5 comments about Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve.

1. This is a commissioned book. Basically, a self-indulgent pseudo-autobiography written in an interview style. "my own estimation of myself is more important to me than other people's" (P249)

   The interview style makes this work more accesable to the average reader by overcoming the intense, convoluted style of Soros' other writings. It also allows more topics to be covered in less technical detail.

   If you want to learn a little about Soros, this is an interesting book with fascinating pearls of wisdom. But don't think of it as an autobiography; rather a rumination on various aspects of his character.




2. George Soros was convicted of inside trading in December 2002. He engaged in inside trading of Societe General stock.

   "Mr Soros and three other defendants, the court found, bought Societe Generale stock when it was cheap, and cashed in their investment when the price rose after the bid became public.

   Two other businessmen implicated in the scandal - Edmond Safra and Robert Maxwell - have since died."

   Maxwell killed himself after his billion dollar scam/business was exposed. He dove off his huge yacht off the coast of France. He left behind billions in debts and thousands of British workers lost their pensions. Soros is known by the people he associates with.

   It is not to hard to "stay ahead of the curve" when you trade with inside information.

   For more details - go to the BBC news web site and search for Soros insider trading or Google and type Soros BBC insider trading.




3. I'll say this first: I am not a genius, and George Soros probably is. The book presented itself in an interesting Q&A format that made it easy to skip around and jump sections. That being said, it was still a struggle to finish.
   
   I did not like this book because it was hard to understand and mostly discussed Soros' high-level theory on investment strategy. His theory, which Mr. Soros is very passionate about, has something to do with the universe always being out of balance. If you are a finance whiz who thrives in theoretical analysis, or if you are a new age guru curious about a billionaire's spiritual mantra, maybe you will like this book.



4. Edward Teller and George Soros shared few common traits; nationality, religion, and globalization. Both were Hungarian, Jewish, hard workers, and stubborn thinkers. Teller dreamed of the Hydrogen bomb and believed earlier that a nuclear explosion might detonate the earth's atmosphere and ends civilization. Even with the fission bomb out-of-reach, Teller was living in the dreamland of the nuclear fusion. Soros is less fortunate in reaching his utopian dream despite his billions. Sociology isn't physics. Soros' players have emotions and beliefs that impact their decisions. The Russian robbers had outsmarted him, as they did with Napoleon and Hitler. Yet, his driven obsession with open society made him repeat the same mistake in Macedonia and Ukraine.
   
   Teller also confronted opponents, yet with like scientific minds and confronting limited physical constraints. Knocking down Oppenheimer was Teller's big chance to keep his status, though never became billionaire. In Soros's realm, there is no known opponent to knock down in order to satisfy his utopian dream of open society. His sense that his efforts might lead to lasting changes on the long term, even in his absence, might well be true. Ideas outlive people, though Soros' generation is unique in many ways.
   
   Soros's basic concepts center on reflexivity, fallibility, far-from equilibrium economy, and open society. His basic tools are economic and mathematical analysis of supply and demand. The greatest challenge to his effort to utilize his tools in achieving open society is the lack of concrete principles for predicting human emotion. Not only the little players like Macedonia, Albania, Iran, and Israel are driven by emotions, but also the American Superpower shares the ailment. Noticeably however, financial investors possess detrimental emotion as well. They must win in the first round or get out before another loss. Soros' judgment on the imbalance of receivables and production in the new Russia is an example of an impatient, selfish, and zealous financier looking merely for his immediate gain.
   
   In his comparison to the sudden decay of the Soviet empire with the British Empire, Soros cannot conceal his wishful desire of a mechanical history. He bitterly blames the West for betraying Mikhail Gorbachev and accuses the latter of being naïve. Yet, he admits that the sick mother of communism could not carry her fetus to full term. His paternal views that eastern European and third world nations need be or anxious to be told what to do when given financial assistance, omit national emotions. Nations have pride as do individuals. Coercive politics might hinder the progress to open society. Past Germany, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, Iraq, Syria, Cuba, and Yugoslavia are examples of how imposing politics perpetuated long conflicts.
   
   Where does his utopian dreaming lead to? The Internet, he claims, is opening society and might seal the death of fascism, communism, and the like. However, anything could happen in the future since our civilization is fueled by energy which is getting scarcer everyday. His assumption that a new scientific breakthrough, such as carbonless extraction of energy from coal, or other innovations that secure renewable energy, could safeguard human civilization from inevitable catastrophe.
   
   Soros' resort to philosophy is driven by his economic undertaking. In order to make financial profit, he has to tackle the emotional factors of key players. Against the common wisdom of history and science, emotional policy-makers are still blundering national treasures and human lives. Defeat or victory in war is still the controlling principal in curtailing stray emotion of nations.
   
   Mohamed F. El-Hewie
   Author of
   Essentials of Weightlifting and Strength Training



5. Only those readers interested in Soros 'the man' as a whole -- as trader, philanthropist, and philosopher -- will find the whole book appealing.
   
   Other readers are likely to find 1/3 to 2/3 of the book appealing. For example: I really liked PART ONE (Investing and Global Finance), kinda liked PART THREE (Philosophy), and didn't much care for PART TWO (Geopolitics, Philanthropy, and Global Change).
   
   Philosophy students might like Soros's take on Karl Popper in PART THREE, but might not care for PART ONE. Traders will like PART ONE. Students of hitory and politics might be drawn to PART 2.
   
   As another reviewer mentioned, Soros seems to be searching of a 'theory or everything'. But can his 'reflexivity' be that all-encompassing theory?
   
   Tony Loton, author --
   DON'T LOSE MONEY! (in the Stock Markets)
   Financial Trading Patterns

1 comments about Reinventing Foreign Aid.

1. This book is actually edited by William Easterly and with a forward by Nancy Birdsall (President, Center for Global Development)

5 comments about The Globalization of Poverty and the New World Order.

1. With the North American governments and their media flacks noisily championing "economic liberalisation", dissenting voices are muted. The voices of those most directly affected by "globalisation" are fainter yet. Michel Chossudovsky attempts to overcome the raucous proponents of "international free trade" with an examination of just what it does and how it impacts civil societies. The picture he provides isn't pleasant. However, turning away will not cause it to fade from lack of our attention. In fact, reading this book is an eye-opening, if not eyebrow raising experience.

   Among the rare critics of globalization Chossudovsky has "on-site" credentials beyond his academic base. He's been on the scene of several nations subjected to International Monetary Fund and World Bank policies. He examines the results of these and other international financial agencies' policies. From Chile through Rwanda to Somlia and Korea, he shows how a new form of warfare is under way. Conquest no longer requires bullets to occupy a nation nor suppress a people. Conquerers now wield position papers, American dollars or Euros and trade impositions. Surrender agreements come in the form of "conditions" accompanying loans and investments. These dicta result in the stripping away of social programmes, alienation of subsistence farm holdings and displacement of vast numbers. These people, deprived of income, traditions and opportunity have become a new breed. They are the hopeless poor for which no amount of "aid" can provide succour.

   As he demonstrates repeatedly, the mechanism is simple. The formation of the IMF gave financiers, chiefly North American, a cudgel to change governments, force farmers and pastoralists to convert to cash crop economies, and reduce or eliminate government services. The initial steps were instituted by the Bretton Woods conferences designed to restore nations devastated by World War II. Private financial institutions imposed conditions on loans granted to recovering countries. "Recovering" countries rapidly expanded into "developing" countries as these institutions recognised the value of cheap labour in them. Accepting "foreign investment" led to indebtedness difficult to repay. Defaulting was unacceptable to both borrower and lender, leading to new rounds of loans. These, however, rarely reached the borrowing nation since the new funds were set against the older debt. "Servicing the debt" meant imposition of stringent conditions, ranging from privatisation of services, amalgamation of small land holdings to produce crops to be purchased cheaply, but sold at inflated prices. The consumers of these goods are you and your neighbours.

   Each of the nations Chossudovsky examines suffers the same schedule of "structural adjustment programmes" imposed by the IMF. These SAPs outline the changes a nation must endure to receive the "benefits" of globalization. Restrictions on outside investment must be eliminated, with the concomitant privatisation of state-owned facilities and services. Where workers aren't laid off, their wages are frozen or reduced. Local currencies must be adjusted to American dollars, which has the impact of intense inflation spirals almost overnight. The result is a populace under increasing pressure, marginal or famine-stricken and powerless. Civil unrest isn't an option, since disruption brings reprisals - often, of course, the withdrawal of investment, failure to renew loan guarantees or simply real military action.

   Although the repetitive nature of the manipulations of the financial institutions on national sovereignty leads Chossudovsky to some redundancy, the reader should understand we are dealing with a global crisis. "Bitter medicine" and "bitter irony" recur, because the circumstances he describes are redundant. An imposing and sometimes intimidating account, he is careful to shift the responsibility to institutions rather than consumers. It is, however, the developed country consumer that provides motivation for many levels of the problem. Chossudovsky's analysis is thorough, well-founded and expressive. He shows why social unrest in "developing" countries is the result of imposed conditions, not unstable populations and environments. That he offers little in the way of solutions for the predicament the world now suffers is only testimony to the immensity of the task ahead. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]




2. I was originally born in Uganda and I can assure you that Africans have always been suspicious of the so-called "aid" they receive since it almost always comes after a crisis that they can't quite explain (like how did a bunch of poor, illiterate preteens get the money to buy those fancy weapons, or why won't aid agencies buy food from the local farmers and distribute THAT).
   
   Suspicions and rumors are insufficient to counter what appears, on the surface, to be international generosity. That is why I am grateful for Chossudosky's contrarian masterwork. It confirms the fears and suspicions regarding a return to colonialism and economic slavery. The fact that Chossudosky was willing to put his career on the line to write this hard-hitting book is worthy of our attention. He shows, without a shadow of a doubt, that there is a deliberate and systematic campaign of "economic genocide" against Africa and all other resource-rich regions. Neoliberalism have mastered the British colonial-era double-speak of "liberty", "democracy", "markets", etc. "Market liberalization" is nothing more than armed robbery. And "investment" is really nothing more than "asset stripping". The Adam Smith phraseology of free-trade and free markets is used, much like their British predecessors, to recolonize the world. Chossudosky shows how the "Washington Consesus" has embarked on a foreign policy strategy of economic sabotage and "strangulation." As Kissinger famously ordered, in the now declassified National Security Memorandum 200, Africans should be kept from becoming consumers of their own raw materials.
   
   Chossudosky does an enormous favors to us neophytes by decoding the neoclassical econo-babble. His brilliant deconstruction of IMF structural adjustment policies is worth the price of this book alone. But he goes beyond that. He shows how nations can be brought to their knees through currency devaluations and speculative attacks. The whole cynical process of creating the crisis then blaming it on the victims, i.e. the "Asian" Crisis which is in fact an American Crisis, or the excuse used to maintain Odious Debt on impoverished nations: "their corrupt leaders are to blame for the Odious Debt". Yes but those "corrupt" leaders were trained at American military bases (much like the 9/11 hijackers), and are killing us with American made weapons (thanks again Kissinger). Besides, everytimes Africans (or Latin Americans) try to put a reformer or socialist democrat in power, he develops a nasty habit of being assisinated.
   
   This book will make you angry at how long and how often you've been lied to. Everything you thought you knew about economics will be tested as the Machiavellian machinations of international creditors, grain companies, and financial "investors" is revealed in page after riveting page. I also recommend Michael Hudson's Super Imperialism and Horowitz' Emerging Viruses. If it's not out of print then get The Merchants of Grain. Some publishing companies are refusing to publish some of these books because of their controvesial nature so get them before they're made "out of print".



3. M. Chossudovsky attacks head on the New World Order imposed by the World Bank (WB0), the IMF and the WTO, calling their economic 'reforms' enforced on countries in distress not less than genocides.
   
   Their 'free market' system is rigged. The WTO agreements grant entrenched rights to the world's largest financial and industrial conglomerates, derogating the ability of national governments to regulate their economies. The IMF programs enforce governments to privatize big chunks of their national economy, liberalize their markets and downsize social provisions (education, health, social security).
   Their 'free' market system is synonym of human poverty, destruction of the natural environment, social apartheid, racism and ethnic strife, undermining of women's rights, economic dislocations, forced displacements, landless farmers, shuttered factories and jobless workers.
   More, he accuses the IMF of supporting the appropriation of global wealth by speculators through manipulation of currency and commodity markets. It even manipulates itself its economic statistics in order to show that its policies work. Finally, it cooperates with warmongerers and 'peace keepers'.
   
   He illustrates his verdicts with a host of examples.
   Somalia: the entire social fabric of the pastoralist economy was undone through duty-free beef and dairy products from the EU.
   Rwanda: the restructuring of the agricultural system precipitated the population into destitution, leading to a genocide.
   Ethiopia: the Structural Adjustment Programme caused starvation.
   Bangladesh: a devaluation and price liberalization exacerbated famine. Deregulation of the grain market meant dumping of US grain surpluses.
   Brazil: enhancement of social polarization by supporting the land-owning class.
   Peru: after liberalization, the price of bread increased more than 12 times.
   Russia: helping the oligarchs.
   India (Andhra Pradesh): repeal of minimum wages and support of caste exploitation
   Yugoslavia: serving the strategic interests of Germany and the US by cutting the financial arteries between Belgrade and the republics.
   Korea, Thailand, Indonesia: the vaults of the central banks (100 billion $) were pillaged by international speculators. The bail-outs of those countries were underwritten and guaranteed by the same Wall Street banks involved in the speculative assaults.
   
   The author proposes a solution which will be extremely difficult to implement in our actual world, where media and governments are controlled by the powerful: democratization of the economic system and ownership structures, disarming of speculation, redistribution of income and wealth and rebuilding the Welfare State.
   
   Michel Chossudovsky's book constitutes a devastating denunciation of an inhuman system sold by economic strangulating wolves clad in sheepskins.
   It confirms the forceful analysis of globalization by Joseph Stiglitz.
   
   A must read.
   
   I also recommend a voice from the South: Walden Bello.



4. Although it saddens me to see a strong literature emerging today that was largely anticipated and ignored by people like David Barnett with his Global Reach work in the 1970's, it is a good thing that strong voices like those of this author are now making very comprehensive documented cases for how corporate power and privatized wealth are collapsing nations, bankrupting economies, and impoverishing more and more people unnecessarily.
   
   The table of contents of this book is extraordinarily details and brilliant in its organization. Although the book is mostly case studies that one can read through rapidly if accepting of the author's key points, this may well be one of the finest itemizations of the ills of the 21st century: corporate power run amok, privatization and concentration of wealth (which is, incidentally, one of the precondition for revolution), the collapse of national and local economies (e.g. Wal-Mart), the dismantling of the welfare safety net in most countries, and the outbreak and spread of famine and civil war.
   
   The author is probably the foremost scholar and commentator on how the "free" market is not so free, and how the existing capitalist system is predatory, aided by locked in privileges that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank impose on nations foolish enough to accept their intervention. In this the author is consistent with Jeffrey Sachs (The End of Poverty) who has put forward the need for a complete make-over of developmental economics, to include an end of the normal business practices of the IMF and the World Bank.
   
   I was tempted to remove one star for lack of sufficient reference to the works of others, but the personal insights and comprehensive review caused me to leave the ranking at five stars. I see a clear pattern emerging in the literature (see my other 700+ reviews) and what I am waiting for is for someone to cut the spines off all these books and "make sense" of the total picture in a manner comprehensible to the indivdual voter.
   
   If we are to restore informed democracy and moral capitalism, this book is one of the foundation stones.
   
   See also:
   Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
   Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
   The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back
   War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War onthe American Dream and How to Fight Back
   Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It (BK Currents)
   The Working Poor: Invisible in America
   Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor
   Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America



5. Chossudovsky is a brilliant economist and a burning torch for the truth that people are unable to see, hear, or accept due to the propaganda schemas that are embedded in their minds (like a microchip programming) by the global media cartel and the political demagogues.
   Chossudovski analyzes the past and the present in relation to debt, globalization, and international financing. He dispels the myth of the good samaritan (like the IMF, the World bank, and the Federal Reserve, etc) that destroys economies of other countries, and impoverish them under the guise of capitalism (actually corporate socialism) and freedom, in order to own them. He clearly elucidates the dollarization process and its role in the New World Order. This book makes a powerful reading that sheds the light on a vanishing truth. I would highly recommend this volume to anyone who is interested in world finance as well as their future, and the future of their children.

3 comments about Wall Street: A History: From Its Beginnings to the Fall of Enron.

1. This comprehensive book provides a wealth of detail about the origins and history of the financial institutions, private and public, that underpin Wall Street and the economy of the United States - and therefore, to an extent, much of the rest of the world. Author Charles R. Geisst presents a detailed discussion of the contest between the forces of libertarianism and regulation. Detail is both the strength and the weakness of this book. Often, the author has trouble organizing it all, and the book would have benefited from a stricter editor to help distill the "story" in this history. Despite such problems, however, the factual basis is rich and intriguing. We believe that readers interested in U.S. financial history, especially those in the investment and financial services industries, will want to read this book.



2. Mark Twain said that history doesnt repeat itself but it does rhyme. Read this book and learn about the past market panics and irrational exuberances. The early history is kind of dry but things get pretty interesting once you break into the 20th century. What stands out although it is not surprising is how the public makes the same mistakes over and over again. I guess one can only describe it as the extraordinary delusion of crowds.



3. The book provides some insight into forgotten economic events, but I'll bet the author didn't believe Lehman would fail, nor the "panic" that since has transpired in America.

5 comments about A Beginner's Guide to the World Economy.

1. Have you asked this question before? Or any innumerable other ones regarding business or economics?
   
   Well, this is the book for you. Randy Charles Epping is not going to win the Nobel Prize for literature any time soon; but, he has produced an excellent book about what going on in the world economy. His non-jargon based explanations of everything from GDP to stock options to how the Federal Reserve works are enough to shine some light on the, often mystical, world of the Nightly Business Report. Epping answers 81 questions with succinct clarity.
   
   While, I would not say this book is a must read, I would say that if you wanted to know what are this stuff was, you should pick it up.



2. This is an excellent book for a novice/beginner, who is trying to understand the basics and scope of the World Economy in plain english.



3. If you want to understand the current issues about the World Economy, this is the book to buy. It does not cover the economic theory; there are other books for that. This one is easy and fun to read; especially when you hear the term in the news and understand them.



4. As an International Relations major in college, without much of a prior economic background, this book was a life-saver in understanding some of the dynamics of International Economics, theories, events, and the like. After reading this book for just a few hours, I could proudly define everything from hedge funds to globalization, which allowed me greater understanding of events on the news or in scholarly economic or political literature. Why take a an actual economics class, when this book offers just enough insight to make you a much more economically-informed citizen? Even if economics, global or not, isn't your forte?



5. I highly recommend this book. Has an indepth look at world economy from a vantage point. Great read.

5 comments about Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade.

1. I really thought that Bill Emmott would offer some deep insights into Asia's development, but he has nothing to say other than a summary of the past 10 years of Economist articles. If you've read the Economist with any regularity, you do not need this book.
   
   If you haven't read the Economist, you probably won't make it through the book though. It is in desperate need of an editor. Long rambling prose, back tracking as often as possible. The same book could have been 100 pages shorter if he had been held to the Economist style guide.
   
   I'm giving it 3 stars though because at least everything he says is accurate and there is no hyperbole.



2. In Rivals, Bill Emmott, a former reporter for the Economist in Japan and, until 2006, the editor in chief of the magazine, shows us that no other region will have as fundamental an impact, or play as crucial a role, on the international scene than Asia in the coming decades. From intensifying regional trade, economic development and their impact on the environment to spending on defense and nuclear nonproliferation, Asia -- with China, Japan and India acting as pillars -- is transforming at a stunning pace, and the variables involved in this complex relationship are such that predicting its future course is an impossible task, something Emmott himself admits.
   
   Still, by looking at key regional aspects -- economics, defense, domestic politics, the environment, and history as an active contemporary agent -- Emmott sees certain trends emerging that could help us narrow down the possible futures to "plausible pessimism" and "credible optimism."
   
   What quickly becomes evident is that China is now the center of gravity in the region, both in terms of its economic might and as the shaper of politics. Emmott, as do a handful of other authors, maintains that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is here to stay and that it has the wherewithal to deal with the number of isolated challenges that may arise domestically. Aside from environmental degradation and its impact on human health, no other issue in China has the potential, he argues, to mobilize the population to the extent that it could threaten the regime; nationalism, such as in Tibet or Xinjiang, is too localized to spread throughout China, which thus makes it possible for the CCP to rely on force to put down disturbances. Its economy, meanwhile, has become solid and mature enough to withstand most shocks.
   
   Japan, no so long ago the undisputed regional leader, has been supine since the 1990s, but Emmott sees signs that its government has launched reforms that, in the long term, could bring about its recovery. A certain sense of urgency, inspired by China's rise, could also accelerate that process and encourage those within the Liberal Democratic Party (and in Washington) who seek to amend the country's peaceful Constitution so that Japan could become a "normal" country once again and play the role it believes it should be playing in the region. In Emmott's view, discarding Japan as a passe regional power would be a serious oversight, as would ignoring recent reporting that a majority of Japanese support their government taking a harder stance vis-a-vis China.
   
   Last is India, the oft-forgotten emerging power whose role as a strategic counterweight on the balance-of-power chessboard could be the determining factor in the future course of the region. While India remains nowhere near as developed as China or Japan, it is nevertheless beginning to make its presence felt in some regional institutions, joint military exercises, and through the modernization of its forces. Furthermore, sensing its utility as a means to tie down China, the US and Japan have struck deals with India that could help buttress the modernization of the world's largest democracy. In fact, Emmott opens his book by arguing that even if it meant blowing a hole in the Non-Proliferation Treaty, US President George W. Bush's nuclear pact with Delhi in 2006 was a strategic tour de force, as it added a third leg to the regional balance and ensured that Delhi would side with the US and Japan should relations with China deteriorate. In response, Beijing has continually sought to exclude India from regional multilateral organizations.
   
   Shifting alliances notwithstanding, Emmott is optimistic that the regional powers and the smaller countries that gravitate around them see no advantage in compromising all the progress that has been made in the past decade by waging wars, an argument that pessimists would argue was also made when similar dynamics obtained in Europe at the turn of the 19th century -- with two devastating world wars to follow. Why Emmott does not believe a repeat of the European fiasco is likely in Asia is partly the result of the somewhat benevolent, albeit not always welcome, presence of the US, which acts as a brake on those who would be inclined to use war as an instrument of foreign policy. However, how Beijing perceives that presence will have a direct impact on the future direction of China's military; if the US, alone or through alliances, is seen to be seeking to contain it, conflict would be likelier, or China could actively pursue a closer alliance with Pakistan to counter India.
   
   Other tensions, which lurk close to the surface, could spark conflict. From the unresolved and poisonous issues of Japan's responsibility in World War II to the flawed Tokyo Trials, post-Kim Jong-il North Korea to Islamic radicalism and nuclear weapons in Pakistan, instability in Myanmar, the Taiwan question, unresolved border disputes, Tibet after the Dalai Lama and disputed islands in the East China Sea, Emmott argues that the likeliest source of conflict -- which could draw in other powers, such as the US -- will be accidents and miscommunication, or, as he puts it, one side misjudging the cost of warfare in the modern world. Wars by proxy -- a tool of the Cold War that remains relevant today -- in places such as Myanmar, Tibet, North Korea and Pakistan -- could also be launched as the three powers position themselves for the future. As demand grows, competition abroad over natural resources could also serve as a conflict accelerator between those three countries.
   
   Emmott's "new" Asia is a dynamic one, filled with potentialities, whose global impact will only become greater as its economies continue to grow. Through economic exchanges and the birth of regional alliances like the East Asian Summit, the ill-defined geographical Asia of old is quickly turning into a more tightly knit polity that, for better or worse, will have a greater say in global affairs and whose participation in international bodies such as the UN Security Council and the G8 will be paramount if those organizations are to remain relevant.



3. The central thesis of this book is that the rise of Asia is going to pit Asians against Asians. A new power game is under way between Japan, China and India: for the first time in history, three great nations in Asia are vying for regional supremacy all at the same time. Japan used to be number one and cannot content itself with being a distant number two. China and India both think that the future belongs to them: they cannot both be right at the same time. As Bill Emmott puts it, "the balance between the regional powers is going to become the crucial determinant of whether Asia's rise will be one of peace and prosperity or one that brings conflict and turbulence, both to the region itself and to the world as a whole."
   
   Bill Emmott sees proof of this emerging rivalry in the hedging strategy of the world superpower. The United States can no longer rely on a regional triangle with one ally, one competitor and one neutral third party: they need to ally with two powers in order to keep the third one neutral. This is why Bush, in his landmark visit to India in March 2006, chose to sideline concerns about nuclear proliferation and signed a deal for extended cooperation with India, including in the field of civil nuclear energy. India is a country with the potential to balance the rising power of China, and it is courted as such by the US, but also by Japan and the ASEAN countries which agreed, against all common geographical sense, to include the South Asian giant in their new East Asian Summit caucus.
   
   Although the rivalry thesis is worth considering, I found the whole thing a little bit oversold. For a start, it is by no means the only thread to the story, but rather an editing gimmick that provides a catchy headline to a book that is basically a survey about the three great Asian powers. The individual chapters on China, Japan and India are valuable in their own right: they are written in the no-nonsense, right-to-the-point style that is the hallmark of The Economist, where they each could have been included as special country surveys.
   
   There is an interesting discussion on Chinese statistics, where one learns for instance that in 2005 twenty-nine out of thirty-one regions reported "higher than average" growth rates. Contrary to the myth of unlimited labor supply from the Chinese countryside, the author thinks that the combination of higher incomes from agriculture and low birth rates will likely lead to less migrant labor and rising wages. Emmott today encounters in Beijing the same lack of transparency and accountability, the same feeling of self-confidence and even arrogance among senior officials, the same over-investment and misallocation of capital that he used to confront in Japan twenty years ago. Now Japan worries whether its credit rating will fall above or below Botswana, and it is dismissed by foreigners as a greying and declining nation.
   
   The author of The Sun Also Sets nevertheless thinks that Japan could rebound if it succeeds in reinventing itself, like America did during the decade of the "new economy" which brought a sharp and unexpected jump in its productivity levels. He also thinks that with the right reforms, India could achieve growth of more than ten percent for at least a decade, provoking a transformation of a magnitude comparable to what China experienced in the last twenty years. As he notes, "the process of economic growth is in part a process of removing obstacles, rather as the dredging of boulders from a river will permit the water to flow more smoothly. There are a lot of obstacles to be removed, so there is a lot of potential for improvement."
   
   Rivalry between the three Asian powers is therefore not the whole story. Indeed, it could be argued that the rise of new powers, like China and India, is more likely to lead to stabilization and peace than to disruption and war. China's trade (imports plus exports) is equivalent to 67 percent for GDP, whereas the ratio is 22 percent for America and 28 percent for Japan. The greater openness of China's economy, although it is still smaller than Japan's, means that China has more trade and investment with its smaller Asian neighbors and with the rest of the world than Japan does, often resulting in greater influence, as the flag follows foreign trade. A few decades ago, neighboring countries viewed the rise of Japan as stifling their economic independence. There was a time when European multinationals marketed themselves as an alternative to an exclusive reliance on Japanese firms. Now many view the rise of China as creating competition and thereby liberating them. Contrary to Japan's, Chinese trade is a two-way street, and it offers a great market for exports from its neighbors.
   
   As Bill Emmott notes, Asia is piled high with historical bitterness, unresolved territorial disputes, potential flash points and strategic competition that could readily ignite even during the next decade. But the potential for cooperation is also great, and the sweetener of commerce should soothe nationalistic hurdles and instead promote a healthy spirit of competition in which all partners will gain.



4. RIVALS: HOW THE POWER STRUGGLE BETWEEN CHINA, INDIA AND JAPAN WILL SHAPE OUR NEXT DECADE is the first book to predict the economic trends of all three nations, exploring how these trends will affect the world and the environment, and pose risks to global peace. But it doesn't stop at an assessment of possible dangers: the meat of RIVALS lies in its blend of analysis and nine specific recommendations on how their rivalry can be managed for optimum benefit to the world. College-level collections strong in Asian social issues in particular will find it important.



5. `Rivals' describes and analyzes the history, demographics, economics, policies, diplomacy and other factors that are and will determine the development and relationships of Asia's 3 leading powers: China, India and Japan. If you read The Economist, you will appreciate that Emmott provides a comparable level of accuracy, analytical astuteness, understanding of countries' espoused vs. true intentions and a desire to understand and predict the future. Moreover, Emmott confidently and succinctly describes the relationships and policy/military `domino effects' that could potentially occur in various regions/situations with impartiality that is rarely seen elsewhere.
   
   The book's chapters are (essentially):
   1. Intro
   2. Asia Overview
   3. China
   4. Japan
   5. India
   6. China/India/Japan + Environmental Issues (Mainly Global Warming)
   7. China/Japan/Korea Tension In Detail
   8. Conflict `Flare Up' Regions/Situations: Pakistan, Tibet, North Korea, Taiwan,
   9. Conclusion + 9 Policy/Diplomacy Recommendations + Asia Outlook
   
   Many are writing books on development and the potential issues in Asia. Rivals is a read for you if you want:
   1. Insightful distillation of the key factors and history shaping development, global relationships and interactions of China/India/Japan.
   2. Understanding of what disputes could potentially `flare up' into global conflict and how these would involve the US/EU.
   3. Recommendations on how policymakers should proceed.
   4. `The Economist' level of even-handedness.
   
   One major criticism: There is a missing chapter: ASEAN countries in relation to China/India/Japan. As a result, issues like Myanmar are glossed over while issues like rocks/lighthouses in the East China Sea are given several pages. ASEAN countries will continue to play an increasingly important economic and diplomatic role in the future as they seek prosperity that is not limited by their scale. Having said that, I still highly recommend this book for its astute coverage of China, India and Japan.

5 comments about The War for Wealth: The True Story of Globalization, or Why the Flat World is Broken.

1. I love books, and I seem to find a new one to like every week. And yet, I can honestly say, this is the best book I've read in years. Few books have the power to encapsulate the meteoric economic and political changes that face the United States--and the world--right now. Gabor Steingart, a German journalist working in Washington, DC, for "Der Spiegel," has managed to come at just the right time with just the right book, "The War for Wealth."
   
   What makes this book so pertinent? First, it approaches the question of whether globalization truly benefits all. Unlike those who favor the open market who make the assumption that free trade helpa all, Steingart posits that globalization instead is leading to a redistribution of resources. Not all countries benefit equally. In this new world order, Americans are needed largely as consumers, not workers, who are financing their purchases on a mountain of debt.
   
   The expansion of the labor market as a result of globalization, in fact, has led to a decline in the value of workers. This has hurt Western nations the most. In the US industrial base alone, there has been a 50 percent decline in jobs in a single generation. Americans and Europeans are overpriced for the global market, not because of their wages (although this is a factor) but largely because of the cost of their social safety net.
   
   Who are the winners? Those in India and China, obviously. In China, those growth rates are even being understated by the Communist government so that the West does not even see the full extent of this unfettered development. Moreover, China has chosen a different, more insidious tactic in this economic war. As Steingart notes, "the Asians are attacking with economic weapons and avoiding ideological conflict. They do not conduct debates with the West over equality and justice, nor do they level any accusations or issue threats. The rising global powers are not interested in a battle of cultures. They are ignoring issues of religion and ideology. They are quiet adversaries who are placing their bets on economic efficiency. The West, they reason, can be defeated with its own weapons."
   
   Unlike many who see these problems, however, Steingart is not a protectionist, nor does he see globalization as something to be halted in its steps. He is not a fear monger. As an economist and journalist, Steingart knows that this is a trend that is not likely to be reversed. It can, however, be managed by savvy leadership and a willingness on the part of Western nations to work together. Steingart basically lays out three options: global chaos (the shock scenario), the rise of Asia (the Asia-above-all scenario, in which American dreams bite the dust), or remaking history (the American Renaissance scenario).
   
   How America and the West manage globalization, international trade, and the development of rules and regulations to even the playing field are critical to the continuance of the good life. If I could have one wish, it would be that both presidential candidates and their camps would read Steingart's book. This critical overview of the world and economic development today is something that every American should be thinking about as they approach the future.



2. Among the fairly simple, but politically difficult recommendations is to eliminate income based taxes and instead tax consumption. The US policy of taxing income of individuals and, especially corporations, effectively makes US products gives importers a free ride and makes US exports uncompetitive internationally. Taxing sales not only levels the playing field for US producers domestically and internationally, but also greatly reduces tax fraud and black market free riders.
   
   Eliminate the tax on savings and capital gains and odds are people would save and invest more.



3. Every American should read this book; the author gives a broader view about the world economy, and how we got to this point, where we have been losing jobs to the Asian countries: the causes, the consequences and what we can do to revert it.



4. I feel almost personally grateful to Steingart because he has written something I have always wanted to say, but couldn't possibly have said so well.
   
   The questions he asks on page 227, for example, have been troubling me for years. I beseech every American to pause and respond to these buring questions.
   
   "Did you really believe that you could live, in the long term, on borrowed money?
   "Who actually claimed that such a large nation doesn't need an industrial base?
   "Where are the men and women who made us believe that a negative balance of trade is a sigh of strength?
   "Why did no one on Wall Street sound the alarm bell when the U.S. dollar became eroded and lost intrinsic value for such a prolonged period of time?
   "Is it possible that no one could have noticed a country that was once the world's biggest lender selling off its assets to others?
   "How could the entrenchment of economic inequality in a democratic nation have been tolerated for so long?
   "What happed to the upward mobility that was once this country's trademark?
   "And, last but not least: why did democracy, which is supposed to react more quickly to malfunctions than other forms of government, fail so miserably?"
   
   As someone who genuinely wishes America well, it pains me to see this great country de-industrialized and become the biggest debtor in human history, reduced to begging more loans from foreign powers such as the Chinese Communist regime.
   
   My gut feeling is that it's too late to remedy the dire situation. I pray miracle happens. I wish to be proven wrong.
   
   By the way, Deng Xiaoping was never premier of China, as Steingart told us. His official position, when he did hold one, was vice-premier, though he was the paramount leader of the Chinese Communist Party from the early 80s. Chinese politics was bizare.



5. Globalization has had a strong, yet subtle, propaganda from both the "liberal" and conservative media in the last years. Just take a look at magazines Newsweek, Time and many others, but above all The Economist. They are always reminding us how important is that companies can freely operate globally. Fareed Zakaria, for example, wrote some weeks ago that while ipods are made abroad, most of the profits go to Apple. Good for Steve and Co. but bad for common people who don't own corporations. Instead, Mr. Zakaria chose to show off the startlingly low American unemployment statistics. As for web sites, go to the ultraconservative [...], which has a single one writer against free trade, Pat Buchanan.
   
   Gabor Steingart is one of the few writers who goes deeper that and exposes what holds the terrific unemployment statistics: part-time jobs (no matter how few hours a week), minimum wages and plain unemployed simply masked. We can even say it is as hard to get in those statistics as getting into an ivy-league college. According to the US Labor statistics, the minimum wage jobs are meant to be the main jobs sources by far and large in the next years. There will be like 600,000 opening for college professors and many others for college graduates, which all in all won't take the whole youth needing jobs. Yet, most of the media (both "liberal" and conservative) remain simplifying the issue and keeping repeating the great unemployment statistics and Wal-Mart prices (which are not so great either), just like a nazi general used to say to keep lying until people believe them.
   
   The news channels don't promote globalization as much, instead they distract us and focus on the oversimplification of the "culture wars" (both excessive liberals or conservatives, who are minorities in USA) , missing people (like 1 in 100,000) and most recently have only paid attention to the political campaigns and the financial crisis. These issues are surely important and still second in importance to the basic need of making a living, which globalization won't let us do. No matter how cheap a product can be as the propaganda always says, if you don't have a job you can't buy much, which is happening to more and more millions of people all over the 1st world, as Gabor well exposes.

5 comments about The Way the World Works, 20th Anniversary Edition (Gateway Contemporary).

1. The Way the World Works (TWWW) is absolutely the best book that I have read my entire life. Wanniski has an extremely sharp mind, and his analysis combines the theories of the best economists of our times with his own in-depth knowledge of political science.
   Wanniski has been able to forecast events in our national economy and society with outstanding accuracy.
   The greatest thing that you will learn in this book is the ability to "think on the margin" which will help you understand not only economics and politics, but can help you be more successful in all areas of your life.
   You can read materials published by Wanniski, for free, in his website ......
   I have also created a website dedicated to the diffusion of Wanniski's ideas in Brazil. The site, which is in Portuguese, can be found at ......P>Marcelo Rocha DaSilva
   



2. Can lowering tax rates actually increase tax revenues? Yes. This counterintuitive answer is suggested well by Jude Wanniski's main topic: the Laffer Curve. There is evidence that the more taxes get levied, the greater the incentive to avoid paying taxes - including avoiding productive pursuits altogether.
   
   Can a steeply progressive tax structure actually cause fewer tax revenues to derive from the wealthy? Wanniski offers support for this proposition as well.
   
   Can trade tariffs actually depress the economy? Arguably yes.
   
   These propositions are lamentable for a number of reasons. But Wanniski doesn't spend much time lamenting. He is fixated on the future potential of aggregate growth - however damaging to short-term labor markets - however conducive to the divide between wealthy and poor - however damaging to the production of social goods that are non-commercial in nature.
   
   Perhaps Wanniski's sentinal contribution in this book is the idea that there is in fact tradeoffs between aggregate growth and other non-comercial goals that society might pursue. But let's give the more socially conscious some credit. Most of them already know this. But after reading Wanniski they might understand some of the more important potential tradeoffs better.
   
   Why Wanniski only gets two stars, however, is for positing that the key economic tradeoff is between "growth" and "redistribution." This oversimplified frame works to mystify all societal goals other than aggregate growth by associating them exclusively with the politically charged concept of "redistribution" that has been abused and misunderstood widely. Not to mention that what "growth" refers to for Wanniski is aggregate growth in the economy as a whole - a growth that doesn't neessarily lead to improved quality of life for the masses of wage earners - but perhaps more like the growth of the wealth of the few who enjoy the stronger bargaining positions in society.
   
   Not all non-commercial goals require redistribution. Some that do are really the best way to solve certain problems. Social security, for instance, keeps people from failing to save for the future in the face of the constant temptation to under-save in order to keep up with the Joneses.
   
   For a better exposition on human nature and the negative effects of competition, see "Choosing the Right Pond" by Robert H. Frank



3. The simplistic doctrine espoused in this book can be dismissed in rather long-winded ways by by theoretical argumentation, but it is much quicker and easier to employ empiricism. The suppy-side economics of the 1980s did not create higher tax revenues, stimulate productive enterprise or redistribute income more fairly. In fact, they created huge budget deficits, supported the shipping of real productive enterprise abroad and stimulated the service enterprise that led to today's unstable bubble economy, and made the rich richer and the poor poorer (or imprisoned). Wanniski gets one thing right. This economic doctrine is anti-inflationary and protects the medium-term value of the elite's growing pot of money. And that's it, because that's all it's meant to do. The rest of it is complete charlatanism of the sort employed by 19th century medicine men to convince simple country folk that they now have access to a magic formula.



4. A man not many people know about wrote an amazing book about 20 years ago that not many people have heard about. Where has he and this book been hiding? You would think we would know him better than we do as the concepts he writes about helped forge the economic policies of President Ronald Reagan, which some state was instrumental in ending the Cold War. As I read this book, I couldn't help to think about what tragic year it has been with losing both Peter Drucker and Jude Wanniski.
   
   The book is written as an economic lesson, but reads as a more interesting historic lesson, covering some of the most exciting and critical events over the last 200 years. Jude clearly explains and backs up his concepts with historic examples, and both the obvious and hidden drivers of those events, and brings it all back to how over that time, we have learned why all that happened.
   
   He looks at economics not just as math or science, but in terms of and in conjunction with politics and the psychology of the individual. The dismal science does not need to be so dismal when you look at it from the context of countries and individuals in those countries, and what drives them to be productive in order to advance society.
   
   True greatness is generally shown when you look at something someone has created, look at it years later, and still say it is valuable and effective. It can stand the test of time. "The Way the World Works" absolutely stands the test of time. This is shown in many of the concepts he refers to, being the same topics as many of the "Megatrend" themes everyone else is talking about today, as new revelations. It is also remarkable to hear common themes from Thomas Friedman's current bestseller how "The World is Flat". He also presents topics that are parallel to Peter Drucker, in how we need great people to produce great companies that produce great societies. Treating governments, organizations and individuals separately, and separating productive work from just work,
   
   I wish Jude was still with us so he could attempt to bridge his analysis of how energy works, and how these same driving principles could be used to analyze the Internet. Maybe we can continue that work for him.



5. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Socialist, or Capitalist, Jude Wanniski's "The Way the World Works" presents a Tour de Force in the Economic successes and blunders over the last 300+ years.
   
   Economic truths are indeed the lever that truly can both move governments, history, or readdress poverty concerns. Much like what the Gates Foundation has (or is) undertaking, unless one gets the incentives right, the ends that one is trying to achieve will not be sustainable and withers away after a few years. Though some think of economics as a zero sum game in that some win only if someone else is losing. On the contrary, Economics is not a zero sum game.
   
   As demonstrated and proved over the last 35 odd years (a somewhat short period of time), in many countries with many economies both big and small, the use of ingenuity, the increase in opportunity, and the increases in production have revealed that it is not a zero sum game if the governmental incentives are set correctly. Subsequently, much like the baker, if you want to feed more people you do not devise unique ways to divide the loaf, you devise ways to make more bread !
   
   Once we can overcome one of the deadly sins of "Envy", we will and can achieve more. Though envy is a powerful force, in the end, does it really matter if someone a thousand miles away, or in a different country, or even in your own neighborhood has a little more than you? If it does, move along and educate yourself in a different endeavor. However, if not, then take a ride on this governmental and economic Tour de Force and increase opportunity for all.

No comments about China's Rise: Challenges and Opportunities.

5 comments about Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism.

1. Megatrends 2010 is one of the best books on the market today - especially if you are interested in new ways of approaching old problems. The case studies and best practices that Patricia reveals prove that values, integrity, spirituality in the workplace - all help build profits. It's an easy read - informative and full of facts!
   Thank you Patricia Aburdene for pulling together such a great body of work!
   Ann Ranson



2. I'm going to start making my point saying that i bought this book because Megatrends 2000 just helped me so much understand the economics back then, and when this one came out i rushed in and bought it, and big disappointed. First there is one lady that helped write the first one as the only author, the cover is reddish pink, and for a "mega" is not a large book. She talks about spiritualism, moral, and ecology, which i agree and accepted them as future megatrends, but she could have written that in two or three chapters, but that's the whole book, and that's where the disappointment is.
   I asked myself if i was reading a economics trend book, or a spiritual book. She never talked about the euro boom, or the global warming as a social mechanism to push the entire humanity to a future of new technology advances and possible breakthroughs, there are too many topics to talk about as megatrends, but she focused in spiritualism a little too much(just the hole book.)
   She made the mistake of not seeing the big picture, and i bet she didn't spend a month writing this book. And that's what bothers me, because the first book was very useful, full of information in different sciences and very accurate.
   I guess is the editorial's fault for being so brain less and putting a solo person doing a team work job. She didn't even try to do some research...
   If there's a time machine invented i go back on time, i would read the book, write this opinion and i would remember to save the purchase ticket to return it(lol).
   Shame on you Patricia Aburdene.



3. I had first written a review giving this book 5 stars, which I deleted. Let me correct it now down to 3 stars, still giving this book the hopeful benefit of the doubt.
   
   After my first review I emailed the author who promptly answered. After the Wall Street debacle, I emailed her again, copy:
   
   "Dear Ms. Aburdene: Please allow me to ask your opinion about the current financial crisis in relation to the main theme of your work "Megatrends 2010". Is Gordon Gekko still around and much alive under disguise? Apparently the tech bubble gave birth to a, probably worst, housing bubble, undoubtedly based on the same old greed, that awful hydra. This bubble is just another emanation of the same root. Greenspan does not seem to be very comfortable with it either. There seems to be many new Dennis Koslowskis and Tycos as well, all of a sudden. I will appreciate your comments..."
   
   No answer this time. Could it be that the premise of "Megatrends 2010" is flawed? For what is happening today with the financial crisis is a typical example of greed run amok, and it is worst than before. What is the future of the so-called conscious capitalism? Food for thought.



4. I am very pleased with my order. The book was in excellent condition and was swiftly delivered.
   
   Thanks!



5. I am not happy of this purchase.
   
   The author is repeating the same things over and over again. Content does not include sufficiently of valuable information. The speaker has a very slow and calm tone of voice which makes it long and anoying to listen to.