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Incredibly well researched and delivered with a barrage of knock-out punches to the American mind, this is perhaps the most chilling piece of literature I have ever read. The need for it's immediate message to be gotten out is unquestionable.This book is not for the faint-hearted. The biblical Revelation of the Apocalypse is it's only peer.Very insightful and undeniably convincing, this book should be immediately put into the hands and minds of every American from the age of 14 to 90. The relevance and importance to our American way of life is undeniable. I had to set it down for several days to let my heart rate subside to normal.As an American, if you really want to know your Country's future, then run and don't walk to find this book. Gabor Steingart has trumpeted the alarm and everyone should rally.
Free flow global investments made by US investors return value to the US through capital gains taxes and originate from a growing segment of the population (the upper one third that are profiting from the inequitable earnings distribution). Steingart overlooks the impact of global capitalistic investments on the part of individual US citizens (as does Samuelson in his paper, but Samuelson at least acknowledges that he overlooks such dynamics).
This well defended structural argument does not bode well for the lower waged third of the US labor force. Steingart offers a reasonable explanation for the relative increase in wage inequality in the US by resting his argument on Paul Samuelson's analysis of economic competition between countries (Samuelson, 2004, "Where Ricardo and Mill Rebut and Confirm Arguments of Mainstream Economists Supporting Globalization, Journal of Economic Perspectives).
from companies into a new Value Add Tax, and finally an alliance with Europe (pretty far fetched in my opinion). Steingart offers three potential scenarios for the contended economic conflict between the US and China; a lose-lose scenario, lose-win scenario, and a win-win scenario that recommends the US join with Europe to economically compete with China.
Steingart finishes the book by offering a six-step plan of action that begins by calling for a general understanding of the true impact of outsourcing and globalization, then a leveling of the labor market playing field through regulation (WTO, et al)., the transfer of social costs (Social security, healthcare, UI, etc). In my opinion, the capitalist, the investor may be the key to improving the future of the US economy.
Couple an increasing return to these investors with a VAT (as suggested by Steingart) to cover social costs and one might have a winning strategy.
Worthwhile read for anyone on the left or right with a basic interest in world politics and economics. Remember, the scope of this book is quite broad.
Unfortunately, the future looks like more of the same; continued growth in the East at the expense of the Western middle class.The author explains that in a globalised world, Western capital will continue to invest where labor and social welfare costs are low, and that Western countries are kidding themselves if they think they can continue to maintain their current standard of living without a solid industrial base. Mr Steingart has managed to provide a broad look at globalisation, mostly of the last few decades, with some insight into the future.
Some of the ideas have merit and some maybe not, although it's hard to tell since only brief details are provided. Serious questions are also being asked of how much longer America can rely on foreign credit (increasingly from the East).
Also (briefly) lamented is the death of trade unions.The last part of the book contains some suggestions on how to level the world's economic playing field. Overall, an informative description of where globalisation currently stands and of where it appears to be heading.
123, 143). Service jobs are at the end of the production chain, not an independent unit. Power follows ideas, not the other way around (p. The labor market is unlimited for the Western capitalist, not for the (high-wage) Western worker (pp. 4.The tide of globalization automatically lifts all boats. Otherwise, Asia will take the lead in rewriting world history (pp. 237-41, 245-50).
80-81, 237). To achieve this goal, Steingart spends most of his time debunking what he calls the seven fallacies of globalization (pp. 15-17, 69, 73, 76-77, 192-93, 235). 221-22).6.A nation is powerless to do something for the people in its care. In their arrogance, some politicians regard consumption without production a sign of strength (pp. 102-05, 124-25, 207-08, 228).
When manufacturing jobs get offshored, service jobs will soon follow (pp. Think for example about what has been going on in the United States for decades: Deindustrialization, a persistent trade deficit, and a fast-growing debt (pp. 21, 230-60). 8-10, 15, 21, 122, 133, 190-93, 241-45). 252). Globalization is a process that polarizes and divides, producing a large number of winners and losers (p. Gabor Steingart argues that the biggest challenge that the United States, and more generally the West, faces, is not terror, but globalization (p.
Like Erik Reinert, Steingart rightly stresses the critical importance of the manufacturing sector as a vector of innovation and riches for a (developed) economy. 122-23). However, Western economies as a whole suffer, and in the end even the individuals pay an additional price through, for example, deindustrialization and wage adjustments (pp. 123, 172-78).Steingart is critical of both die-hard free traders and unreconstructed protectionists in the West. Blaming politicians for it is both cheap and wrong because of the checks and balances of a democracy (pp. 122). History could repeat itself. 10-21):1.The logical progression for a developed economy is to move from an industry-based to a service-based economy.
Wage declines and unemployment are the two forms of wage adjustment in the West to cope with the (Western-driven) competition from Asia (pp. 13, 15, 152-54, 190-93)3.The new world is flat. Both groups share an inability to change due to their unwillingness to acquire new knowledge that challenges their moral values and behaviors (pp. The West is losing jobs that cannot be replaced with jobs in the service economy (pp. Asia is the theater of a clash of values and behaviors that fuels instability (pp.
Steingart observes that economic strength is not a guarantee but a condition of the ability to become and remain a world power (pp. Steingart challenges this powerlessness by remarking that in a democracy, people are citizens, consumers, and/or investors with the power to push for changes (pp. Most Western consumers are co-responsible for this situation: they compare prices and performance, but they could not care less about nationalities or social welfare systems (pp. 27, 37, 41-42, 210-12, 218-19). 7, 125, 161, 167). 152, 193). Steingart pleads for the democratization of globalization, a new paradigm for the worldwide economy that takes away its archaic and authoritarian characteristics (pp. Steingart pleads for the enactment of stricter industry standards worldwide to level the playing field in order to strike a better balance between capital and labor (pp.
Openmindness is the key driver behind the rise and fall of world powers (pp. 35, 47, 58-61, 64-65, 122, 170, 203-22). There is no institutional cross-border framework to reduce the imbalances and alleviate the tensions in Asia (pp. 140, 147-50, 154-66). 5.Globalization fosters peace.
11-12, 77, 79, 232). Steingart exhorts trade politicians to become globalization politicians (p. 203-22, 225-30). 102). ix). Unlike countries such as India, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan; China and Russia combine capitalism with an authoritarian state (pp. Economic globalization alone is no guarantee of peace because globalization to this day remains excessive and unstable (pp. However, Steingart invites those responsible for making economic policy in the West to keep in mind that the interests of the employed are no less global than those of capital.
Steingart disagrees with Thomas Friedman by demonstrating that unlike the labor market in the West, the worldwide labor market is not a flat world or a playing field (pp. 19). 7.Globalization is too hot an issue to handle for a single person. Unfortunately, Steingart does not acknowledge that Asian countries like China are also subject to the offshoring of manufacturing jobs to "more convenient" locations.2.Economics and morals have no commonality. 7-8, 224).Steingart points out that the 20th century triumph of (Western) liberalism over both fascism and communism went hand in hand with the resurgence of Asia (pp.
Steingart correctly remarks that no government in the West has the legitimacy to fundamentally transform the state and the economy. 9, 13, 69-76, 79, 81-90, 145-49, 159, 172, 190-93, 225, 229-32, 237). Steingart reminds us that the first wave of globalization died on the battlefields of WWI because the industrial revolution did not go hand in hand with a revolution of political thought in Europe (pp. Steingart contrasts the more sophisticated capitalism of the West, which aims to protect both the environment and its workers, with a brutal and primitive form of capitalism that prevails in some Asian countries that are willing to do everything for less (pp. Globalization does not benefit everyone to the same degree.
Many Americans have the feeling that they are no longer valued as workers, but only as consumers (p. 142). 21, 230-60). 21, 152, 193, 241). It also produces many losers in the lower and middle classes (pp. Trade is a question of usefulness and not a matter of belief (pp.
136-40, 144, 184, 193-201). Democracy and the market economy are not connected like Siamese twins (p. 15, 232, 243, 257). ix, 13, 35, 52-53, 178-90, 217, 242-45, 257-58). 14-15, 66-67, 130, 241). To summarize, Steingart invites the United States to play a more active role in designing the ground rules so that globalization serves the people (pp.
125, 232).
Will America remain the global leader. « Edit contentIf you follow the news at all (assuming you are human), you have probably thought a time or two about the economy in which you live. Will Japan, Europe, the Middle East and others help or hurt the monstrous countries of China and India. In the U.S., the economy has a feeling of bleakness for some, stagnation for others and, for all of the non-humans out there, a place to find bizarre fashion trends that come around multiple times (plaid shorts and poofy hair, for example).Economist Gabor Steingart (sans the funny shorts and hair) explains the economy of globalization in "The War for Wealth," basically laying out the ways in which the new superpowers, China and India, are making their marks in the marketplace.The book focuses a good deal on the history of not only these two countries, but in the history of the world as well. It's interesting to consider events occurring 100 years ago that still affect our lifestyles and choices today, but it is never more present than after investigating a multitude of countries in the early 1900s, during the World Wars and so forth.If there's an important message to gain from the book, it's this: There are going to be changes. Which country will falter internally first. It's tough to tell, but 30 years from now, the pieces will look a little different.But 30 years from now, that should give plaid shorts enough time to come back in style.
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