A spirited argument to move beyond a cherished American institution, the physical dollar, into a digital payment future.
An intriguing, balanced study of a future cashless society.
Warwick’s (Ending Cash: The Public Benefits of Federal Electronic Currency, 1998) book centers on the premise that a cashless society could significantly increase efficiency, cut costs, and reduce crime. Despite his belief that abolishing cash has “profound advantages,” Warwick is careful to balance his own bias against the reality that some consumers still love cash. His goal is not only to convince Americans of the benefits of cashlessness, but to prompt government officials to advocate replacement currencies in the form of digital funds. The author recognizes that such a sea change would require a considerable transformation; after all, he reports that cash “still accounts for 40 percent of the nation’s payment transactions.” But Warwick points to the wide acceptance of online payments, debit cards, prepaid cards, and EFT in general as harbingers of a cashless society. Perhaps most compelling are the astounding statistics Warwick cites in support of eliminating cash; for example, he writes, “some $40 billion in cash is stolen from businesses in the United States each year.” His calculations—which include such line items as “Cash Handling,” the “Underground Economy,” and cash-related crimes—suggest that the annual costs for using cash amount to $660 billion—$1.8 billion a day. To counterbalance his own argument, Warwick objectively addresses some of the real fears consumers have about online security and privacy as well as the stumbles of such digital currencies as Bitcoin. In fact, his discussion of Bitcoin’s deficiencies is among the more informed and revealing on the subject. Nevertheless, Warwick claims that “conditions in the United States, aside from public misperceptions about digital risks, are ripe for cashlessness.” While he admits “talk of abolition of cash is politically unwelcome,” Warwick passionately lobbies for its acceptance. With his book’s extensive documentation (over 550 footnotes), sharp presentation, and solid reasoning, readers might have a hard time disagreeing.
A spirited argument to move beyond a cherished American institution, the physical dollar, into a digital payment future.Pub Date: July 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5147-0571-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
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