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FALSE DAWN

THE DELUSIONS OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM

A depressingly convincing analysis of an international economy headed for disaster. Gray (European Thought/London School of Economics) considers the contemporary drive for a global free market the last gasp of the Enlightenment. The economist’s faith that markets are the ultimate human organizing device has become the final remnant of the belief that world historical development is converging on a single, optimal set of institutions and values. Only in the US do people still believe this can happen, but in the world’s dominant economic power, it is a political and intellectual orthodoxy. Gray argues that not only will this utopian vision fail just as surely as did its predecesors, it is more nightmare than dream. The case for the economic advantages of global free trade is convincing, but it also “involves a wild abstraction from social realities.” No other society is willing to tolerate the “social dereliction” evident in the American collapse of families and widespread use of incarceration as a means of social control. Indeed, capitalism has taken very different forms in countries with different cultural traditions, and it is only through “an extraordinary blindness to history” that American economists have imagined that Western-style market reform could transform, for example, a non-Western country like Russia. The central problem for the US today, according to Gray, “is that its institutions and policies are predicated on an early modern ideology” ill-suited for “late modern conditions.” Unfortunately, he’s not optimistic about finding a solution for this problem, leaving the US and the rest of the world in a rather gloomy situation: “a deepening international anarchy is the human prospect.” Almost as intriguing as the conclusion is depressing, however, is the question of how he could write this book without mentioning his apparent transformation from New Right to Burkean conservative. Listening to this powerful challenge to economic orthodoxy could improve human prospects.

Pub Date: April 1, 1999

ISBN: 1-56584-521-8

Page Count: 272

Publisher: The New Press

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999

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THINKING, FAST AND SLOW

Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...

A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.

The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.

Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1

Page Count: 512

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011

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THE CULTURE MAP

BREAKING THROUGH THE INVISIBLE BOUNDARIES OF GLOBAL BUSINESS

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

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