5 comments about Pop Internationalism.

1. This is a great book - applying sound economics to our real-world policy issues.

   Krugman's successful attempt to expose the flawed argument of the likes of Lester Thurow is wonderful. People like Thurow are more interested in bashing certain countries (e.g., Japan, Europe) and/or apologizing for others (e.g., People's Republic of China), with no economic/academic consistency. Hard to believe Thurow passes as an "economist"...




2. Paul Krugman is an intellectual economist with a rebllious streak. In "Pop Internalionalism" Krugman denounces ideas by some of the most well known and respected economists of the 20th century. Krugman uses a plethora of statistics to prove his point.
   Krugman tries to prove that there is no economic competition between nations, or if there is it is nominal. His theories are alway well thought out and expressed but it difficult to believe everything he says. He tries to write for the common man, and is writing is very well expressed, intelligent, yet readible by most. It is easy for one to find themeselves rereading paragraphs if he/she does not have a strong understanding of international trade and national business.
   Some may say that he is ahead of his time, others may say that his theories are rediculous, but I'll just say he is worth reading.



3. The joke here is that Krugman is convinced he can write. He ends his little intro with the smug assertion that "maybe economists can write after all," offering himself as proof. (Krugman cannot write well, but he has mastered the clumsy, undistinguished style of a bad lit professor---the kind of tenured mediocrity that dominates academic publishing---an accomplishment he's very proud of. To use his own favorite "emphasizing" gimmick: Krugman stinks---full stop.)
   
   The punchline is that shortly afterward, The New York Times hired him. It was a match made in middlebrow heaven. (I should add that I do like the substance of Krugman's newspaper articles, if not the style. An enemy of the current White House is a friend of mine.)
   
   As far as the economics go, he's pro-NAFTA and pro-"free trade" just like all establishment economists, and completely unwilling to critique the real forces at work in international markets. Don't waste your time.



4. Krugman is a good writer; so is the author of the book "New Ideas from Dead Economists" (that particular book).
   
   Basically Krugman likes to be provocative, as he has shown as op-ed contributor for the NY Times.
   
   His advocacy of game theory and non-linearlities in the Ricardo/Adam Smith model of free trade (which is still valid BTW), is welcome.
   
   His thesis that since in both Japan and the US trade accounts for less than 15% of the total GNP of each country is a bit flawed, since, as any chessplayer will tell you, "the threat is greater than the execution". It's like saying Stalin had no effect on the fear factor in the Soviet Union because he only executed less than 5% of the population, or that the Exxon Valdez oil slick was minimal since it only constituted less than 0.1% of oil transported...
   
   BTW, I have not read this book but that should not prevent you from recommending this review. Thank you.



5. I am an economics professor, and find this book an absolutely fantastic antidote to the alarmist crap (and dogmatic resistance to inconvenient facts) offered by foes of international trade. This book is easy to read and digest, and the data and ideas Krugman presents so clearly do not require any economic education beyond the ordinary undergraduate level. I hearitly recommend the book to anyone dazzled by fears of China or threats to U.S. manufacturing.
   
   Easily the most entertaining part of this book is Krugman's treatment of Lester Thurow, Paul Kennedy and others who spent the 1990's extending wooly headed thinking to its local maximum. Modern writing on economics is awash in charlatans and cranks, and Krugman dispenses with them in a way to set the standard.
   
   I re-read this book every few years and recommend it to all my grad students in economics as an example of communicating ideas with simple elegance.

5 comments about The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered.

1. George Soros, one of the greatest speculators of all time wrote this book which is an ode to govenment and bureaucracy intervention. It seems at first sight that Soros realized that true liberalism (not the liberalism of the left wing in America) was wrong and thus the Estate should intervene to fix the market's problems.
   
   Now you may be asking, How come a guy who made 1 billion dollars in one day thru speculation against the british pound in the 90's is now a critic of the system that let him speculate and get rich?. Well, Soros changed his mind about capitalism when he lost 2 billion dollars during the russian crisis. He tried to convince the World Bank and the IMF to save russian markets like they did in Mexico in 1995, but no help was approved.
   
   So, what's the solution according to Soros? Easy: create new bureaucracy. He wants a Global Fed, Government intervention in the markets and a more robust and strong Estate. If this solution were to be implemented, Soros would be denying to others the opportunities he had to get rich. I think what Soros wants is to prevent others to compete with him perhaps because he is tired of today's competition.
   
   If you are into Mises, Hayek or even Friedman, this book will only be useful to show the clichés that the left wing repeats over and over against capitalism. It doesn't add something new to the debate, just shows us that Soros is a great speculator but a poor economist.



2. One of Soros' most compelling arguments comes out of his experiences during the 90's- mostly during the Clinton years- that the Open Society should take an active role in becoming a strong advocate for creating nascent Open societies in areas of political and economic strife. He berates America (as the leader of the free world) for not taking an active role in promoting stable and fair markets in Russia, and not doing enough to prevent the tragedies in the Balkans. He even goes as far as to say that America should step up and become the "policeman of the world".
   
   Then again... isnt that exactly what he's spent the years after this book was authored trying to stop in his attacks on the campaign of George W Bush? Soros is fascinating in the sense that he feels perfectly comfortable documenting his complete ineptitude at coming up with theories about world politics. He even deconstructs his earlier writings, pointing out his flaws, suggesting that the fact that he can be falsified reinforces his self-title as thoretician.
   
   Soros makes the bold claim that if you can get people to agree with you, you can make money off them on the upside, and then make money off them on the downside as long as you don't continue believing your own guff past the sell-by date. He defends this as moral, because it is playing by the rules. He trumpets his years of philanthropy as the justification for a life spent in raiding the economies of the world.
   
   This is a book well-worth reading, and attempting to understand, because he makes/confirms his own point about the evils of market fundamentalism in autobiography. It is an expose on the evils of self-deception and over-reliance on the rules of the game to create morality. Laws and civility, like economics, do not construct good morals and ethics. He leaves himself lost, essentially falling into recourse to a higher power (of a more perfect UN or WTO or IMF, rather than a deity), but calling upon a higher power nonetheless to check the excesses of which has been his daily bread and butter for fifty years.



3. Reflexivity, is the two way interaction between thinking and reality. Reality is not separate from thinking. Reflexivity is acceptance that there is a reality and we are a part of that reality. Reflexity, strength of its statement is contingent on their impact.
   
   Fallibility means there is a lack of correspondence between the participants thinking and the actual state of affairs. When one recognizes a fallible belief, he can correct for error, this is another name for learning. All human designs are bound to be defective. In finance the value of a hypothesis is measured in money. Money accumulation measures the degrees of success in a belief system and the exploitation of observed fallacy. No fertile fallacy is likely to last forever and eventually, it will be replaced with a new fallacy that will occupy people's imagination. There are two ways to deal with deficient design, one, to look for an escape and two, to look for improvement. Marxist philosophy and economics is not scientific provable.
   
   Karl Popper's theory of scientific method involves predicting a specific phenomena then testing and explaining the phenomena. Therefore, prediction and explanation are reversible. Testing is comparing the initial and final conditions and establishing whether they conform to the hypothesis. One should accept the hypothesis provisionally, until is can be falsified. This approach allows the hypothesis to provide predictions and explanations without insisting on verification. The predictions can be either deterministic or probabilistic. However, generalizations made about reflexive events cannot be tested.
   
   Equilibrium in supply and demand means there is exists no unsatisfied sellers and buyers. Economics is the study of the relationship between supply and demand, not the conditions. All markets have radical fallibility and are liable to be flawed. Economic theory has misrepresented how markets behave. The conditions of supply and demand are unknowable because financial markets are discounting the future contingent on how they discount the present.
   
   Rational expectations of price are based on fundamentals, such as, future earnings, dividend, and the prospect of future transactions. Therefore, it would be irrational for an investor to believe they can outperform the market.
   
   Self-interest is the best explanation why free markets succeed. Different people work with different bias. A sequence of events occurs and these events affect a person's bias. Rational expectations philosophy contents that markets are always right. However, in reality financial markets are almost always wrong, but have the ability to validate them selves to a point. Divergence from outcomes and expectations can be taken as bias.
   
   For example, credit expansion and contraction are followed by a boom or bust, in the business cycle. Collateral value depends on the amount of money the bank is willing to lend. Investors had sought fast per-share growth rates and certain companies had exploited this bias using their high-priced shares to acquire companies with lower multiple of earnings and producing higher shares and growth earning increases, for which, the investors appreciated. These companies become bestowed with higher P/E multiples far from the mean and reality cannot sustain these expectations.
   
   The turning point formed because there were size limits and the company could not sustain momentum. Investors got carried away with expectations. The moment of truth occurred when reality could not support investor expectation. People only increased their pain by continuing too play the game when they, themselves no long believed, hoping a greater fool would arrive and bail them out. The crossover point would be followed by a downward trend and eventual crash. Markets are in constant dis-equilibrium: Prices do not clear the market and there are dissatisfied buyers and sellers in the wings, who could not execute order at the last sell or could not make up their minds.
   
   1972, Citibank enters the market and starts using capital to simulate stock prices, raise additional capital, and made purchase acquisitions. 1973, Oil crisis causes a boom and swing into dis-equilibrium. 1982, radical change caused the international banking crisis. 1989, the Soviet empire collapsed and robber capitalism emerged, as, management tool control of companies and private property by cheating workers of vouchers and buying up companies cheap. State to Private property distribution became the problem of a free for all. The Russian central government was unable to collect taxes.
   
   1998, IMF negotiates with Russia, a $22.5 billion rescue plan. Emerging market Russia's stock had fallen 48% in four weeks. Prior too the bailout, Russia had $11 billion in hard currency in its reserves, but this was not enough to cover debts come due. The USSR was on the verge of breaking up and building a free-market system in the stead. Peoples exchanging their rubles for dollars had depleted the central bank by $2.4 billion. Russia was too big and too nuclear to fail and IMF bailout mandated and required. The IMF role in the financial intervention of Russia would be too help Russia make the transition into a free-market. Russia lacked many of the components needed in a free-market: viable commercial banks, stocks and bond markets, and laws to protect private property and enforce contracts. The IMF used "shock tactic" to dismantle communist command and control hierarchy and liberalizing price and markets. Soon after shock tactic private retail shops opened and imports of foreign goods increased. Bloated budget deficits caused an explosive rise in Russian money supply and in 1993, inflation topped 843% and 224% in 1994. 1995, Russian reforms acquired a $6.8 billion IMF loan aimed primarily to tame inflation and inflation subsided. The ruble was pegged too the dollar ending a slide in currency value. The next stage of reform was modern banking. By 1997, inflation was 11 %, the ruble stable, communism vanquished, and portfolio investor were infusing money into Russia. Portfolio investment surged to $45.6 billion. Russia economy looked health, but its heavy dependence on short term borrowing subjected it to heavy costs. Russia had to borrow $1 billion each week by selling GKO to replace the maturing ones with increase costs of 25%. The



4. It's a good idea to find out what financiers like George Soros are thinking because it may give some hints of what is in our future. His book, "The Crisis of Global Capitalism" was rushed into print "at breakneck speed." That should give a hint about Soros' power and influence.
   
   Soros, once a Hungarian Jewish refugee, is now a big shot. When he isn't masterminding international financial scams or working toward world government, he makes public appearances, testifies before Congress, and writes books.
   
   The stimulus for the book was the global financial crisis that began in Thailand in July 1997. The crisis steamrolled through the economies of many nations, collapsing the Russian banking system before the recovery began. Malaysia shut down its financial markets to foreigners, pointing to Soros as the source of the problem.
   
   After that close brush with global economic meltdown, perhaps Soros is trying to convince us that we should create a mechanism to clean up after his meddling. Soros' "remedy" is international supervision over the national authorities. World government.
   
   How much world government is enough? "You cannot have a common market without a common currency. You cannot have a common currency without a common fiscal policy, including some kind of centralized tax collection."
   
   And of course he says we need the International Criminal Court. Still not enough world government for you?
   
   "A society without social values cannot survive and a global society needs universal values to hold it together." In case you missed it, we are talking about a global religion. Maybe world government is like sex--you can't be a little bit pregnant, and you can't have a little bit of global government.
   
   Soros clouds the issue with a lot of talk about "open societies," although world government would be anything but that. Soros touts democracy and open societies, but he obviously favors bureaucratic secrecy over an open society. Soros favors some type of powerful paternalistic oligarchy that falls somewhat short of actual totalitarianism-or better yet, makes people think that it stops short of totalitarianism.
   
   This book is loaded with contradictions. Soros' definition of an open society diametrically opposes his desired stable society. Soros calls Communism a cure worse than the disease, yet he maintains that we must put common interest ahead of self-interest. He says that the US can't go it alone, yet somehow the US can save the world.
   
   Soros is too dishonest to admit that pumping capital from advanced nations to the third world will lower US living standards, although he predicts that the US will have to dismantle the social safety net to become more competitive.
   
   Soros decries the profit motive as the basis of human behavior, but what other motive is there for international capital flight and destroying national sovereignty?
   
   What does internationalism deliver? If you look at the US in the age of internationalism, then the answer is war, low wages, unemployment, and loss of self-reliance.
   
   The fact is, free movement of capital is a relatively recent phenomenon. At the end of the Second World War, economies were largely national in character. Since 1980, the balance has swung so far in favor of financial capital that multinational corporations and international financial markets have supplanted national sovereignty. The ability of a nation to provide for the welfare of its citizens has been impaired by the ability of capital to escape paying taxation and decent wages by moving elsewhere.
   
   Regarding the 1977 financial crisis that sparked this book, the international financial system itself constituted the main ingredient in the meltdown process. The big difference with China was that its currency is not convertible; otherwise it's economy would have been exposed to the "wrecking ball," as Soros puts it. The countries that kept their financial markets closed weathered the storm better than those that were open. India was less affected than the Southeast Asian countries; China was better insulated than Korea.



5. This is my first exploration into the mind and thinking of George Soros. This book was not difficult to read. Mr. Soros is not a deceptive writer.
   It seems that Mr. Soros is one of the richest men in the world. He made his money in the international financial marketplace. Today he is out of the speculation business and characterizes himself as a philanthropist.
   His educational background is in economics and philosophy. Being familiar reading philosophers, I feel safe in saying that he writes, thinks and explains himself like a philosopher.
   Many critics consider Mr. Soros a liberal or an apologist for the "socialist, communist" left. I think not. Mr. Soros is first a Capitalist. He does not believe in the "equilibrium" notion which proposes a self-adjusting world.
   As I see it, George Soros is a capitalist to the core. Like John Maynard Keynes before him, I understand him to be a pragmatic capitalist personally engaged in the task of expanding and attempting to move capitalism along positively to a globally successful economic system. He accepts that capitalism has gone global. He doesn't resist globalism but realizes that without restraints and rules and regulations it has a possibility of collapsing upon itself. Soros's solutions are in my opinion the philosophical convolutions of a capitalist investment broker. Sort of a Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - but in international financial investment. It was a real struggle for Marcus Aurelius to maintain his philosophical inclinations and at the same time, authoritatively and often ruthlessly, rule the Roman Empire. It is equally difficult for George Soros to balance his philosophical and moral character with his necessary ruthless and amoral behavior in the gruesome world of international finance. But like Marcus, George gives it an honorable attempt. Many speculative amoral capitalist should be going to prison not to the Riviera. In fact Mr. Soros may be one of them. If he doesn't belong inside a prison, he could certainly be doing some community service. Actually, that is probably exactly what he is attempting with his philanthropic endeavors - as was the case with Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, and many other of our past unscrupulous economic giants.

4 comments about Principles of Project Finance.

1. This book is a great reference .....the tables, the schematic drawings...great tool for finance professionals.



2. The Best book for fundamental theory of project finance, integrated and described overall, a guidance to plan a project finance.



3. Very comprehensive and very clear; after reading this book you know what project finance involves at a good level.



4. Good book with the basic information you need to know about the topic. However, it's expensive.

No comments about Termites in the Trading System: How Preferential Agreements Undermine Free Trade (Council of Foreign Relations).

3 comments about Working World: Careers in International Education, Exchange, and Development.

1. Once I was a lost young soul living in Washington, DC who knew that I wanted to use my college degree. I knew that I wanted to perform some service for others and work somewhere with a global reach. Basically, I wanted to work in a in a non-profit in the international field.
   
   Sounds easy, but where to start? And how to follow through and make my goal a reality? I won't go into the answers for you because this book takes care of all of that for me. I highly recommend that anyone interested in working in the international field (not only non-profits like me) take a good look at this book. It will help guide your way.



2. For any college aged student with aspirations of studying or working abroad, Working World is a must read. I especially found the viewpoint of the young professional helpful and instantly relatable.



3. Reading this book led me to meet incredible people. Going to networking events, voluntering and finding mentors seemed more real. I found some websites and print that helped to figure out what I really want to do in life :)

5 comments about China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World.

1. Great service, the book came in perfect condition and just in time to use for my paper. Thanks :-) !!!



2. China has the world's most rapidly changing large economy, Fishman details how hundreds of millions of peasants have migrated from rural to urban areas to find manufacturing jobs, providing an unlimited, low-wage workforce to power China's economy. "No country has ever before made a better run at climbing every step of economic development all at once," he writes, in China, Inc. China invites large corporations to manufacture their products in their country--simply put, American companies can't compete with wages as low as 25 cents an hour and lack of regulation and oversight, so are forced to move their operations to China or completely change the focus of their business. Once the companies are in China, within a few months are the Chinese are copying and competing against the same companies they attracted.
   
   China is currently the largest maker of toys, clothing, and consumer electronics, and is swiftly moving up the ladder in car production, computer manufacturing, biotechnology, aerospace, telecommunications, and other sectors thanks to low-cost, high-tech factories. China is also where the world is investing. In 2004, for instance, the city of Shanghai alone attracted over $12 billion in direct foreign investment, roughly the same amount as all of Indonesia and Mexico received. In tracing China's ascendancy over the past 30 years (with annual growth of an astonishing 9.5 percent), Fishman presents a flood of facts, figures, forecasts, and anecdotes and examines the implications of this unprecedented growth for China, the U.S., and the rest of the world. A great read and again exposes some of the themes brought brilliantly by Fareed Zakaria's The Post-American World.



3. Fishman's book is aimed at people who have not closely followed China's recent economic miracle. It provides both statistical, eyewitness, and anecdotal information about the size, breadth, and seeming inevitability of the impact of China's booming manufacturing economy in the entire world. These impacts include everyone from rural Chinese who are engaged in an urban migration of unprecedented proportion to third-world businesses whose low wages and efficiency are not enough to stave off aggressive Chinese competitors to multinational business executives who are impelled to quickly get into the China game. The totality of all the facts is a bit overwhelming.
   
   While the waxing of economic might brings with it greater political power, the reader can only wonder how this power will be used. Certainly it will be used to continue to feed the economic machine, but what is left of the almost 60-year-old revolution? It seems it is only a latent Chinese nationalism, and no longer a Communist agenda. The author seems to suggest that America's and the world's greatest anxiety should be over getting out-hustled by Chinese entrepreneurs who at first worked around a government hostile to private enterprise and now work in concert with a government committed to build world-class prosperity by every means of fair and unfair competition. It raises the question of how we expect American companies to compete when they face burdensome regulations, high labor and benefit costs, indifferent employees, and costly consumer lawsuits.
   
   Fishman's work is thought-provoking, but does not go too far at suggesting where current trends may be taking us all. Perhaps no one really knows, since extrapolating trend lines indefinitely always leads to error. While free trade produces efficiencies that lift everyone's standard of living, it also is likely to levelize our incomes. While the Chinese will move to a more prosperous lifestyle in emulation of the West, our lifestyle may change to become more like that of the Chinese. In a few years an updated account by Mr. Fishman would be an interesting new snapshot.



4. Ted C. Fishman, author of China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World, like Ted Plafker and James McGregor, is a journalist who spent valuable time in China and then wrote a very insightful book to share his findings.
   
   Fishman focuses in on China's shift from empire to poverty-stricken amongst third-world countries to an industrial super-power. The author also focuses on the threat to the Western world of China's emergence as a global economic power.
   
   He discusses the challenge of trying to compete with China on pricing because its enormous labor supply allows it to price its products 30% to 50% less than what they could be produced for in the U.S.
   
   Fishman also does a wonderful job describing the entrepreneurial spirit of the Chinese people - a quest for success and quick payoffs and determined pursuit of opportunities.
   
   The book also takes a tough look at such issues as the failure to adequately protect intellectual property, pollution, and limited currency conversion from the Yuan.
   
   China Inc. is multi-dimensional in content but yet very easy to read.
   
   By Gunjan Bagla
   Author of Doing Business in 21st Century India



5. China, Inc. is primarily a compendium of facts, figures, stories, and statements that give the reader a sense of the amazing and overwhelming growth and change that is taking place in China. It is worth absorbing all the information to better understand the economic forces that are changing our lives, and those of people throughout the world, in irreversible ways. And the reader is left with the correct impression that this is only the beginning. What product will NOT be made in China in a few years? In the long run, other than natural resources, what CAN we sell back to China so they don't use all those dollars to simply purchase large pieces of America? Political and economic realities aside, we have to be impressed with the accomplishments of the people of China. Motivated by a desire for a better life the Chinese people are creating a new society at warp speed using an almost-forgotten tool: Hard Work. Members of Western entitlement societies may want to sit up and take notice. The author points out that the jury is still out on how China's capitalist-like economic life ultimately will affect the monolithic political structure of the country. In the competitive international marketplace, there will be winners and losers. For now, the Chinese are on a winning streak, and our response should be more than complaints that they don't always play by the rules. Americans are losing high-paying manufacturing jobs to China, while "saving money" buying more goods imported from China. This book is worth reading.

2 comments about The Credit Crunch: Housing Bubbles,Globalisation and the Worldwide Economic Crisis.

1. Graham Turner rightly blames Alan Greenspan for the current financial mess. More than anything else, Greenspans rate cutting after the bursting of the it bubble, produced the housing and credit bubbles of the US, which now are bursting and unwinding.
   
   However, Turner blames Greenspan for his stance towards international trade for the former Fed chief main fault. According to Turner, the trouble is outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, mainly to East Asia. To compensate the unemployed and impoverished workers in the West, the Fed and other central banks have kept the rates low. Why? To create a housing bubble, from which homeowners could extract equity to spend.
   
   This conspiracy theory just doesnt make sense to me. I am pretty sure Greenspans actions were decisive in making the bubble, but Im equally sure that Greenspan didnt think it was a bubble.
   
   On the bright side, Turners book has some interesting parallels between Japan in the 90s and the US now. This saves him two stars. On the hole, the book is not worth reading.



2. Graham is one of the best applied economists of our generation. He was the first economist to go public about the Japanese banking crisis in the 90's and almost lost his job over it whilst working for a Japanese Securities Company. He correctly anticipated the economic consequences of the reunification of East and West Germany on the German economy. He has a long track record of highly accurate predictions. Note that this book was written substantially prior to the public meltdown of the banking system in October 2008. Graham Turner has identified the causes and anticipated the outcomes of the macro-economic trends of the last 3 decades. He goes further than most economists and addresses the political dynamics that underpin the lack of regulation in the Western banking systems.
   
   For the purposes of full disclosure, I worked professionally with Graham for approximately 6 years in the financial markets. He is a person of great integrity. During that period of time we never once discussed politics. His analysis was always based on a highly objective independent research into the causes of the both macro and micro economic phenomenae. I have not been in touch with Graham for over ten years. It was a complete surprise for me to see Graham on a TV broadcast commenting on the current crisis, when they mentioned this book.
   
   Any person interested in the reality of the current collapse of the banking system, the underlying causes and the likely outcome should read this book. It is the best analysis that I have seen so far, and comes from an Economist who has an exceptional track record.
   
   I cannot recommend this book more strongly.

5 comments about And the Money Kept Rolling In (and Out) Wall Street, the IMF, and the Bankrupting of Argentina.

1. This book examines the economic history of Argentina from the early 20th century to 2004, with an emphasis on the time period from 1989 to 2002. The focus is on the financial sector of the economy, and how actions by the government and international financial institutions first ballooned Argentina's economy over a decade, and then collapsed it in just under 2 years. The point of view is from the top, as the book follows multiple important figures throughout this time, including officials at the IMF, officials in Argentina's government, and financial bigwigs in the US and Europe, both public and private.
   
   The author is quite objective and impartial, and lays blame all around. The IMF gets some blame for not being more forceful in getting Argentina to change its ways. International banks and lenders get blame for contributing willingly to the financial bubble of the country. And the Argentinan government gets blame for refusing to consider floating its currency, devaluing it, or restructuring its debt before it was too late. Unfortunately, it was the citizens, mainly poor and middle class, of Argentina who took it in the pocketbooks. All in all a great book, with equal emphasis on economics, public policy, and historical analysis. I highly recommend this book.



2. This book seeks to understand how and why Argentina sank into financial chaos in the early 2000's. The book looks at the role of the IMF, US treasury, private markets, and the Argentinean government in the overall downfall of the country. The author writes very well about his subject and has a good understanding of international economics. The IMF is not completely vilified as it is in many of the current financial crisis's and although it shares a large amount of the blame the book hands it out equally. There is quite a bit of conspiracy theory and engaging in theories behind the IMF and Wall Street as well as the Bush administration. The author acknowledges in most cases that these are conspiracies but they did not really need to be discussed. The most interesting part of the story has to do with the role that the markets played in Argentina. It is an interesting foreshadow for the future of emerging markets and looking at the self fulfilling prophecies of debt and equity. This book deserves its credit for focusing on real issues without engaging in much ideology or theory. If you want to understand how financial markets are impacting areas overseas this is a great book to start with.



3. This is a short book, easy to read and boy, does it deliver! An account of Argentina during it's economy's heyday and the fall, this book is a fascinating read. It starts off with a brief review of Argentina during the late 1800s and early 1900s but jumps right on the main topic after that. The author explains in extremely lucid prose (no finance knowledge required whatsoever) how the economy was fueled by international funds and how it went bust. Excellent examples, and written like a thriller ... 5 stars all the way!



4. I still haven't received this item. It's been over a month since I ordered it. This is highly inconvenient.



5. a really good book! it is difficult for me to find a book that i really enjoy reading, it needs to be really interesting. usually after a while i can't stand to have the same concepts repeated again and again. well this is a really interesting chronicle of the facts that brought to the crisis in Argentina in 2001. a lot of details on how the story unfolded and what were the responsibilities. very interesting in knowing what could happen these days with the current crisis and what could be the real- scary, consequences in our daily life. really a page turner!!!

No comments about International Economics: Theory and Policy plus MyEconLab plus eText 1-semester Student Access Kit (8th Edition).

5 comments about Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World's Water.

1. There are not many surprises in BLUE GOLD. The primary message of Maud Barlow and Tony Clarke's book echoes the Blue Planet Project, a global campaign to assert the universal right to water, of which Barlow is one of the international leaders. It is the 'battle against the corporate world' - here in particular the 'theft of the world's water'. Of course, it is not so much a 'theft' of water - the world's water supply has been more or less stable since the beginning of time - rather the increasing control by a small group of multinationals over the water's allocation to the peoples of this planet.

   Consequently, the strength of the book is in its coverage of the multi-national corporations, the 'Global Water Lords', and the exposure of their expanding power over water delivery and processing systems around the globe. Initiatives to privatize water delivery at a national level probably started with Napoleon III in France in the middle of the 19th century. At that time, governments were usually in charge of water management. Since then privatization has spread from France to the rest of the world. Today, Barlow and Clarke maintain, some 10 corporate players dominate the global water industry. Two French companies hold the lion's share. Most of these major players are multi-utility providers, which increase their hold on the water resources of countries and regions. Once a government opens a door to privatization of any of the water related services, such as water delivery or waste management, it abandons its right to take back control at any stage even if water user groups complain about bad or no service or the company does not live up to the contract. The rules and regulations of the WTO see to that, the authors claim. Although the percentage of national water systems controlled by multi-national corporations at the present time is small, Barlow and Clarke want to warn of the trend and its implication.

   Examples are described where things have gone wrong: poor quality of project implementation resulted in water pollution and environmental damage, and/or communities and local business lost the water supply altogether. In these instances corporate water suppliers maintained their profit margin through cutting back in previously promised investments and/or increasing consumer rates. The latter was implemented without any regard to the capacity of the poor to pay. As a result, they could be cut off from the service.

   Barlow and Clarke's analysis of the progression of the global water crisis and its origins is less satisfactory. A reader unfamiliar with complex topic of water might find the tour d'horizon overwhelming. The review of the diversity of root causes at local, national and regional levels is superficial and tends to present generalizations where concrete examples would have been more meaningful. The tendency to paint a black and white picture with big business as the main villain sidelines other major reasons for water crises around the world. Agriculture is only mentioned in passing, although some 70% of all water resources are used by agriculture: agribusiness and millions of small-scale and mid-size farmers across industrialized and developing countries. Implementing water conservation methods (through improved irrigation, drought tolerant crops, etc) could lead to substantial water resource savings.

   Recent initiatives against global corporate water control highlighted in the section 'Fightback' are selective, emphasizing well-known international as well as North American cases. The approach is usually confrontational with clearly identified opposing sides. Examples of constructive multi-stakeholder collaboration efforts in many parts of the world which attempt to tackle water scarcity are not given enough recognition.
   The 'Way Forward' spells out fundamental principles and recommends a series of standards that should be included in any agreement of public-private partnerships in the water delivery sphere. These include the involvement of water users in the planning of the systems, local stewardship and watershed protection, strengthen water preservation and reclaiming of polluted water systems. Underlying all these standards is the recognition of water as an essential part of life and the right of all beings to water whatever their social or economic status. A call for capacity building and education of consumers, communities, government officials and private sector actors at all levels should be added.

   BLUE GOLD is an easy read, maybe for some too easy considering the seriousness of the topic. It covers very important ground, often in an overview fashion that tends to generalize and take a black and white stand. Although it is obvious that the authors did comprehensive research in preparation of the book, it shows a certain lack of thoroughness by not providing citation references (footnotes), adequate source listings and a bibliography or reading list.




2. Blue Gold's a book to let you know more about where your water in America is going. Can we stop this theft of our most valuable resource. A study reports huge corporations seeking control of the world's water supply. These involve giant European corporations in collaboration with the World Bank. Together increasingly taking control of public water supplies with tragic results. a report 'The Water Barons' says that by 2002 private water companies were operating in 56 countries and 2 territories. This rose from a dozen in 1990. Companies that are expanding control are Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux and Vivendi Environment of France, Thomas Water by RWEAG of Germany, Suar of France and United Utilities of England working with Bechtel Co. of the United States. All of these have worked closely with the World Bank. They lobby aggressively for legislation and trade laws to require cities to privatize their water. A recent update is that these companies continue in their acquisition to control water companies in the Northeastern U.S. region.
   

   
   In major cities around the world, they persuade governments to sign long-term contracts with major private water companies. The concern, is that a handful of private companies could soon control a tremendous bulk of the world's most vital resource. Are water barons providing a good product? One certain city in the U.S. cancelled it's water contract because of complaints of poor service and unsanitary water conditions. In other countries and poorer countries were unable to pay huge water bills were forced to drink from disease-ridden lakes and streams resulting the spread of deadly epidemic outbreaks such as chlorea. In regions of the U.S. where ground water isn't enough to support domestic and fire protection water needs. It's necessary to develop alternative sources of water. The water crisis is worldwide. Many countries are facing a severe shortage. Some will run out of water by the year 2011. Can we find alternative ways to conserve our greatest resource. And, in the meantime can we stop the railroading of public water to greedy giant corporate barons. This book is a eye-opener. Another good reading on this subject is, 'Cadillac Desert.'




3. This was a great book that highlights the current threats to our global water supply. This book was particularly thorough in the analysis of the privatization of water resources. It explains the international institutions that prop up global water companies. I was very impressed with the extensive research that the authors must have put into this book - they used many examples of water issues from around the world. This book is a great introductory book for someone interested in becoming more knowledgable in water issues. It is also a great book for the general public to help them to understand more about a resource they probably take for granted. Don't buy bottled water! It is environmentally wasteful of resources and economically unjustifiable. It contributes funds to private companies and helps to support global water corporations!



4. This was, without question, one of the most depressing and boring books that I have ever read. I made the mistake of choosing this book for an analytical book report, and found it to be the most depressing choice I could have made. I wouldn't even reccommend this book to my worst enemy.



5. This excellent book makes the case for public ownership and control over our water services.
   In the past ten years, three giant global corporations, France's Suez and Vivendi Environnement, and Thames, have seized control over the water supplied to almost 300 million people in every continent. Vivendi increased its water revenue from $5 billion in 1990 to over $12 billion by 2002, RWE from $25 million in 1990 to $2.5 billion in 2002.
   These companies claim to be `passionate, caring and reliable', yet they push for higher rate increases, frequently fail to meet their commitments and abandon a waterworks if they are not making enough money. As Suez's Chief Executive Officer said, "Water is an efficient product. It is a product which normally would be free, and our job is to sell it." In France, charges for privatised water services are 13% higher than for public services.
   For two months in 1998, after privatisation, more than three million residents of Sydney were forced to boil their drinking water to kill parasites. Fifteen months after the city of Adelaide signed a contract turning over its waterworks to Thames Water and Vivendi, the city was engulfed in a powerful sewage smell, `the big pong'.
   New Jersey, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Manila and Jakarta have all experienced problems after privatisation. In 1996 Hamilton in Canada experienced its worst-ever sewage spill, when 48 million gallons of untreated human waste, heavy metals and chemicals flooded into Lake Ontario. Atlanta, Georgia, gave control over its water to Suez five years ago, and quality and service dropped. The city returned control to the public utility.
   In Cochabamba, Bolivia, after Aguas del Tunari, a Bechtel subsidiary, took control of the city's waterworks in 1999, it raised water bills 100%. The contract allowed the company to close down people's private wells unless they paid Aguas del Tunari for the water. Union leader Oscar Olivera said, "They wanted to privatise the rain." The city's people organised a referendum. Most voted to end the contract and forced Bechtel out of the country. Similarly, in 2000 the people of Grenoble succeeded in returning their water and sewage system to public control.
   In Iraq, the US state put Bechtel in charge of rebuilding the water and sewage systems. But, as the U.S. Agency for International Development reported, "Baghdad's three sewage treatment plants, which together comprise three-quarters of the nation's sewage treatment capacity, are inoperable, allowing the waste from 3.8 million people to flow untreated directly into the Tigris River." A UN survey in May 2004 found that 80% of families living in rural areas had no safe water. Only 64 of 249 planned water projects have been completed.
   In 1999, South Africa initiated five water privatisation programs, aiming to make people pay the full cost of having running water in their homes. As Nelson Mandela had said, "Privatisation is the fundamental policy of our government. Call me a Thatcherite, if you will." Consequently, ten million South Africans had their water cut off for various periods, forcing people to get water from polluted rivers and lakes, leading to South Africa's worst outbreak of cholera. More than 140,000 people were infected and 265 died.
   The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) says that 98% of whites, but only 27% of blacks, had access to clean water in their homes in March 2001. A smaller proportion of the population has access to water than in 1994. In rural areas, only 2% of blacks had indoor plumbing. Two million people have been evicted for not paying utility bills. Many poor families pay 30% of their income for water. Despite South Africa's rating by the United Nations Development Index as a middle-to-upper-income country, one child in 22 dies before reaching the age of one, often from diarrhoea caused by poor water. The 13% white minority is 18th on the Human Development Index, equal to New Zealand. The black majority is 118th, in line with Bolivia. Of all the countries in the world, only Guatemala has a wider gap between rich and poor.
   In 2004, the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation concluded its study of privatisations in sub-Saharan Africa, "profit-maximizing behaviour has led privatised companies to keep investments below the necessary levels, with the result that rural communities and the urban poor were further marginalised."
   The European Commission has been driving privatisation of all our utilities, and its new EU-wide water regulations should mean fat new contracts for the water giants. Since 1998, Vivendi and Suez, backed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, have secured water concessions in at least 23 major cities and districts in Eastern Europe.
   The big three are also moving into the USA, buying its largest private water utility companies. They have increased their lobbying and federal election campaign spending. In Washington, they have already secured beneficial tax law changes and are now trying to persuade Congress to pass laws that would force cash-strapped municipal governments to privatise their waterworks in exchange for federal grants and loans.
   Water, like air, is a necessity of human life. It must not be treated as what Fortune magazine calls, "One of the world's great business opportunities. It promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th: a precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations." By 2002, the six most globally active water companies ran drinking water distribution networks in at least 56 countries, up from 12 in 1990. Yet private companies still run only about 5% of the world's waterworks.
   In 1989, Blair wrote, "The major utilities - gas, water, electricity and the oil, postal and telecommunications networks - are uniquely important to the national economy. Their operations underpin the rest of industry. We believe that the great utilities must be treated as public services and should be owned by the public - by the community as a whole."
   Public utilities offer better, cheaper and fairer water services than private firms. Countries need to keep water in public hands, under democratic control.