5 comments about Toward a North American Community: Lessons from the Old World for the New.

1. It may be the biggest story of the 21st century, but few press outlets are telling it. In fact, until very recently, few in the U.S. were aware of the plans and even fewer denouncing what appears to be the implementation of an effort some have characterized as "NAFTA on steroids."
   
   All American people should be very concerned at the prospect of a North American Union - and the end of hope for the free country our Founding Fathers laid before us. We must resist to the bitter end of need be and fight the push bu multinational corporations and elite bankers' push for a new world order combining elements of fascism/corporatism and and end-run around our sovereignty by unsurping the powers of Congress and the American Legal System.
   
   Is President Bush's reluctance to control the border and enforce laws requiring deportation of foreigners who enter the country illegally part of a master plan to all but eliminate borders between the U.S., Canada and Mexico? You bet.
   
   If President Bush's agenda is to establish a new North American union government to supersede the sovereignty of the United States, then the president has an obligation to tell this to the American people directly. The American public has a right to know.
   
   Phyllis Schlafly, the woman best known for nearly single-handedly leading the opposition that killed the Equal Rights Amendment, sees a sinister and sweeping agenda behind the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.
   
   "Is the real push behind guest-worker proposals the Bush goal to expand NAFTA into the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, which he signed at Waco, Texas, last year and reaffirmed at Cancun, Mexico, this year?" she asks. "Bush is a globalist at heart and wants to carry out his father's oft-repeated ambition of a 'new world order.'"
   
   She accuses the president and others behind the effort of wanting to obliterate U.S. borders in an effort to increase the Mexican population transfer and lower wages for the benefit of U.S. corporate interests.
   
   America: From Freedom To Fascism. (Unless we oppose it by any means necessary).



2. I cannot believe what this guy is proposing!! I am going to pass this around as further ammunition that the federal government is not a government for, of, and by the People. The New American Century has only just begun.
   
   But opposition is mounting. Perhaps the most blistering criticism has come from Lou Dobbs of CNN - a frequent critic of Bush's immigration policies.
   
   "A regional prosperity and security program?" he asked rhetorically in a recent cablecast. "This is absolute ignorance. And the fact that we are -- we reported this, we should point out, when it was signed. But, as we watch this thing progress, these working groups are continuing. They're intensifying. What in the world are these people thinking about? You know, I was asked the other day about whether or not I really thought the American people had the stomach to stand up and stop this nonsense, this direction from a group of elites, an absolute contravention of our law, of our Constitution, every national value. And I hope, I pray that I'm right when I said yes. But this is -- I mean, this is beyond belief."
   
   AMEN.
   
   Recently, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review questioned the unchallenged momentum toward merger.
   
   "Will Americans trade their dead presidents for Ameros?" the newspaper asked in an editorial last month.
   
   The paper chided efforts at replacing the U.S. and Canadian dollars and Mexican peso with "the amero" - a knockoff of the euro - along with the building of "a looming NAFTA-like superstate." Citing the meeting between the three national leaders at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, in March 2005, the editorial warned: "Canadians, Mexicans and Americans who value the sovereignty of their respective countries should be concerned."
   
   The Tribune Review editorial saw synergy between the plans of the national leaders and the ambitious agenda of the Council on Foreign Relations - seen by many as a kind of secretive, shadow government of the elite. The CFR issued a bold report in the spring of 2005, shortly after the joint announcements in Waco by Bush and his counterparts.
   
   "The Council on Foreign Relations published a report in May -- "Building a North American Community" -- calling for, among other things, redefining the borders of the three nations, creating a super-regional governance board and the North American Paramilitary Group to ensure that Congress does not interfere with whatever the trilateral union feels like doing," said the paper. "Must the Bush administration happily sacrifice every shred of American sovereignty for the greater good of the New World Order?"
   
   In fact, the CFR report is a five-year plan for the "establishment by 2010 of a North American economic and security community" with a common "outer security perimeter."
   
   Some see it as the blueprint for merger of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It calls for "a common economic space ... for all people in the region, a space in which trade, capital and people flow freely."
   
   The CFR's strategy calls specifically for "a more open border for the movement of goods and people." It calls for laying "the groundwork for the freer flow of people within North America." It calls for efforts to "harmonize visa and asylum regulations." It calls for efforts to "harmonize entry screening."
   
   In "Building a North American Community," the report states that Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin "committed their governments" to this goal March 23, 2005, at that meeting in Waco, Texas.
   
   Alan Burkhart, who describes himself as a free-lance political writer, cross-country trucker "and proud citizen of one of the reddest of the Red States - Mississippi," is another critic seething over these plans that seem to have a life of their own - with little or no real public debate.
   
   "As time passes, American corporations will find it unnecessary to move their facilities out of the country," writes Burkhart. "Our already stagnant wages will be just as low as those of Mexico. The cultures of three great nations will be diluted. Our currency will be replaced with the 'Amero.' And, we'll be one giant step closer to the U.N.'s perverse dream of a one-world government."
   
   Pastor also was vice chairman of the May 2005 Council on Foreign Relations task force entitled "Building a North American Community" that presents itself as a blueprint for using bureaucratic action within the executive branches of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada to transform the current trilateral Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America into a North American union regional government.
   
   THATS RIGHT PEOPLE.. THE GOVERNMENT IS PLANNING THIS AND ISN'T EVEN TELLING US ABOUT IT. APPARENTLY WE ARE NOT WORTH NOTIFYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



3. This man is proposing the end of America and the end of our Constitution...this is NOT a good idea. The bush administration has already stripped the constitution to its bones. WHat we need is the reinstate the constitution NOT abolish it by forming a new North American constitution as is being done in the European Union. VOTE RON PAUL.



4. Most of the comments are coming from people that probably never been out of the US, please go to Europe and you will see whats the European Union, read a little bit about it and you will understand that none of the countries are losing their constitutions or their freedoms. Some of the comment are talking about destroying the US?? thats incredible such an ignorance, American jobs will grow and Mexicans will remain in their country, as already is happening in European Union, a Mexican family not to come to the US needs 300 dollars a month, but they can not even make that, lets develop Mexico and they will not come, they will be richer and they will buy more from US and Canada, guys don't be scare, Loud Dobbs is absolutely wrong and his program just make profits with your fear, wake up people. The North American Union Will make the US leader as stronger and it has never been in its history.
   Canada and the US can transform The whole Americas in 20 years as the European Union is doing it in Southern and Eastern Europe.
   Mexico is in a better shape that Spain, Ireland Greece Poland were when they joined the European Union, and look at now, Ireland has highest standard of living than the US, Spain is a first world country now, and just 1.5 million Polish left Poland since it joined the EU, mean while 0.5 million Mexicans have to cross illegally the border cause the US and Canada have a half as NAFTA, a Free trade that is nothing comparing with the European Union. PLEASE PEOPLE READ ABOUT EUROPEAN UNION [...] , and you will see that the US media is just about fear fear fear, and the worse is that you buy the baby food that they give you.



5. Robert Pastor should be hung for treason. He is determined to undermine the sovereignty of the United States of America. Do not purchase his books.

2 comments about Ever Closer Union: An Introduction To European Integration.

1. I knew virtually nothing about the Europena Union before reading this book, so I don't know how valuable it would be for an experienced EU scholar. However, for someone like myself it covers all the basics (what istitutions are involved?) and a good history from conception to today. The reading is a little dry, mostly due to the number of details involved, but not difficult to read. It makes a good starting point for those wishing to familiarize themselves with the the general history of European integration before going on to further study.



2. The book gives a clear clue of the integration of the EU through the past fifty years. It reviews the general background behind every integration, which is much helpful to particularly law students.
   
   In a word, it is a good stuff to read before we learn EU law.

4 comments about Confesiones de un Gangster Economico / Confessions of an Economic Hit Man: La Cara Oculta del Imperialismo Americano / The Hidden Face of the American Imperialism.

1. Este libro presenta las ayudas internacionales macoeconomicas de un punto de vista no muy comun. Pero que las ideas presentadas en este tomo son de mucho interes. Los medios de noticias presenta acontecimientos de una forma muy rapida e incimita. Este libro da muchas cosas a la luz del dia para el que no esta tan envolucrado en estes operaciones. Indica muchas conexciones subtiles y otros no tan subtiles. Creo que cada persona que este interesado en asuntos extranjeros debe de leer este tomo.



2. It was important to have a spanish version of this book, by John Perkins, because it sheds light on so much that has happened in Latin America. Through the experience of one man, we read how there can be vast economic
   consequences for many.



3. Esta es una gran revelacion de los hechos que marcaron a America Latina desde el "boom" petrolero que la llevaron a convertirse en una victima del Imperialismo Americano -contada por un hombre que lo vivio personalmente-



4. uno libro de lo mejor! es todo lo que puedo decir, tan interesante que en dos dias lo habia terminado, nos ayuda un poco a ver realmente como funciona el imperialismo, y siendo de una historia de una persona que lo vivio pues simplemente confirma lo que siempre eh pensado en que se basaba la "grandeza" de este pais,
   como persona que se relaciona con una de las historias, pues puedo decir que aqui se explica porque el resentimiento mundial contra USA, debido a que han creado un endeudamiento adrede a paises que los han llevado a la pobreza y que han creado que veamos lo que en estos dias se ve!!
   lo recomiendo de verdad, sobretodo para que muchos hagan conciencia, y a otros para que vean la realidad.

2 comments about Workforce 2020 : Work and Workers in the 21st Century.

1. This book is a masterpiece of research. So much is said very succinctly. It is vast in scope, breath and depth yet very understandable. Everything is supported by research. Numerous charts are extremely well done, informative and simple to understand. If you want to plan your career or help guide someone elses future, you must read this book. It has vital information about job trends, types of jobs, and what they pay. You will not be sorry about reading this book.



2. This book describes the future workforce to policy makers. It gives individuals making career decisions some objective, long-range data about the future. Projections include fastest-growing occupations, ethnic and age mix of the workforce, needs of employers, and income to be expected.

   As reviewed in Annotated Bibliography of Learning A Living, A Guide to Planning Your Career and Finding A Job for People with Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Dyslexia by Dale S. Brown

5 comments about International Financial Management (with World Map).

1. I bought this book to use in an undergraduate business class (International Finance)
   
   Two of my teachers have commented on the fact that it is primarily used for graduate courses, however the concepts are explained clearly enough for a undergraduate to understand.



2. Unless you have prior knowledge of currency trading or the international finance world you won't understand a damn thing after the 5th or 6th chapter. The author goes in depth about these complex theories and mathematical equations that can be exceptionally difficult to follow ESPECIALLY if you are NEW to the subject.
   
   This book is terrible period, I would recommend if you take International Finance (class), to buy a book (dummies guide er something) to go along with this to make it a little easier to understand. I don't know who this guy is trying to impress but I was throughly pissed off that I paid over a hundred bucks for this USELESS book. The author teaches it way over everybody's head.....



3. The book arrived on time and in good condition. I am very happy with the transaction.



4. This was a great buy! I saved so much money buying the book from this site and the book was in perfect condition. From now on when I buy my university textbooks I will make sure to go to this site before I bother buying it directly from the school.
   I am so happy we have Amazon as another tool available to purchase items at affordable prices. Thank You!



5. I was very please with the condition and price of the book. Received in less than a week too.

1 comments about New Frontiers in Free Trade: Globalization's Future and Asia's Rising Role.

1. With nearly half the world's population, it's no surprise Asia is a massive juggernaut in today's global economy. "New Frontiers in Free Trade: Globalization's Future and Asia's Rising Role" is a look at globalization and its true effect on the world's economy as a whole. Telling how Asia is slowly becoming the leading economic power in the world, a title once held by North America and Europe, Sally also discusses how the World Trade Organization has succeeded and failed in its job, and the effects of such. "New Frontiers in Free Trade" is a must for a solid understanding of today's world economy.

5 comments about The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy..

1. This book does a good job of criticizing many Anglo-centric explanations of why Europeans industrialized first by providing detailed evidence that the area near the Yangzi river delta was mostly as advanced as England when England started the industrial revolution.
   It does a less convincing job of arguing that coal and new world land were the main reasons for England's success. I'm tempted to believe that American sugar provided desperately needed calories to break out of a Malthusian trap, but the evidence doesn't show that became significant until the industrial revolution had already started.
   Conveniently located coal undoubtedly gave England a boost, but not a big enough boost that there is a practical way to decide it was more important than the numerous cultural differences which might have given England the edge it needed.
   The book makes a serious effort to dismiss those cultural explanations, but is not thorough enough. In particular, I'm disappointed with the cryptic way that it dismisses the relevance of the ideas in Helmut Schoeck's book Envy.
   The style is often deadening, with lengthy descriptions of details whose relevance is unobvious.



2. In "The Great Divergence", Kenneth Pomeranz presents an exhaustive investigation of the minutest differences and similarities in development of China and Western Europe. His claim, and stated objective, is to show that Europe's emergence as a preeminent power was the result of privileged access to overseas colonies, exploitation of non-Europeans, and a fortunate `geographic accident' of the location of coal in England. However, considering China's significant, and much earlier, developments in science, technology, and shipping, not to mention their huge deposits of coal, and its use some 600 years before the Europeans to make iron, it's difficult to understand Pomeranz's rationalization of those claims and ultimately the whole point of his book.
   
   His specialty and interests clearly lie in China. In this book he attempts to shed a somewhat biased benevolent light on China by explaining the violent circumstances that led to the industrial revolution in Europe, and why it didn't happen in China. He presents a comparative analysis in such close, tortuous, detail that he becomes myopic in drawing his conclusions. His joy and skill clearly lie in analysis, rather than synthesis, and in the process, and among the ensuing debris, he loses a view of the whole as processes of nation building rather than competing sets of historical data. The outcome notwithstanding, he consistently paints each step in the process of growth in Europe and its colonies as a violent and ugly stepsister to a more sophisticated, benign version taking place in China. All of which may be true, but he discounts the effects of institutions, capital markets, capital accumulation, and regulatory competition in Europe as having marginal effect on the difference in outcome between the two areas because in his opinion what was happening in Europe was so similar to what was going on in China. He states that "European science, technology, and philosophical inclinations alone do not seem an adequate explanation, and alleged differences in economic institutions seem largely irrelevant".
   
   Regulatory competition in Europe, for Pomeranz, equates to military competition. Although it could be argued from a more objective perspective that military research and development regularly spins off technological advances applicable in commercial areas, Pomeranz claims that in Europe `the net effect of warfare on technological innovation is likely to have been negative'. Clearly not true, but his argument about it possibly killing off other inventors was kind of funny. The development of institutions and property rights arising from this competition for him equals only the purchases of position, interference of guild control, and the granting monopoly privileges. He claims that all served to keep prices high, limit the extent of markets, and restrict output. The most positive function of `military' competition seen by Pomeranz is in the overseas projection of power. This lies in contrast to his claim that China was engaged in competitive trade with low margins, unprivileged by the state, that couldn't generate enough profits to finance a European style military capitalism. Here he ignores the Chinese obsession with intensive land use to feed its armies. The vast differences between the European states and the diversity of politics, social constructs, and institutions therein will show that had any single one of them been dominant the story of Europe, and the world, would have been very much different. Had the Chinese the benefit of this fracture, the voyages of Zheng He would have been continued, but when he died, the Confucians were regaining power and There was no political or spiritual will to continue. They felt that other nations had nothing to offer the already prosperous Chinese and they had no need to conquer their souls. Their voyages were ended, their fleets were dismantled and they turned inward. It became a crime to set sail from China in a multi-masted ship. This was their choice. One nation, one choice. Had there been competition among states in China, someone, somewhere would have chosen to continue.
   
   As far as ethical systems and ideology are concerned, Pomeranz doesn't consider the consequences of differing motivation but only writes that philosophical inclinations do not seem an adequate explanation of divergent paths. Lost in analysis of the details of the similarities, here he misses the significance of the differences. Arguing that they were too small to create the large disparities in outcomes, he fails to ask whether those differences were what led to different choices. The differences in the ethical systems of Christian Western Europe and Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist China are enormous. The differences in the choices made within the context of those systems, especially within the protestant reformation and the creation of the Church of England, are significant. Pomeranz claims that ideology, or `philosophical inclinations', can't explain the different outcomes in the fortunes of China and Europe, but it was ideology and philosophy that led to the divergence in their development paths. Western Europe's history of fighting Muslims to keep them at bay and out of Europe established their crusading zeal to protect themselves by trying to convert everyone they could find. They embodied this fear and hegemonic drive and made Christian solipsism an imperative part of their culture. Vasco Da Gama said that the objectives of his voyages were "Christians and Spices". This dogmatic drive of the Europeans and their churches' implicit consent of their conquests and colonialism lent a higher power to their expansion. The Chinese chose not to continue their voyages. The Europeans were on a mission from God.
   
   In this book, great tenaciousness in presenting historical data meets an astounding lack of insight into behavior and economics, and leaves the reader (at least me anyway) wondering why it was written in the first place.



3. Pomeranz advances the thesis that Europe's rise to world power (instead of a potentially similar but not historically realized rise by China, Japan, or India) was not caused by any internal social advantage possessed by western Europe-at least not principally caused. Pomeranz uses extensive research to demonstrate that western Europe, China, and Japan were not fundamentally different societies at the beginning of the modern era. The author maintains that Europe had the good fortune of having the land and mineral resources of the New World available at the right time, along with the conveniently-located coal resources of England; and it is this collection of fortuitous advantages that enabled Europe to propel itself into industrial revolution and world power.
   
   The premise of the book is promising. The meat of the book can be a bit difficult to chew. The author compares the human, energy, land, and other resources of Europe and China in great detail to make his case. The sheer volume of facts and figures can make the going slow. Still, it's worth reading all of what the author has to say.
   
   Overall, the argument is compelling. All three societies (western Europe, China, and Japan) were faced with populations that had more-or-less come in line with the carrying capacities of their lands based on the level of technology of the day. Additional agricultural productivity could only have come with additional inputs of labor into the existing stock of land. This is essentially what happened in China. Western Europe, led by England, went the way of labor-saving techniques and technologies that would not have been practicable without access to the additional agricultural potential and mineral wealth of the New World. Other factors, such as financial institutions and internal competition fade in importance before the simple math of carrying capacity.
   
   The Great Divergence is quality reading. One does not have to agree with everything contained in the book to absorb the basic point: Europe got lucky. Be prepared to wade through an appropriately generous supply of facts and figures to back Pomeranz's claim.



4. The strengths: Very provocative, aiming straight at conventional wisdom, be it euro-centric or world-system ones. Solid research behind the comparative study of Europe, China, and to a lesser extend, Japan. Pomeranz gives out hard evidence in life-expectacy, birth rates, market condition, ecological stress etc., hightlighting striking similarites between these socities in the 18th century.
   
   Some readers may have problem with his conclusion that industrialization went ahead only because Europe got lucky in the convenient location of coal and the readily available resourses of the new world. However, just because these are paramount factors does not mean that they are all it needed. Put another way, had China got the same good fortune, it does not necessarily follow that China would industrilize, nor has Pomeranz argued this way.
   
   Weaknesses: The writing is BAD, very convoluted. However, the most important failure is that Pomeranz treats these societies as though they were static. He failed to take into consideration their difference in the RATE of change. The fact that Europe was playing a catch up to Asia through-out the middle ages, and achieved par in pre-modern time, had to imply a quicker pulse. Europe's gradual opening of the mind (reformation ,renaissance), was roughly concurrent with China's gradual closing (the advent of neo-confucianism, ossification of the civil examination system). It's hard to believe that this change of fortune had no long-lasting impact on the underlying dynamics of the societes. Culture does matter, it's just been given a bad name by the likes of Huntington and Landes:)



5. Kenneth Pomeranz's The Great Divergence reinforces some arguments of Frank's ReOrient and reformulates some others. Like Frank, Pomeranz argues that European economy was not unusually different from or superior to the economies of China and Japan until the 19th century. Like Frank, Pomeranz also argues that the critical factors that made possible the rise of Europe were external rather than internal factors. However, unlike Frank who explained the rise of the West in the 19th century through "the fall of Asia" in the previous century, Pomeranz attributes the nineteenth-century divergence between the European economy and the Asian economies to Europe's coal and New World's land that jointly relived the ecological constraints of the nineteenth-century Europeans.
   
   Explaining Pre-Divergence Similarities:
   
   Pomeranz starts his book with comparisons of European and Asian economies in 16th through 18th centuries. A difference in Pomeranz's approach is that he prefers to compare "regions" rather than countries. He argues that such places as Yangzi Delta, The Kanto plain, Britain, the Netherlands, and Gujarat, shared some crucial features with each other, which they did not share with the rest of the world or subcontinent around them. Thus, he prefers to compare these special areas directly rather than within the larger "arbitrary" continental units (p. 8).
   
   Pomeranz first demonstrates that there were no significant differences between England, China, and Japan in terms of average standards of life. Average life expectancy and calorie intake were at comparable levels in all three countries. In the same vein, the European had no superiority to Asians with respect to technology and mining. China was ahead of Europe in physical science, mathematics, and maternal and infant health. Europe's irrigation technology also lagged behind China, India, and Japan. Even as late as first half of the 19th century, Indian iron was reported to be superior to English iron (pp. 44-6). If Europe had any real technological edge in the 18th century, it was not in tools or machines, but in "instruments" such as clocks, watches, telescopes, and eyeglasses (p. 67).
   
   Pomeranz then tries to show that differences in terms of labor and land markets in Europe and China in 16th through 18th centuries were significant and did not always favor Europe so that they would be a viable explanation for the later divergence. Indeed, overall China was closer to market economy than was most of Europe, including most of "western" Europe. Much of Western Europe's farmland was harder to buy and sell than that of China. In Yangzi Valley, for example, close to half of land was rented (p. 72-3). This was also similar in labor market. Labor was not less free in China than in Europe (pp. 80-1). Thus, Pomeranz concludes that Europe's factor markets for land and labor "seem no closer to Smithian ideas of freedom and efficiency than do those of China, and perhaps a good deal less so," (p. 107).
   
   Part II of The Great Divergence deals with the less-analyzed issue of consumption. Pomeranz takes issue with Sombart and some others' argument that Europe a produced a unique "consumer society" that provided a demand base for industrial revolution. Pomeranz challenges the "consumer society" argument on two grounds. On the one side, he demonstrates that the rise in the European consumption of such luxury goods as tea, sugar, and tobacco was very incremental until the 19th century. He therefore asserts that imagining an irreversible "birth of a consumer society" before 1850 may be seriously misleading (p. 119). On the other side, he demonstrates that consumption of these everyday luxury goods were at comparable levels in China and Japan. The consumption of durable luxuries (furniture, pictures, china, books, jewelry, etc.) was not significantly different in these three regions either (pp. 130-1). Thus, Europe did not have any type of "consumer society" advantage vis-à-vis China and Japan that would give her a head start in the competition to rise. I should also note that European figures as to consumption of luxury goods refute the arguments on "European" miracle as well. Pomeranz demonstrates that, if anything, it was a British, and to lesser extent Dutch, revolution and not a European one until 1850 (pp. 119).
   
   To sum up the first part, Pomeranz demonstrates that Europe was not exceptionally different from China or Japan in terms of production, market regulation, or the consumption of luxury goods. Given this similarity of internal factors, Pomeranz turns to external linkages to explain the nineteenth-century divergence.
   
   Explaining the Divergence:
   
   A weakness in Andre Gunder Frank's book was that he could not adequately account for the "rise of the West" in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Frank's argument was that Asian economies were altogether facing a Kondratieff B-cycle in the first half of the 18th century and this allowed Europe to finally outdo the Asians. He therefore asserts that "the fall of Asia" preceded European political and military intervention in Asian nations (ReOrient, pp. 266-8). Pomeranz finds this argument impressionistic and discards it on the grounds that population growth and ecological effects that were argued to make China "fall" were present in Europe as well. Thus, he asserts, "if Europe was not yet in crisis, then in all likelihood China was not either," (p. 12).
   
   Pomeranz argues that the primary problem that both European and Asian nations were facing by 18th century were the ecological constraints that resulted from increasing population and scarce land. Therefore, the real and long-lasting solution would necessitate land-saving innovations rather than labor-saving ones.
   As such, industrial revolution was a cause of later European rise than result of previous European exceptionality.
   
   A Conclusion:
   When compared with Frank's ReOrient, Pomeranz's The Great Divergence is more robust and convincing in two respects. First, it does not have a "Sinocentrism" bias and argues that the pre-1800 world was "a polycentric world with no dominant center," (p. 4). Second, it tries to explain the rise of Europe in the 19th century with substantive factors rather than mysterious Kondratieff cycles. In that respect, The Great Divergence is a nice remedy to the gaps and problems in ReOrient. However, I think that Pomeranz's downplaying the importance of profits that European made through colonialism is misleading. In evaluating the role of colonial profit-extraction in Europe's rise, one should take into account its impact on the continuation and spread of industrial revolution as well as on industrial revolution itself. Even if the spark of the industrial revolution could be lighted without the profits made in the New World, the fire of industrial revolution would not have survived a couple decades if it were not for the colonial resources and markets.

5 comments about The Other Path: The Economic Answer to Terrorism.

1. In many ways, I am disappointed that I read this book after reading de Soto's other book, "The Mystery Of Capital". Both this and his other book largely contain the same ideas, but "The Other Path" focuses more intently on de Soto's experiences in Peru rather attempting to answer a very broad question. Because "The Other Path" focuses on squarely on Peru, it can more completely chronicle how his ideas have been used to better the lot of poor Peruvians, and have contributed to the defeat of Sendero Luminoso.

   I would have preferred it if the book did not purport to be a general answer to terrorism. While his ideas are very applicable with respect to Maoist revolutionaries attempting to (in theory) uplift the poor, they seem less relevant to "non-economic" terrorists, such as certain rich scions of Saudi families that fly airplanes into buildings, for example. But that is a minor point.




2. I agree that this book would have been more interesting if read before Mystery, but now the mystery is gone.

   This is good stuff just the same.

   Lots of good points that are useful in a classroom.




3. The original version of this book was written in the mid-80's to offer the people and government of Peru specific suggestions to combat Sendero Luminoso by making it possible for ordinary people to have a productive and meaningful participation in the nation's economy. This new printing includes a preface written in 2002 that provides the context and history for non-Peruvian readers and gives some analysis of the successes of the suggested reforms under the Fujimori government.

   The first part of the book is a detailed analysis of three sectors of the Peruvian economy: housing, transport, and trade (small manufacturing and retail primarily). In each of these, De Soto demonstrates how the barriers raised by regulation and legal process from both right and left wing governments in Peru have forced the majority of persons participating to do so in informal/illegal ways. The result is that formal activity bears the brunt of taxation and informals have little protection in terms of property rights, contractual instruments, and so on. The net result is that everyone is impoverished. This section of the book can be tough reading because of the amount of detail, but its necessary in order to understand the importance of the second half.

   The second half suggests that the Peruvian situation is really the reemergence of mercantilism, not a market economy. De Soto then provides some suggestions to peacefully transitiont to a market economy, and convincing warnings that failure to do so will almost certainly result in a violent transition.

   The points that De Soto makes are increasingly significant to non-Peruvians as societies like America have increasingly centralised economies. Ironically, the cover includes blurbs from both Presidents Bush and Clinton. One suspects that netiher of them actually read the book.




4. I love the little jibe provided within the title of Hernando de Soto's "The Other Path." It's a poke at "The Shining Path" (Sendero Luminoso), the Maoist Peruvian terrorist organization that wreaked havoc on de Soto's homeland beginning in 1980. de Soto's attempt in this book is to show that the more effective struggle is to make capitalism more efficient. To those who know de Soto's work, the solutions are well known: build a system of laws that allow one's residents to buy, sell and value property rights; and reduce the complexities and banalities of starting a business.
   
   If you've read de Soto's master work "The Mystery of Capitalism," then there is no new news here. In fact, "The Other Path" will look out-of-date with its yellowing statistics. So why the five stars? As a testament to de Soto's bravery. Think about the guts it took for him to research and publish this book in Peru during the tumultuous and frightening period there. What a statement.



5. Hernando De Soto's "The Other Path" is a much drier read than its follow up "The Mystery of Capital." I'm glad I read TMC first - it gave a global economic perspective that I could relate to and which interested me in reading more of the author's work. The Other Path is very detailed in its portrayal of Peruvian politics, the intricacies of laws governing property rights and transactions, and the evolution of businesses from extralegal to legal operations. While this very book was the tool used by the Peruvian government to successfully solve its terrorism problem in the 1980s, by legalizing the economic operations of the majority of its marginalized citizens, and while its message and methods are even more relevant in the current climate of global terrorism, the step-by-step detail makes it a tedious read and I couldn't get all the way through. I will, at some point, try again, but I'm glad I read The Mystery of Capital first.

5 comments about Redefining Global Strategy: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter.

1. For those readers who are not familiar with Prof. Ghemawat works but are involved in business operation expansion via internationalization, ABSOLUTELY this is the right book for you. I go so far that recommend holding your choice of expansion until you and your management team finish reading this book.
   
   The whole content of the book is so well bind together and is so coherent that you have to just follow the steps and make a map of your plan with recommended below tools:
   1. AAA Triangle ( Adaptation, Aggregation, and Arbitrage ): These describe what right mode of your expansion is; depend on type of your business and nature of competitors and market conditions.
   2. CAGE ( Culture, Administration or politics, Geography, Economics) tool to analyze either the nature of countries you would like to enter or nature of industries in the country that you would like to enter.
   3. Finally make a map of your plan for decision making by ranking your choices through using "ADDING ( Add volume or growth, Decrease costs, Differentiation, improving industry attractiveness, Normalizing risk and Generate knowledge) value score. This tool will clarify for you and your organization: what is/are the drivers for your company to expand.
   
   Having been involved in B2B international business over 17 years, I recommend to use first the "ADDING" tool and then move to "AAA triangle" and then analyze and priorities your choices through using "CAGE" tool.
   
   So many thanks to Prof. Ghemawat who really described and explained the SEMIGLOBALISATION and then also explain how to thrive in this world by first describing the above tools and then explicitly showing the application of these tools in business such as car industry ( Toyota), Cement Industry ( Cemex), Retail industry ( WAl Mart), Health care ( P&G), IT industry (IBM), Software services ( Cognizant), Coca-cola and several others.



2. Redefining Global Strategy (RGS) reminds us that conventional wisdom is often falls apart in the clear light of analysis and research. This is an excellent book for those looking to understand the realities of global strategy and operations. Based on extensive research and deep case study analysis, Pankaj Ghemawat delivers a book leaders need to make real decisions.
   
   Ghemawat starts with reminding us that the world has changed as commuincations, information technology and global logistics have created new opportunities for companies. He then reminds us that just because you can extend your company to Asia it does not mean that those markets are the same as yours. Ghemawat introduces and uses his CAGE framework through out the book to good effect. CAGE is a framework based on distance and expresses distance in the following ways:
   
   Cultural distance - how different are the cultures in which you are looking to devise and implement a strategy
   
   Administrative distance - the distance between standard policies, frameworks, the rule of law, business norms. We frequently brush past this type of distance but Ghemawat shows how important it is.
   
   Geographic distance - how far apart or how hard it is to do business between your corporate center and the local market. That last point is particularly important as you may have a local plant but your decision center is the place to measure this distance.
   
   Economic distance - the payment, financial and growth and development gaps that exist between countries and companies.
   
   Ghemawat uses these distances to explain the results achieved by leading companies ranging from Phillips, Coca-cola and Wal-Mart. The in depth analysis provides the real world examples needed to inform those setting global strategies. That in depth analysis also makes this a book for people looking for real insight and data that they will have to work to understand. This means if you are looking for a light read, one that will not challenge your thinking and one that is easy to agree with - this is not the book for your. In fact the research and the depth behind these ideas require some reflection and study to get the most out of the book.
   
   Redefining Global Strategy is not breezy book that you can read to gain a few buzz words or slogans for your strategy. It is the best bridge between good and practical scholarly research and application of that to business decision.
   
   Clayton Christensen once commented that there was a need for more rigor, research and analysis in business books and literature. Ghemawat delivers on all of these counts.



3. Many books on the maket explain issues concerning globalisation, corporate strategy and the like. Most of them are focused on key figures and market evolution. But none of the ones I have readen explain:
   
   - How to analyse the benefits/risks of a possible globalisation (CAGE)
   - Which tools you have to set whether it is suitable to go to a globalisation (ADDING)
   - And finally, how to act (AAA).
   
   OKs
   
   - Good book if you want to expand your business.
   - Methodological approach.
   - Nice written.
   
   KOs
   
   - Difficult to implement. In fact, though there are several examples, it lacks of a global example, and the figures according to the approach (ROE, ROA, valuation,...).
   - I'm in the banking business, and there are few examples of banks in the book.
   - I think the book doesn't define what does 'boundaries' mean. It's clear that 'boundaries' apply when you want to go from Spain to China. But does it apply in an internal movement among different cultures and legislations (for example, from NYC to Hawaii)? In all cases?? How do I have to know when the 'boundaries' term is gonna being applied?



4. 
   Pankaj Ghemawat is a bright academic, and he has picked a fine topic to debate. Leaves no doubt about that every lingustic, racial and geographic grouping of people needs a different business approach ... very solid examples ... but this book lacks a lucid and clear writing style that characterizes other books on globalisation like "The World Is Flat," by Thomas Friedman and "Making Globalisation Work," by Joseph Stiglitz. The writer quite often gets the reader lost with the academic jargon and circumlocuted emphasis ... bit nevertheless a gem of a book on the topic.



5. Redefining Global Strategy: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter
   It's a good book, which explores an updated subject using objetive points of view and very good examples. Beside that, it matchs with real business experience to put it in practice.

4 comments about Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions).

1. Teaching capitalism in today's world is like describing water to a fish; we are surrounded by it, can't live without it and are unaware of the alternatives. Most have never experienced the depression, many have forgotten the days when communism was actually a threat. We are blind to the absolutely crucial nature of how our world works. Although we watched the stock market plummet in 1987 and have all learned valuable lessons from the internet boom & bust, I picked up this book because I wanted to know a bit more about how the scholars view capitalism.
   
   The book takes the reader through a history of capitalism while briefly summarizing everything you forgot from college economics. While the discussion of the development of capitalism focused on some interesting questions of historical interpretation, the strength of this work is the description and analysis of how the capitalistic system works differently in different countries.
   
   The power of capitalism is set forth as its ability to adapt. Where other systems--feudalism, communism, socialism, etc--failed was that they could not adapt to change. The book was an excellent overview; it was current, easy to read, and contains a fine list of resources for further study.



2. This was the first book I read in the "Very Short Introduction" series. I was surprised by how substantial it is. It also seems quite balanced. References, suggestions for further reading and a 5 page index are included.
   
   My overall impression is how strong capitalism is world-wide. That supports Fulcher's conclusion that reform must take place within capitalism rather than seeking a replacement for capitalism. However, when Fulcher writes that a "search for an alternative to capitalism is fruitless ... and no final crisis is in sight, or, short of some ecological catastrope, even really conceivable", how improbable is that ecological catastrophe?
   
   As the globe warms and the oceans die, will the rich hold out expecting to be able to use their wealth to make their lives bearable as the rest of us suffer? Just how will capitalism respond to a growing pressure for sustainability? By not exploring the ecological challenges to capitalism, Fulcher has indeed introduced capitalism but not addressed its fate and ours later in this century. Although this is a "very short introduction", Michael Newman's "Socialism: A Very Short Introduction" and Colin Ward's "Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction" do address the ecological issue. Even if socialism and anarchism seem improbable and reform is possible within capitalism, it would have been useful to hear Fulcher's impression of whether and how capitalism might address the challenge of ecological sustainability.



3. First off a disclaimer. I'm not an economist, college grad, or heavey weight intellectual. With that out of the way I want to say this is, like most of the Very Short Intro books, a good place to begin on a subject. It's a quick over view and pretty thorough given the built in limitation. My one observation is that the author mentions Keynes and Keynsian economics a couple times but not Milton Friedman or Hayek at all by name while he does deal quite a bit with Friedman's methods. I thought that was an interesting omission.



4. My own economic position could be described as a reluctant capitalist. I am definitely not a believer in an unregulated free market simply because I know such a beast to be a chimera that never has and never will exist. The only two choices for a society is to either let the economy run along unattended wrecking havoc (as it has recently in the world economy) or subject it to regulation and intense oversight. There are always advocates for the former, but reality keeps forcing governments to take the latter track. Those advocating an unregulated free market are ideologues and utopians with little or no connection to the real world (a situation pointed out in 1944 by Karl Polanyi in his classic THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION, in which he pointed out in great historical detail that there had never in human history been an example of a self-regulating free market -- in other words, the invisible hand has been absent in history). Its opponents have also often been utopian (as with Marxists when they move from a trenchant and probing critique of Capitalism to a recipe for future historical development). But those who have been most effective are those who accept the reality of capitalism yet reserve the right to discipline and mold it, like FDR and Churchill (though described as a conservative, American's have to remember the Churchill reformed the British prison system, was crucial in developing national health insurance in Britain, suggested the idea of the European Union, and always felt -- in contrast with, say Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher -- that government was a very good thing indeed).
   
   Every few decades reality provides a sharp rebuke to the free market ideologues. They are sure to go away in the short fun, but there is little question that in a decade or so they will be back, arguing the same kind of nonsense that plagued the U.S. economy in the 1890s, the 1920s, and more recently. I absolutely do not think that the answer is to get rid of capitalism. I do think that far greater federal intervention is needed. For instance, I would fully back the idea of a new federal administration that would have to sign off on any new financial product to be offered, such as the mortgage backed securities that recently got us into so much trouble. There were, of course, private institutions that were supposed to do this, but I think more needs to be done on a level with teeth to bring about changes.
   
   My point is that we are in a period of revising our ideas about the kind of capitalism that we want to have. If the self-regulating free market economy is at the moment thoroughly discredited, what form should our capitalism then take? That is where a book of this type is so valuable. The neoliberalism put forward by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher has so dominated our conceptions of capitalism that we've lost sight of the very large number of forms that capitalism can take. Fulcher does touch upon capitalism in Britain and the U.S., but he also looks at various forms it has taken in the past and today in various parts of the world, including Sweden and Japan. Milton Friedman and his followers have preached a kind of free market Puritanism that simply does not coordinate with the many, many permutations that capitalism has in fact taken over the decades. Capitalism in Sweden and Japan ends up looking nothing like capitalism in the US and Britain. And it isn't that the US had the "real" capitalism and Sweden has a "socialized" capitalism. They are merely two forms of the same economic system.
   
   The result of Fulcher's survey is to illuminate what a many-colored beast capitalism truly is. It should also reassure Americans as we could through a significant revision of the role that government plays in overseeing the economy that this definitely does not represent the end of capitalism in our country, but its salvation. Just as people sometimes have to be protected from themselves, so also the economy needs to be protected against itself. This is an important lesson that Fulcher can teach, that capitalism isn't any one thing and needn't be so.