America s growing consumption was compounded by massive government spending and a devastating oil crisis. Shortly thereafter, the consumer credit industry grew to meet the demands of a nation experiencing large productivity deficits. And today, America is vastly different than the post-war period. Rather than increases in net wealth, America s growth over the past two decades has been fueled by credit spending which has created the illusion of impressive productivity, while serving to mask declining living standards. As a consequence of these changes, America s financial industry is now one of its biggest and most profitable. Today, America is more dependent on foreign nations than anytime in its history. Declining oil reserves and a foreign-funded credit bubble have positioned the fate of this nation in the hands of the world. Soon, America will face the economic burden of 76 million aging boomers. Beginning in 2011, mandatory expenditures for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will start to grow rapidly. By 2025, these expenses will have swelled to unthinkable levels.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent presentation of data, some mistakes.......2007-10-11
The author did an excellent job compiling data that is extremely important to understand if one is to thrive in America in the next 2 decades. There will no doubt be sweeping changes to rectify our current account deficit and aging boomer population. The author shed light on the politics behind Greenspan & Co's delay when our country needs to address these problems now. Other topics include: the .com bubble, real estate / credit bubble, free trade, health care, social security, energy crisis, and education.
Yes there are typos and some minor implications that are incorrect, but I don't believe they affect the overall concepts presented. I have also read "The Dollar Crisis" and find both books to be honest presentations of America's current economic state. I would have enjoyed even more information on developing nations, but the title of the book focuses on America, so be it. Overall, I felt this book was an excellent read that is neither conservative nor extreme but simply a presentation of data and well-thought hypothetical analysis of what is to come for America. Only the typos keep it from getting 5 stars.
Riddled with inaccuracies.......2007-07-30
This book manages to cover all major problems faced by the United States in the next 20-30 years - trade deficit, healthcare crisis, education crisis, etc. - and it does so in a fairly comprehensive way, with large numbers of facts and graphs.
The reason why I can't give it more than 3 stars for this achievement is that the number of mistakes it contains (from misspellings to factual errors) is absolutely incredible. It seems that no one (other than the author) so much as read the book before it went to the printing press.
First of all, there are spelling errors. English is not my native language, yet I've been able to notice one spelling error every 20-30 pages. "Notices in-lue of gold" (p.2). "Right to bare arms" (p.25). "America will loose its technology edge" (p.61), and so on. There are factual errors as well. According to the author, Statue of Liberty was erected on Ellis Island (p.27), Berlin Wall fell "a few years" after 1991 (p.10), and Albert Einstein immigrated into the United States in 1940. He thinks that women who give birth after entering the United States illegally are guaranteed citizenship because their newborns become U.S. citizens (p.32) - but he either does not know or fails to mention that they have to wait for their child to turn 18 before they even have a shot at legalization. He frequently claims (or implies) that Chinese goods are cheaper because Chinese government and Chinese companies do not provide healthcare or retirement benefits to their workers (p.41), when in fact they do. All these problems make me wary of any other claims he makes in his book.
There are many interesting graphs and charts in the book, but at least some of them were "cooked up" by the author from third-party data, so they are not always reliable. One rather puzzling chart is located on p. 113. It is a pie-chart labelled "Factors Driving Rising Costs in Healthcare (2001-2002, in $ billions)". However, pieces of the pie are labelled with percentage values and clearly add up to 100% (e.g. "Increased Consumer Demand, 15%"). Author comments, "Someone explain to me the economics of increased consumer demand leading to a 15% increase in healthcare costs in one year". It's clear that he has no idea what's really shown on the chart.
The book is heavy on portrayal of various weaknesses in modern U.S. economy, but rather light on attempts to predict the future. There is almost no discussion about the impact of American crisis on the rest of the world. Author predicts major revaluation of the dollar, but does not provide any macroeconomic analysis of consequences of this revaluation. He seems to think that collapse will not occur at least until 2012, but he's not very clear why he thinks it won't be triggered by deflation of the real estate bubble.
Overall this is an interesting and comprehensive book that's worth reading for anyone who thinks that U.S. economy is doing well, but it's not scientific or reliable enough to be of real value for an investor.
I recommend "Dollar Crisis" as a complementary treatment of the U.S trade deficit / credit bubble problem.
A chilling but accurate expose of how we came to be in such economic peril as a capitalist nation.......2007-06-10
In writing "America's Financial Apocalypse: How To Profit From The Next Great Depression", the author draws upon his many years of experience and expertise as a business, financial, and investment consultant for two of Wall Street's largest investment firms and elsewhere in private financial markets. Strathis provides an impressively analytical explanation as to how the liberals on the left and the conservatives on the right are working in differing ways to destroy America's fiscal and economic well-being; how the federal government in Washington is dominated by corporations; how China has taken total advantage of America's trading policies to our nation's detriment. Readers will be shocked to learn how America is legally bankrupt; how today the 'American Dream' cannot be achieved by most American citizens; the truth concerning the future of Social Security; the inevitable and looming consequences of the present pension plan crisis; and why most Americans working today will not be able to retire as their parent were able to in the past. "America's Financial Apocalypse" also addresses just how the American government manipulates economic data; how the Bush administration is responsible for the worst economic recovery in American financial history; how the real estate bubble could cause the stock and bond markets to collapse; how America's political and economic fate is in the hands of foreign countries; why the American government is really allied to the Saudi Arabians despite the established identities of the 9/11 attack; the looming global oil crisis; Alan Greenspans dismal performance as a Fed Chairman; the plummeting value of the dollar in the international currency markets; and the continuing rise in value of precious metals and oil. After laying out all of these 'inconvenient truths' about America's economic future, Strathis also lays out how the wise and savvy investor can still profit from an inevitable depression that will collapse America's economy in the very near future. A chilling but accurate expose of how we came to be in such economic peril as a capitalist nation, "America's Financial Apocalypse" is especially recommended reading for its clear and methodical explanation of just how the individual investor can survive what will prove to be the 'Next Great Depression'.
This Book Has NO Comparable!.......2007-04-05
Finally, an insightful, detailed, and massive compilation of America's economy and investment markets. This book is HIGHY recommended.
The reviewer below is actually wrong in his simplistic assumption that deflation is the exact opposite of inflation. While deflation tends to cause a relative increase in buying power, this effect is only when deflation is modest and in the early stages. During a more prolonged period, deflation creates a decline in GDP and therefore purchasing power due to the relative effects on currency exchange rates.
I find it amazing that a person could give such a bad review over one statement that he thinks is wrong (when in fact it is not) despite all of the massive data and extensive coverage of material. If a reader chooses to cherry pick from within a massive resource such as this book, they will miss the forest from the trees.
Hold on there...........2007-04-05
After spending $55+ for this book, I started to leaf through it and promptly came across the following comment: "...rising gold prices usually result from a deflationary economy not an inflationary one, as investors seek to minimize the loss in buying power of their currency." So far as I know, a deflationary environment INCREASES the buying power of one's currency, as prices generally decrease during a deflationary episode. In other words, one can buy more loaves of bread per dollar in the bank. Gold is generally a hedge against inflation or fiat currency collapse, not deflation. Given what seems to me a basic error of this nature, I will be skeptical of other information in the book.
Book Description
America’s Bubble Economy is the first book to focus on several simultaneous financial bubbles that are interacting to temporarily boost—and ultimately threaten—the United States and world economies. Filled with expert analysis and straight talk, this book will show you how to turn the coming economic transformation into a once-in-a-lifetime wealth-building opportunity.
Customer Reviews:
Big on assertions, little on proofs or data.......2007-08-09
The authors make a common mistake of talking about numbers (like federal deficits) in absolute terms. These numbers are always big, and create an immediate feeling they must be bad. Compared to our GNP and our national return on assets, how much debt is good, and how much is bad? Unfortunately these questions are never addressed by the authors. The authors make many "self-evident" assertions, and then create scenerios based upon these assertions. Don't look to this book for involved analysis on why the assertions might be true. Buy this book if you are already convinced and want some very general ideas on how to deal with bubbles.
An "Easy Read" (repetitive and simplistic).......2007-04-25
"America's Bubble Economy" tells us what we already have heard countless times - the stock market, consumer spending, home values, the trade deficit, consumer debt, and the government deficit are all UP SHARPLY! Japan and China now hold our future in their hands!
Recommendations include 1)avoid real estate, except for personal use (why not also recommend renting?), buy gold, commodities, and Euros (won't that create new bubbles?), stash cash in short-term funds, avoid jobs in the capital sector (most have already moved to China; what about service jobs vulnerable to India?), and become employed in healthcare or transportation (what about the current slide in trucking jobs and President Bush's efforts to let Mexican truckers in?).
Yes, I do think we have serious problems - however, "America's Bubble Economy" is too simplistic.
Colladoproperties.com.......2007-03-28
There are five bubbles in the economy, and thats not including the false promises of Social security and medicare.
Its not even including the fact that we are in peak oil.
The reality is that we have Real Estate overpriced and beginning to fall towards a crash.
The dollar approaching 80, after that its a spiral downward.
Consumer Debt is at its highest in history. People are litteraly in debt to their eyeballs.
An international trade deficit with China that may well make us one of the poorest nation in the coming future.
A national Debt of 7 billion/week.
Do not ignore the warning signs.
This book will tell you how to get prepaired.
Bleak view of the US economy, and sadly, completely accurate........2007-02-15
I've read several books recently about profiting from real estate, economic theory, the future of the US economy, etc, and I am more than a little freaked out to report that this book is both the most scary of the bunch and is also panning out to be the most accurate.
I've been recommending "America's Bubble Economy" relentlessly to my friends, and I've changed my investment strategies accordingly. Now I cross my fingers, bite my nails, and hope that Wiedemer, against all common sense and logic, is overexaggerating.
Great Analysis.......2007-01-04
Great Analysis! Am not sure that I agree with all of the conclusions, only time will tell.
Book Description
This frightening book shows how massive consumer debt will trigger the next depression, starting in 2007. With interest rates increasing, savings rates near zero and debt at its maximum, people will be pushed over their debt limit, causing the depression.
Customer Reviews:
A THESIS OF EXCELLENCE ON HOW DEPRESSIONS HAPPEN.......2007-09-09
A Timeless work of Mastery in that it exposes what will be obvious in a few months to years. Based on concrete fact the conclusions support the facts. A Brilliant Writ which should be in every Economics class from High School to College!
A must read from the young entrepenuer to the MBA.
What the Government wishes to avoid is the harsh reality of impending Depression. After a brief dicussion with the author I can state he is a solid concrete thinker. I have injected thoughts of Taxflation (TM) which are sure to happen. I hope for sequele where the author can expound on defensive manuvers. One which I thought of is the "Roth Shuffle" (T.M.) about to take effect where 401 K's, IRAs and Sep Iras can be converted and taxed up front removing the Draconian "Taxflation" T.M. from future years of the Next Great Depression.
This gives more leverage to the author's well done tables of pension and investment income preserved by TIPS. Don Iden MD,FAAD,FABD,Mayo Clinic Alumnus. 4521 S Staples Street Ste 100 Corpus Christi, TX 78411-2603
Dated and not so great.......2007-03-15
This book doesn't really contain anything I didn't already know from books like "Empire of Debt" by Bonner and Wiggin. The latter is a much more well researched and well written book in addition to being more current. I would recommend it instead if you haven't read it. This book at hand had mediocre writing and some arguments that were crankish, especially the ones regarding investing in the stock market. It has many charts but most of them are rather obvious from the text and often unnecessary. Much of the data tables are things anyone could crank out on a spreadsheet program with ease and are embarrassingly simplistic at times. I do not recommend this book.
Debt on top of debt as we survive on a sort of "flywheel" effect. (but when happens when they call in the loans?).......2006-11-21
Being an Engineer myself, I appreciate his approach to analyzing a problem and breaking it down into parts. I think the data he has pulled together is very relevant, and his conclusion make sense. (I only wish they did not)
The world assigns a certain "value" to everything, and the value we have as a country is that of a consumer. Without our consumption, these fast climbing countries would NOT be able to grow their production capacity. (their own value)
The problem is that we are such poor savers that these "growing" producers are actually loaning us the money to buy their goods! in doing so, they are handing us the rope to hang ourselves!
If and when they build up enough wealth and consumption in their own society that they do not need us.....they will cut off our allowance and expect us to pay them back....then what?
This book has a similar view of our problems as another book I read called "Three Billion New Capitalists", though the author of that book was the Counselor to the Secretary of Commerce under Ronald Reagan. So while that book talked with quite a bit of first-hand knowledge, Mr. Brussee lookst at the same situation by analyzing all the data that is available to each of us...except he pulls it all together and makes sense of it.
I think Mr. Brussee has a more negative outlook for the situation, though I don't think either book paints a rosey picture of how our debt and imbalance of trade is doing anything by killing our value/worth to the world.
Both of the above books are worth the price and I suggest you read both books.
Very worthwhile reading.......2006-11-10
The author offers fairly complelling evidence for his prediction - I have actually checked the Personal Savings Rate [...] and found that his prediction in that area is still holding firm. Recent (Nov '06) news reports also agree that the public debt is reaching unsustainable levels. Now the stock market is going even higher (read over-valued) so we have a situation that appears to be just the scenario that the author paints.
The book is fairly dry but unfortunately the bare facts usually are.
Convincing!.......2006-06-12
Based on clear analysis of economic facts, Brussees conclusions are very convincing. Get ready!
Max Otte, Ph.D.
Professor of International Business
Average customer rating:
- Straightforward intermediate microeconomics
- misunderstanding
- Lacks Links to Real World Economic Problems
- Stop referring to graphs & fig. that are on the next page!
- Does the job it was written for
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Microeconomics
Michael L Katz , and
Harvey S Rosen
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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ASIN: 0256171769 |
Book Description
This is a Microeconomic theory text for courses in economics departments and business schools.
Customer Reviews:
Straightforward intermediate microeconomics.......2004-07-16
this is by no means an introductory economics text.. It's an intermediate level textbook.. It assumes that the student is capable of certain mathematical techniques (you can't expect a beginner to calculate the optimal consumer choice using the Lagranges method in chapter 3! - and it gets worse)
It is true that most of the time you have to flip the page to find the graph that is being explained. However it didn't annoy me too much. It is actually good thing if you want to practice and draw the graph yourself.
The 2nd edition had some errors but in this edition (3rd) they are corrected as far as I could see.
About the authors:
Michael Katz - University of California at Berkeley. Received the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award in 1989 and 1993. Served as chief economist of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Harvey Rosen - Princeton University, Fellow of the Econometric Society and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research
misunderstanding.......2004-04-08
1. I did not read the book so I can not talk about the book, althoug I should have rate it otherwise I could not have submit this review! I rate it based on the info given by my professor of macroeconomics!
2. I want to make comments on the review of Mr. adoumri; I would say that he was disappointed with the book because, as can be seen from his review, hi actually wanted to learn things from macroeconomics, but unfortunatelly he took a book for microeconomics, so he is actually talking about apples having in mind pears!! :-)
One should be cautious when writing, as well as when reading other people's reviews!
Thank you!
Lacks Links to Real World Economic Problems.......2003-10-16
I am currently enrolled in a Microeconomics course at Columbia University, and I do not find this book easy to read at all, the reason being that the author makes no effort to link microeconomic concepts to real world problems. I have found my Macroeconomics textbook to be immensely more interesting because the concepts relate immediately to social issues and real world economic problems. For students who choose to study economics because of its insights into real world problems, this text may become frustrating. I suggest that the authors more examples of microeconomics in the real world, such as the explanation of "President Carter's Gasoline Tax" on page 106. When economic theory is taught with no reference to the real world, it makes some students less interested in the subject. I intended to study economics with the goal of gaining insight into social welfare problems and understanding government policies. Learning ratios and equations that simply determine how much tacos or hamburgers Sarah wants to eat was demotivating. As a result, I am trudging through my textbook (and class) and starting to wonder if this subject is worth studying.
Stop referring to graphs & fig. that are on the next page!.......2003-06-11
It's so annoying to read about graphs and figures that appear on the next page. If the authors are going to cite these visual tools have them on the same page whenever possible. Of course it is unrealistic to expect that everytime but in the K&R book this occurred 90% of the times. It's annoying when you have to flip the pages. This annoyance knocked 3 stars from what would have been a 5-star rating.
What's right about the text?
The economics is sound and the teaching is concise. Bravo in that regard.
Does the job it was written for.......2001-01-21
This is a very well written textbook. There are many textbooks out there on the markets and this one has been written with the beginning reader in mind. It is just too easy to scare the beginner with too-serious, too-academic dry language. Economics is fun to learn and the first textbook a student ever keeps in hand should make him interested, curious, wanting more and more, and of course, amused. The language of Katz and Rosen's textbook is by no means frivolous, but it is entertaining. They do not pull the rabbit out of the hat and startle the reader. Instead, they guide readers from familiar environment towards the unknown, always being down to earth and somehow, interestingly, economic theory sneaks in - in the meantime.
The order of theory presentation and the structure of the book really facilitate learning. I have used this book with the introductory microeconomics course, along with a few other ones - just for a test. They all preferred this one so we stuck with it for the remainder of the course.
In the middle of the book one finds a transparency with a graph, which, when applied, shows the effects of some parameter change. Excellent idea, as the student can see dynamically what happens with the application. It's like a hand-operated video... It's a pity that there is only one such transparency.
In summary, recommended for most introductory courses in microeconomics. it will keep students interested and will not scare them at all. Why want anything more?
Book Description
Great companies consistently meet and exceed customer desires. Superior Customer Value in the New Economy: Concepts and Cases, Second Edition offers a blueprint for responding effectively to customer demands and for creating the benchmarks common to world-class service companies. The Second Edition elaborates on the latest perspectives of the business and academic communities, exploring leading marketing and managing developments in the crucial area of customer value (CV). It delivers expert guidance on designing, implementing, and evaluating a CV strategy that benefits e-service and information-based organizations. Building upon concepts, cases, and in-chapter applications, the book addresses best practices, organizational responsiveness, market orientation, and the planning and strategy issues that result in high rates of customer satisfaction in e-service and information-based organizations. It concludes with 18 detailed, "hands-on" examples of companies attempting to create customer value. Each case study delivers an in-depth look at major CV themes such as responding to change, being customer oriented, customer loyalty, and more. Each of these real-world examples provides excellent learning opportunities to model effective customer value behavior and practices.
Customer Reviews:
Superior Customer Value in the New Economy: Concepts and Cases, Second Edition.......2007-06-09
Very nice book :)
Excellent reference book for customer service and how this creates value .......2007-05-09
I purchased this book as a classroom requirement for my MBA program. I found this book extremely easy to read with a wealth of information. Offering many examples, it is easy to see how the companies listed incorporated different strategies and policies to improve customer service and ultimately add value for the customer, the company and other shareholders. I found myself using this book as a reference source for research papers written for other classes taken later on in the program. This book is an excellent resource for any future business manager.
Book Description
“No one in this world, so far as I know, has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.” —H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken was wrong.
In this endlessly fascinating book, New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki explores a deceptively simple idea that has profound implications: large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant—better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.
This seemingly counterintuitive notion has endless and major ramifications for how businesses operate, how knowledge is advanced, how economies are (or should be) organized and how we live our daily lives. With seemingly boundless erudition and in delightfully clear prose, Surowiecki ranges across fields as diverse as popular culture, psychology, ant biology, economic behaviorism, artificial intelligence, military history and political theory to show just how this principle operates in the real world.
Despite the sophistication of his arguments, Surowiecki presents them in a wonderfully entertaining manner. The examples he uses are all down-to-earth, surprising, and fun to ponder. Why is the line in which you’re standing always the longest? Why is it that you can buy a screw anywhere in the world and it will fit a bolt bought ten-thousand miles away? Why is network television so awful? If you had to meet someone in Paris on a specific day but had no way of contacting them, when and where would you meet? Why are there traffic jams? What’s the best way to win money on a game show? Why, when you walk into a convenience store at 2:00 A.M. to buy a quart of orange juice, is it there waiting for you? What do Hollywood mafia movies have to teach us about why corporations exist?
The Wisdom of Crowds is a brilliant but accessible biography of an idea, one with important lessons for how we live our lives, select our leaders, conduct our business, and think about our world.
Download Description
The Wisdom of Crowds
I
If, years hence, people remember anything about the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, they will probably remember the contestants' panicked phone calls to friends and relatives. Or they may have a faint memory of that short-lived moment when Regis Philbin became a fashion icon for his willingness to wear a dark blue tie with a dark blue shirt. What people probably won't remember is that every week Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? pitted group intelligence against individual intelligence, and that every week, group intelligence won.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was a simple show in terms of structure: a contestant was asked multiple-choice questions, which got successively more difficult, and if she answered fifteen questions in a row correctly, she walked away with $1 million. The show's gimmick was that if a contestant got stumped by a question, she could pursue three avenues of assistance. First, she could have two of the four multiple-choice answers removed (so she'd have at least a fifty-fifty shot at the right response). Second, she could place a call to a friend or relative, a person whom, before the show, she had singled out as one of the smartest people she knew, and ask him or her for the answer. And third, she could poll the studio audience, which would immediately cast its votes by computer. Everything we think we know about intelligence suggests that the smart individual would offer the most help. And, in fact, the "experts" did okay, offering the right answer--under pressure--almost 65 percent of the time. But they paled in comparison to the audiences. Those random crowds of people with nothing better to do on a weekday afternoon than sit in a TV studio picked the right answer 91 percent of the time.
Now, the results of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? would never stand up to scientific scrutiny. We don't know how smart the experts were, so we don't know how impressive outperforming them was. And since the experts and the audiences didn't always answer the same questions, it's possible, though not likely, that the audiences were asked easier questions. Even so, it's hard to resist the thought that the success of the Millionaire audience was a modern example of the same phenomenon that Francis Galton caught a glimpse of a century ago.
As it happens, the possibilities of group intelligence, at least when it came to judging questions of fact, were demonstrated by a host of experiments conducted by American sociologists and psychologists between 1920 and the mid-1950s, the heyday of research into group dynamics. Although in general, as we'll see, the bigger the crowd the better, the groups in most of these early
experiments--which for some reason remained relatively unknown outside of academia--were relatively small. Yet they nonetheless performed very well. The Columbia sociologist Hazel Knight kicked things off with a series of studies in the early 1920s, the first of which had the virtue of simplicity. In that study Knight asked the students in her class to estimate the room's temperature, and then took a simple average of the estimates. The group guessed 72.4 degrees, while the actual temperature was 72 degrees. This was not, to be sure, the most auspicious beginning, since classroom temperatures are so stable that it's hard to imagine a class's estimate being too far off base. But in the years that followed, far more convincing evidence emerged, as students and soldiers across America were subjected to a barrage of puzzles, intelligence tests, and word games. The sociologist Kate H. Gordon asked two hundred students to rank items by weight, and found that the group's "estimate" was 94 percent accurate, which was better than all but five of the individual guesses. In another experiment students were asked to look at ten piles of buckshot--each a slightly different size than the
Customer Reviews:
Smart, Interesting and Easy to Read.......2007-09-21
This book was a surprise hit for me. I didn't expect to like it, but ended up loving it so much I just had to have a copy on my shelf. Surowieki is very convincing, in part because he takes such care to bring up alternative arguments and respond to each. He also keeps his focus fairly narrow, so the arguments aren't all over the place. I was especially fascinated by his discussion of experts. We rely on them so heavily these days, but now I know to question their expertise. This book has changed the way that I make decisions and the way I evaluate good decision-making in my elected representatives. I recommend this book to anyone interested in making good decisions. It is a smoothly-written book and you won't have any trouble following the arguments or staying 'into' it.
Don't expect a textbook.......2007-09-19
I really like the Wisdom of Crowds because Surowiecki succeeds in explaining complicated and sophisticated ideas in ways that educated people can not only grasp but also incorporate into their own thinking. This is quite an achievement, one that critics of the book have overlooked. This topic has not been open until now to such a wide audience.
Surowiecki never shies from even difficult and abstract statistical concepts. He draws liberally upon academic journals and scholarly books, writing in a style that is at once journalistic and educated.
Yet, Surowiecki never talks down to his reader. Instead he invites the reader to accompany him through an arcane (and dimly lit) maze of statistical practice as it has been developed and utilized for decades by social scientists and economists. The reader is rewarded again and again because Surowiecki points to a partially hidden jewel, holds it up for examination, hands it to the reader and then leaves it in plain sight (often for reference later in the book).
Thus, this book is a remarkable example, a model, for readers (and writers) who wish to bridge the gaps between educated professionals.
My criticism is along different lines. In this extremely visual era, the editors could have widened the audience for the Wisdom of Crowds much further if suitable images could have been commissioned to throw additional light on Surowiecki's prose. But, paper and ink are so much more expensive than artists these days, one can understand the limitations and constraints Doubleday (Random House) were under. On the other hand, why not put up a web site?
Crowds Oh Wisdom.......2007-09-19
Good book and I thought the pace moved along extremely well. There are some significant things in the book that are a bit dated, but overall this is a very interesting book. I also recommend "Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing" by Lois Kelly published 2007 to couple with this book. Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Food for thought.......2007-08-21
I found this book full of sweeping claims, generalizations and is confusing in its presentation. However it made me think. Overall the writer is saying that people independently working on a problem can in a fair vote be more accurate then the smartest individual. He then quotes examples for such behaviour and examples of when the crowds got it wrong when they acted not independently but in mass. I suspect that much of his arguments are sound.
How much I am not sure for example if I asked the average person independently if they believe there was much truth in astrology, I am sure that over 50% would say yes.
However since the book is making much comments, I hope to see some better studies coming forward.
Having said all this it has changed my views on decision making and how to do it.
Surowiecki is a gifted teacher.......2007-08-08
At first I was afraid that "The wisdom of crowds" was going to be a 250 page restatement of the law of large numbers for dummies. In the beginning it looks that way, because Surowiecki takes a lot of time to explain that the more people trying to guess the solution to a problem, each adding their own bit of information, the more accurate the average guess. Not very revolutionary at all (although possibly counterintuitive at first). But as the book moved on I got more and drawn in and impressed by the presentation, which is rigorous and supremely readable at the same time.
The book describes how crowds can solve problems of cognition, coordination and cooperation. It gives the conditions under which crowds are good and not good at doing so. The author illustrates with a myriad of interesting problems and case studies, some rather obvious choices (why do investment bubbles emerge?, why do political stock markets predict so well?), others more arcane (why did the gangsters in reservoir dogs fail?, why is it often easy to cut a line?). What binds these studies together is the way groups handle information and the good and bad institution designed to make them do so.
Throughout all the diversity, it is the great scholarship of Surowiecki that makes everything naturally fall into place. Being familiar with a lot of the material in academic form, I know how conceptually daring some of it is, but Surowiecki effortlessly reduces it to bite-size portions, without compromising much or exaggerating anywhere. Great reading!
Book Description
China is the world's number-one growth story now. But how is it that China has achieved such quick growth in this era? How is it that made-in-China products can flood the globe? Is a trade war going to happen? Or is a new world order in the making? This second volume of a trilogy-by Chinese journalist/consultant George Zhibin Gu-aims to answer these questions and more.
Today, more than a half-million overseas companies conduct business inside China. Learn about all the opportunities this exploding market presents, including banking, insurance, and stock market, as well as the yuan and trade and cross-border business issues. Moreover, it contains extensive studies on China's political-economic reform as well as evolving international relations.
This volume addresses eight key topics:
I. China's New Role in the World Development
II. The Yuan, Trade, and Investment
III. China's Fast-Changing Society, Politics, and Economy (in light of Chinese and global history)
IV. China's Banking, Insurance, and Stock Market Reforms
V. Chinese Multinationals vs. Global Giants
VI. The Taiwan Issue: Current Affairs and Trends (federation as an alternate way for unity)
VII. India vs. China: Moving Ahead at the Same Time
VIII. The Japan-China Issue: Evolving Relations in Light of History
Today, all nations increasingly rely on one another for development, a trend that will only strengthen as time passes. As a saying goes, "The future is being shaped today." This book will appeal to readers everywhere regardless of their particular interests.
Customer Reviews:
Cooking With the Iron Rice Bowl.......2007-03-27
Part reference, part musing, part insightful and timely analysis, George Zhibin Gu's latest book "China and the New World Order: How Entrepreneurship, Globalization, and Borderless Business are Reshaping China and the World" is a welcome and refreshing read among the endless new titles printed on China today.
Picking up on a focus of his previous book "China's Global Reach...," Gu goes further and identifies the chief impediment to China's latest and perhaps most difficult transition as the Chinese state itself. Gu reveals the seemingly historical inevitability of China's vast government apparatus but explains that Communist Party bureaucracy is unique in Chinese experience in the size and scope of its all-encompassing control.
In topics relative to today's readers Gu ably demonstrates through the book that changes in China come from the revived entrepreneurial instinct of the Chinese. Along with huge foreign investment China's ever-growing private sector is the outside influence that is challenging Chinese bureaucracy as never before. But while the Chinese people struggle to create a law-based society and break the bureaucracy's grip on all aspects of economic life, the Chinese state seeks an equal footing among world national powers.
"China and the New World Order" is nicely segmented into short but highly relevant chapters. As in his earlier works Gu deftly examines the pros and cons of numerous hot-button issues on China. For example he takes on the Taiwan - China knot and proposes an interesting solution, a federation or federal system as a means toward meaningful (and mutually beneficial) reunification although his federal system shares more similarity to a commonwealth in the opinion of this reviewer. Gu's look at delicate state of Japan and China relations reveals that Japan remains as apprehensive over Chinese growth and potential as it was in the past. In examining the India versus China debate Gu shows that there is far less competition (as Western press prefers to portray it) and more similarities between the two giants of Asia.
There is plenty of current information here and the detailed contents and summaries make the book a good quick reference for anyone with an interest in what's happening right now in China. And there are goodies such as a lengthy interview with Mark Mobius and a foreword by Hoover Institute fellow William Ratliff.
At one point in his analysis, Gu intriguingly compares the struggle in China to the old European church-state alliance. With that view in mind, what may be needed next and with luck what Chinese entrepreneurs may succeed in bringing is a Chinese "Glorious Revolution."
The most important book I read in the last 5 years.......2006-12-25
This new book from Dr. George Zhibin Gu is a geo-economics and geopolitical masterpiece from an insider, someone that thrives his consulting work and daily life inside China, not writing or comment from a comfortable chair in London or New York paid by a western think tank, or only for academic proposals. His challenge is to write for a broad audience out of China. I must refer his clever suggestions about Taiwan - a political proposal for a a federation - and the way he sees the go global from Chinese emergent multinationals. It is needed a lot of courage for an insider to be so clear in his proposals and to identify the old Chinese problem - bureaucracy, the same that stopped admiral Cheng Ho and the Discoveries in the XV Century, that closed China for so many centuries and gave an opportunity for foreign powers to humiliate China, hyper-bureaucracy that in the Mao period pulled China for chaos and economic and social distress. China and the New World Order is a must reading. Jorge Nascimento Rodrigues, editor of www.gurusonline.tv and translator of Made in China (published in Portuguese language).
Is a new world order in the making?...It might just happen........2006-12-15
Base on the number of book in relation to this matter so far I believe that no one has come close to capturing "new China's" spirit and meaning as Gu. After reading his second volume I found it to be hugely insightful on the current events of China and global affairs. It greatly explores the key factors that shape Chinese and global development in the next stages. It gives tremendous info and analysis on the Chinese government, politics, business and economy for any one's interest.
There's a huge amount of info on foreign businesses inside China. You will be able to see about twenty five American and global multinationals inside of China that are studied. In the meantime it gives us a very provocative analysis on China's new role in the world. Gu details this general picture of how China is walking away from a practical society and embracing an open, restless and dynamic society. It claims that an overextended, self-appointed bureaucracy remains the key problem for China. To overcome countless technical barriers, greater openness, entrepreneurship and global involvement is all needed. Again, it's very insightful on the issues between China, Taiwan, Japan, India and West. I will add that his analyses on Japan-China line up are very interesting as well as Taiwan. There' a tremendous amount of info and analysis on China's financial, banking, insurance and stock market.
Author George Zhibin Gu is a very outspoken and a well known Chinese journalist who has generally covered mergers and acquisitions, capital activities, business expansion, and restructuring. He's an insider who gives us scrupulous examination on current China and global affairs which is more than a reason why you should grab hold to this book.
Insightful and Intelligent.......2006-12-11
George Gu provides a depth of understanding that distinguishes his work from most other business books. His wide network of contacts gives insight into emerging trends. He provides useful context that western authors often lack and Chinese authors frequently take for granted.
Prepare for the Dragon Market - Winston Ma, Author of "Investing in China: New Opportunities in a Transforming Stock Market.......2006-11-07
For the international investor community, "Investing in China" in the new century is more or less a one-way investment and capital flow. Mr. Gu's book, however, looks one step further to explore how all these interactions would reshape the global horizon, both for China and the rest of the world.
In fact, China's outward influence is increasingly obvious. For instance, whether China would diversify its foreign currency reserve -- and consequently whether China will enter into the gold market to hedge its US dollar exposure -- has profound implications in the global financial markets.
Comparing to many other books on China, Mr. Gu's book has a truly "authentic Chinese" flavor. The reason is obvious: He is an INSIDER. As a native Chinese, he captures the spirit of China's latest developments in its not-too-short historic context.
Book Description
A fully revised and expanded edition, complete with the most current economic data, more charts covering longer time periods, and a whole new chapter on tracking the economy using the Internet.
For anyone who hopes to achieve enduring success in the financial markets, understanding the major economic indicators is a must. From newspapers to financial news networks and the Internet, the media inundates even the most experienced investors with economic data. A comprehensive discussion of the most important economic statistics to watch--including GDP, interest rates, monetary and fiscal policy, and many others-- and how they interact with the financial markets, this book is required reading for individual and professional investors, analysts, and business students. Full of practical tips on investment returns, time horizons, risk, and diversification, readers will learn to forecast realistic returns. Finally, a special chapter on the Internet not only gives readers the low-down on which data sources are worthy of a closer look, but how to use on-line data to create a personal economic workshop for tracking the economy and the financial markets.
Customer Reviews:
Not impressed.......2007-05-23
I was not very impressed with this book. My background is that I am familiar with stock market basics but needed a better understanding of how economic indicators that are often reported in the Wall Street Journal play into the stock market. For instance, people seem to write a lot about the jobs report and I never understood all of the ramifications of this indicator. How the Economy Works doesn't say anything about the jobs report.
The descriptions of various aspects of the economy weren't documented as thoroughly as I would have liked either. As a specific example of this, I was familiar with the basic idea of GDP but didn't understand all of the details. How the Economy Works broke down the components that make up the GDP but did not explain why certain components were necessary, such as "changes in business inventory." In other words, what was the rationale for including changes in business inventory as a component of the GDP? You would never find out by reading this book. You would only know it's in there. I didn't find my economic confusion cleared up very much with this book.
I later purchased The Secrets of Economic Indicators (ISBN: 0-13-145501-X) from Amazon and found this book much more clear, factual, and in depth. In chapter 3 they covered the jobs report as "the most eagerly awaited news on the economy". The GDP description was very clear in comparison to How the Economy Works, and much more thorough.
My recommendation would be to go with another book if you are interested in really understanding the various aspects of the economy. However, How the Economy Works might be useful for people who feel overwhelmed and just need a good overview of the different aspects of the economy.
How the Economy Works: An Investor's Guide to Tracking the Economy.......2007-01-30
This is an excellent book for those beginning a study of real world economics. There are plenty of charts and clear explanations of how the Economy's pieces fit together. I have used it in several courses and can report that my students have found it very helpful.
Problem is the publishing date: 1999.......2003-09-12
Most of the data in this book ends no later than 1998, so shows everything trending merrily upward. Not the author's fault, of course, and you could update it yourself if you've got lots of free time, a highbandwidth Internet connection, access to an excellent library and money for some subscriptions. Otherwise, an update to show the bubble and bust would be most helpful.
But a good book to read if looking for a start at understanding the sources of and connections between the various economic indices and data that are so glibly thrown about in both the popular and financial media.
The High School Opinion.......2003-03-14
The average person does not know much about the U.S. economy, even though they are connected to it everyday. Mr. Mennis' book, How the Economy Works, takes this complex subject down to the average readers skill, and takes them step by step through each aspect of it. I was galvanised by the way Mennis used graphs and charts to back up his text. It was very refreshing to see this, because in school, they explain, but never show you how it works in life. If you want to major in business this would be a great book for you. Mr. Mennis tells about starting up a new business and how to work the stock market, so it doesn't work you. Mennis believes that the five best ideas for understanding investments are listing specific goals, how to meet these goals, set an absolute rate of return so you can see it your goal is realistic, a time in which to measure your results and to determine the risks involved before getting into a situation you can't get out of. If you still want more info buy the book, it's a great way to learn about the U.S. Economy.
economics is not the same as investing.......2002-09-10
A big problem with this book is the title. The book should have been titled "An Introduction to Economic Data that Impact Investments".
The unstated premise of this book is that you must understand and follow scores of economic indexes to make profitable investments. If you agree with that premise, this book is for you.
I tend to think that making money on the stock/bond markets requires more than just understanding economics. Whatever that is, you will not find it in this book.
Book Description
Jonni McCoy and her family are proof that you live on one income. The McCoys made a successful transition from two incomes to one while living in one of the most expensive parts of America: the San Francisco Bay Area. Her Miserly Guidelines will help you save thousands of dollars a year on everything from groceries to electricity to insurance and household cleaners-as well as reveal the hidden costs of holding a job and common money wasters. Her practical, proven cost-saving techniques, strategies, tips, and recipes will help you live frugally without feeling deprived.
Customer Reviews:
A Must read for any mom!.......2007-04-04
I read this book for clues on how to become a stay at home mom. I purchased quite a few books and found this one to be most helpful. She not only tells you how to do it, she gives great examples of what she did that worked and what didn't work!
Only so...so.......2007-02-22
I don't really think this book gives much depth on the art of living on less. I would recommend The Tightwad Gazette if you want to learn to live on one income and look for this one at the library, there is really very little advice that isn't obvious.
Life changing book.......2006-12-12
This book is a must have for any woman transitioning from "work outside the home" to "stay at home". It is chock full of wisdom and great ideas! This is no "wash & reuse your plastic baggies" kind of book. It has fantastic practical helps on everything from helping your grocery budget to making your own play-dough and non-toxic cleaning products. I have read and re-read this book many times.
Kick-started my frugal lifestyle.......2006-11-03
I found this book used at the bookstore and traded some unwanted books to get it, and that was the best "purchase" I have made in a long time. Other reviewers who say that she does focus heavily on food are correct, but for me that was great, because I do spend a lot on food and it seemed like a good place to start.
She shares general tips as well about places that commonly eat up our money, so it is a good book to get started with because it is focused in one direction and also has a lot of springboards for other areas of your life where you can save. Her tips never seemed like they went too far or would make me feel deprived, in fact a lot of her tips are based around developing more awareness of where your money is going, and she has a lot of ideas that I found very helpful.
So this is a great book to get started with, especially a used copy (I have an older edition and am finding it helpful even though some of the prices are outdated), and then when you have squeezed the usefulness out of this book, go for the Tightwad Gazette next. The Tightwad Gazette is a bit overwhelming for beginners, so I do recommend this book first. I have gotten a lot out of it.
Very Misleading - Focuses too much on Groceries.......2006-09-12
I applaud Ms. McCoy's obvious success and recognize that she has helped many families. However, I think this book is very misleading. It basically outlines how to find the extra money to stay home by changing the way you grocery shop. There are numerous other ways to save enough money when you lose or give up an income. I assumed the book would focus on all aspects of possible savings. If I had realized the book was so heavily focused on shopping and cooking, I would not have purchased it. I recognize that the author touches on other areas and suggests applying her cost-savings suggestions with groceries to all other aspects of your life. But, a book about how to grocery shop frugally is not what I thought I was buying. I think it's an excellent resource for people who want that, it should just be titled and marketed as what it is.
I must also note that the book includes an entire, very long, chapter of recipes. I did not think that was appropriate since the book is not presented as focusing on meals. And, most of the chapters are way too brief (many have less than five pages of information). I also worry that planning meals by only focusing on store sales has a much greater health cost from poor nutrition down the road.
I am glad that Ms. McCoy's choices seem to work well for her and I hope they help others who are interested in a similar approach. I just wanted to share what the book really focuses on for people who prefer a different approach to finding a way to afford being at home.
Book Description
Wal-Mart is under attack--from labor unions, urban planners, globalization critics, and community activists. The company's detractors argue that Wal-Mart reduces living standards, hurts retail trade, causes unemployment, and relegates Third World workers to poverty. In the Wal-Mart Revolution, Richard Vedder and Wendell Cox examine Wal-Mart's true role in the economy. The authors look briefly at the history of retailing in America and the contributions made by James Penney and Frank Woolworth. Looking specifically at Wal-Mart, they review conditions before and after Wal-Mart entered a local market and look more broadly at Wal-Mart's impact on wages, productivity growth and inflation. Vedder and Cox show that the retailer has been a force for good.
Customer Reviews:
Boring and Easily Summarized.......2007-07-09
The authors begin by using other peoples' data to estimate at least $55 '05 benefit per consumer, double that if Wal-Mart practices adopted by competitors is included. (My own experience, buying both grocery and non-food items at Wal-Mart, suggests a much higher figure - about $600.)
As for negatively impacting producers, the authors use arcane and skimpily covered methods to estimate that the net benefit is still about $110/year. Again, I suspect the negative impact on American workers is much greater than the authors contend.
Regardless, "The Wal-Mart Revolution" then adds on charitable giving - as though the Mom and Pop stores it often replaces never made charitable gifts.
Many blame Wal-Mart for hiring workers at relatively low pay and offering skimpy benefits. Wal-Mart is not the source of the problem, however. The real problem is our government allowing such extensive outsourcing that employees are left with no choice but to accept such positions. If Wal-Mart didn't do it, others would - and to a large extent they do.
Look at the packaging on boxes being brought into department stores and specialty shops - far too often they show the same "Made in China" printing that is found on Wal-Mart merchandise. Lately we have even learned that much of our food is also produced by China.
Bottom Line: Don't blame Wal-Mart for offering the best deal while protecting itself from others. Blame the American government and short-sighted economists that think losing millions of jobs to outsourcing is a good thing.
fast, excellent packaging: perfect!!!.......2007-05-28
I received the book fairly quickly. I was new and looked great1
Wal-Mart Revolution.......2007-05-12
If you favor truth and empirical observation regarding Wal-Mart rather than the hyperbolic PR of green advoacates and union web sites this is required reading. It is excellently documented and the authors have no particular axe to grind since they are not affliated with Wal-Mart in any way.
Uhh..It's Called Reality, Folks........2007-03-18
Is this book a joke? What planet are these authors living on?
It is an undeniable fact that Wal-Mart's "success" is achieved through predatory pricing, union busting, and forcing workers to work off the clock. One example of many: In March 2005, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $11 million to settle allegations that it had failed to pay overtime to janitors, many of whom worked seven nights a week. [Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 11/7/05, Forbes, 10/10/05]
Not only that, but Wal-Mart is the indirect beneficiary of billions of taxpayer dollars. In many states, like California, the average Wal-Mart "associate" makes only $17, 114. How do these associates survive on such a salary? By collecting welfare benefits from the state in the form of low-income housing assistance, food stamps, low-income energy assistance and Medicaid.
As far as Wal-Mart suddenly going "organic" to satisfy consumer demand, as the book suggests, the company gets its organic products from places like China. Why? The whole concept of organic is not simply buying foods free of pesticides. It also involves supporting LOCAL farmers and insuring sustainable wages for local farming communities. THIS is how localities would be benefited by companies like Wal-Mart. China has a horrible human rights record and is able to supply cheap goods to Wal-Mart by banning independent labor unions and "employing" millions of workers as virtual slaves. How are workers kept in this bondage? By an authoritarian state apparatus that "free market" adherents like Vedder have somehow made peace with.
This is the real world, folks! The free market does not exist-- except in the fevered imaginations of capitalist hacks.
Leftists are not opposed to "success", as a reviewer suggests below. What we're opposed to are parasites that live off the backs of working people. Leftists support all types of companies--very successful ones, I might add, that place people before profits. Companies like Whole Foods, Working Assets, Ben and Jerry's, Seventh Generation, Gateway Inc., Office Max, etc.
Free market ideologues will scoff at this assertion, claiming that it's just a bunch of Marxist drivel, that Wal-Mart provides jobs for thousands of people that they otherwise wouldn't have, offers low prices for poor people, blah blah...
However, what these people doesn't understand is that labor is not just a commodity to be treated like any other commodity. It is much more than that.
For more information on this subject, check out "Debunking Economics: The Naked Emperor of the Social Sciences" by Steve Keen. Also, check out "No One Makes You Shop At Wal-Mart: The Suprising Deceptions of Individual Choice" by Tom Slee.
A fascinating discussion of the actual history of Wal-Mart, the retail trade, and Wal-Mart's critics.......2007-02-25
One of the worst aspects of politics is that the issues politicians use are too often used to commit people one way or the other based on emotions rather than reason or a set of facts. In recent years, with the advent of very accurate polling, politicians and those dependent on them for government largesse have found it convenient to pick out a "bad guy" (the "bad guy" only has to be someone they can smear, not someone who is actually guilty of bad behavior) and then blame a popular set of ills on them that the politician will claim to "fix".
For example, the Clintons went after the "profiteering vaccine makers", as noted in many newspapers in 1993. (The calculating nature of this attack is discussed in Bob Woodward's "The Agenda".) The result? They all but killed off the domestic vaccine industry. Good job! But it got them something to rant about, divert attention from their early political blunders once in office and the ability to garner some votes in the next election. No matter that they made people worse off. The GOP tends to pull out the flag-burning amendment whenever they need to divert attention from some unpleasant political reality they stepped into, although that is getting a bit worn.
Wal-Mart has been taking any number of hits from unionists, mostly Democrat politicians, community activists, and anti-globalization folks. This book is a very helpful way to get some clarifying information about what is actually going on in the retail industry and Wal-Mart's place in it. The authors also consider the validity of criticisms leveled against the world's largest retailer.
In the preface the authors head off the criticism that will inevitably be made of anyone who fails to go along with the criticisms made against Wal-Mart, that the writer is a company stooge. The authors note that while Wal-Mart has made a modest contribution to the AEI, they knew nothing at all about it until after the book was completed and had little contact with Wal-Mart while writing the book. The introduction sets the stage for the book, which consists of twelve chapters divided into four parts.
Part I is "Why Wal-Mart Matters" and provides a simplified explanation of how innovation and efficiency in retail makes customers better off through consumer surplus, the positive and negative externalities caused by changes in the marketplace, public attitudes towards the retail trade in America, the criticisms leveled against the company, and who these critics are.
Part II is "The Wal-Mart Revolution". It begins with a fascinating discussion of the history of retailing. When the first chain stores began putting the local shops out of business, people were just as upset as they claim to be today and yet shopped at the more efficient stores with the lower prices, as they do today. Here is a quote from the speaker of the Indiana house: "The chain stores are undermining the foundations of our entire local happiness and prosperity." Sounds quite familiar, doesn't it?
The authors also provide a history of Wal-Mart as well as its competitors and imitators. I found the charts on pages 47 and 48 quite fascinating. The retail trade in America has grown from around $250 billion in 1960 to around $800 billion in 2004. However, the retail trade for all those years has stayed at right around 8% of a growing GDP. It is interesting to note how these imitators and competitors are all more similar than different. Why? Because they are constrained by the marketplace and its competitive forces. People have only so much discretionary income and want to get the most for it. Therefore, those who offer the most equivalent goods (as perceived by the consumer) at the lowest cost will almost certainly be the winner in the marketplace. This has been proven out multiple times over the past century and more.
In Part III the authors consider "Wal-Mart: Good or Bad". They look carefully at the employment information available, the impact the store has on communities, its cost/benefit to the taxpayer, its impact on the poor, the impact of the big box revolution on productivity and compare what is known to the claims and assertions made by the company's critics. The claims are often over blown or unsubstantiated. However, even when they do have a point stated more or less fairly, they fail to balance the negative with the positives.
Part IV looks at Wal-Mart's future. It notes the impact the criticisms of Wal-Mart have had on its behavior, how it is faring in its moved outside the borders of the United States (mixed), and further evaluation of the critics of Wal-Mart and a consideration of what "we should do about Wal-Mart".
I found this to be a breath of fresh air and a helpful source of information to balance the popular notions all too often that Wal-Mart is a force for evil in our economy. While this negative image cannot be squared with the reality of consumer and employee behavior, it is one that is too often accepted and discussed as if it were a fact. If you are interested in this public discussion and want to know the other side of the issue and get a more balanced view of the situation, then please read this book. It is not very long, easy to read, and I found it very interesting.
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- Brand From the Inside: Eight Essentials to Emotionally Connect Your Employees to Your Business
- Brand From the Inside: Eight Essentials to Emotionally Connect Your Employees to Your Business
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