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Title: The Silent Takeover : Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy by Noreena Hertz ISBN: 0-06-055973-X Publisher: HarperBusiness Pub. Date: 16 September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.58 (31 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A weak link between capitalism and the ¿death of democracy¿
Comment: "The Silent Takeover" refers to the growing power of corporations vis-à-vis counties that is caused by global capitalism. Noreen Hertz argues that multinational corporations have become very powerful and politicians very weak; her thesis is best captured in this sentence: "by giving corporate wishes such priority, by defining themselves solely in terms of economic success, by supporting international institutions that value economic interests above all else, governments are in danger of becoming the puppets of business" (p.86).
But, as Dr. Hertz recognizes, this is nothing new. Indeed, one of the book's defects is the inability to connect global capitalism with many of the current trends. If anything, globalization lessens the grip that business have on politicians by opening up markets; as The Economist put it, "Far from empowering global fat cats, free trade holds corporate power in check and assaults the excess profits that protectionism, courtesy of pro-business politicians, gouges from the public" (28 Jun 03).
Still, Dr. Hertz raises some issues that are distinctively global: industry migration and tax competition. But Dr. Hertz seems to accept these arguments without skepticism: for example, she has a page-long citation on the debate about the "dirty industry migration" argument; after a dozen citations, she reduces her stance to saying that the argument makes intuitive sense, which is hardly a responsible stance in so contested a debate.
For all its defects, "The Silent Takeover" is right to point out that businesses are gaining power through politics, and that fixing the system requires some disconnection between them. That's the real message to take home from this book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Liking this book DOES NOT make you a socialist.
Comment: Dismissing this book as promoting socialism is simpleminded and wrong. Many of the problem's Hertz points out happen because business uses government to monkey about with the market mechanisim, not the other way around.
If we(USA) lived in a pure market system there would be no:
*Billions of government dollars for computer and medical research(darpa\nih)
*Tariffs for steel workers
*Bailouts of hedge funds (LTCM)
*Bailouts of bankrupt countries
In the case of bailing out countries with foreign debt (via the Bretton Woods organizations) and LTCM there was an arguably real fear that doing nothing could cause collapse of the world financial system. On the other hand giving the impression that the IMF will step in anytime western investors run into problems could lead to the very instabilities they are trying to solve.
This, and the corporate welfare parts, point to the concept of "Too Big To Fail", which is fairly easy to understand. If you remove the risk from investments, though, you might add huge distortions to the market that outweigh the benefits of capitalisim. Serious? Yes. Socialism? Hell no.
The government is going to intervene in the market, it does whether there is a left-wing nut or a right-wing nut in office. The important thing is that it does so intelligently so the maximum benefits go to the most people. These are complex issues not easily captured by any ism.
Communisim was not destroyed by Reagan, but by a system that allowed state run businesses to be horribly inefficient. If we allow the same thing from private businesses we are no better.
I didn't give this book 5 stars because I think the title is over-dramatic, which does disservice to its message.
Rating: 4
Summary: A good introduction to an important subject
Comment: I liked this book; it was amazingly easy to read, without being trite or condescending. Many of the stories and anecdotes I knew from other readings, but there was new material, and all of it was well done in the telling.
This was not heavy going, nor was it an ill-structured string of disjointed stories.
I recommend it as an excellent introduction to the issues.
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Title: Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph E. Stiglitz ISBN: 0393324397 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Alternatives to Economic Globalization by John Cavanagh, Jerry Mander, Sarah Anderson, Debi Barker, Maude Barlow, Walden Bello, Robin Broad, Tony Clarke, Edward Goldsmith, Randy Hayes ISBN: 1576752046 Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Pub Pub. Date: 15 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights by Thom Hartmann ISBN: 1579546277 Publisher: Rodale Press Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability by Amy Chua ISBN: 0385503024 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 24 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Wealth and Democracy : A Political History of the American Rich by Kevin Phillips ISBN: 0767905342 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 08 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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