5 comments about The Affluent Society.

1. Written long before modern realization of how our desire for affluence as part of our "right by birth" has largely caused such things as global warming and elimination of species, Galbraith gives a very indepth exposé of the origins and tendencies of the North American material ethos. I would have given this book 4.5 or 5 stars save for the fact that it takes a bit of work on the reader to bring it fully up to date with respect to some of the consequences we now see.
   
   That said, I would heartily recommend this work prior to reading his or other author's more recent works on the direction of modern western society.



2. it' s the first time I read something like that in economics.



3. John Kenneth Galbraith is probably the economist that I have read most. This book is a classic and very much worth reading for it analysis of the market system. But when all is said and done I consider it more a work of speculative fiction. I read a book similar to this by Bertrand Russell back in the 60's but both books are lacking a bit in scepticism of the human beast. The very idea that we would all be so wealthy one day that we wouldn't know what to do as a society - or that somebody would have to mail us a check in order to encourage spending and that poverty would be a secondary problem etc. etc. etc. Is plain naivete or maybe wishfull thinking.



4. John Kenneth Galbraith was one of the great public intellectuals of 20th century America. He advised Presidents and politicians, wrote best-selling books, taught economics at Harvard, appeared on TV, and served as the U.S. Ambassador to India. Nevertheless, mainstream economists looked down their noses at him. They scoffed at his sweeping generalizations. They questioned his technical prowess, noting that his books had no math. Many suspected that he was a "mere sociologist" masquarading as an economist.
   
   These critics may have been jealous of Galbraith's literary fame and towering public profile. In any event, they certainly misconstrued his significance in American intellectual life. Galbraith's great gift as a thinker was his razor-sharp eye for cant. He knew where economic ideas came from, how they supported vested interests, and where they diverged from the plain facts of everyday life -- and he conveyed these lessons to educated general readers in elegant prose. In the end, he may have been a gadfly and critic, not a model builder -- but so what? If mainsteam economists taught us how to think about markets, Galbraith taught us how to think about mainstream economics.
   
   "The Affluent Society" is one of his masterpieces. Written in the 1950s, ideas fly from its pages, touching on everything from Ricardian economics to oligopolies and inflation. The central idea, however, is arresting. Galbraith argued that modern economics was forged in the austere world of the 19th century, when national economies struggled simply to feed and clothe their populations. Sensible at the time, the core assumptions of economics were carried over to a different century facing a different set of problems. In the 20th century, supermarkets bursted with unnecessary soaps and cereals, car models changed every year, and billions of advertising dollars were spent on campaigns to convince consumers that they needed items they never even knew they wanted.
   
   Galbraith argued that, with the problem of scarcity more or less solved, society was free to loosen the connection between income and labor, and to spend more money on public goods such as schools, hospitals, and clean air. He rejected as anachronistic the objection that such measures would reduce economic efficiency by mandating higher taxes or rewarding idleness: what was the value of having an efficient economic system if the goods it produced answered no urgent human needs? Galbraith thought that society should focus on the development of human capacities and the building of decent communities and workplaces, and not fret unduly over allocative efficiency.
   
   Galbraith was wrong about many things, but he was always thought-provoking and mind-expanding. The continuing force of "The Affluent Society" will be clear to anyone who reflects on the crazy popularity of SUVs or tallies up the money we lavish on pets -- in a day and age when American cats get better medical care than most African children, it's safe to say that the supply side problem has finally been solved (at least for us and our pets). The book should be read by all serious students of economics or 20th century American society, and it belongs on any bookshelf of social criticism next to the works of Thorstein Veblen and C. Wright Mills.



5. A true classic that is as relevant to explaining today's society as that in which Galbraith wrote it - and never more so than Galbraith's argument that we need a better social balance between private and public expenditure. As the gap grows between the urban rich and poor, he notes, more of the rich are able to opt out of public services such as schools, police and transport. With urbanization a dominant theme of the coming decades, it's worth being reminded of Galbraith's observations on how public expenditure on urban infrastructure is generally presented in political discourse - "at best, public services are a necessary evil; at worst, they are a malign tendency against which an alert community must exercise eternal vigilance" - which, as he points out, leads to some interesting contradictions - "Vacuum cleaners to ensure clean houses are praise-worthy and essential in our standard of living. Street cleaners to ensure clean streets are an unfortunate expense. Partly as a result, our houses are generally clean and our streets generally filthy."
   
   Galbraith's philosophical arguments against extreme wealth inequality are both increasingly unfashionable and increasingly urgent; the trend he identifies - "few things are more evident in modern social history than the decline of interest in inequality as an economic issue" - has hardly been arrested as the world has globalized. Galbraith quotes Tawney as noting that people who think they should have unfettered enjoyment of their inherited money do not generally think that others should have unfettered enjoyment of their inherited physical strength or cunning - "Those who dread a dead-level of income or wealth... do not, it seems, dread a dead-level of law and order, and of security of life and property" - an observation that's highly applicable to inequality considered on the scale of the modern global economy.
   
   Galbraith's pithy and wryly amused writing style has stood the test of time as well as the arguments. Perhaps my favourite example comes when Galbraith is commenting on the concern that social security makes poor people idle: the "ancient art of evading work", he says, is not the preserve of any particular class or occupation, and "the art of genteel and elaborately concealed idleness may well reach its highest development in the upper executive reaches of the modern corporation."

5 comments about The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer.

1. This book gives a great introduction to how a variety of industries get breaks from the system, so for example, how drug companies take tax money (through the NIH) and then after succesfully creating a new drug, patent it to create a monopoly. It's a wonderful introduction to what's wrong in our mixed market economy.



2. You'd have to be the proverbial ostrich not to know that in i-pod America, the rich are getting richer, the poor poorer, while the middle class qualifies as an endangered species. What is not so well known is how redistribution is aided and abetted by government policy. Conservatives, as Baker notes, have been very successful in dressing up their windfall as the unbiased workings of the marketplace. Thus the citizenry accepts unfavorable results as the outcome of the glorified market god, in whose name things ultimately turn out for the best. Baker's slim volume (100 pps.) aims at showing how despite the smoke and mirrors, the god actually resides in Washington DC, in enumerated programs and policies directed toward funneling wealth upward. These measures and their rationale are kept in place by governmental machinery he dubs the "conservative nanny state" (cns).
   
   Far from opposing government intervention in the economy, the cns uses intervention effectively in behalf of established wealth. The quarrel between liberals and conservatives is usually framed in terms of a liberal welfare state vs. a conservative free market. But, as Baker points out, these terms are seriously misleading. Both sides favor government intervention. Where they differ is over who gets the benefits, while the success of the cns lies in their ability to deflect public awareness from govn't actions that benefit the rich at the expense of the rest of us.
   
   Baker examines a number of these biased policies showing how they funnel wealth upward. These prove to be enlightening discussions. However, what's unusual about the sections is his proposed remedy, which is essentially to let the markets operate free of the cns. For example, crippling health care costs have been sky-rocketing. They can be reduced, he points out, by allowing a greater supply of foreign physicians to immigrate. Or, consider long-depressed wage hikes. These can be resurrected, he argues, by curtailing the Federal Reserve's power to pump up depressing interest rates in the name of fighting inflation. Similar market-based solution are recommended for other cns biases.
   
   It would be easy to assume that the author is a libertarian insisting on free market principles. But he's not, at least from my reading. For he proposes letting the govn't compete in the marketplace with private business, a definite anathema to classic libertarians. Hence, in his view, govn't should offer medical insurance to compete with private insurers for the consumer's buck. How well all this would work out is up to the reader to decide. Still, it's educational to examine how far cns policies depart from the hallowed conservative principle of non-intervention, and how effectively these measures are masked from public awareness.
   
   One important arena not examined is the defense industry. It's a multi-billion dollar complex, the proceeds from which largely funnel upwards and, it would appear, a mother lode the cns regularly taps into. Why Baker doesn't examine cns activity in this highly significant sector is unclear to me. Perhaps, it's because solutions are not as amenable to market operations, or maybe because the topic is simply too big to be included with the others. Anyway, don't expect an expose of Lockheed-Martin et. al. and the cns in these pages. Nonetheless, the book is well worth the read, particularly for Chapter Five on bankruptcy and the cns's little-known role as both national and international debt-collector.



3. It is a myth that the rich, or market conservatives in the author's lexicon, unremittingly favor the operation of free markets with absolutely no government intervention. In fact, quite the opposite is the case. The author examines several key areas that show the lie of the idea that the rich favor free market outcomes.
   
   1. Both the gov and professional organizations limit the numbers of doctors, lawyers, and other professionals including the entry of foreigners. At the same time, rampant and/or illegal immigration floods lower-wage employment markets and some technical jobs. On the one hand, wages are artificially high, but suppressed on the other to the detriment of the greater good.
   
   2. The Federal Reserve uses monetary policy to increase unemployment and thereby lower wages of the lesser skilled, while limiting the inflation detested by bankers.
   
   3. Corporations are entirely government creations, yet conservatives obscure that point which permits unchecked CEO pay. In actuality the government could mandate governance rules that would likely curtail CEO pay excesses.
   
   4. Copyright and patent laws in essence grant monopolies to the detriment of the free flow of goods and services, which can in fact be harmful as in the case of restricting the availability of needed medicines.
   
   5. Conservatives support legislation to restrict the ability of individuals to seek redress in courts for harm under the name of tort reform. In actuality law suits are a market form of regulation in lieu of government intervention. Obviously, protecting the rich trumps market principles.
   
   6. Free market advocates supposedly advocate choice. So why is there such fear on the part of private enterprise of people choosing Social Security and/or signing up with Medicare for both health care and prescription drugs? The fact is that private business is highly inefficient compared to those programs and can't really compete. Therefore they look to government to limit choice.
   
   7. True conservatives have always had low regard for gambling and certainly insist on its being heavily taxed. But when it comes to Wall St speculation, which is what day-trading is all about, they turn a blind eye to taxing and thus limiting the undisputed harmful impact of speculative transactions.
   
   There are a few more examples by the author, none of which can be seriously disputed. The book has the tone that things could be different: just point out the hypocrisy of the rich and reform will follow. Really?
   
   The author can hardly be unaware that we live in a class society in which the major institutions for inculcating the idea that markets are neutral and work for us all, namely educational and media institutions, are basically owned or financed by the rich. A few dissenting, fringe views are permitted here and there, but basically major dissent concerning the justness of our society is dealt with swiftly: removal or exclusion from school or job, or flagrant suppression.
   
   The situation is more than just setting forth the facts before the public. Probably never before in our history has market ideology so permeated our society and given the rich so many effective tools to disseminate information favorable to their class interests. As far as any effective forces opposing this situation, can anyone honestly say that the Democrats at this point are willing or even want to reverse any of what the author points out any more than do the Republicans. The answer is no.



4. I'll be brief, because the other two (longer) negative reviews I tried to post for this book disappeared into the ether.
   
   While I agree that there should be no welfare for the rich (or the poor), I could find no idea in this book with which I could agree. The author does not have a clue about how economies work. He is merely rehashing long discredited Progressive and Socialist dogma.



5. This is a neat little book. Dean Baker is an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research - a think tank with tons of fresh ideas - and he knows his stuff. He offers his take on issues such as trade agreements, monetary policy, CEO compensation, intellectual property, etc. and with each of these demonstrates how the interests of the rich dominate. For example, proponents of NAFTA support "free trade" for manufacturing goods produced by low skilled workers but oppose free trade in high skill occupations (law, medicine, accountancy, etc.) which leads to a great divergence in the income distribution. In each of the chapters Dean Baker argues clearly and persuasively. Do you want to know what share of private R&D spending in pharmaceuticals goes to unnecessary copycat drugs? Do you want to know why a corporation cannot exist in a truly free market? Do you want to hear why marginal productivity does not determine CEO pay? Get this book.

5 comments about The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World.

1. When I decided to read this book, I did so with the expectation of learning something only after wading through a great degree of partisan political rhetoric. It did not take me long to realize that Mr. Roberts' book is not what I had expected.
   
   He makes this complex issue accessible to the layman looking to familiarize himself with not only oil, but the energy economy. Rather choose a side and engage in partisan sniping, he tells the good, the bad, and the ugly of the policies advocated by every party involved in the energy debate. Not only does he analyze our present situation, but he also studies our several possible ways forward into a new energy economy.
   
   If I were pressed to make a complaint, it would be that I read the original hardcover edition of the book. A lot of the speculation regarding "worst case" scenarios involve $50 a barrel oil. Now that we are nearly $100 past that worst case, the educated speculation portrayed in the book should be coming to pass in the market. I would like to see either a completely updated 2008 edition or at least one with an updated preface.



2. this is a very intertesting book for me because present a high perfomance for the our future



3. This book was published about four years ago, and it is interesting to compare some of its future projections with the current reality. The worse case scenario envisioned in the last chapter has oil going to $50 a barrel, a far cry from the habitual $100 or more for a barrel now, not to mention a high of almost $150. The United States has arrived at the point of sending on the order of 700 billion dollars a year overseas to mostly unstable governments. Yet, despite what in the context of this book would be a horrifying emergency situation, the winds of change have been very slow to make much of a difference. The entrenched oil interests, which the author does not underestimate, have kicked into gear; the Bush Administration has battened down the hatches and basically all they have to say is "drill! drill! drill!". Oil industry influence continues to do its work putting the breaks on renewables: tax credits have not been extended by Congress.
   
   A case made here is that almost all of the easy oil has been exploited. Oil is only produced in Nature under special circumstances. Organic material has to be buried and then cooked in a narrow temperature range (100-135 degrees C). Then, it has to to be confined by rock formations so that it does not leak away into nothing. Worldwide, there is estimated to be 600 geological systems where oil can be extracted for commercial uses. Of that, about 400 have been explored and the remaining lie in hard-to-reach areas such as the Arctic and continental shelves. OPEC has clearly emerged the winner in the battle for easy oil, and has left the big oil companies and most of the non-OPEC world desperately scrambling to find new supplies. The likelihood that enough oil can be extracted from costly out-of-the-way places to compete with the power that OPEC can exert in the marketplace is not great, to say the least. In other words, drilling in costly, remote places will not make a dent anytime soon in the 700 billion dollars that the U.S. pays every year for its oil import bill.
   
   Time is not on our side and the subject is much larger than just finding oil and dealing with OPEC. It concerns not only the use of oil but the use of all hydrocarbons. Just how much carbon dioxide can the atmosphere tolerate before serious disruptions occur to life on planet earth? The author cites experts who maintain that 550ppm might be a tipping point and that we are speeding toward that state. Of particular concern is the developing world - China and India - and the breakneck pace in which dirty fuels, namely coal, are being burned in order to grow emerging economies. The author asserts that the developing world will never take a leadership role in developing alternative energies. They cannot afford to invest except in the quickest and dirtiest. The rich countries, particularly the United States, will have to take the lead.
   
   The author reviews the positives and negatives of alternative energy: hydrogen, wind and solar. Wind and solar offer growth opportunities in the near term, but are problematic as dependable sources because of their intermittency. Hydrogen may work as a substitute for oil sometime in the future but not in the near future. A very important factor in reducing hydrocarbon use is efficiency and conservation. In the 1980s energy efficiency was a significant factor in quelling OPEC's power to raise prices, but energy efficiency was a victim of its own success and Ronald Reagan moved to shutdown such efforts because of the free market meddling.
   
   The big question concerns the role of government - particularly the United States and the rich countries - in instituting a price on carbon and encouraging the development of alternative fuels and "bridging" solutions. Will the world act proactively with a plan to move away from hydrocarbons or will it only react after disasters? If free market supply siders have their way and carbon is never recognized as having an economic cost, there will not be an economic incentive not to use cheap hydrocarbons; and if government does not step in and aid research and development for alternatives, it's less likely that in the near future the private sector will find enough economic incentives to make energy breakthroughs. Then, China and India will have no alternative but to continue to burn dirty fossil fuels.
   
   In enshrining the free markets and the economics of supply, the U.S. will most likely be involved in more overseas conflicts and wars, particularly in the Middle East. Despite the way politicians downplay the matter, the two wars the U.S. has fought in Iraq have both been about opening up the supply of oil. If oil continues to be the life blood of the economy, then the forces that protect that oil will become more militant in protecting that crucial supply especially from the Middle East. If the Saudi royal family loses control to fundamentalists, the stage will be set for another war.



4. The title of the book makes it sound like an alarmist clamour concerned with peak oil. This couldn't be further from the truth. It is instead a comprehensive overview of the whole shebang: the energy crisis and the shape of things to come. Not only oil, but other hydrocarbon fuels, hydrogen, nuclear, wind, solar, energy efficiency and the economic implications of all the above are discussed, in a sober and impartial manner. Roberts does not appear to be lobbying for any particular energy source, in fact, he details the great leaps currently made in wind farms, fuel cells, clean coal and solar power, but is quick to point out the practical shortcomings, economic considerations and incredible technical challenges.
   
   The book is rife with well-backed claims, interesting (if unsettling) facts and cogent arguments. I also found the important history lessons on the emergence of the hydrocarbon economy and the 1973 oil embargo very informative and interesting (do take into account, however, that this is from a lay reader's perspective).
   
   Some reviewers note that the book quickly became a bit awkwardly out of date. This is true to some extent. The "worst case" scenario where oil reaches $50/barrel and sends the world economy plunging now seems like a bright picture. Another case in point is where Roberts predicts that since US interference in Iraq to "secure" oil supply caused more harm than good through disruption, Iraqi oil exports will essentially never rise above pre-war levels. This turned out to be wrong: it did in fact shatter that barrier in 2007.
   
   A commendable aspect of the book is how Roberts courageously and continuously lambastes the Bush administration, the automotive industry, the coal lobby and other major hydrocarbon stakeholders, but at the same time acknowledges that the massive asset inertia of the current energy industry makes lowering emissions and improving efficiency an immense economic and pragmatic challenge. These kinds of objective analyses almost go as far as watering down the author's plea: sometimes the reader may get the impression that there's enough ammunition in the book to argue both for complacency and immediate action.



5. Roberts has written an readable book covering the problems of further oil exploration, discovery and extraction, and then talks briefly about the problems of global warming. He then goes on to talk about alternatives to oil.
   
   Here he gets a little confused between two separate things, one, the source of energy, and two, the delivery of that energy to where it's needed. Oil does both of these.
   
   Roberts talks about a possible future "hydrogen economy" as the most viable alternative, while dismissing nuclear and renewables and other sources of energy, but hydrogen is not an energy source: it is an energy delivery method. Some energy source has to make the hydrogen in the first place. Therefore his dismissal of solar and nuclear is not as easy as he makes out. Also, he dismisses geothermal energy in less than a sentence, which is far less than it deserves.
   
   In doing this, he confuses the physically possible with the economically viable. Solar, nuclear and geothermal are at least physically possible as alternatives, as they can probably produce the required energy: the only question is their economics. His discussion of their economics is perhaps valid, but economics is all relative. The question is at what point other energy sources become economic and what the consequences of using them are.
   
   All that is less of a review, and more of a critique. While the book is highly topical, and very readable without dumbing down, it confuses a number of points that need to be distinguished.

5 comments about Where am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes.

1. I have just finished reading one of the most provocative books I have ever come across. This book left me intrigued and fascinated with where my clothes are made. Not only that, but it left me wanting to know the origin of everything I use on a daily basis. I doubt anyone could leave this book without feeling the need to do something.
   
   "Where am I Wearing" chronicles author Kelsey Timmerman's journey through the companies, factories, and people who make his clothes. His journey takes him from Honduras to Bangladesh, from Cambodia to China, and back home again to a company and factory in the United States. "Sweatshop" is not an unfamiliar word to anyone in America. Yet Mr. Timmerman leaves his tour with a much different view of the word and the garment industry than the reader expects.
   
   Through his journey, Mr. Timmerman poses questions and proposes solutions that aren't typical of the garment-industry protester. In fact, he sets himself apart from these protesters by having actually visited the factories and met the people who make his clothes. As a homeschooling mom, Mr. Timmerman leaves me desiring to take a similar journey with my children. It's an experience every American could use in their lifetime.
   
   The reader should be aware that reading "Where am I Wearing" might be uncomfortable. It might force you to look at your own life differently, and it will likely move you to action of some sort (even if just to look at your own tags before you get dressed in the morning).
   
   Mr. Timmerman took a chance when he jumped on a plane to Honduras. It was a chance worth taking as he has produced a well-written, thoughtful book that is WELL worth the read.



2. This is one fantastic book. "Where am I Wearing" is a thought-provoking book that raises more questions than it answers -- but that's Timmerman's main thrust: economic justice is a tricky business, with few black or white answers. Timmerman comes across as a very likeable, average American -- not an academic type at all. His profiles of those who make our clothing are riveting. Anyone interested in social justice, clothing or crazy road trips should read this book. I just hope Timmerman writes a sequel -- maybe, "Where am I Eating."



3. This outstanding, unassuming book should not be missed--it is worth reading and discussing in every household and classroom in America. Do you know where your clothes were made, by what types of people and under what circumstances? Do you care? Should you care? This intriguing book looks into these issues and more, yet its tone is refreshingly accessible and unpreachy.
   
   All-American Kelsey Timmerman noticed that his typical ensemble of T-shirt, jeans, boxers, and flip-flops, all bore tags declaring their foreign manufacture in places such as Honduras, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and China. His curiosity and his experience as a travel writer coincide in a mission to visit the places and meet the people who actually made his clothes. With a backpack, notebook, camera, the clothes on his back, and a mixture of guileless intelligence, he set out to explore the globalization of the garment industry, up close and personal.
   
   His approach is to minimize the intrusive effects of his inquiry into the factories' operations and the lives of the workers by keeping his visits as unofficial as possible. He is just an ordinary guy who happens to be interested in the origin of his underwear. Although he has heard about sweatshops, child labor and unfit working conditions, he wants to see for himself. He wants to know if it's possible to be an informed, engaged consumer. His journey helps us see that we can all be better informed. The people who make our clothes all have names, faces, needs and dreams.
   
   "[In Bangladesh] Asad leads us past a high table with neat stacks of cloth. A few of the workers standing around the table hold what appear to be giant electric bread cutters with blades two-feet long. One woman marks the cloth using a pattern and then sets to slicing. She cuts the outline of a T-shirt. Plumes of cotton dust fill the air...the factory is clean, exits are marked, and fans maintain a nice breeze. The conditions seem fine. They are much better than I had expected, and I'm relieved."
   
   In Cambodia, eight young women garment workers share an 8' by 12' room that has a squat toilet and a water spigot. They earn between $45 and $70 per week and send home as much as possible to support family members in the countryside. Many of them miss the culture of family and village but they are well aware of the necessity of their work to their families' survival.
   
   Seeing these and many more disparities between the lives of foreign garment workers and the lives of average American consumers, Timmerman is guarded about sharing details of his life with those he interviews. However, he eventually decides that "not knowing is the problem" on both sides. When he tells the Chinese couple about his first--and second--mortgages, they find unlikely solidarity in their mutual states of indebtedness.
   
   This book is far from a "them" and "us" comparison and guilt trip. There are many complicated issues interwoven here, to be considered and discussed. The warp and woof of economic and social pluses and minuses is a constantly changing pattern, and the questions--what and where to buy, how to support or protest industry conditions, how to maintain American jobs, how to influence human rights--necessitate the participation of what the author terms "engaged consumers."
   
   Where Am I Wearing? gives an excellent starting point for discussions in order to make informed decisions, as we determine a responsible course as the leading consumers of garments and other manufactured goods in the worldwide economic balance.



4. This book will grab your attention from the very beginning, and hold it to the very end. Kelsey Timmerman has written an engaging account of his quest that is conversational in style, and is part journal, part travelogue.
   
   There was not a dry section in this book; not a single moment in which I was bored. For a nonfiction book, I consider that to be miraculous. Don't get me wrong, I love nonfiction, but usually there are a few dry spots - not in this book!
   
   Mr. Timmerman covers many aspects of the issues surrounding the textile trade in foreign countries: economics, international labor laws, the ethics of employing child workers, and the personal stories of the workers themselves.
   
   My favorite part of the book was the stories about the workers' lives, yet information about economics and labor laws is interwoven so skillfully with the personal stories that it is not only interesting, but also easy to understand. I really liked that the author got to know the workers on a personal level, and how he discovered that not all foreign clothing factories are sweatshops.
   
   This is one of the best nonfiction books I have read all year! Once you read this book you will never look at your clothing the same way again, and that's not a bad thing.



5. Well, it seems kind of appropriate that Where Am I Wearing is being released this week from John Wiley & Sons. After all it's Black Friday in the U.S. this week.
   
   Many of us will be buying clothes for gifts or ourselves. But do you ever really wonder where the item is made? Do you look at the tag as part of your decision or are you just happy to get a good deal?
   
   Kelsey Timmerman did a little bit more that wonder. He decided to find the factory in Bangladesh that produced his favourite 'Jingle These' boxers. And his jeans, tee-shirt and flip flops.
   
   And so off he treks to the other side of the world to discover the origins of his clothes.
   
   In Bangladesh, he poses as an underwear buyer to gain entrance to view the factories. While most of us will speak out against sweatshop labour, Kelsey finds that nothing is as cut and dried when faced with actual people and their lives.
   
   "My own conclusion, after visiting Bangladesh, is that we should not be ashamed that our clothes are made by children so much as ashamed that we live in a world where child labor is often necessary for survival."
   
   He has great fun with some street kids, taking twenty of them to an amusement park for the same price it would take to get one American kid into Disney World.
   
   It is this aspect that I enjoyed the most in Timmerman's book - the personal level of interaction - meeting with and talking to the actual workers of the garment industries he visited in their own environments.
   
   Timmerman's writing style is entertaining and candid, but still explores the history of the garment industry and what is being done to reform it.
   
   In Cambodia, home to his treasured pair of blue jeans, he discovers that 75% of the country's exports are garments. Again, it is the personal stories of the eight female workers sharing a 96 sq. ft. room that grabbed me.
   
   It is in China that he has the most difficulty accessing a factory. But he connects with a married couple working in the flip flop factory. They provide for family back in their rural village and have not seen their son in three years. Kelsey decides to go to the village to visit.
   
   Back in the US he visits a garment factory that made his oldest and still wearable shorts.
   
   Timmerman provides no black and white answers but instead gives us much food for thought. Where am I Wearing is a fascinating, eye-opening, thought provoking read that will have you reading tags just to see where your favourite piece of clothing was made. Perhaps it will make you think a little bit longer before you get out the wallet and help you become an informed consumer.
   
   "When I walk into my closet, I think about the hundreds - if not thousands- of people around the world who had a hand in making my clothes. Jeans are no longer just jeans, shirts no longer just shirts, shoes no longer just shoes, clothes are no longer just clothes. Each is an untold story."
   
   (So far - Canada, US, Bangladesh, Taiwan and China - what about yours?)

5 comments about The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth.

1. Barry Naughton has written a masterful book. It is comprehensive, accessible and rigorous. Researchers, upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, who want to understand the key economic issues faced by China, will all appreciate this volumn. I am using it in my Master courses!
   
   Jiin-ming Fahn, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan



2. A superb guide to the intricacies of the Chinese economy. I highly recommend it to students, professionals, policy makers, and academics looking to better understand the underlying themes and trends of the world's fastest growing economy.
   
   Erik Lundh,
   Washington, DC



3. An excellent book which is rare for being highly readable, insightful, and well supported. Those who know China will find specific information and analysis which explains why the country operates in the way that it does. Those who don't know China will learn about the country without the confusion that results from the writings of casual observers.
   
   The only specific weakness in the book is Dr. Naughton's assessment of modern industrial policy, which is incomplete and off-track. That aspect is simply an omission and does little to detract from the overall value of his work.



4. China's economic development since 1978 has baffled and surprised the world. Other developing economies may regard China with envy but if they are contemplating copying China's model of development, help is at hand. They just need to read Naughton's book.
   
   China's three decade of economic development has been called many things, such as groping stones while crossing the river, three steps forward and two back, bird cage economics, transition from command to market, amazing, miraculous and more. The author has organized the historical date in a way easy to comprehend and coupled with explanations that are lucid and easy to follow.
   
   Textbook conjures up the image of a big snore, but not this one. This one will become essential reference book dogeared by frequent use.



5. Having read countless articles and books on China, Naughton stands out as the leader on the Chinese economy. This book is structured brilliantly, providing novices and experts alike with easy access to valuable information.
   
   I recommend this to anyone with any interest in understanding how China has grown into a leader in today's economy.

5 comments about A World of Wealth: How Capitalism Turns Profits into Progress.

1. I thought the book was well written - interesting and simply explained. Of course, the author is preaching to the already converted when I read this book, but he does a good job with the subject matter.
   
   What I didn't like about this book can be summed up thusly - This book will not be persuasive to those who don't generally agree that capitalism is in large part a factor in mankind's incredible progress over the last century. There are too many assertions the author makes without leading the skeptical reader to his conclusions.
   
   I agree with several other reviewers that the book did not contain enough footnotes/citations. I understand the author was probably trying to avoid all that and keep it accessible, but I think you can reach a happy medium. Perhaps the author never wrote this book intending to change a socialist mind. That's fine, but I'm still disappointed.
   
   I really like how particular subjects are grouped into chapters. It makes it easy to hop around to a particular area you may be interested in at a particular time. See the chapter titles from the Product Description. Surely, several will be of interest to you. Some of the subjects are quite timely. Examples include
   
   Chapter 1: The Capitalist Answer to the "Energy Crisis": Pay Higher Prices
   
   Chapter 2: The Capitalist Approach to Environmental Pollution and Global Warming: Breathe Easy
   
   Chapter 3: A Capitalist Prescription for Trade: Free Exchange Enriches Both Sides of Every Deal
   
   Chapter 4: Capitalist Immigration Policy: Tear Down the Walls
   
   Chapter 6: The Capitalist Take on Taxes: Keep Taxes Low and Equal
   
   Chapter 7: The Capitalist Struggle against Low Finance: Price Controls and Regulation Endanger the Free Market
   
   Chapter 9: The Capitalist Approach to Retirement Security: It's an Individual's Duty First



2. The author is a free market advocate and makes a case for less regulation. However, I think current events have proved that we need more market regulation instead of the 'Wild West' global mentality that has caused Americans to lose 50% of their retirement portfolios.
   
   Read this book for the opposing viewpoint.



3. This book is an approachable read on how capitalism has impacted the world. After a short introduction containing basic principles, it examines how a capitalist approaches issues like immigration, taxes, health care, and retirement. This book moves beyond the rhetoric of republican v. democrat to an exploration of capitalist principles and how they apply to today's very real economic challenges. I found it to be a easy to understand and highly readable economics book -- something I didn't expect because those aren't words I usually use to describe economics. As someone who often runs the other direction from books like this, I found I actually enjoyed reading it. I recommend this if you want to understand capitalist principles and how they apply to today's challenges without being bogged down by ivy tower language.



4. While Mr. Donlan succeeded in providing an overview of free market forces in play: giving historical examples and possible approaches to tackling everything from the "energy crisis", "health care", to "retirement security", he (like many economic "experts") couldn't have possibly imagined the current, gross destruction of wealth and failing economies of the world due to sheer greed and lack of government regulations over speculative trading (e.g.,subprime derivatives). "Irrational exuberance" became irrational stupidity by the over-leveraged investment and banking industries.
   
   "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
   
   -George Santayana, 1863-1953, American philosopher
   
   How appropriate.



5. This book is very challenging, in its content. You think you know what capitalism is, right? What it's strengths and weaknesses are? Probably not, in truth. In the USA, the most consistently capitalistic country around, markets and finances and trade are all still highly regulated. The US government remains ambivalent about free markets. Such is the nature of democracy, Thomas G. Donlan explains, where 20% of the people produce 80% of the wealth... but everyone can vote.
   
   A World of Wealth is very well written, clear and witty and fun to read. Donlan is an accomplished writer for various financial magazines, and it shows. His premise, which he proves quite convincingly, is that capitalism -- true and unregulated -- is the solution to the biggest problems of today's world. He covers energy costs, global warming and environmental issues, immigration, health care, and many other important topics.
   
   The general theory proposed is that demand drives prices up, and the resulting high prices mean high potential profits. Where there's money to be made capitalists will invest their resources in that market, which will increase (and improve the quality of) the supply, and prices will go back down. Donlan notes where there seem to be exceptions to the rule. Sometimes the producers don't pay for the costs of their production, instead everyone else does (pollution and wild fishing are given as examples).
   
   This is definitely the book for you if you want to start intelligent arguments with people at dinner parties, or even if you just want to challenge your own assumptions. I've always considered myself pretty pro-capitalist, but even I sometimes found myself thinking, "No, that can't be how it is!" and yet... Donlan's arguments are very convincing.
   
   I only wish this had come out a year later, because I would have loved to read Donlan's take on the current financial situation. I worry, also, that readers may be missing out on this great book. Given the current financial climate, I suspect books on economics might not be as popular as at other times.
   
   Overall, highly recommended.

5 comments about The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade.

1. The book is a good read, since I am taking my international trade class, this is actually one of the require reading. If someone who is very liberal, or cuddle to grave type of mentality, this book does not offer the cuddly senstivitive that the faint hearted people are looking for. But it is quite realistic. If you can look pass the sweatshops and all, this is a good read.



2. Worst of both worlds - claims to be anecdotal to get around having to have too much actual information (other than the more boring parts of the history of the American textile industry, but trades in interesting anecdotes for general suppositions and a couple sucess stories.
   The last section is very cool and interesting and saves this book from the bin. If you get it, skip to the end.



3. Allow me to provide a more descriptive title for this volume: What I did last summer + a history of cotton growing in America + a history of cotton mills around the world + a brief history of Shanghai + a brief history of child labor + a brief history of labor activism + a brief history of workplace safety regulations + a not-at-all-brief history of US textile protectionism + a characterization of the international market for used clothes. Interesting? Often.
   
   In the course of all these histories - occasionally interspersed with a reminder that we are following Rivoli's t-shirt around the world - we jump from England to Japan to Texas to West Africa; we leap back and forth (and back and forth) from century to century. By the middle of the book, I had gotten dizzy and wished it had been a long magazine article.
   
   But in fact, the second half is the most interesting. Rivoli gives a detailed history of textile protectionism in the United States, giving a peek into the dizzying, constantly morphing tariff and quota systems as well as the huge bureaucracy the system supports. And finally, she gives an illuminating description of what happens to the t-shirts after they get donated to the Salvation Army and how they make it to market stalls in East Africa.
   
   Rivoli is an economist and so recognizes that her inherent leaning is toward free trade, but she argues for the value of both sides of the textile battle, both the free traders and the student demonstrators.
   
   The first half of the book feels too long (even though it isn't that long), and Rivoli's strength is in illuminating description rather than careful analysis. But if you get bored, just skip ahead to the next chapter: There's plenty to choose from!
   
   [I listened to the unabridged audiobook narrated by Eliza Foss, published by Recorded Books. The reading is fine, but Foss's voice is too syrupy sweet and storybookish for 8 CDs (think the voice-over narration from Desperate Housewives).]



4. This is easy to read and understand, written in an engaging and conversational style, with some important insights into the mysteries of crop subsidies, textile quotas and the fate of donated clothing. It's a great illustration and analysis of globalization in action.



5. Upon first glance, it might appear that this book details economic aspects of a
   single industry, namely that of T-shirts. You'd be mistaken. It instead offers
   an insightful look into several different aspects of T-shirt production,
   including agriculture, factory working conditions, free trade (and
   lack thereof), and concluding with the world-wide used T-shirt market. Each of
   these sections could merit a book topic in its own right, but Ms. Rivoli has
   wonderfully combined them into a single book ripe for reading.
   
   Learn about the history of cotton production, including the rise of American
   production and why it's still on top. (Hint: the American government has more
   than a small role, but farm subsidies aren't the major reason.) Learn about the
   back-room political dealings that ensure that some of your clothes come from
   Bangladesh and Mexico instead of China, even though China could provide them for
   less (and why it might be a good idea to keep things that way). Learn about what
   happens to a used T-shirt once it's donated to the Salvation Army, and how it
   might end up being sold in a Kenyan's clothing stall instead of your local
   thrift store.
   
   There is not a dull moment to be found in the book, and in fact seems to get
   more interesting as the book wears on. If there is any fault with the book, it
   is that the book was published in 2005 which means that the revised textile
   trade agreements from 2006 have been left out. A revised edition would be
   appreciated. Luckily, that's the only fault I have with the book. Highly
   recommended.

5 comments about The Commanding Heights : The Battle for the World Economy.

1. This book was rather fun to read but I am not convinced that the authors have as deep an understanding of the phenomena they are writing about as they would like the readers to believe. The book reads like a narrative, full of assertions that are not backed by rigorous analysis of hard evidence. The authors do not critically explore causal relationships, nor do they talk about research that has done so. They present only one particular perspective on the unfolding of events, and they do not defend this perspective against potential criticism.
   
   My experience with economics has always reinforced the idea that causality can be difficult to establish, and can often operate in unexpected ways. An economist must proceed skeptically, being careful to explore alternative explanations and being prepared to defend assertions with theory and data. The authors do not seem to share this view, taking instead a more naive approach.
   
   Maybe I was expecting too much; after all this book is meant to be accessible to non-economists. However, making a book more accessible does not necessitate a lack of rigour or the absence of critical thought; the authors could have removed some of the redundancy in the book (their writing is far from concise!) and replaced it with explorations of alternative perspectives. The book would be greatly enriched by adding more discussion of research that supports (or opposes) their views.



2. That's the central message of this book. But to know why it happened, how it happened, and the geographic extent of this outcome, you need to read this fascinating book.
   
   Now if we can just get our own federal government to realize this . . .
   
   Also read what could be a good companion book: The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else



3. &Both the book DVD are excellent. It is one thing to have lived through global change, it is another thing to understand the interconnections and long-term effects. The focus in several countries is a centrally planned or market-driven economy. Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, China and the United Kingdom are examined in detail for their success and failure. The Soviet Union - Russia, tried to retain dictatorial control and continues to have problems. The "Chicago School of Economics" celebrates its wisdom, models and planning in country after country. However, in every country and economics system, the sustainable natural resource base is overlooked. Keynes may be the "father" of market economics, but Keynes is a short-term perspective. We are approaching Peak Oil and Peak Water and 6.6+ billion people all striving for a USA standard of living. The USA standard of living is based on cheap oil and cheap water and we are entering the "Crude Awakening."
   
   Commanding Heights is an appropriate title, reinforced by knowledgeable people from Harvard, Washington DC and around the world. Commanding heights are about to come tumbling down in country after country as human population exceeds carrying capacity and countries compete for resources and food. The authors did an excellent job, but need to follow-up in light of resource, water and food limits.



4. If you want to understand globalization, this book is required reading. This book provides a full overview and history of 20th century globalization. It discusses the economic choices that third-world countries were making in order to become integrated into the first and second-world international trade system. It discusses the international financial institutions, the newly industrializing economies, market economic policies vs. state controlled economies, trade liberalization, trade policy decisions, and global economics and trade. I found this book to be much better than Thomas Friedman's The Lexis and the Olive Tree (which was also excellent). Although, I would also recommend that students of globalization should also read The Lexis and the Olive Tree and all of Thomas L. Friedman's books.
   
   There was a PBS series of the same name (Commanding Heights) that was based on this book. The PBS series is good, but it is not as good as the book. If you like The Commanding Heights book, you will also like Daniel Yergin's previous book called The Prize which is a history of the oil industry. The Prize is also excellent. It is the definitive history of the oil industry. In fact, I believe it is better than Command Heights. Although both books are excellent. The PBS series or special on the oil industry which was based on the book The Prize was excellent, but again it was not as good as the book.



5. A book from Dr. L's class that help to shape my belief in freedom in the marketplace. A very good historical overview of the economics of the middle and late 20th Century. There are wonderful historical explanations of the rise of socialism in the west and communism in the east as well as the two grand economic schools in the west which were the products of Keynes and Hayek.

2 comments about The Global Consultant: How to Make Seven Figures Across Borders.

1. The Global Consultant contains excellent pragmatic advice on how to travel. I wish I had read this book before doing a world tour this summer (but the book wasn't out yet). It is an easy read with interesting stories that exemplify the authors' points about how to travel with less stress, reduce cell phone roaming charges, arrive well rested, enjoy your locations, and grow personally and professionally from the experience. In typical Alan Weiss style, it has strong marketing content that will help you expand your brand and reach, enhance your value to clients, price based on that value and how to get paid in foreign currencies. The strongest chapter was on "The Human Software for Global Consulting." The fourth paragraph in this chapter is an excellent business philosophy and worth many times the price of this book. If you want to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and grow your brand, this is a timely resource for our challenging economies.



2. The Global Consultant is really about how to live a fulfilling life as a global traveller, supported through high-value consulting. It is a combination of travelogue, consulting strategy, tips on thriving while traveling, and using the journey to become a more full person.
   
   If you are looking for tips on how to get rich quick by consulting internationally, this is not the book for you. (Nor is consulting your ideal profession!)
   
   If you aspire to live an enriching, global, life while creating value for yourself and your clients, buy it now.

2 comments about One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth.

1. I might not agree with significant parts of the book, but it is interesting and, as is true with Rodrick's work generally, it makes one think. I suppose that the most problems that I had were with Chapter 4 on industrial policy. Take the issue of Coordination Externalities. There are large areas of the US market economy where these activities have been coordinated without government involvement (e.g., gasoline stations and cars, bee hives and farms or groves, the development of private highways during the first century and a half or so of US history, radio and television (coordinating stations and people who can listen to them), coordinating telephone exchanges, etc). Often government intervention has slowed or harmed that coordination. Do I agree that in theory that greenhouses and electrical grids go hand in hand? Sure. But it is not clear to me why the problem isn't that in some places the government is the one making these decisions. To me that would have been the hard question to answer. Anyway, I found the book interesting.



2. This is a terrific book. It begins with a good and troubling question: If economists are so smart, why have the most prominent success stories in economic development in recent decades been in countries (China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore) that ignored our advice? Rodrik's answer is that the advice - mainly Washington Consensus and then its follow-ons - was not so much wrong as a) premature and b) insufficiently flexible. His analysis of recent experience suggests that there are many ways to get growth started in a stagnant economy, and that it takes a very specific, informed, and open-minded local analysis - what he terms "growth diagnostics" - to determine what exactly are the binding constraints in each setting. Furthermore, policies that address those constraints must be politically viable, and that may mean tailoring them so that they create better incentives at the margin without destroying or transferring existing rents.
   
   Once economic growth has started, THEN some of the more standard policy prescriptions, introduced carefully and gradually, may be appropriate and even necessary in order to make growth sustainable. Thus, for example, Rodrik argues that both China and India are moving now in more orthodox policy directions, and appropriately so, but that both relied on quite unorthodox measures to make their initial way out of stagnation.
   
   There are many other issues addressed, including the importance of political arrangements that allow local needs and preferences to be expressed and the case for international trade policies that allow for diversity in national institutional arrangements. The book closes with a detailed and (to me) quite persuasive critique of the focus of the WTO on increasing trade for the sake of trade rather than considering more carefully which changes in trade policy actually make a difference in the lives of the world's poor. His analysis of the Doha Round suggests that, contrary to the received wisdom, a general worldwide liberalization of agricultural markets and removal of developed country subsidies would lead to only small reductions in poverty, and in fact would likely harm many poor consumers in many countries.
   
   I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in globalization and development. It is extremely well written, though some sections may be slow going for non-economists. The overall analysis should be quite readable and thought-provoking for the general reader wishing to get a fresh perspective on these important issues.