5 comments about Tropical Gangsters: One Man's Experience With Development And Decadence In Deepest Africa.

1. It is not very common to find a World Bank economist who writes with a touch of humor, humility and eloquence, but that is exactly what you will discover in this unique book. The author was a World Bank advisor assigned to the tiny African nation of Equatorial Guinea in the late 1980's, a time when many African nations were beginning to flirt with market reforms and economic liberalization. This book is kind of like a personal diary of the time he spent there. It is written in an easygoing, informal style. He alternates between discussing his job- trying to develop an economic strategy that will enable E. Guinea to qualify for a World Bank loan- and discussing his recreational activities, which range from surfboarding to hanging out with African rock stars. He introduces us to many people- government officials, "experts" from the UN and other international organizations, and ordinary Equatoguineans. He seems to be particularly critical of the so-called "experts," many of whom are in this remote backwater merely because "they couldn't find jobs in their own countries." Many economists and other academics seeking a rigorous, theoretical analysis of African political economy might be frustrated by this informal style, but I think it adds an extra dimension to the story of economic reform in the third world. It helps remind us that these structural adjustment policies thought up in Washington D.C. are implement by real people facing real constraints in recipient countries. Klitgaard does an excellent job of relating the pressures faced by well-intentioned (and some not so well-intentioned) government ministers, as they must deal with corruption, apathetic bureaucrats, nasty military officers, and the poor infrastructure found in every developing country. All in all, this is a great read for anybody interested in the troubles facing third-world countries, for anyone curious about why these countries can't seem to get out of their economic malaise. Although it was written in 1991, it seems just as relevant today as it did when it was written.



2. What initially attracted me to Tropical Gangsters was surfing. As a surfer working at the time for AusAID, Australia's government foreign aid agency, I was fascinated by Robert Klitgaard as Foreign Aid Surfer Dude. He surfed and worked in Equatorial Guinea, paralleling a particular dream of mine, which I eventually played out in the Pacific. But his book goes much further than simply surfing the Third World: it gives a quirky and realistic picture of the difficulties (and joys) of working in a developing country. Unlike most books on development, it is a personal testament from someone who's been there and done that, and which makes an engaging read. Highly recommended.



3. (Memoir) Account of author's work as leader of
   a World Bank project in Equatorial Guinea in
   1987. Klitgaard provides a nice mix of stories
   about day-to-day life anecdotes and how the
   World Bank interacts with ministers of
   government. He's also a very "groovy" guy,
   jamming on the guitar with local pop stars and
   continually searching for good waves.
   
   Potentially offensive material: nothing serious



4. engaging and informative. a must for those interested in economic rehabilitation of west african countries.



5. I worked in Liberia for a year and could tell some of the same stories. Utter corruption at every level coupled with the average government fuctionary's well developed sense of his/her own importance makes dealing with them something that would lead Mother Teresa to drink. As the book makes clear, the state exists to serve the "elite", i.e. the gangsters. The author puts in all down in facinating detail. Haven't seen another book that captures what's wrong in Africa with such insight. Since the book was published Equatorial Guinea, the country that's the focus of the book, has come into a lot of oil wealth. The money has all disappeared into various off shore accounts owned by the gangsters in charge without benefiting the people one iota. Nothing ever changes. Aug 2008 update. I just read that Riggs Bank (now PNC) has been investigated because they have $375 million in funds that they were hiding for the gangsters.

5 comments about The Central Liberal Truth: How Politics Can Change a Culture and Save It from Itself.

1. Professor Harrison's book is a well researched, timely and necessary study of why some cultures do better than others and how outside forces may or may not affect change when desired. The cases described within are necessary background for decisions being made today,and I sincerely hope our policymakers will study them. This book is a perfect complement to the Jared Diamond thesis and one should not be read without the other. A pivotal book for our times.



2. I must say that reading this book was a quantum leap from the last several political books that I've read, which were written by pundits. This book is a bit dry at times, but it contains real reasearch about reality.
   
   The "take home lesson" I got out of reading this book is:
   
   First, "Freedom and Democracy" isn't for every nation because a nation, or culture, must have certain values internalized before freedom or democracy can work. This is a rebuke to ideologues on the "right" who think that we can superimpose our style of government on any nation out there.
   
   However, this book is also a stinging rebuttal of the leftist who believes that John Lennon's "Imagine" expressed the ideal for humanity. "Imagine no religion..." No, we really can't afford to "imagine no religion" because it seems that decentralized Christianity (Protestantism) gave the world the most "progressive" culture that has even been. And, we can't "Imagine no possessions" because it is the possibility of home ownership that gives people a stake in their society.
   
   Finally, this book delivers a body blow to "multiculturalism". Some cultures are sick, and this book explains how they can get better.
   
   I could go on, but my point is that an exhaustive study has been completed that ties culture to "progress", and it's probably not what anyone who is narcissistically attached to a particular political ideology wants to hear. However, it is in this book, which I would recommend to anyone interested in politics and culture.



3. Harrison's mind strikes me as one still anchored in colonialism, albeit, a new, hip, updated version. It would do us all well to first read Rudyard Kipling's poem, The White Man's Burden (1899) before we dive into Mr. Harrison's book; the real purpose of which, I suspect, is to save the dark-skinned "Half-devil and half-child" heathens from themselves.



4. If you like books that offer explanations for humankind's big questions, this book attemps such. Depending on how much stock you put in Harrison's well-conceived and sufficiently supported (in my opinion) thoery, it can be construed to either add to or take precedence over Diamond's GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL. I think together these books help to explain the world's current political situation (mess). Unlike Diamond's "geography is fate" analysis, much can be accomplished politically to correct Harrison's "culture is fate" explanation. Culture relativists, hackneyed liberals, and Bushian neo-cons will all take offense - that in itself may be sufficient reason to read it. The writing and editing could have been better, but because there were many contributors this is somewhat excusable.



5. While Mr. Harrison makes some extremely valid arguments in this book , I wish he had also explored why the Anglo-protestant culture , which he holds up as"best in class" went about enslaving the world and what impact this has had on various countries , whom they enslaved.
   
   Perhaps some of the progress those Anglo-protestant societies have made, is due to the fact that they exploited other countries and other peoples and not so much their work ethic as Mr. Harrison seems to suggest

5 comments about The Biggest Con: How the Government Is Fleecing You.

1. Although this book is almost 20 years old its detailed and fully referenced facts on how our national debt is masterfully misrepresented by our government is an irrefutable fulfilment of prophecy of our present debt crisis. Learn how Shiff, who testified before congress in opposition to the removal of gold and silver backed currency has been vindicated on all accounts. See through the con of how our present politicians are solving the budget crisis.



2. I learned more concerning our government's tax policy and the manipulation of money (versus the pieces of paper we carry around in our wallets) from this book in three hours than four years of study in college. Schiff boils it down to the essence, from three men beginning a culture to a controlling government, taxing and watering down the money supply. Your view of Keynes' ideas and why Adam Smith's concepts were abandoned will become cystal clear. Should be required reading for anyone involved in economics - which is exactly why the government would prefer that this book be left on the shelf.



3. The best word to describe this book is prophetic. Read about the dollar's decline, how inflation erodes our buying power, the crumbling of the U.S. industrial base, currency vs. money, then marvel that these words were written over 30 YEARS AGO.
   
   This book is a great primer not only on the dangers of big government, but also on economics, the federal reserve system and a host of other tax-related topics. After reading this, many of the ills that afflict and aggravate us today in the 21st century will make far more sense. This book will answer such questions as: "Why do I keep paying more in taxes and getting less in services from government?" and, "If the government can print all the money it needs, why is the national debt so big?" and finally, "What happened to all the great, last-a-lifetime 'Made In America' products I had as a child in this once-great country?"
   
   The Biggest Con has many helpful illustrations and charts which -- although 30 years out of date -- demystify the subject of taxes, money and market forces. Think of it as Economics 101 without wasting your hard-earned cash on an overpriced 3-inch-thick textbook that confuses you even more, or sitting through a boring semester at college.
   
   In the appendix you also will find a transcript of Schiff's 1968 testimony before Congress warning of the consequences of going off the gold standard, consequences we are living with and suffering through today. Read it and say "He told us so!"



4. Having read this book in the 90's it is still good for today to explain why oil prices are so much higher......it is really the dollar becoming devalued. who is doing this as I watched gold go to almost $880 an ounce again. the US is broke from a war just like in the 70's and we are there again......the US is broke we have borrowed billions from IMF to pay bills. funny it was not like during clintons term. now ron paul wants to do away with the dollar and start a Am-euro. I don't know who will be elected I'm still evaluating what country I want to move to.
   what you will see like all retirees having the retirement money devalued my guess to about 1/10 of what it is worth today. this is how current administration will pay for social security, it is with a cheaper dollar. (dang I tried to keep the word cheaper out of my description.) we are headed for rampart inflation again. as taxes are cut today, well inflation will cause every bodies pay to increase.......unknowingly the poor start thinking they are getting paid their worth. the government thinks the weak just don't realize the higher pay puts them into a higher tax bracket so we get more with out raising taxes.
   in 1968 crude was $3.00+/barrel, gold at $32.50, gas at $.30
   in 2007 reg. crude is $80/barrel, gold $800, gas at $3.00
   crudes in 2007 sweet light (low sulfur and thin) is $90 and sour (heavy high sulfur) is $50 I averaged to regular crude at $80. i wanted to show the semblance of crude and gold an ounce of gold still buys about the same 10 barrels of oil.
   you will understand when the US gov. complains that china is a money manipulator and won't move their currency.......how it is really the US that is at fault. the US is trying to devalue the dollars (over 2.2 trillion as of last years quote and probably much higher now) which would lower the Chinese real dollar worth. like I gave you a 10 and a week later when you went to spend it......it is now only worth 5.
   read the book and you will understand!



5. Irwin is one bright guy, and he has a gift for explaining complex topics in interesting and understandable ways. Even though this book is more than 30 years old, it still does a great job of revealing the basic ways that the US government cons its own citizens. Ours is not the only government doing this, though; the problem is world-wide and runs far back in history. Irwin's book was an eye-opener when I read it back in the '70s and I'm still recommending it to friends.

5 comments about The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth.

1. Friedman begins with a few troubling statistics, particularly the fact that except for a brief period in the late 1900s, most of the fruits of the last three decades of economic growth in the U.S. have accrued to only a small slice of the population. Further, after allowing for higher prices, the average 2004 worker in an American business made 16% less each week than 30+ years earlier. With more and more two-earner households and more individuals holding two jobs, most families' income have more than held their own. But nearly all the gain in the last three decades came only in the late 1990s. Young men entering the American job force in the 1970s started off earning two-thirds more, on average, than the generation starting out in the 1950s; by the early 1990s it was one quarter less than their parents.
   
   Economic growth positively affects the character of the society as a whole, and because neither tolerance nor democracy is a good that private markets value, there is a role for government measures to seek growth beyond what the market would provide on its own. Improved transportation, crime reduction, safety from external attack, savings, education, and patent protection are examples of valuable government contributions.
   
   Friedman asserts that declining investment is a problem in the U.S., and blames it on increased current consumption and government borrowing. (But what about the fact that much cheaper labor is available in Asia?) He goes on to posit that chronically large deficits' depressing effect on America's investment probably received a greater spur from change in the tax structure than the positive aspect of the tax reductions.
   
   Friedman suggests improvement that begins with undoing the Bush administration high-end tax changes that provided 60% of the benefits to the top 10% (earning over $120,000) to reduce the deficit and improve society.
   
   Fireman, like many others, very much wants to improve American education. He begins by focusing on improving the high school graduation rate - stable at about 90% over the last several decades - through more spending. (Friedman, however, forgets that enormous increases in inflation-adjusted per-pupil spending also occurred during this period, and that dropout rates closely correlate with race - ergo, positive home influence is probably a much more potent lever.) More government support for college education is also highly recommended because their incomes average some 70% more than those without a college degree. As for class sizes, Friedman is aware that most quality research has found reductions do NOT improve pupil achievement; nonetheless he suggests reductions would improve graduation rates, though the sources he cites seem to confound race and socio-economic status with class size as influences. He also supports competition within education, citing several inner-city positive examples such as Harlem Community Schools.
   
   Another significant recommendation is raising the Social Security retirement age.
   
   What is puzzling about "The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth" is that Friedman does not address a major issue of today's economic growth - the impact of free trade and illegal immigration on American incomes. Also, his treatment of economic development and population growth on environmental impacts is overly optimistic. These issues seriously limit the book's contributions.



2. Mr. Friedman's book begins with an interesting thesis, defining morality and its definition within a context of economic growth. The idea that economic growth or stagnation effects the mindsets of the people living in that time period is a logical argument that Friedman often well supports with historical facts. However, the exceptions to his argument make me wonder if he really believes in his own thesis, or if he just felt the need to write a book. Furthermore, for every chapter in the book, there seem to be at least one or more flawed arguments or points that, with a little thorough thought or research, don't make sense or can easily be disproven. With these things being the case, I find Friedman's argument a little hard to buy. The entire book seems to build up to the final chapter, which Friedman uses to make policy recommendations that would aid in economic growth; this final chapter could have stood alone from the book entirely, however, because the evidence in the book an his arguments elsewhere in the book (ie. the importance of education) do not add or support his final policy recommendations. His policy recommendations could have easily been listed by students in an economics class as responses to the question "What should the government do to promote economic growth?" They don't push the argument forward or indicate anything that hasn't already been suggested in the past, nor do they give suggestions as to how to go about implementing his policies.



3. Friedman explains how growth is good for promoting a freer, more tolerant and open society. The author gives good reasons for defending growth as the major objective of any government.



4. Economics is often considered a values-free discipline (and economists - well, a sperm cell has a better chance of becoming human). Economists have promoted this view with their emphasis on "positive" (scientific) economics. Economic theory must generate testable hypotheses which stand on their ability to predict the future and withstand the test of data. This is actually very important if economic theory is going to serve as the basis for policy. Without a rigorous and dispassionate analysis of the problems we face and their potential solutions, policy is more likely to be destructive than useful. But taken to an academic extreme, this approach makes economics rather arid, an extremely formal social science that looks more like a branch of mathematics. Indeed, some economics journals publish articles so arcane they might as well be about string theory for all the relevance they have to actual human beings.
   
   Friedman understands that economics is much more than mathematics, that it deals directly with human happiness. It's the most optimistic and joyful of sciences, not simply a ruler by which we can measure policy. Its uses and conclusions are fundamentally moral (or immoral). Economic growth isn't just about GDP and reams of statistics, but about the expansion of opportunity, the lifting up of the poor and the powerless to prosperity and self-determination. Markets aren't just about money, but about liberty. It may be the responsibility of economic advisors to be cold, impartial and rational in their analysis and advice, but policy makers and citizens must apply moral reasoning and moral sense to the products of that analysis.
   
   Friedman's book is a solid introduction to the moral relevance of economics. Friedman shows us that economics matters, though it doesn't matter in quite the way that physics matters. Physical knowledge may be used for moral or immoral purposes, but physics is fundamentally without morality. It also need not deal with anything that really matters to you and me. Economic theory can explain human behavior in ways similar to thermodynamic explanations of molecular motion, but humans aren't molecules. You can't simply describe the impact of globalization or tax policy on humans without a moral framework; an attempt to objectify humans as you'd objectify hydrogen molecules contains its own grim morality. It's the strength of Friedman's book that it makes clear that economic decisions and economic analysis are firmly embedded in a moral framework, no matter how hard we might try to ignore it in our pursuit of scientific and mathematical rigor.
   
   Friedman's book isn't just a moral tract; he attempts to make a case for his moral stand. Friedman is a skilled economist, and he marshals historical data and comparisons of different nations and different periods in our own history to make his case. He provides some information useful for evaluating his thesis that economic growth is moral, he doesn't simply assert it. But herein is a weakness in his book. He doesn't provide nearly as much hard information as he should, and he scatters his supporting numbers throughout the text. It would be very helpful to the reader if data were gathered into charts and tables. There's but a single Figure in the book, no tables of data. It should also be noted that his national comparisons leave out some states (China, Singapore, Vietnam) that might contradict his thesis regarding the linkage between economic growth and political liberty. He's chosen his examples far too carefully.
   
   Another weakness of this book is a natural danger of the type of text Friedman has written. Because he is dealing with economics as a moral issue, he takes a moral stance, one that's clearly to the political left in many ways. I have no problem with this, even though I'm somewhat to the right of him, but we should be very clear on one point. While a trained economist like Friedman is in a much better position than the average person to analyze the effects of different policies, he's no more qualified than a pastry chef to comment on the relative desirability of those different policies once their effects have been laid out in terms the pastry chef understands. Friedman makes a number of policy suggestions in his book with which I disagree. He doesn't make it sufficiently clear that their potential effects aren't unambiguously better than those of alternative policies designed to create or enhance economic growth.
   
   My final objection to this book is its length. Friedman is clearly a well-read man of wide interests, and he brings a great deal of his erudition to this book. It strengthens his case, but I'm not sure that the marginal benefits of the 400th page exceed the marginal costs. More than once I found myself wanting an executive summary of the chapter I was reading and wishing that he would just cut to the chase. But that's really a minor complaint. I benefited from reading this book. It's an interesting and thoughtful contribution to the issue of economic growth (and by extension to international trade and economic aid to developing countries), and I strongly recommend it.



5. 
   Since the rise fascism and Bolshevism in the 1920s there has been the question of how political rights and civil liberties correspond to economic rights and growth. Amartya Sen has argued that the political rights and civil liberties should not be divorced from economic process (Development As Freedom). Sen's normative approach of equating economic rights to the freedoms one achieves with guaranteed civil liberties is one that many can respect.
   Benjamin Freidman has taken a more positivist to the same issue. In doing so he asks, "Which came first the chicken or the egg?" Does economic growth in a capitalist setting require democracy and civil liberties or visa versa? Friedman's study looks back not only over all to this question in modern economic history. But, he also takes specific case studies from the United States, Germany, France and others to see the over all trends of the problem.
   From this he develops a matrix on the issue. In times of growth political rights tend to expand. In times of stagnation they tend to contract. What is interesting his not how Friedman arrives at this basic framework, but his look into the exceptions of this common sense rule. Why in the 1930s was the political openness of the New Deal accepted, but the recent economic stagnation in France caused the rise of the right-wing Le Pen party?
   Friedman is one of the foremost experts on the political economy. He has held a seat at Harvard since 1972. Yet, in this work for public consumption his writing is more along the lines of an historian. He does not delve too far into the economics or the political science of the issue, which many academics tend to - even for the lay reader. Instead, he sees to it that the main ideas are gotten across.
   His prescriptions are simple. Maintain economic growth and we can maintain political and civil liberties. While Amartya Sen may find a problem with placing the chicken before the egg, after this work one must understand that economic stagnation helps noone.

5 comments about Africa Unchained: The Blueprint for Africa's Future.

1. He put's his faith on africa's young up and coming "cheetahs", and so do I. I feel empowered by George's bare knuckle rumble in the jungle with the political elite and can't wait to join this fight.
   They'll fight dirty, and we'll fight smarter and faster and with a good old man like George to show us the tricks, we shall overcome.



2. This book, in a word is: Remarkable! God created "All Men Equal", and suffice to say, African's wherever they are in the Diasporia, are, apart of the Human Family. We all know the history of Colonialism/Slavery; however, Africa, through the Post colonial period has had about a little over 40 years to work toward: Social Stability, Nationhood, Systems of Government-that works, and developing strategies of amalgamation/unity and [Order] Social Order, that would ensure, development in all phases of social acceptance, and a recognition that Africa is ready to join the Nations of the Industrial Revolution. Sadly, Africa, has not reached the rate of development that is required and that other continents under Quasi-Colonialism have achieved. This has always troubled me. This book tells in stark terms, why the Sub-African Continent continues to lag behind the Universal Determinants. This book puts the blame on African Leadership and in details supports it's thesis with inexplicable evidence. Sure, it speaks of the lingering vestiges of Colonialism, but, the emphasis is on the modern leaders who have "shortchanged" Africa's [Greatest Resource]...the People. This book, was the "cornerstone" for my research and understanding of the chronic problems of Africa's Underdevelopment. The Premise in my view is this: If Africa remains in it's current state, the Peoples of African Descent around the Globe with find Freedom and their proper place in the World of Division of Races and Ethnicity, wanting. I recommend this book to all scholars and those who seriously long for the remedy of how to resolve and solve and find the Social Solutions to Africa's problems. Africa remains: The sleeping giant!



3. Excellent, very well written, researched and a must for anyone who is serious about economic development in Africa



4. "Africa Unchained" is a very interesting book. It proposes "the blueprint for Africa's future." To find out how workable the proposal is one has to read the book. However, here is how the author goes about the subject. First, he explains why Africa is poor. Four themes form the answer. One, Africa is poor because of the failure of Western policies. Second, Africa is poor because of the ill-conceived development model African countries pursued upon political independence - its ideology, strategies, mistakes, and a feeble leadership. Third, colonial and neo-colonial policies hampered progress "by imposing an alien system that destroyed Africa's heritage". Finally, Africa is poor because of unfavorable development finances, which made possible a resource curse, widened resource gap, and facilitated aid dependency.
   
   Out of the failure emerged a new set of problems such as an exploitative state, which promoted wrong-headed industrialization policies, along with self-destructive agricultural, inflation, and foreign debt policies.
   
   To avoid further failure and get out of poverty, Africa needs a new approach. The proposal recommends development of indigenous economic systems which are supportive of property rights, and free market and voluntary exchange mechanisms. The book cites Botswana as an example that development is possible in Africa if one follows the "Atinga development model". The Atinga model centers on a new strategy that is taking place at the village level, is inclusive of the informal sector and invests in it. If that happens, an African Renaissance will follow.
   
   This is a credible effort, indeed. My hesitation is that focus on Africa, instead of African countries is unlikely to produce helpful results. In the age of globalization, endogenous systems are likely more productive than indigenous systems. Strongly recommended.
   
   Amavilah, Author
   Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
   ISBN: 1600210465



5. Ayittey is an economist who remains very realist in revealing our much some African leaders have ruined their continent. The hope rely in the generation of Cheetah, ready to dirt their hands and to sustain the local capacities. The former generation considered as hippo who seat in chairs and ready to grab everything to the expenses of real life of the population. The development will come only from within Africa and not from outside.

4 comments about Small is Still Beautiful: Economics as if Families Mattered.

1. I can only give this book 4 stars due to an issue that I am on the polar opposite of the author. Other than that I agree with many of the tenets that the author discusses. The largeness of many aspects of today's economies from economies of scale to the large bureaucracies that controls them is not good for mankind. More needs to be written on this and disseminated.



2. I had hoped that this really filled in a lot of gaps from the original Schumacher book, "Small is Beautiful". Still, it is clearly written with enough basic economic information that you will still get Schumacher's main points with some updated references. I would definately recommend reading Schumacher's book first, then "Whatever happened to penny candy" or if you are more studious, you will be well rewarded for reading Griffin's "The creature from Jekyll Island" explaining the origins of our current lawless state of economics that has profited the wealthy bankers and put our nation into a perpetual state of indebtedness, which has now infected the congress, senate, and corporations to epidemic levels.



3. Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful is a classic, a prophetic voice for today's generation. His socio-economic arguments are profound and written with a crisp language animated by wit and humor. Much of Pearce's update, Small Is Still Beautiful, maintains the integrity of the original in clear, consise language that passionately attacks the greed of multi-national corporations, the incompetence of governments, and the hedonistic demands of consumers.
   
   Pearce has incorporated much of Schumacher's work as the fabric, then adorned it with current facts, figures and events. His chapter (Small Beer: A Case Study) on English micro-breweries provides a good example of trends favoring a small sustainable industry. He could have also included the upsurge of American micro-breweries and small, family owned wineries.
   
   Unfortunately, Pearce has applied the "small is beautiful" principle to the contents of his 313 page book. Excluded are today's movements which are gaining momentum in sustainability, fair trade, micro-credit, slow food, recycling and conservation. Bigger is better when it contributes to a humane response against a culture of greed and avarice.



4. "What we want, and what we need, has been confused, been confused."
   --"Finest Worksong,"-R.E.M.
   
   Joseph Pearce's "Small Is Still Beautiful" is a reflective book, drawing upon E. F. Schumacher's influential treatise "Small Is Beautiful". Touching upon many topics, Pearce provides several themes:
   
   1.) Corporate greed and hording are leaving third world nations bereft and in a despairing cycle of debt.
   
   2.) Both big business and big government are undermining each man's individual rights for fulfillment and prospering. Local concerns and small businesses should thrive because they provide greater distributive justice and more individual freedom(s).
   
   3.) Given the ramifications of the first two prospects, greed is swallowing up our natural resources and destroying the earth's soil, while man continues to poison himself and his environment with too much pollution and pesticide.
   
   Given the nature of dwindling resources, Pearce offers (but not exclusively) the following antidotes:
   
   1.) Allowing small businesses to thrive creates variety and equanimity.
   
   2.) Co-Ops are successful and create a rewarding environment for employees who are drawn to initiative and a part of the decision making process.
   
   3.) Organic farming is a growing alternative that keeps soil thriving and people healthy.
   
   Prime Examples of Persuasion (or to offer some PEP):
   
   1.) Four British friends, discontent with the bland homogenization of their country's beer, decide during a holiday in Ireland to form their own tasty brew. From their efforts to form CAMRA (or The Campaign for Real Ale) in 1971, they not only launched a successful local brewery, but also started a microbrewery movement with ramifications on both sides of the Atlantic.
   
   2.) Whatever merits and demerits can be said for the EU (European Union), Pearce gives startling examples of how their centralized power hurts local businesses. One account tells how the EU threatened to close West Country meat business because EU officials wanted everyone to wear new grey uniforms for "safety" reasons.
   
   3.) Pearce documents the thriving organic food market and demonstrates how it rejuvenates the soil as well as people's spirits.
   
   The problem, however, goes to the heart of darkness. Pearce faults a consumer society where it is hard to be satisfied by all the new goods and products. As long as the wealthy remain unsatisfied, there will be less resources for those who are most in need.
   
   Sources: Besides persuasive arguments and ample examples, Pearce relies partly on...
   
   1.) British author, G.K. Chesterton's "Distributivism"
   2.) Soviet Nobel Prize winning author, Alexander Solzhenitsyn's "Peril of Progress"
   3.) Catholic scholar Dorothy Sayer's reflections, including her "Seven Deadly Sins" of Consumption balanced by Schumacher's "Seven Life Giving Virtues".
   
   Mostly a smooth and engaging read, Pearce makes a solid if not alarming case to "cooperate and prosper" for our future survival.
   
   Personal Reflection (or PR): With oil prices up and alarming reports of food shortages (from rice to dwindling fishing resources), it isn't hard to find Pearce's book a practical and convincing argument for changing our world. I was recently delighted to watch Pixar's 'WALL-E' where all the major themes are illustrated so well in an animated movie.
   
   And, finally, a quote from the book of G.K. Chesterton that succinctly solidifies our purpose: "That which is large enough for the rich to covet...is large enough for the poor to defend."

5 comments about False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism.

1. Written by a Britisher, America is lambasted in this little treatise but, in a way, we are noted as a leader of the 'new civilization' with all its faults. It is villified in odd ways.
   
   America persists in identifying modernity throughout the world in relation to itself. The prophet of today's America is not Thomas Jefferson or James Madison. Still less Edmund Burke, though we do like to quote him on occasion. In his long ramblings about the Cold War and the Soviet collapse, he calls Newt Gingrich a radical from The Right. Ronald Reagan, when U. S. President, was not, he says, any kind of liberal and could not foresee the economic counter-revolution which occurred. During his presidency,much of American industry was kept afloat by subsidies, condoning economic inequality. So, what else is new? He calls it a 'deregulated' economy.
   
   He quotes Henry Kissinger about our national interest, calling it military-led and 'protectionistic.' His understanding of 'the American Creed' and the founding of the Constitution is an 'embodiment of universal truths whose future is assured by history.' The cover of this hedonistic British slap at USA has the "all-seeing eye" on a dollar bill (US currency) used in the film, NATIONAL TREASURE. That's all they have in common.
   
   He dwells on free market and 'laissez-faire,' saying that "liberalism is dominant in the U.S. only in the sense that genuine conservative philosophy no longer exists." I disagree. Then, he goes on to say that "to be perceived as a liberal is a political liability."
   
   This British John Gray called former U.S. President Bill Clinton a political shaman, causing an underclass which has no hope and an overclass who denies civic obligations. "Remolding American society to suit the imperatives of free market has involved the use of corporate power and federal government to bring about levels of economic inequality unknown since the 1920s."
   
   He accuses America as an arrogant 'utopian' place where its faith in being a unique country, 'the model for a universal civilization' which all societies are fated to emulate. According to him, "America persists in identifying modernity throughout the world in relation to itself."
   
   He points out the tragedy of family breakdown and the lack of extended family support. He blames it on deregulated labor markets, divorce, and the incarceration rates where he compared Britian's "fewer than one in a thousand" to America's "one in a hundred" being behind bars. His thesis that over a million people would be seeking work if American penal policies resembled those of any other western country. My question is "where are the jobs?" Should we create another Australia and empty the prisons?
   
   The high rate of crime and incarceration in the U. S. are on a par with large numbers of lawyers and the huge levels of litigation. America's incarceration rates run parallel with its rates of violent crime, which this author blames on the U.S. abundant gun culture. Throughout human history, wars have arisen from territorial conflicts and economic interests.
   
   Again, where are the jobs? Many U.S. factories continue to use other countries to manufacture deficient products by using cheap labor elsewhere, causing unemployment to skyrocket. Huge conglomerates like Wal-Mart (with their cheap merchandise) force smaller chains to fold or merge, and so they profit by using other places at the expense of the willing workers of America.
   
   John Gray is a professor of European thought at the London School of Economics. He is considered one of Britain's leading public intellectuals and an important conservative thinker. His far-fetched opinions that 'the movement toward free markets, goods and ideas is not a naturally occurring process but rather a political project that rests on American power" is just passing the buck.
   
   After all his 'put downs' no way would I believe that he feels America is a 'flagship of the new civilization.' We can learn by studying the failures of the old civilizations, and not place blame.



2. A very bleak and insightful book.
   I'll let Mr Gray speak in his own words.
   Gray notes that current US policy is "a game plan for a cultural civil war...In the United States, as elsewhere, free markets evoke powerful social and political counter-movements. The chronic economic risk that they impose on the majority of the population is fertile ground for populist politicians."
   
   "No western government today has a credible successor to the policies which secured western society against mass unemployment in the Keynesian era...The social democratic objective of full employment cannot now be achieved by social democratic policies."
   
   It's the begining of the end for US democracy...



3. Two writers who interest me because of the quality of their writings and the arguments which they put forward are Michael Prowse and John Gray. Both of these men have at one time been associated with what is known as the New Right, a term generally taken to mean, a heterogenous group of academics, intellectuals, scholars, journalists and sundry others who contributed to the resurgence of classical liberal, whig and similar ideas associated with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Both of these authors have since turned away from those ideas and developed their thinking in other directions.
   
   When I began to read this book I was reminded on Hayek's reason for not reviewing Keynes' General Theory: that he did not need to do so as he believed that Keynes would once again change his mind. However, as I proceeded to immerse myself in the material I began to gain some insight into the direction that Gray has gone.
   
   I am sure that there are many who would simply dismiss these ideas as not worthy of serious consideration given that Gray is considered a turncoat in some quarters, and there are some who would merely denounce them from a simplistic neo-liberal point of view but I believe that such attitudes are seriously misguided. As Peter Wynarczyk once pointed out to me, we must all put our theories in the public domain so that they may be tested against competing theories. We can build walls against attack but then what use is a theory which is merely conditional. Gray recognises that many who swear allegiance to the neo-liberal doctrines have not fully thought through the implications of those theories and similarly also recognises the political ramifications of those policies when implemented by politicians and others.
   
   After reading this book I am not coninced that Gray himself is anti-market. He seems to articulate a view of markets which are set within a social context, indeed he postulates competing capitalisms which to my mind is fully compatible within a classical liberal framework.
   
   The target of his attack appears to be what he views as a programme, a political programme, of a world order based on a contemporary American conception of what a free market ought to be. Whereas Gray argues that the emergence of the phenomenon of globalisation is driven by the spread of new technologies as opposed to the breaking down of barriers against open or laissez faire economics, he develops the notion of a particular type of capitalism hell bent on world domination. False Dawn assesses the damage to other capitalisms and the implications thereof, and foresees a time when the general applicability of American capitalism will ultimately lead to it's demise and at a great cost. He believes that this juggernaut cannot be stopped easily due to the damage done to the power of the state through the past twenty or so years of it's extension to the global economy.
   
   False Dawn also places this attempt to global economic domination within a context of the grand ideas of the Enlightenment and argues that as such it is doomed to failure. Gray writes comprehensively, providing examples from different capitalisms to support his theory and cleverly finds common results which support his findings. I found myself in disagreement with the notion that technology is an impetus for globalisation as I believe that the development and spread of technology is the result of an economic process rather than an instigator. Neither was I convinced of the fatality of his work. Even were I convinced of the disasterous consequences of the spread of one particular type of capitalism, I believe that the market process, through the creation of competitive forces will cause other capitalisms to fight for domination. Gray quotes Schumpeter's view on the nature of laissez faire in destroying and rebuilding to mourn the changes within societies but this is a double edged sword. Who is to say what was swept away is not worse than what is built?
   
   Overall I think that this work is excellent and that it deserves serious attention rather than casual dismissal. False Dawn has some important arguements which policy makers, academics and intellectuals would do well to consider. The strength of ideas lies in their capacity to deal with attacks because it is only through those attacks that weakenesses, if not fatal flaws, can be detected. If we are confident in our belief in those ideas we should welcome attacks like Gray's for in the end we will find improvement.



4. To understand the mechanisms of current world and national economics events, you need some background reference information.
   I was fortunate to get hold and read (several times over) this book back in 2000.
   Once you've absorbed its content, you'll be able to read between the lines of whatever mainstream and alternative medias through at us.
   
   Be alert.
   
   A must read.



5. "Unless it is reformed radically, the world economy risks falling apart in a replay, at once tragic and farcical, of the trade wars, competitive devaluations, economic collapses and political upheavals of the 1930s."
   
   The recent financial collapse in the U.S. gives this words, written back in 2000, a prophetic tone.
   
   Coming from a former free-market and free-trade supporter, a man who knows the system from the inside, this book explains why we need a regulated global economy and why laissez-faire is as dogmatic and dangerous ideology as Stalinist communism was.

5 comments about China: The Balance Sheet: What the World Needs to Know Now About the Emerging Superpower (Institute International Econom).

1. I find this book extremely dull because it is mainly made up of statements. But then I realise that, written by government think tanks, this book is for politicians.
   
   If you are a general reader and want to understand how China is affecting the world, I recommend China Shakes the World or China Inc. And if are interested in the recent history of China (pre-1978), read Wild Swans.
   
   If you are a business person and want to understand how to do business in China, I recommend The China Executive by Dr Wei Wang.



2. I haven't read this book but have read several others by Nick Lardy and studied with him at Yale. I disagee with several reviewers who characterize Nick and his colleagues as ignorant about China and are simply imposing a western view. Nick was studying China and the economy (in Chinese) long before it was a popular subject and is intimately familiar with the country's economy. In a country where data is often obscured by politics, he has done an excellent job of piecing together disparate facts to achieve a coherent whole. He may be skeptical, but he's often correct.



3. Pg. 4: "China's average wage is one-thirtieth of the U.S. and its average productivity level is equally lower (and wages, in any event account for only 20% of the cost of producing textiles and 5% of the cost of producing semiconductors)." If so, manufacturers that offshore in China would be stupid; alternatively, "China: The Balance Sheet" has a serious credibility problem. I go with the latter.
   
   Nonetheless, this is still some value to the book for its statistics. For example, the authors believe China's foreign exchange reserves reached $1 trillion in '06, far more than any other country's, and probably more than enough to make serious improvement in its pollution and poverty problems. By 2050, China's economy is projected to be the world's largest; foreign investment only accounts for 5% of its capital growth - the Chinese savings rate of about 33% is more than enough to handle China's growth with money left over.
   
   As for social services, "The Balance Sheet" asserts a mid-90's adult literacy rate of about 80% (vs. 50% in India) and graduates 800,000 scientists and engineers/year, while spending only 2.8% of GDP on education. Healthcare accounts for about 6% - far less than the U.S.' 16%.
   
   Only 16% of China's land is arable, and most of its population lives on it. China's leaders are pressured to improve employment to absorb those leaving rural China, as well as those 40% released from state-jobs (including 80% from state-owned manufacturers).
   
   Bergsten et al are most concerned about the possibility of conflict between the U.S. and China re Taiwan, and they point out that China uses its political (U.N. Security Council membership) and economic muscle to "encourage" others to support it re Taiwan.



4. This book is the best primer on the rise of China and the consequences to the United States that I have come across. Most other authors on the subject feel the need to have a strong thesis, either "China: House of Cards" or "China: Unstoppable Juggernaut". The team here presents a balanced and clinical view while venturing to conclusions on reccommended US actions as well. Well worth the quick read to cut through all the China hype/noise out there.



5. This book contains an excellent ,overall assessment of China.It shows both the strengths and weaknesses of China.However,it is not the case that China's growth rate over the last 30 yaers has been 10 %.In late 2007,the World Bank,based on a complete reassessment of its estimates of Chinese price equivalents ,in terms of USA prices,based on standard purchasing power parity calculations,estimated China's Gross Domestic Product(gdp) to be no more than $6 trillion and not the $10-$11 trillion estimated in 2005 and 2006.This corrected statistic can be compared to the current gdp of the United States ,which is around $13 trillion.Similarly,the alleged rising middle class of China turns out to be at most 100 million out of a population of 1.4 billion.These facts mean that China is not the unstoppable powerhouse claimed in numerous other currently available books on China.The China threat,in fact,appears to be very similar ,in many respects, to the old Soviet Union threat based on faulty economic growth statistics that had greatly overestimated the Soviet Union's economic growth rate.

1 comments about Why Are There So Many Banking Crises?: The Politics and Policy of Bank Regulation.

1. This is an interesting,but incomplete,set of essays written by Jean-Charles Rochet and a number of co-authors which are based on the standard views of analyzing the banking industry's interest rate risk problems -asymmetric(incomplete or partial) information,adverse selection,moral hazard,and income gap(duration gap),value at risk models that seek to maintain bank capitalization levels in the face of banking industry attempts to minimize interest rate risk.Thus,"..improperly chosen risk weights induce banks to select inefficient portfolios and to undertake regulatory arbitrage activities that might paradoxically result in increased risk"(p.6).The alleged " solution " appears on p.250-"...adoption of "market-based" risk weights,i.e.,weights proportional to the systematic risks of these assets measured by their market betas..."(p.250).THe problem is that all of the essays are written on the misbelief that the normal probability distribution can be used to model risk.There is no attempt to deal with the equally important problem of uncertainty,in the sense of Keynes,Ellsberg and Knight,or the " wild " risk that Mandelbrot has shown is of paramount importance.The VAR models all assume normality,as do the beta results calculated from the CAPM .
   The major objection is that,while the authors are aware that the commercial banks are continually attempting to sidestep the regulatory apparatus by " securitization",they don't draw the fundamental conclusion that was already arrived at by Adam Smith over 230 years ago-commercial banks can not be allowed to make loans to projectors(Keynes's stock and financial market speculators and rentiers),imprudent risk takers,and prodigals.If loans are extended to these categories of borrower,the result will be the destruction and waste of the aggregate savings of a nation.The depositors' money must only be loaned out to those individuals who will use the money loans to produce actual goods,services,and create jobs.Otherwise,the necessary investment needed intertemporally to maintain full employment and economic growth will not be forthcoming and the country will be subjected to severe economic problems-inflation,deflation,or stagflation.None of the essays reach this fundamental conclusion that follows from the ancient wisdom of Adam Smith.

5 comments about The Age of Diminished Expectations, Third Edition: U.S. Economic Policy in the 1990s.

1. Paul Krugman is a world class economist. He foresees and understands economic trends better than most. His explanation of fiscal policies, international trade, and macroeconomic concepts are entertaining and clear.

   Unfortunately, nothing he foresees comes true. In this book, he makes a case that because of recurring budget deficits causing a decline in our national savings rate, our investment rate will drop. This will cause a decline in productivity, and a resulting decline in the growth of our economy (GDP) and our living standard (GDP per capita). Thus, this will result in "The Age of Diminished Expectations."

   The rest is history as they say. The nineties did not turn out the way Paul Krugman envisioned them. The economy increased rapidly, and so did living standards. He did not foresee the huge net foreign investments that bridged the gap between our low domestic savings rate and our high investment rate.

   Well, nobody is perfect. Economic forecasting is challenging at best. Overall, it is still a very interesting and informative book. Everything he said in it will eventually be true, it is just a matter of when. But, it certainly was not true during the nineties which was his timeframe target at the time he wrote the book.




2. Krugman obviously knows his economics and this book serves as a concise overview of U.S. Economic policy for those already familiar with basic economics.
   
   That said, Krugman is a whiner who cannot seem to leave his opinions at the door. I was annoyed by his excessivly negative analysis of U.S. Economic policy and I can only wonder about the source of his bitterness. His valid points are drowed in a sea of negativity that hide the the good news. Yes there is good AND bad news.
   
   I would NOT recommend this to someone that is easily impressionable or new to Economics. This book is more "fair" than his more recent writing in the New York Times but if you are familiar with Economics you would be better off reading his published papers.



3. Thanks to Paul Krugman, I learned things related to economics from his book "The Age of Diminished Expectations" I did not at university. The book discusses possibilities for the American economy from the period 1995 to 2005 (roughly). We are already in 2006 and Paul Krugman's most likely scenario -- that the standard of living and economy would remain more or less the same -- proved correct. It is complacency by Americans regarding their living standards and their limited expectations of what politicians can do for them that makes the description "age of diminished expectations" appropriate for Professor Krugman. In earlier times, Americans were very optimistic on the future, looking forward to ever greater increases in national prosperity.
   
   The book discusses the importance of productivity on the standard of living, and how they tend to correlate. From 2000 to 2004, American productivity growth jumped to 3%, which has helped America move ahead of other industrialized nations with sluggish economies. This achievement likely would have come as a surprise to Professor Krugman when he first wrote the book.
   
   Ominously, Professor Krugman points out the seriousness of the budget deficit and national debt, which will only worsen as Medicare and other costs associated with America's aging population skyrocket, while these same productive workers leave the workforce to retire without being replaced adequately in sufficient numbers by younger workers.
   
   How is America going to pay off its debt, which will only worsen if changes are not made? Eventually there must be major cutbacks on social benefits and services, or an increase in taxes, or both. Letting the problem grow will only lead America to a state of eventual insolvency.



4. It is amazing what a poor predictor Krugman is. You can, with about 80% probability of being right, take what he says to be wrong. This is not because he is dumb but rather because his perspective is wrong. He can analyze parts of the economy and be correct and then, right at the last moment, come to the wrong conclusion because his socialist belief system kicks in. Being an advocate for socialism and a truthful economic thinker are contradictions. He should give up one or the other. In any case, don't read this waste of time unless you are a true believer.



5. Very good book by the 2008 prize in memory of Alfred Nobel: Paul Krugman.
   Each chapter is a synthesis of facts and theory so that one may understand the economic theory through the facts and viceversa.
   According to Krugman, the objectives of economics (better, of macroeconomics) are productivity growth, income distribution and employment. All the rest in macroeconomics descends from these three pillars (inflation, the trade deficit, the budget deficit, the dollar ups and downs, protectionism vs.free trade, etc.).
   A clear prose; worth reading and re-reading.