5 comments about The Chinese Century: The Rising Chinese Economy and Its Impact on the Global Economy, the Balance of Power, and Your Job (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks).

1. Author Oded Shenkar provides up-to-date information, specific
   details, and perspectives about the current and future ascension of
   China. It is and will affect us locally and globally. This book
   focuses on generalities and will be helpful to those who plan on
   doing business in China or want to learn more about the "macro"
   affects of the PRC's growing influence. Perhaps too obvious to state
   (again) is China's coming economic, political, and military role in
   our world. By now, this concept is cliche. Yet the question is
   relevant, and now, moreso than ever before. The "Chinese Century"
   largely focuses on the next 100 years. Surpassing the U.S.
   economically, is predicted to happen within the next twenty years.
   
   Many American companies have been complacent and industry leaders
   were caught of guard by China's massive growth. Lackadaisical?
   fixed, mind-sets? Competitors in neighboring countries (e.g. Korea)
   started losing out to China in the 1990s.
   
   Some of the common questions and discussions that Shenkar addresses
   are: "How will China's economic ascension will affect its region and
   the entire world?" "How will it impact and transform the U.S.
   economy?" "How will it change you?" The author notes the transition
   of the American economy to a service-sector economy.
   
   Domestically, the more challenging aspects for the CPC and Chinese
   society are how to lessen and/or resolve the Income Gap between
   Eastern cities and rural areas (and within these cities themselves).
   Those in the eastern China are living in a radically different world
   than those inland. Both of these groups are aware of the differences
   between them as status symbols, faster-paced life, and incessant
   conspicuous consumption propel attitudes, the economy, and egos.
   There is quantifiable alienation between the "have-nots," who
   outnumber the "haves" by hundreds of millions. Confrontations over
   water and land-use, and eminent domain, are frequently reported.
   
   Stealing Intellectual Property:
   The Chinese can produce - but they cannot create. "Creativity" and
   "ingenuity" are the new buzzwords of the government. Creativity may
   or may not happen. If it is ever achieved to some degree, it will
   take time (generations) and will require changes to the cultural
   mindset and education system.
   
   Implementing Foreign Policy Interests:
   The U.S. acts upon its own self-centered interests like many dominant
   nation-states. America's economic might promotes its diplomatic and
   trade interests in the international world. Often these strengths
   reinforce and complement one another when pressuring countries to "go
   along" with the current administration in Washington, regardless of
   who is in power.
   
   The Chinese may do this too, if they choose to "go international."
   I believe Chinese foreign policy will become more direct and
   unilateral.
   
   Economic might brings diplomatic, political, and potential military
   might (if China continues its high military spending). Westerners
   should realize that there's no motivation nor reason for the Chinese
   people to want the values and beliefs of liberal democracies of the
   West. To think they would, is culturally-centric arrogance.
   
   Corruption:
   Corruption exists in many countries of the world. In China it's an
   epidemic from the bottom ranks to the highest levels of society. It
   has to be dealt with. Even reducing it may take more than one or two
   generations. Morality is also an issue. Hu Jintao recently outlined
   the "8 honors and 8 shames" in 2004. Meant for the Chinese people,
   but specifically geared towards party members. It's a general and
   idealistic message. Will it be followed? This reinforces the fact
   that rampant corruption, greed, and selfishness is a primary obstacle
   to economic and political stability. Throughout East Asia
   competition outweighs cooperation in business and social
   interactions.
   
   What will China be like when it has the economic power to promote its
   interests?
   
   The Chinese understand and realize they are "producers." They are
   not "creators." They're not "individuals." However - if - they ever
   become creative, adaptable, and individualistic, beware.
   
   Incidentally, anyone who thinks that a market-based economy promotes
   or is conducive to forms of "democratic representation" is completely
   misinformed. The pairing of these two is the exception, not the
   rule.
   
   The U.S. derides Cuba for it authoritarianism and refuses to do
   business with Cuba, while at the same time it's in bed with China,
   which is far more brutal, oppressive, and venal.
   
   A good book. Recommended.



2. It is obvious that China is rising and is impacting the rest of the world in an increasingly big way.
   
   The value of The Chinese Century by Professor Oded Shenkar lies in its concise and vivid summary of China's rise and impact. As such, the author has achieved one of his goals he set out to achieve by writing this book.
   
   However, the author clearly has not delivered what he promises to deliver in the Synopsis: "Above all, Shenkar shows what you must do to survive and prosper in "the Chinese Century"."
   
   Indeed, as a business person, you might get even more dazzled after reading this book simply because this book gives you an academic snapshot of the China business scene (although with some vivid examples) rather than insights into and wisdom about what to do in order to succeed.
   
   To know the latter, you have to read Dr Wei Wang's The China Executive: Marrying Western and Chinese Strengths to Generate Profitability from Your Investment in China.
   
   Highly practical, The China Executive brings to light the highest essence of any business in the age of globalisation. It is also characterised by integration: integration of theory and practice, integration of analysis and intuition - integration, in other words, of all major concepts and ideas related to business. These include history, soceity, politics, economics and culture; management and leadership; operation, personnel, finance and marketing; organisation, market, industry and strategy; and human being, philosophy and humour.
   
   In short, if you, as a business person, want to know what to do (as well as how to think) in "the Chinese Century", buy and read The China Executive.



3. "The Chinese Century" reminds us that our trade deficit with China is rapidly growing (up 20%/year from '01-'03), and also tells us that its composition is changing - the four highest categories in '03 were all technologically related (misc. manufactured articles, office machines and ADP equipment, telecommunications and sound-recording equipment, and electrical machinery). (Apparel/clothing and footwear were in 5th and 6th place, down from 2nd and 3rd in '99.)
   
   Shenkar also imforms us that the Chinese are working to continue "moving up the food chain" via increasing the rate that overseas Chinese students return to China, increasing R&D spending within its organizations, and forcing overseas partners to provide valuable trade secrets. The percentage of American white-collar associated jobs lost in manufacturing has gone from 30% ('79-'89) to 35% ('90-'99), and is likely to increase further, shaking belief in the theorized overall benefit of job migration to more complex work, and the belief that education is good insurance against unemployment. (The unemployment rate for electrical engineers now is greater than the unemployment rate in general.)
   
   China is often pilloried for violating intellectual property rights; Americans, however, should remember that the U.S. was also a major violator in the 19th century, and remained so until it emerged as a major producer of copyrighted/patented knowledge. Presumably China will follow a similar path. China is also attacked for not adjusting its exchange rate vs. the dollar - however, since its productivity-adjusted costs are about 12% that in the U.S., currency adjustment would not begin to solve the U.S.-China trade deficit. In addition, Americans need to remember that China needs to create 15 million new jobs/year to handle population growth, plus additional jobs to cover those lost due to closing ineffective government enterprises and rural residents wanting to move to its cities.
   
   The book's avowed purpose is not on how to stop the tide of Chinese imports, but how to remain competitive. Unfortunately, its recommendations (more education) fall far short of what would be required, and are contradicted by its own material.



4. It is rarely that I have written less than a glowing review of any book dealing with the topics of globalization, outsourcing and the ilk. As someone who is intrigued by these issues, I have found all of my reads thus far to be riveting and educative. I wish I could I say the same about Oded Shenkar's book "The Chinese Century." I am afraid that was not the case.
   
   The book suffers from some clear flaws. First and foremost is the fact that it focuses solely on one facet of the Chinese growth story, viz. exports and imports, and that too from a largely US-centric world view. For someone who is interested in understanding the different facets of the Chinese story and its geopolitical ramifications (as can be seen today in China's relations with Sudan, Iran, and Venezuela among others), this book clearly falls short.
   
   Second, the tone adopted by the author is one of unbridled optimism regarding China's growth prospects. I, for one, do not necessarily share the same world view. No nation has been able to eat its cake and have it too. If you want to be a modern nation enjoying all the economic benefits that come out of a free market system, you also need to be a democracy that is built on the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, a free media and a vibrant middle class that is not afraid to speak up its mind. I am not sure China will be able to escape that painful transition at some point of time. The question is not "If", it is a question of "When". I would have therefore liked to see the author explain how China can make the transition from a communist nation ruled by a narrow clique to a modern nation without a democratic change thrown somewhere in between. I am afraid that he did not.
   
   Finally to round off, I would also like to point out that the book suffers from typographical errors that are clearly unacceptable in a book published from Wharton School Publishing. Two examples, both from the same page (pg. 85 of the paper back edition) for the skeptics who need proof. "Finally, there is the potential liability and litigation cost when a safety-related product such as a break pad fails, and the legitimate manufacturer is implicated." Or, "The direct losses of U.S. IPR owners in copyrighted industries (such as movies) alone in China have been estimated at more than $1.8 annually." The proof reader probably needs to be told that it is not "break pads" but "brake pads" and that the losses to IPR owners are closer to $1.8 billion than $1.8!
   
   Overall I am happy that the book finished at 187 pages. It's a disappointment though that not much of substance was said in those 187 pages.



5. In late 2007 the World Bank issued a revised statistical analysis of all the countries in its data base.The World Bank corrected its previous erroneous statistics, which had been adjusting the prices of Chinese goods and services too far upward based on purchasing power parity comparisons.These lowered prices dramatically reduce China'a figures.The corrected figures show that China does not have a gross domestic product in the $10-$11 trillion range,as compared to the USA's gross domestic product of around $13 trillion, but a gross domestic product of no more than $6 trillion.
   
   The same report demonstates that the Chinese middle class is substantially smaller than previously estimated and may be no more than 100 million out of a population estimated to be at 1.4 billion.
   
   
   Finally,the exaggerated yearly growth rates reported by China are also erroneous.The real growth rate is about one-half of previously accepted figures.This means that China is NOT on track to over take the USA as the world's largest economy.The exact same revisions also apply to India.India is NOT growing anywhere near to the gross domestic product figures that have been reported.
   
   The author of this book needs to completely revise it .Erroneous data and information ,followed by erroneous analysis based on the erroneous data,can only result in misleading readers.

No comments about Justice in a Global Economy: Strategies for Home, Community, and World.

5 comments about Do's and Taboos Around the World for Women in Business.

1. my middle school students have found this book useful because
   it not only discusses gender issues in the world of business,
   but also offers strategies how U.S. women can be successful in
   cultures with even less equitable relations between the genders than our own country.



2. I thought that this book while touching on many areas of do's and taboos was very basic in it's approach...perhaps even juvenile or youngsterish...While I was looking for actual do's and don't this book often offered situational issues...rarely stating DON"TS and offering multiple choices instead of stating the real Do's in many cases. Good for young adults and young persons going into new countries. Older people probably want a guide that states the facts like: In this country..cover your head in public at all times..instead of choice 1-go buy a head scarf.....2 tear a part off your dress and make one ...3 go scarfless...4 scream loudly I'm an American and don't need it.
   I was really looking for more depth and coverage from a experienced traveled business person on exactly what to do. Still a starting point for a new business traveler.



3. "Do's and Taboos Around the World for Women in Business" is a highly interesting book, and one that is likely to prove useful for women who need to travel abroad for business reasons. Moreover, it is quite engaging, due to the fact that the authors combine practical advice with funny anecdotes about women working in international business.
   
   I recommend you to read the whole book, if you can, because at least some of the tips it gives might help to you. On the other hand, if you are pressed for time, just read the parts that interest you more. The book is neatly divided into chapters according to subjects:
   
   -Part one: Survival "over there" (it includes -> 1: Sex, dating, discrimination and harassment; 2: Know your product, know the culture; 3: Protocol for women; 4: Safety when traveling; 5:Healthy traveling; 6: Luggage and packing; chapters 1 to 6).
   -Part two: Advice country by country (it analyzes some countries in particular, but most are grouped and studied by regions; chapters 7 to 22).
   -Part three: Women in the world of work (it includes -> 23: Women in international business: past, present and future; 24: How I got my first job in international business; 25: Profiles of three successful women; chapters 23 to 25).
   -Part four: The international assignment (it includes -> 26: To go or not to go; 27: Preparing for your life abroad; 28: Family matters; 29: On-the-job challenges; 30: Culture shock; 31: Repatriation and reverse culture shock; 32: Cross-cultural and language training; chapters 26 to 32).
   -Part five: Help for the independent businesswoman who wishes to work abroad (it includes -> 33: Tips for the independent career search).
   -Part six: Additional resources.
   
   Personally, I found some chapters more practical than others, for instance I took great advantage of the tips on what to pack ("You don't need more clothes, more colors, more combinations. You need fewer things, carefully chosen"), but I guess that depends on what each of us needs more.
   
   On the other hand, bear in mind that even though the advice that the writers give is right on the spot in most occasions, that is not always the case. For example, they point out that punctuality isn't overly important in Latin American countries, but I'm from Argentina and I can say that many think that arriving late is rude, so if you were to arrive late to a business meeting just to "follow local custom", you would be giving a bad impression.
   
   Notwithstanding that, I can tell you that I really liked this book. I specially enjoyed the fact that the authors take into account that "international business tends to be uncomfortable for most North American managers -men as well as women. Many have yet to develop cross-cultural experience, skills, perspective, and confidence". Their recipe for success?. Well, according to them "You can allay your doubts by taking action. To overcome negative attitudes toward women in international business you must assume the initiative and thoroughly prepare yourself".
   
   On the whole, I found this book very useful, and I believe that it can be valuable not only for women in international business but also to those who need to travel abroad with their families due to their spouses' job. "Do's and Taboos Around the World for Women in Business" isn't a perfect book, but it is a very good one, and the kind of book you will want to carry with you around the world.
   
   Belen Alcat



4. Interesting for young very unexperienced women.



5. This book was published awhile ago, and needs to be updated. I was particularly interested in the Middle East section, which this book called, "The Lands of Islam." The language was ethnocentric, with an orientalist attitude (see Edward Said for an explanation of orientalism). I do not recommend this for anyone interested in info for this region of the world; I have lived there and the information presented in this book is now incorrect, as the book is outdated.

5 comments about The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences.

1. I have just finished re-reading David Halberstam's The Fifties as part of an attempt to better understand that period as the foundation of many social, political and economic and cultural post-war trends that continue, or have been expanded on, today. The book under review, to its credit, puts forth an analysis that undermines one critical part of the `myth' of the Fifties. That is the proposition that `a rising tide lifts all ships'. Given the tremendous advantage the American capitalist economy had after its World War II victory combined with certain ameliorative changes in corporate and labor culture there was a seeming feeling that things would keep getting better and better. That based, of course, on an assumption that one did not challenge the capitalist basis on which this system was built. Today, after the victory of that unchallenged assumption, the chickens have come home to roost. The classic case for what amounted to class collaboration was the `partnership' between the Walter Reuther-led United Auto Workers and Detroit's Big Three automakers in the immediate post-World War II period. The result was the closest that this country has ever come to a Europeon social-democratic arrangement between business and labor. The recent purchase of one of the Big Three, Chrysler, by a private equity company that will inevitably entail another massive round of layoffs in the already devastated American auto industry was greeted without a peep by the Auto Workers Union. Times have changed, and not for the better.
   
   Thus, clearly those days of so-called `social contract' derived capitalism, whether illusionary at the time or not, are over and have been for a while. The most compelling data centers on the seemingly never-ending fact that while those who manage the capitalist empire has vastly increased their wealth and position the mass of Americans has either been spinning their wheels or going under. This book is an `up close and personal' look at those who did not make it for one reason or another but mainly because they were caught up in the vise of a dramatic changeover in corporate culture which can be paraphrased bluntly as the `survival of the fittest'. One thing that is clear from all the interviews, unfortunately, is that few working people, and this book is really about working people, have a political clue about what has happened to them and why. Or, moreover, what to do about it. The amount of self-doubt, personal guilt and bafflement expressed in the book shows more clearly than any current theoretical Marxist treatise that I have read why this runaway capitalist system is still in place. Still, if these interviews emphasize that the task to change things may be daunting it nevertheless needs to be done. While the author offers no particular remedy for this growing economic inequality he does perform a service by laying out the problem. It is our task to break the logjam. And given the dominant corporate culture and its ruthless workings the fight will not be pretty.
   



2. "The Disposable American" appropriately touches on many areas outside of, but directly related to lay-offs: sociology, culture, media, politics, public policy, and the psychological condition of those involved.
   
   Lay-offs are an important topic but the way it's presented seems too subtly poignant and explicitly tragic. Within the first couple pages of "The Disposable American" author Uchitelle sets the tone with a term for these millions of layed-off American workers: "victim." The word "victim" is used all-over the spectrum in modern-day America and frankly, it gets tiring. So, layed-off workers are victims? Quite a strong term. I wouldn't refer to them as this. (But I do believe working and middle-class blue and white-collar employees are no longer winners in today's society.) And conditions won't be changing for the better in the short and long-term future. Employees need to adapt and psychologically view themselves as contractors. Contractors, is what we were today. And it's not entirely negative. It can be positive. "You....are not your job." Your self-worth should not be associated with your job title nor tenure in today's work-world.
   
   Economic reality + social engineering. This is they way things are because it's expedient for investors and it's *planned* to be that way. 37 states have At-Will employment laws. U.S. labor laws are the worst in the industrialized world.
   
   One of the many examples in "The Disposable American" is IBM. IBM publicly stated in 1994 that workers who are efficient, loyal, and productive cannot be guaranteed job security at IBM. When thousands were layed-off from IBM they were rehired to work for....IBM....as contractors. The company concluded that workers who fear lay-offs can provide more "adequate" results (page 145). Employees that were retained (not let go) were "shell-shocked" and still afraid of losing their jobs afterward. Even though a Harvard Business School Study specifically concluded the wrong workers were layed-off and the ones retained often weren't (and still aren't today) trained to deal with the new responsibilities and additional workload (page 194).
   
   Increasing immigration is also welcomed. Immigrants are less likely statistically to complain about conditions or labor codes, and provide employers with a large pool or workers at the low end of the pay scale.
   
   Uchitelle's personal sob stories of working stiffs having to leave one mundane dead-end job for another is really nothing new. Staying in the same industry is Old School. Dinosaurs. Do Defined Benefit Pension Programs enslave employees and tie them to a company and industry? Are these workers too lazy or stupid to invest on their own for their future? 401Ks for most are a scam: limited investment choices that especially hurt older contributors and hidden fees that significantly eat into returns the longer a worker stays at the same company, and doesn't roll it over into their own IRA that often have lower expense ratios of their choosing. People don't stay in the same industry and/or with the same company for a long time, and those that do risk having to transition into new gigs unexpectedly in their twenties, 30s, 50s, and beyond.
   
   In this book there are many individual and family stories of personal circumstances. Many personal stories using a person's first name, hometown, and former "career" are elucidated. Then descriptions of the financial and emotional difficulties faced by those who get layed-off/down-sized/riffed are noted. The politically correct corporate euphemism is "Involuntarily separated." <---I like this one.
   
   The Lay-Off Routine Is Well Refined:
   
   Airplane mechanics are important. Their work assures planes fly safely. But their jobs can be contracted (outsourced) inside the U.S. When these mechanics were layed-off en masse they were invited to a hotel and given a seminar to be "counseled out." The speaker told them that credit card and mortgage companies gave "special consideration" to layed-off workers. The counselor held up a sample form letter to creditors, for all to see. The layed-off worker can request a reduction in monthly payments for these debts temporarily. They were instructed to ask for the reduction before they get "60 days behind on a debt." And they were also given the book "Who Moved My Cheese."
   
   Lay-Off expansion and political opportunism of the 1990s:
   
   In the mid-1990s lay-offs transcended from not only the blue collar industries but to the white collar and professional industries. At this time, more media attention was given not only to the lay-offs themselves but *how* people were being let go. CEOs were going public giving news conferences to publicize lay-offs in the hope that their company stock would go up. Political Translation: too many voters were losing their jobs and the Presidential, Congressional, and State elections were only months away in 1996. Pat Buchanan was very successful in tapping into voter anxiety and angst by his protectionist "save-the-jobs" policies.
   
   Factual truths from this book:
   
   1. Lay-offs and lack of job security will continue for several decades or longer.
   
   2. If a layed-off worker gets more training and education they will maintain or increase their current market value. This is statistically false.
   
   3. The savings of laying-off workers will help companies and in the long-run workers will be better off.
   
   The solutions give the layed-off the right to sue, and Uchitelle even advocates taxing people with higher incomes. Like this money will be redirected to the layed-off or pay for retraining, and such? It won't be re-directed, and it should not be. Furthermore, it won't happen and it's not fair.
   
   The index is large, and there are many book titles author Louis
   Uchitelle cited and noted throughout the book. This book is about us. And it's also about you, even if you think you are safe.



3. While the book is well written and contains a number of stories that are worth reading, the only slightly hidden socialist leanings of the author ruin it for me. The key failure that Uchitelle makes is to assume that constancy is a plausible choice.
   
   This is important - Just because it would be NICE for things to always stay the same as they were a decade ago, that doesn't make it feasible. And no amount of assumptions or nostalgia will make it come true. The world is going to change, competitors are going to make doing things the same way for a decade unfeasible, and using expensive labor to compete with cheap labor is going to get very hard to pull off.
   
   Uchitelle bemoans CEOs who use downsizing, restructuring, outsourcing, and layoffs to "Pad the bottom line" when really they're keeping their companies afloat. At the end of the first chapter, he includes a very Scrooge-like framing of the CEO of Stanley works - who brought the firm from floundering against cheaper Asian imports back to profitability - because he talks about the results he achieved in improving net income and earnings for the company (which is, by the way, his job). Uchitelle would like the reader to view this rapacious capitalist as some evil tyrant who lined his own pockets at the expense of those he fired. However, he neglects to consider the alternative scenario.
   
   Would Stanley works REALLY have kept all those fired workers employed into 2006? NO! Stanley would be bankrupt, and EVERYONE would be out of a job. The CEO Uchitelle decries has saved the jobs he could, saved millions in investor capital (Some of which came from the very workers Uchitelle claims to defend through things like 401k), brought jobs and opportunities to developing countries, rescued a brand, and in general saved a company.
   
   It's very easy to demonize corporate leaders by simply assuming they have the option to do nothing, and we'll all live happily ever after. Unfortunately, change happens, capitalism requires a helmet, and we don't live in the magical world of puppy dogs and lollipops where everyone can work the same job forever without facing outside competition. Out here in the real world, the options are (A) - Fire a few people and keep the company profitable, or (B) Fire everyone and close up shop. Do I think that these are the only two choices available every time? No. I also think layoffs are often done poorly, but this book takes a very naive world view to draw child-like conclusions that reak of "layoffs are bad because they make daddy unhappy".



4. I have not received this book. I have notified the book seller. I have not been provided with a UPS tracking number



5. Useful if grim and inconslusive look at another truly American phenomenon: layoffs.
   
   The earlier parts of the book give a background and case study in how layoffs were once more or less an unthinkable last resort to how they're just business as usual these days. Back when businessmen could attempt to care about more than just shareholder value, layoffs were seen as a disgrace. Today, they're the right thing to do, and even the laid off worker can agree with that given the very rational logic that precludes the action in today's theology known as businesss and greed.
   
   Uchitelle uses the example of the Stanley tool company from New Britain, Connecticut. Once a proud local company that hand-made trusty tape measures and tools, it's now the classic corporation of today: global, fiercely competitive, and run by bloodless MBAs who don't understand why anyone would really be surprised by layoffs. If anything, Uchitelle himself, in the tone, is surprised by the surprise.
   
   So why the book? Because, he suggests, layoffs have an impact on people that cannot be measured in Excel. An impact on the individual and collective psyche that probably can't be quantified in any meaningful way, because you can't truly measure hopelessness, despair, and the destruction of people or little parts of them in dollars and cents. All of the economic statistics in the world cannot reveal the true picture of a people and the underlying rage or pacifism that are produced by layoffs.
   
   It used to be different, Uchitelle reminds us. A CEO might walk the floor of the plant and know people. Today, they move the office far away and don't know you, and they don't care.
   
   And nobody cares.

5 comments about Hitler's Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial War, and the Nazi Welfare State.

1. German author Gotz (Goetz) Aly describes National Socialism as a form of populist wealth-redistribution welfare-state socialism. One-third of German taxpayers paid more than two-thirds of the tax burdens of war (p. 293), and businesses were heavily taxed (pp. 60-68). Hitler favored social equality for all Germans (p. 300), and worked to correct social inequities, notably in education (p. 322).
   
   Pointedly, National Socialism massively transferred wealth from non-Germans to Germans: "In terms of wartime revenues, internal and external, low- and middle-income Germans, who together with their families numbered some 60 million, accounted for no more than 10 percent of the total sum. More affluent Germans bore 20 percent of the burden, while foreigners, forced laborers, and Jews were compelled to cover 70 percent of the funds consumed every day by Germany during the war." (p. 292). Consequently: "On average, the vast and not particularly affluent majority of Germans enjoyed more disposable income during the war that they had before it." (p. 293). Nazism also appealed to those opposed to traditional moral conventions, and to those inclined towards anticlericalism and anti-elitism (p. 319).
   
   Not surprisingly, once voted into power by the German people, Hitler never needed draconian methods to maintain power until the end. Nearly 90% of the German dissenters executed lost their lives after 1941 (pp. 303-304). Unlike Communism, Nazism never demanded absolute devotion (pp. 23-24). In 1937, merely 7,000 Gestapo employees sufficed to handle 60 million Germans, while, in later East Germany, 190,000 surveillance experts controlled 17 million people (p. 29).
   
   Jews weren't the only victims of larcenous Nazi policies--far from it: "This land of milk and honey in Eastern Europe was to be conquered not for the benefit of landed Prussian Junkers and powerful industrialists but to provide ordinary people with a real-world utopia." (p. 31).
   
   Aly breaks new ground by showing that virtually ALL sectors of German society were involved in the expropriation of conquered peoples' wealth. German soldiers not only sent a considerable amount of looted goods back home (p. 178), but were encouraged to do so (p. 311). Later-writer Heinrich Boll (Boell) wrote much about this (p. 110, etc.). Not mentioned is the fact that, in German-occupied Poland, any German could enter a Polish or Jewish shop at any time and take anything at will without paying.
   
   Poles targeted by the Germans for deportation, imprisonment, or execution immediately lost all their properties to the Reich (p. 197, 236). The 8-12 million forced laborers in the Reich, most of whom were Eastern Europeans, toiled under inhumane conditions. They were paid a wage in order to forestall resistance back home, but then the earnings were recouped by the Germans in various creative ways (pp. 156-157).
   
   German-occupied Poland actually had to pay Germany for being occupied (pp. 76-77) "...with the result that the local population endured acute shortages of grain, potatoes, meat, and other necessities." (p. 77), leading to famine (p. 170). (This enables the reader understand why some Poles didn't aid fugitive Jews and why Poles sometimes betrayed or killed Jews known or suspected of stealing from them). Polish guerilla resistance eventually forced the Germans to slightly reduce the harshness of their exploitation of Poland (p. 160).
   
   The Wehrmacht invaded Russia under orders to live off the land, placing 21.2 million Soviet citizens in starvation mode (p. 178). Additionally, millions of Soviet POWs were starved to death by the Germans (p. 175). Aly touches on the eventual Nazi extermination plans against Slavs: "...the most extreme proposal envisioned forcibly relocating 50 million Slavs to Siberia. (For years, the German Research Foundation also supported the development of technocratic plans for the slaughter of millions of people. Funds for research in this area were still allocated in the Nazis' final budget for the fiscal year 1945-46)." (p. 30). Yet the term "relocation" had itself already become a euphemism for extermination.
   
   One Holocaust myth would have us believe that the destruction of Jews had been so uniquely irrational that the Germans would rather sacrifice themselves than leave Jews alive. In actuality, the deportation of the Jews from the island of Rhodes never did challenge the Wehrmacht's transport needs (p. 268), and there wasn't even talk of German retreat at the time of the Rhodes Jews' deportation (pp. 269-270). Once it did occur, the Rhodes Jews' deportation was itself governed by economic considerations (p. 273).
   
   The case for Aly's premise that the Holocaust can't be properly understood without the larceny behind it (p. 285) can be strengthened (see: INTO THAT DARKNESS). Treblinka Kommandant Franz Stangl rejected the presumed Nazi obsession with killing all Jews, citing the creation of "honorary Aryans". Stangl asserted that the Holocaust was actually motivated by financial gain. When confronted with the obvious fact that most Jews weren't wealthy, Stangl retorted with the comment that almost every Jew had some worthy possession that could be confiscated--and that the booty added up.



2. An interesting premise and a provocative approach. More an indictment of socialism and the people than of Hitler and his henchmen - "I was just giving the people what they wanted ..."
   
   I'd love to see this topic debated.
   
   Jim Hoerricks
   Author - Forensic Photoshop



3. Recently, several new studies have emerged on Nazi Germany and the second war which disregard the military aspects of the conflict, and instead enrich our understanding by focusing upon the economic dimensions of the Hitler regime. One such book is Adam Tooze's "Wages of Destruction"; this is a second example. The author's thesis is articulated in the book's subtitle: "Plunder, Racial War, and the Nazi Welfare State." What does the author mean by the term "Nazi Welfare State"?; I have not seen that one before.
   
   For Gotz Aly, the Nazis recognized the chaos and near successful Communist/Socialist revolution (Rosa Luxemberg and the Spartakists) that Germany experienced in the final stages of WWI and briefly thereafter, when for example Berlin looked like a scene from "All Quiet on the Western Front." The German civil population had suffered mightily during the war, coming close to starvation due to the allied blockade. As a result, the Nazi leadership determined that it would do everything possible to keep the civilian population happy and contented during the second war: low taxes; plenty of food; replacement of apartments and their contents lost due to allied bombing; and lots of financial goodies. The only problem with this tactic was how to finance it all. The answer was easy for the leadership--steal literally everything of value from Jews in Germany, captured areas, and even those resident in allies like Italy. In addition, force captured nations to subjugate their economies in order to make payments to Germany, as well as willingly allow their own consumer goods to be gobbled up by German soldiers who paid with makeshift currency that only led to inflation and near disaster for these economies, and wreaked privation upon civil populations.
   
   So, in short, for the author the German population was not cowed into submission by fear of the Nazi tyranny--rather it was bribed with the proceeds of what can only be described as plundering theft on an enormous scale, implemented by a well organized bureaucracy dedicated to that purpose. This outstanding study documents this process in minute detail--in fact, it is easy to get lost in hundreds of pages of economic data and explanation, so skimming (unless you are a specialist in this area) becomes essential. The key point is that it is all here, in as much detail as the reader can absorb, and it is not a pretty picture. The book reminds us that it takes more to understand military conflict and the oppression of a segment of the population than to study guns and tanks--as usual, the best advice is to "follow the money."



4. I have read hundreds of WWII books but never one like this that showed how Germany financed their war efforts through making the conquered countries pay for Germany's army stationed in their country and with the conquered country's currency so as not to inflate Germany's currency. There was no drain on Germany's finances since each conquered country paid for their own conquest so that the German army in each conquered country was self sufficient. Also, how German troops sent millions of packages home from conquered countries with items short in supply in Germany, increasing the average German's standard of living. Very interesting book--highly recommended. Read this book and you will understand why the average German citizen was totally behind the Nazi government and willing to back Hitler and praise him.



5. Two aspects of Nazism are well known: the war and the holocaust. Here we see a third angle: the economic angle. Critics of this book say that it overlooks the racist and ideological components of Nazism. But these are things that we already know about. Part of Nazi popularity among Germans was due to their perceived economic success. Hitler was credited for ending the depression in Germany, and he maintained German consumption during much of the war.
   
   Here we see some of the reasons why Nazi economic success was more smoke and mirrors that reality. The Nazis carried out massive transfers from non Germans to Germans. There is a parallel to be dawn between Hitler and Stalin too. From 1928-1940 Stalin increased the consumption of many urban dwelling Soviet citizens, while Ukrainians starved. Clever dictators will transfer wealth for political purposes.
   
   Hitler's Beneficiaries is a good example of the ruthless nature of politics in dictatorial socialism. Such dictatorships are not evil simply because the wrong men got into power. Such systems are evil out of political necessity. Read this book along with The Wages of Destruction and the Road to Serfdom.

3 comments about Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival.

1. Jaffee did a great job covering the important aspects of fair trade coffee. He thoroughly explained the history of the market and explained the coffee market during the ICA years as well. He also covers the drawbacks of fair trade. I would recomend this book to anyone interested in coffee as well as anyone interested in social justice.



2. This book is a fine-tuned look at Fair Trade in the coffee industry and very important for understanding the complex nature of growing coffee. The book is great.



3. This is a stunning book. Written by a sociologist, it combines the best of anthropology, sociology, and economics to produce a work that transcends all of them and makes major contributions to the literature on social justice and on development.
   The core of it is a detailed study of the fall of coffee prices and the consequent rise of fair trade coffee-buying in Oaxaca, Mexico. Oaxaca was an ideal choice because it is an impoverished area that produces very good coffee, and because Mexico was particularly hard hit by the world meltdown in coffee prices in the 1990s. Oaxaca can now claim that much of its coffee is fair trade, organic, and shade grown, to say nothing of being a fine drink. Thus it can command a relatively good price that keeps the small producers there alive--barely. Jaffee not only describes the coffee economy; he shows, from a wonderful village study, how it relates to maize agriculture, labor out-migration, forest conservation, and other important aspects of life. The shade-grown coffee plantations of south Mexico are incredible wildlife paradises--a birdwatcher's mad dream of heaven--and are absolutely critical not only for the survival of Mexican birds but of migrants from the rest of North America as well.
   Jaffee seems not to know just how bad Mexican coffee was in the old days of state control of the coffee economy. The state saw fit, in many cases, to push mass production of low-grade coffee, trying to compete with Brazil. This failed. The free market came and wrecked the economy, but it did what competition is supposed to do: it improved the coffee, and provided better markets for what was already good. It also had the sad effect of driving many producers of low-grade coffee out of the field and into dire poverty. This problem remains with us.
   Somewhat more important is Jaffee's stress on the more general problems of the "free market" economy and "neoliberalism." He blames this for the worldwide woes of commodity production. I do not read the evidence quite the same way. As he points out, the world coffee trade is really dominated by five huge multinational firms (like Nestle) and a few more smallish ones (like Starbucks). These firms are supported by various direct and indirect subsidies, and get various other special favors. An oligopoly, especially when maintained by government action to some extent, is not a free market! He also shows that the dominance of First World buyers over Third World producers of coffee and other commodities has been maintained by war, subversion, and other ugly procedures that are the absolute antithesis of the free market. The fact is--as most Third World countries and a few First World scholars (like Aihwa Ong) now realize--that the world under "neoliberalism" has, if anything, even more neocolonial governmental control and manipulation than before. First World interests have forced their idea of "free markets" on the poor nations, but have kept the subsidies for their home folks, to say nothing of such exercises in "free marketing" as the US invasion of Iraq, forthrightly called by Alan Greenspan a "war for oil." I have no vested interest in free markets per se, but I don't think they are the whole problem here.
   That said, Jaffee is certainly correct in saying that we need much more fair trade in coffee, and that it will take work--neither First World strongarming nor free marketing, but actual reform of trade. He gives a number of very valuable and practical recommendations, including protection of the term "fair trade" from misuse and cooptation.
   Readers, this is one place you can REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I have seen Mexico's small-scale coffee production and studied it, and I think the situation is really night and day. INSIST on shade-grown, organic, fair trade coffee! Seek it out! Even if the label is somewhat weaseled, as Jaffee correctly shows it often is, your insistence sends a clear message. Recently there has been a major decline in "ordinary" coffee consumption but a spectacular rise in demand for fair trade and organic coffee. The firms cannot ignore that.
   More generally: Anyone interested in current problems of small-scale agriculture--whether coffee, potatoes, or cattle--should read this book.

2 comments about The Oxford History of the American West.

1. This is an extremeley interesting and well balanced account of the history of the American West. It covers a lot of things many people aren't aware of. Very enjoyable. You'll learn something.



2. You'll get instant fact poisoning and an excellent overwiew of the Wes

5 comments about Slackonomics: Generation X in the Age of Creative Destruction.

1. The theme of this book really struck a chord with me (and it made me feel like less of an "outlier" for not yet owning a home). I found it very engaging and accessible with strongly resonating cultural references.



2. Being an on-the-cusp'er -- born around the time some people define as being the end of Gen X and the beginning of Gen Y or the MTV Generation or the Millenials or whichever label you prefer -- I read this book with a feeling of being part of the story and yet not part of it. But you don't have to actually be "part" of the generation in the subtitle to come away from it with a much more realistic-optimistic view about the kind of people leading us into the 21st century, as the Baby Boomers wane in importance (if that ever really happens in their lifetimes). It's a breezy and entertaining read with enough intellectual bite to be convincing -- kind of like attending a party where everyone's got a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary path to fulfillment and also can reference all the appropriate pop culture memes that jive with their experiences. It's the kind of party you won't want to leave early.



3. I read about half this book and just had to quit. This book is a lot of ranting about the author's experience and the experience of her friends who all seem to be short sighted and lack focus in their lives. Being a Gen Xer I have found this book to be way off the mark in terms of everyday gen Xer's that I and my wife know.
   
   I'm the type of reader that will always finish a book but I must say this book wasn't worth a dime. If you want to hear rants about people's stupidity, read some blogs.



4. Lisa Chamberlain had to duck and dodge her way through a publishing industry that believed a book on Generation X was not going to sell. In her final product she slipped the punches beautifully. By hitting the X from an economic perspective, Lisa identified many of the coming changes by focusing on the grounded way that Gen-Xers see the world. It is this hardened take on life and money that will be needed as we face the current wall street disaster. The Baby Boomers had sixteen years and two presidencies to fix the problems of corporate greed and extreme capitalism but not suprisingly, they have failed. Now, as the author acknowledges, it's time for a new Generation to take the reigns. I was thrilled to see this book on the shelf of my library. As a Gen-Xer and an author, it clicked with me on a very personal level. It made me feel more apart of a group and less alone than anything I had previously read. I only wish I had written it myself.



5. Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RIT0GSJ50F9JG Marshal McGovern's review was made as part of a critical review assignment for the Fall 2008 Honors Colloquium on Creative Destruction at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, taught by Art Diamond. (The course syllabus stated that part of the critical review assignment consisted of the making of a video recording of the review, and the posting of the review to Amazon.)

4 comments about Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphorical Journeys Through 28 Nations, Clusters of Nations, and Continents.

1. Very exciting journey using the strenght of metaphores. Just be careful that metaphores are a representation of reality, not exactly that!



2. This book uses metaphors as tools to engage with other cultures. And very useful tools they are, indeed. I have been using this book with students for several years now, and the biggest initial obstacle is that people mistake the metaphors for stereotypes. Once this obstacle is overcome, a very creative and productive examination of the reality of another culture can occur.



3. The book came promptly when expected and was recieved as described. Excellent condition. Thank you so much.



4. Be careful when buying this book. I am in a class for Fairleigh Dickinson and it requires this book. I am in a class of about 30 students and about 90% of us complained about misbound books. They could be missing pages at the 340 page mark or so. Some students had two sets of the same pages in their book. It went from like 346-356, and then instead of page 357, it was pages 346-356 again. (These aren't the actual page numbers missing, just to give you an idea of what to look for). I would probably contact the publisher if you get a mis-bound book and see if they will send you a good copy.

4 comments about Global Strategy (with World Map and InfoTrac ).

1. This is by far the best written business textbook I read in college. The book offers a very wide variety of real-world examples of the different strategies and actions explained in the book. These examples span all kinds of companies, from large MNE's to small businesses based in developing nations. The text is written very straightforward and the book seems to flow well from chapter to chapter. I was lucky to have Mike Peng as my professor in international business, because he devoted as much attention to his students as he did to his textbook.



2. I'm presently a student studying International Business and Marketing at a local university. This review is based on the copyright 2006 edition.
   
   The real-world examples are extremely out of date for a global business book. For example, the interactive case 1.1 states 2000 annual report figures for GN Netcom. Another example, mentioning Yahoo! back in 2001. We all know how this competitive marketplace has changed dramatically over the past few years, and in fact changes every 6 months. When I am paying $113 for a textbook that publishers push out a new edition every year or two, I expect my money to go towards updates in the examples that are used. I realize that strategic principles don't change and can be applied towards any case in time- but this author charges a premium on a book that should be at least half the price.
   
   Second, the structure and layout of this book is horrible. It does not break out the key points or core concepts from this rather blandly written book. The end of chapter questions are not intuitive enough, and lack the depth that a textbook should require. There is also not enough use of diagrams to illustrate the points in the text.
   
   Third, this book is printed in black and white- another cost savings that should not justify the high price. It reminds me of reading textbooks from 15 years ago. This book will definitely be sold back at the end of the class.
   
   So, if you are a teacher- please seriously evaluate this book before you require students to purchase it. I'm fortunate that I am taking another strategy class and there is enough overlap that I can just skim over Global Strategy by Mike Peng to fill in the gaps that I miss in the other book. A far better recommendation- Crafting and Executing Strategy by Arthur Thomson Jr., etc. Fellow students, I feel your pain if you have to read this book.



3. As a professor, I have used several books for International Business classes and I have to say there are Global Business books that should have been titled as International Politics or American Business. This book has a good balance between country analyses such as EU regulation, privatization in emerging economies, and company perspectives such as entering into foreign countries, creating synergy between divisions. The cases cover companies from a lot of countries; they provide enough information to complement the chapters but are not too long so that it's easy to read through. My students and I enjoyed this book very much!



4. As a PhD student teaching global strategy and international business, I like this book, not only for its comprehensive theoretical framework, but also for its openness for a series of debates on globalization. The theoretical framework can help students analyze the complex global business environment. More importantly, a series of debates can open their eyes, and can help them build more skills to deal with challenges in a globalizing world (think about the current buzz on offshoring and outsourcing).
   
   Many textbooks attempted to teach students how to arrive at "correct" answers. They just tell students what is already known, and do not describe the sorts of problems that the professional may be asked to solve and the variety of techniques available for their solution. This textbook deviates from the rest of pack, because the author tries to integrate many new fronts (and yes, even debates!) in the academic and practitioner world (see the long list of references) and cultivates a "global mental set" based on his rich experience in many countries. What is most refreshing is that the author does not give a single answer or simple evaluation for many questions, but provides many possible approaches to widen the reader's mindset. In fact, every chapter has a beefy section devoted to "Debates and Extensions," with no given conclusions.
   
   Even vivid business cases will fade quickly and be forgotten in this dramatically changing world. So a set of "divergent thinking skills" will play a more important role in helping students develop long-term capabilities in their career success. Through this book, students will learn how to recognize and evaluate many problems to which no unequivocal solution has yet been given, find an arsenal of techniques (industry-based view, resource-based view, and institution-based view) for approaching these problems, and develop "global mental sets" to judge the relevance of these techniques and to evaluate the possible solutions.
   
   The ancient Chinese philosopher Laozi once said: "Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day; but teach him how to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime." Truly, this exciting book may teach our students how to fish!