Average customer rating:
- Rodrik gets it right
- good source of hot topic
- Provides indepth analysis of the issues involved...
- ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS ON THE TOPIC!
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Has Globalization Gone Too Far?
Dani Rodrik
Manufacturer: Institute for International Economics
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0881322415 |
Download Description
Globalization is exposing social fissures between those with the education, skills, and mobility to flourish in an unfettered world market-the apparent "winners"-and those without. These apparent "losers" are increasingly anxious about their standards of living and their precarious place in an integrated world economy. The result is severe tension between the market and broad sectors of society, with governments caught in the middle. Compounding the very real problems that need to be addressed by all involved, the kneejerk rhetoric of both sides threatens to crowd out rational debate. From the United States to Europe to Asia, positions are hardening. Author Dani Rodrik brings a clear and reasoned voice to these questions. Has Globalization Gone Too Far? takes an unblinking and objective look at the benefits-and risks-of international economic integration, and criticizes mainstream economists for downplaying its dangers. It also makes a unique and persuasive case that the "winners" have as much at stake from the possible consequences of social instability as the "losers." As Rodrik points out, ". . . social disintegration is not a spectator sport-those on the sidelines also get splashed with mud from the field. Ultimately, the deepening of social fissures can harm all." President Clinton has read the book and it provided the conceptual basis for the trade/IMF portions of the State of the Union message in January 1998.
Customer Reviews:
Rodrik gets it right.......2003-07-28
In his spellbinding account of the economic realities of globalization, Dani Rodrik gets it right. Whether it is his accounting of the increased elasticity in the job market or his discussion of labor as a factor bearing a higher incidence of non-wage costs, today's economy makes Rodrik seem prophetic. It is a book whose time has come, any thinking person should buy this book.
good source of hot topic.......2002-01-08
It seems that over the past few years, the topic of globilization aond free trade have become hot topics because of events like the WTO protests in Seattle, the World Bank protests in DC and Ralph Nader's run for the presidency in 1996 and 2000.
Has globilization gone too far? is a good source for those people trying to find out more about the issue because it shows what happens under globilization both theoritically and in real life. It presents the arguements against free trade and the problems associated it with it like loss of jobs and capital outflows so it is good to understand the oposing view.
Provides indepth analysis of the issues involved..........2000-10-20
This is an excellent book that dwells in to the effects of globalization, related issues and potential solutions. It discusses social issues and policies within the context of globalization. It also dwells in to the issues related to labor standards and income distribution. Rodrik presents good solutions but they are debatable and not easy to implement.
I feel that Rodrik discusses solely from the perspectives of industrialized nations' interests. I would have liked him to explore more from the perspectives of under developed/developing nations'.
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS ON THE TOPIC!.......2000-04-18
Seldom can one find an economist whose sensitivity to political and social issues coexist in perfect harmony with a technically impecable background. Rodrik is one such rare creature. His book addresses the issue of globalization, defying economic theories and pointing straight to the problem: globalization engenders social instability, that in turn unables financial/economic stability to be sustained. Accoridng to Rodrik, unless attention is given to the "lossers" of this process, protectionism may strike back. Rodrik is successful in showing that globalization is NOT "the end of history", and should not be taken for granted.
Book Description
Andy Stern, one of the most visionary leaders in America today, has fought relentlessly to ensure that Americans' hard work is rewarded in today's hypercompetitive, globalized world. As the newsmaking president of the fastest-growing, most dynamic union in America, he has led the charge for modernizing the "house of labor" -- taking unions out of the past and into the twenty-first century. He has spearheaded the campaign against the "Wal-Marting" of jobs and has innovated transformative solutions to the daunting problems facing Americans, from job insecurity to runaway health care costs. In this powerful critique and call-to-arms, he offers a revelatory dissection of the gathering threats to our standard of living -- threats that our politicians have failed utterly to address -- and he puts forth a bold, unassailable plan for making vital reforms.
In his eye-opening diagnosis that makes the urgency of the threats vividly clear, Stern shows that Americans are contending with the most disruptive economic upheaval in the world economy since the Industrial Revolution. Yet, in the face of this daunting challenge, the American system simply isn't working well enough for most of us. Stern powerfully portrays how with the pace of globalization relentlessly quickening, the competitive pressures on our jobs and quality of life are heating up even more, especially as housing, health care, and oil prices skyrocket. While CEO salaries soar and business and the wealthy are handed plentiful tax shelters, the incomes of both white-collar and blue-collar workers stagnate, leaving most Americans struggling to pay off ever-escalating debt, instead of saving for retirement. The plain fact is that our system is out of whack, serving the interests of the top sliver of the most wealthy while putting the squeeze on the rest of us.
Meanwhile, our politicians irresponsibly sidestep the crucial solutions that we so desperately need in order to make sure Americans can move into the twenty-first century with their futures secure. As Stern so persuasively shows, it is time for bold thinking and creative solutions to overhaul a health care system in crisis; correct a tax system rigged in favor of business and the wealthy; revamp our inadequate retirement system; and make truly innovative improvements in education. He presents a set of course-correction reforms so compelling, simple, and achievable that readers will find themselves enraged that they haven't yet been enacted. Americans have a right to expect our government to work for us. Andy Stern shows how we can get things back on track to make sure it does.
Customer Reviews:
Practical Populism........2007-09-13
Andy Stern does a great job of addressing the elephant in the room, corporate globalization, that is sold to populations around the world as "inevitable," but is being resisted all over the world. This particular form of globalization (also known as "neoliberalism" - although, not having anything to do with progressive liberalism) has been more of an investor's rights agreement, protecting shareholders while leaving other stakeholders in society - labor, local economies, the environment, indigenous communities - in dire straights. Stern recognizes what concerned people all over the world know, that the policies of NAFTA, CAFTA, the WTO, the IMF, et al, are not laws of gravity and are subject to reform, if not complete rejection.
International Socialist Review
Interestingly, Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado recently recommended Stern's book during an interview on a 50,000 watt station here in Denver. That's the sort of media activism on behalf of labor that all sorts of people need to be doing; to counter the years of anti-labor rhetoric all over the airwaves that are owned and sponsored by Big Business. Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky and the Media
While some segments of organized labor have seen declines, SEIU is growing; thanks to the sort of popular ideas in "A Country That Works," and also due to the organizing efforts of both documented and undocumented workers. I imagine the aggressive organizing of the immigrant population is part of the reason why there has been such a harsh dehumanization campaign and an increase in ICE raids, deportations and so forth. Working class people across borders need to recognize that with capital and corporate executives operating transnationally, labor needs to do the same. No One Is Illegal: Fighting Violence and State Repression on the U.S.-Mexico Border
For another good resource to teach people about the importance of labor organizing, I'd recommend the movie starring Adrien Brody that the SEIU helped to produce. Bread and Roses
"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." - Abraham Lincoln, speech to Congress, 12/3/1861
The Hard Truth.......2007-01-09
Andy Stern deepens and extends previous efforts to describe and analyze the state of America's -- and, implicitly, the globe's -- socio-economic condition, and he supplies suggestions and proposals meant to remedy the more egregious symptoms of our civilization's decline. Long ago, Stern became the first major American labor leader to point publicly to the need for workers' action at the global level, and he turned heads three years ago with the somewhat heretical suggestion that US labor reconsider its monogamous relationship with the Democratic Party, a frequently unfaithful partner. For those who favor social change, A Country That Works provides a thoughtful overview and myriad leads toward a better future for all.
If you like your country, read this book!.......2006-10-22
After a long period of corruption, arrogance and distain for American values and American working people, a new generation of leaders is beginning to emerge...fresh voices with solid ideas and much to say to the Amerian people. The author of this book is one of them and he is inspriring the younger generations. Read this to understand how and why! A must read! Those who favor the status quo won't like it at all..those who are more optimistic will love it.
Clear and compelling.......2006-10-09
This book spells out in a clear and compelling fashion the challenges that American workers face in our global economy, and what can be done to stop the American dream from disintegrating any further.
You may think of unions as a quaint, irrelevant relic of a bygone era, or perhaps you see them as a blight on business. After you read this book, you'll understand how Stern's progressive union, the SEIU, has the potential to be a real force for good, not just for workers, but for employers and the country as a whole.
The best thing about Stern's book is that it doesn't just describe all the problems plaguing American workers, it offers innovative solutions from a union leader who is, on the one hand, willing to reach out to CEO's and conservatives, while also taking on Wal-Mart and other corporations who shortchange their own employees to boost their bottom line. Stern's even traveled to China five times to get a handle on our competition and how best to handle it.
I got to hear Stern speak at a book party for A Country That Works the other night, and he spoke so passionately and persuasively that I decided I really had to get a second copy of his book to give my dad, who's always held an anti-union bias. Unfortunately, Stern did such a great job pitching his ideas that they sold the forty copies of A Country That Works his publisher had provided before I could get my hands on one. Looks like my dad will have to settle for an unsigned copy!
Finally!.......2006-10-07
Finally, a book that tells the truth about what is really happening to the middle class in this country -- and more importantly, gives common sense solutions that could really turn America around. That's probably because it is written -- not by someone who has spent his life in academia or in politics or talking on TV or radio -- but on the front lines actually fighting to make work pay for working families. He's looked both employers and working people in the eye, and that makes all the difference. This book is interesting, personal, and visionary.
Book Description
Recasting labor studies in a long-term and global framework, the book draws on a major new database on world labor unrest to show how local labor movements have been related to world-scale political, economic, and social processes since the late nineteenth century. Through an in-depth empirical analysis of select global industries, the book demonstrates how the main locations of labor unrest have shifted from country to country together with shifts in the geographical location of production. It shows how the main sites of labor unrest have shifted over time together with the rise or decline of new leading sectors of capitalist development and demonstrates that labor movements have been deeply embedded (as both cause and effect) in world political dynamics. Over the history of the modern labor movement, the book isolates what is truly novel about the contemporary global crisis of labor movements. Arguing against the view that this is a terminal crisis, the book concludes by exploring the likely forms that emergent labor movements will take in the twenty-first century.
Customer Reviews:
Good coverage for labor unrest.......2006-07-11
The history events on labor movements for the past 130 years were put together in this book. However, the book has very few tables and figures, making it very dry to read.
It will be better to cover just a narrow range, say year 1956 to 2006, for more graphical illustrations.
It is a useful reference book for researchers.
Best Book on Contemporary Labor Studies.......2004-11-27
As a labor educator for 22 years, director of a labor education center, and adjunct professor of labor studies, this is simply the best book on labor studies I have ever read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in figuring out what is happening to the world labor movement today. I can't say enough or recommend it enough.
Book Description
As China has evolved into an industrial powerhouse over the past two decades, a new class of workers has developed: the dagongmei, or working girls. The dagongmei are women in their late teens and early twenties who move from rural areas to urban centers to work in factories. Because of state laws dictating that those born in the countryside cannot permanently leave their villages, and familial pressure for young women to marry by their late twenties, the dagongmei are transient labor. They undertake physically exhausting work in urban factories for an average of four or five years before returning home. The young women are not coerced to work in the factories; they know about the twelve-hour shifts and the hardships of industrial labor. Yet they are still eager to leave home. Made in China is a compelling look at the lives of these women, workers caught between the competing demands of global capitalism, the socialist state, and the patriarchal family.
Pun Ngai conducted ethnographic work at an electronics factory in southern China’s Guangdong province, in the Shenzhen special economic zone where foreign-owned factories are proliferating. For eight months she slept in the employee dormitories and worked on the shop floor alongside the women whose lives she chronicles. Pun illuminates the workers’ perspectives and experiences, describing the lure of consumer desire and especially the minutiae of factory life. She looks at acts of resistance and transgression in the workplace, positing that the chronic pains—such as backaches and headaches—that many of the women experience are as indicative of resistance to oppressive working conditions as they are of defeat. Pun suggests that a silent social revolution is underway in China and that these young migrant workers are its agents.
Customer Reviews:
Treat workers as human beings for better results.......2006-10-30
Anyone working on CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), with NGOs, or otherwise on development issues in China and most developing countries should read this book. I only wish Pung Nai had a shorter version where she cut out all the intellectual references to supposed `great thinkers' of the past century and actually kept it to its GEMS, which are her own insights into the true life realities for women factory workers.
This book came from Pung Nais PhD as she tells us. This is unfortunate as it makes what is otherwise fantastic material hard to read and slow. But the well written sections tell us stories of individual workers odysseys to Shenzhen from far away provinces, and explain social issues in China, and factory language providing insights few other writers have provided.
To those working on improving factory conditions, there are a lot of great tips here about what Not to do. Pung Nai talks about worker slowdowns due to frustration at dogmatic authoritarian pressure to work faster, or have music turned off, etc, and of workers being less efficient and regularly fainting from working excessive overtime. Reading this book gives those of us working to encourage factory managers to give their workers more reasonable hours and wages, more force in our argument that doing so will improve productivity and quality.
Regardless, Pung Nai points out the terrible toll on peoples lives of excessive overtime, particularly the physical and psychological impacts on young women, who are not only burdened by the work pressure, but also familial pressures back home to marry and have sons. It helps us understand the value of programmes such as Nikes high school graduation programme for factory workers in Asia, to give workers a chance to gain self respect and pride in an environment in which the very essence of who they are, country girls, is looked down upon.
Marxist retoric in disguise.......2006-06-16
By in large, to explain this book, "Made in China" by Pun Ngai, I have to look first at several different issues: the politics behind it, the assumptions they draw upon, and the things she leaves out. First off let me go into the politics behind this book. The more and more I read this book, the more and more I hate it. I'm sorry for saying that--well, not really. Maybe Pun Ngai has good intentions by pointing out only the negatives in every instance, but I couldn't help but be reminded of some transient theme behind all of her pessimisms. If I didn't know any better, which I obviously don't, I would say that Pun Ngai was defaming China not for being against the US and world cohesion, but for being for it. By that, I mean, that this book is extremely Marxist, anti capitalist, and anti US--to stand behind this book, while still maintaining any sense of American patriotism or pride is contradictory. This response may seem to be merely a defensive stance in terms of capitalism versus Marxist communism, but I'd like to think that it's more than that. The type of thought from this book isn't rare in China, Pun Ngai is only a part of a widely criticizing faction growing within China that likes to point out all the negatives of globalization, free trade, or neo-liberalism by pointing out the exploits and the harsh conditions being subjugated upon the workers, while disregarding any and all positive benefits they receive personally as well as any benefits towards the government as a whole. In this way, it is kind of like focusing in on only one part of a government's policies, focusing in on only one company still undergoing reform in the face of a more global privatized free trade open market economy, focusing in on only the lower echeloned workers most of whom are uneducated towards global perspectives, and focusing in on only the negative aspects of their lives. It is in this way that Pun Ngai was able to write such a completely negatively slanted defamation to all logical and true global debate. When the benefits of a society's system out weigh the negatives, in order to make a Marxist argument for conflict, one has to actually dig down to the bottom of the barrel and scrape the conflicts out with a spoon. The term "spoon" I am using is a metaphor for the subtle way Pun Ngai is trying to prove her points. It was written to incite outrage and to depict a sense of rebellion or resistance, which may or may not have actually been there, just to further her own party or social group's political ideologies. However, though, in the face of actual research and more information, for lack of a better way of putting this, Pun Ngai is just digging up dirt. This book was not written to discuss whether globalization is ultimately more or less beneficial to society, it was written to persuade people in how globalization is only negative.
Customer Reviews:
Dont waste your money.......2007-05-17
How come I don't see anyone without a job? Dont waste your money buying this useless book. Watch a movie in the theaters instead.
3 stars for getting the topic out in front of people, -2 stars for not getting it right........2007-04-29
This subject is getting a lot of ranting from people on the outskirts who know squat. Manufacturing is one thing, but IT is where the real action is. I work in IT outsourcing and I have seen both sides, while so many are talking from 3rd hand knowledge. Number 1 issue is that these imported visa techies are more sinned against then sinning. The imported worker isn't fully paid, gets only a paltry salary, the winner in the game, the true elite, are mddlemen ....It's all the vendor/employers who make the money, and sometimes there are so many layers of them, they don't even make much; and, they are rarely US corporate..... Oddly enough, most of them are immigrants themselves. Some immigrant guy gets a stable of visa guys with desireable skills (e.g., SAP) and vends them to other vendors, perhaps more than to actual US companies (you have to be a "preferred vendor" to get in on the action with the largest US Companies). Who knows what the poor visa guy actually gets, while the large US companies who seek to buy this contingent H1 visa labor don't get much of a bargin either. Yeah, they try to get competition for the sake of lower rates, but they also TRY to squeeze from the top and demand the TOP Tier "preferred" vendors send them with visa techies with such and such skills for a ceiling of $X; however, there are STILL market forces, and these middle level vendor/employers know the rates and sometimes the preferred vedor above them cannot not find or provide someone when any of the layers cannot make at least a minimal amount on the rate. Consequently, the rates creep up, and end up not that far behind the going rate. I have seen some Corporations/Companies have to re-process their original req with higher salaries cause they need someone badly, and eventully they go to the 2nd tier vendors. Ultimately while they may pay slightly less on the contract than for a full time guy, and slightly less than a US guy, it's not that much less, only a little, while the vendor middle-men gets his bucks (and more and more of them pop up every day). These vendor/employers make their bucks either on specific skills (lake SAP, .NET) or on volume, like parasites. Meanwhile US Companies cannot be bothered with hiring entry level. They need someone to "hit the ground running." The imported guys are just beyond entry level, having already got that back home from the same US companies overseas OR from other foreign companies or domestic companies over there. So, yeah, they are up and running faster than an entry level guy. The real tragedy is that our US IT grads have so few entry level jobs available. And the big bonanza, right now (jobs paying over $100k) is in managerial IT. The ones who have a leg up on those are the visa guys who tough it out and survive to get that magic Green Card. Having survived all the levels, they are often the best candidates for these well paid positions, and compete with native born US citizens who survived the tech bust. However, understandably, these GC guys want a competitive salary with their American counterparts. When the best candidates for these jobs are Green Cards, the US grads who never got the entry level job originally, lose out once again. Meanwhile, in places like India, IT is booming, and they badly need midlevel managers, so who will go? How many Americans are ready to uproot and learn Hindi? There is an r2i movement (r2i==return to India).... Probably all those Green Card guys who earned their stripes here, will go back, and again the US IT departments will have to go to another 3rd world country, and start the whole mess all over. Meanwhile, the rest of us low paid flunkies are barely making ends meet, work long hours, and get NO health benefits.
LOU DOBBS IS IGNORANT AND INCOMPETENT NEO-POPULIST.......2007-03-14
Shame on Lou Dobbs and his ignorant and arrogant rethoric.
Predicitions that have come true.......2007-03-11
Lou Dobbs writes a book on outsourcing and corporate greed. The wonder of this book was that it was written in 2004, in the early stages of the outsourcing pandemic in this county. Most of his charges have come 100% true in current day. This book is a simple read - I finished it in about 4 hours and is easily read.
He curtails so called free trade agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA and FTAA and organization such as the WTO and gives many examples of how these free trade agreements are completely unbalanced and unfair to the US worker and economy. US workers have been forced to compete (and history has now show)and loose to third world labor in China and Mexico. He was accused of being a "protectionist" when the reality is most people do not call for no trade with other countries. They call for fair and balanced trade. He explains how countries have set high tariffs and quotas on US imports but the US maintains little to no quotas and tariffs - and these are countries we are in trade agreements with. US businesses relocate our jobs and manufacturing base to cheap labor and unregulated markets in developing nations to only re import their good to the US. We are being exploited at the expense of corporate greed which does not have this nation's interests in sight. I am very unhappy with the fact that amongst his laundry list of present day status quo of terribly chartered agreements by our current administrations (Bush and Clinton), he does not really charge our nation's citizens with their insatiable appetite for consumption of flat screen TV's and just about any other exorbitant commodity we purchase. This has been a major factor on why these agreements stay in effect - our out of control consumer consumption has become culture at which it becomes very hard to change. But then again, most Americans really do not have a tiny grasp on the big picture because they are ignorant of it. They simply get annoyed when they call their bank customer service and wind up speaking to a representative in India of which they can't understand. Mr.s Dobbs goes into detail on how US companies have used the tax systems to their advantage and wind up paying no tax which leaves the middle class to pick up the burden. He gives a very good account of local and state government exporting their work to foreign countries! One of the most important discussions in the book is where early proponent of "free trade" would say that as our manufacturing base (about 3 million jobs) leaves the country, we will replace these jobs with higher level professional and services jobs (IT, lawyers, accountants). He details how we have now begun exporting these "replacement" jobs to our trading partners. What's left next to go? Since we have become now dependent on imports for our basic needs and have financed both consumer and economic debt and deficit with foreign funds - we have become very dependent and vulnerable as the worlds sole superpower.
I found this book a little bit of "preaching to the choir". I would highly recommend this to a person looking to wet their feet in trade issues of present day. Someone who has done much reading on the fleecing of the middle class will have come across much of what Mr.s Dobbs speaks about. Nonetheless, it still has some very good informative material that have been proven to be the reality. My last grievance is that of his 10 chapters of laundry type lists and critiques - 1 is devoted to finding solutions. I find this to be the case with his other book - "war on the Middle class (which I highly recommend). Mr. Dobbs is truly a great popularist of our present day. And if you watch his nightly CNN "Lou Dobbs Tonight' you'll know he committed to leveling the playing field for the middle class.
Honest Polemic.......2006-12-28
A market loving Republican has written a powerful indictment of the outsourcing of jobs that is hurting the middle class. As a business journalist & news anchor he fully understands the machinations of the business world. Ex: Free trade is not always fair trade. Note our trade deficit has been growing for thirty years. Some reforms & tasks can't be left to the market alone. The Federal & state governments have a duty to the citizenry. The latter with the peoples consent can stop corporate greed & corruption by preventing the constant outsourcing of middle class jobs to third world countries. If nothing is done to stop the jobs from leaving. We could become in the not to distant future a two tier society. Pharoahs at the top & a poorly paid majority of drones at the bottom.
Customer Reviews:
Great for videophiles.......2007-04-17
I bought this book hoping to use it in some of my political science and women's studies courses. Little did I realize that it's more of a guide than a book to read.
Nonetheless, I've found the book incredibly useful and suggest that other read it. This book is for both a lay and academic audience. I think the keen videophile will find the array of movies listed worth looking at and discussing w/ others for video nights/events.
One of the strongest points of the is guide is that after the descriptions of each movie there is a short list of suggested readings. This rounds out this superb book, which lists movies that span virtually every region across the globe.
Average customer rating:
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State Feminism, Women's Movements, and Job Training: Making Democracies Work in the Global Economy (Women and Politics in Democratic States)
Amy Mazur
Manufacturer: Routledge
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ASIN: 0815334389 |
Book Description
Drawing from the work of internationally renowned scholars from the Research Network on Gender, Politics and the State (RNGS), this study offers in-depth analysis of the relationship between state feminism, women's movements and public policy and places them within a comparative theoretical framework. Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Finland, Austria, Belgium, Canada, and the U.S. are all discussed individually.
Book Description
Corporations rule the world, claims Thom Hartmann, and they are despoiling it for profit. He traces the historical friction between individual rights and the corporation, culminating in a landmark 1886 court case that altered the course of constitutional protection forever. Since then corporations have steadily acquired power, shifted an unfair share of the tax burden, taken control of the media, and co-opted the regulatory process for their own purposes, according to Hartmann.Hartmann cites examples of the absurd and frightening power: sterile streams and undrinkable water, poisonous neighborhoods, deathtrap trucks for an extra $2 in profit.To end the abuses, Hartmann calls for a grassroots revolution. He says its time to understand the true costs of our consumerist society, take back the government, and shift to a values-based economy. Pre-drafted legal templates encourage individuals to begin work at the local level.
Customer Reviews:
Corporate Power, where did it come from? .......2007-07-13
I was actually in the process of writing a book about the same subject matter when I became aware of Mr. Hartmann's book. After reading this book I conclude that Mr. Hartmann beat me to it and has done a more thorough job than would have satisfied me. It is a very important matter and threatens to change our nation in fundamental ways. A shortcoming in Mr. Hartmann's book is the weakness of his proposed solutions. I have proposed to Mr. Hartmann actions which I think would be more effective in the long haul. I am searching for an existing organization having the sole goal of putting back in their place those corporations which are usurping the power given We the People by the Constitution. I'm too old to form a new orgnization and those I have learned of are not sufficiently focused.
This book changed my life.......2007-05-10
I read this book and have been a Thom Hartman fan ever since.
He is brilliant and packed with knowledge.
Everyone needs to read this book!
Check out his radio show.
Gives the insde on the need to rationalize corporations.......2007-04-08
Going into the Freedom Portal (Free State) I had doubts about the morality, perhaps even the constitutionality, of corporations.
What, after all, is a corporation?
American Heritage says: "a) A body of persons granted a
charter legally recognizing them as a separate entity having
its own rights, privileges, and liabilities distinct from those
of its members. b) Such a body created for purposes of
government."
Now isn't the b) part of that definition interesting? At the very least we know corporations are creatures of the government and do not exist at common law.
Thomas Hartmann, a true modern lower-case democrat, writes that Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and several other Founders warned strenuously against monopoly corporations:
"I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." --Thomas Jefferson to George Logan, 1816
And from Andrew Jackson:
"Corporations have neither bodies to kick nor souls to damn."
These conscientious men were worried about abuse of power. Early chartering of corporations in America reflects this concern, often imposing severe limitations--such as prohibiting corporations from owning other corporations and requiring annual renewal of the charters.
Many people do not realize the Boston Tea Party was a revolt against corporate privilege. Queen Elizabeth charted the East India Company (EIC) in 1600; into the 1700s it dominated trade by Britain with America. Tea became a huge import to America by the mid-1700s and EIC wanted all the business.
Several acts prohibited Americans from acquiring tea from other sources. In 1773, the Tea Act exempted EIC (of which the king was a stockholder), but not colonial merchants, from taxes to the crown. The tea partiers were telling the Crown and the EIC stick their cheap tea where the sun don't shine.
...
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Brian Wright
Copyright 2007
Unequal Protection:the rise of corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights.......2006-11-10
A call to all fair minded Americans, as well as citizens around the globe.
One of Thom Hartmann's BEST. A history lesson and a call to reclaim our humanity.
'The' book to read on the issue of the role of corporate power in the US.......2006-04-30
Disclaimer: I'm a bit more than half through the book - and ready to comment on it.
I read quite a few books on liberal politics. This one is on a very short 'best' list of them.
It hits its mark right on - just the right amounts of history, the scope of its message, the gritty details when needed, the pacing.
I began to learn new details on well-trodden ground early in the book - for example, who knew that the pilgrims arriving on the Mayflower in 1620 were hardly England beginning its presence in North America - that it was the Mayflower's third or fourth trip carrying over staff of the East India company since 1601 - it was a company presence, the religious visitors were an afterthought.
He does an outstanding job of explaining the dominant role of colonists' opposition to the East India company in our own resolution. It's important to understand these things when we look at how to respond to powerful corporations today.
He does an excellent, balanced expose of the history of the legal doctrine that corporations are entitled to equality with humans.
The ramifications are huge, as today we face a political system in which the influence of our citizens is dwarfed by that of the inhuman organizations - where the citizens are turned into consumers to be sold to and manipulated with well-funded marketing, rather than acting as the sovereigns necessary for a democracy to work well.
If we don't begin to do something now, the chances may begin to disappear to be able to. Even now, we have democracy's power to represent its people castrated by clauses in the so-called 'free trade' agreements which allow the corporations to get all kinds of laws nullified.
I highly recommend the book.
Book Description
A leading economic journalist explains why Washington's responses to globalization have created a global worker surplus that undermines both American workers and those in developing nations.
As evidenced by the WTO riots in Seattle in December 1999, there is a volatile debate among Americans over how the new world economy affects our standards of living and our country's chances for future prosperity. With giant multinational companies based in the U.S. and other wealthy countries transferring ever more factories and labs to poorer countries, the fear is that slave-wage workers overseas are undermining the bargaining power of labor in the industrialized world.
As evidenced by the WTO riots in Seattle in December 1999, there is a volatile debate among Americans over how the new world economy affects our standards of living and our country's chances for future prosperity. With giant multinational companies based in the U.S. and other wealthy countries transferring ever more factories and labs to poorer countries, the fear is that slave-wage workers overseas are undermining the bargaining power of labor in the industrialized world.
In this book Alan Tonelson explains how a competition has emerged in which countries with the weakest workplace safety laws, the lowest taxes, and the toughest unionization laws win investment from American and European countries. Tonelson argues that this "race to the bottom" of labor standards has been the driving force behind the decline of American living standards for the past quarter century, and, as we have already begun to see, will cause even bigger problems for the worldwide economy as it continues.
Tonelson analyzes how the entry of such population giants as China, India, and Brazil into the global market have added fuel to the eroding labor standards. He reveals how an ever larger share of the foreign competition faced by American laborers is hitting not just fields such as apparel and toys, but many of America's highest wage industries such as aerospace and software. And he describes how the reeducation and retraining programs that political leaders say is the remedy to the problem will do nothing to help most Americans cope with competition from the global workforce.
A lively, provocative guide to the new global economy, The Race to the Bottom fills the gap of hard evidence in readable form in the globalization debate, providing the guidebook that American workers have been waiting for, and the indictment that our economic and policy establishments have been dreading.
Customer Reviews:
Dated would like to see a new updated edition.......2007-01-02
I'd like to see this book be updated so that it addresses current conditions, as it is now quite dated. Many of the premises have not come to pass, although some have. The global economy is booming, but how is the U.S. economy really doing considering the savings rate in the U.S. was below 0 last year and the trade deficit is so large? Unemployment in the U.S. is down, but what is the nature of the jobs workers in the U.S. are doing now, in comparison to the nature of those jobs when the book was first written? What predictions have come to pass and which ones have not come to pass?
Real free trade is based on comparative advantage,not absolute advantage and offsets.......2006-01-17
Tonelson has done an excellent job of empirically demonstrating the irreparable harm being done to the American industrial manufacturing sector, resulting from the pseudo-free trade argument that currently masquerades by the name of globalization.The entire globalization argument rests on an appeal to absolute advantage(for example,American firms should locate their factories and production facilities where labor costs are the lowest).Free trade is based on comparative advantage,not absolute advantage.American firms are free to locate production facilities in foreign countries as long as the output produced from these facilities is used to supply the foreign market.The output can't be shipped back to the home market without violating the basic rules of comparative advantage.Any requirement by a foreign country that ,in order for American firms to locate production facilities in that country,the American firms must hand over or share their technological breakthroughs,inventions,patents,or innovations involves a direct violation of the theory of trade between counties based on the existing comparative advantages that exist in both countries industries.Unfortunately,Tonelson does not spell this out clearly,although his discussions on pp.97-98 demonstate that the correct definition of comparatve advantage has been replaced by one that has no connection to the meaning of the term as used by Adam Smith or David Ricardo.I have deducted one star for this omission.
Kaleem needs and education!.......2005-12-04
Kaleem 9984....LOL....THIS dudes a hypocrit! First of all...a foreigner (who's probably an Indian programmer) is not a impartial reviewer. I am a programmer and work with numerous foreigners...BTW they are not as talented as rumor has it. They frequently lie on their resumes to get into positions and...as evidenced by the exporation of NUMEROUS PROGRAMMING jobs back to India...they are not loyal to this country or any corporation that hired them on the H1b visa (a political bill that was fronted by american corporations). This book however...is right on target.
Kaleem should speak in terms of the substance of the book..and not of other reviewers who may differ from his opinion. I believe, as many americans, that we should no longer import items from other countries...we don't need them.
Whats wrong with amazon.......2005-11-11
Whats wrong with Amazon how could they put review by this person - " John W. Runyan III "Too much time on my hands " in spotlight. It's clearly evident he is one of those people who have some small town mentality, come with a preconceived opinion which will never change and probably didnt read the book and wrote a review.
By the way talking of indian programmers, I am a development manager and work with lots of them. They are helping our economy in many ways. I seen that most americans do not go to school, do not have strong mathematical background, do not have strong analytical skills, this is where the indians are useful. Most of them I see have their Master's degree and often have strong engineering backgrounds. If you are a programmer you would know how useful these skills can be. In my experience americans are generally good with the quality-assurance, management level or business side of work. Leave the hard-core intense programming to the foreigners, they seem to do it better.
No better book for understanding the truth about "free trade.......2004-08-05
I have ready many books about globalization and its effects, but Alan Tonelson's "The Race to the Bottom: Why a Worldwide Worker Surplus and Uncontrolled Free Trade are Sinking American Living Standards" is the ONLY book to explain the truth behind globalization. If the US public understood just simple facts, like the difference between producer goods and consumer goods, it would be clear why the US has the most massive trade deficit in history; and the US public would demand that congress act to stop the fast track legislation given to the president. (This is being carried out now by Bush, but was negotiated under Clinton. In other words, both parties are complicit in the destruction of the US middle class.)
As Tonelson says, "Current globalization policies have plunged the great majority of U.S. workers into a great worldwide race to the bottom, into a no-win scramble for work and livelihoods with hundreds of millions of their already impoverished counterparts across the globe. In addition, by sapping the earnings power of U.S. consumers, who are almost single-handedly propping up the world economy despite their sagging earnings, continuing this race could all too easily bring the global financial house of cards tumbling down."
Tonelson doesn't merely make a statement like this, he proves it with expert economic analysis that he explains clearly to the lay public.
Read this book and act on it, before the U.S. middle-class is further eroded.
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