A work of true crime as much as scholarship, highly readable and maddening.
A revealing look at how a secretive, often criminal element enables the rich to “make and protect not only their money, but also their reputations.”
Hoang, a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, takes a deep dive into the everyday economics of “frontier markets,” places where investors make fortunes by greasing the palms of willing government officials and bankers. One such place is Vietnam, where, one wheeler-dealer told her, business students have to abandon their models as mere “bullshit” precisely because “there are too many unpredictable variables.” Instead, that source noted, an investor must be adept at “playing in the grey”—i.e., operating in the vast area that lies between legal and illegal economic activity and all too often strays into the criminal. The gray zone harbors a massive network of enablers and go-betweens who perform such essential tasks as laundering money and helping investors avoid paying taxes. The result is the titular “spiderweb capitalism,” in which “most capital accumulation takes off through a set of transactions that are often considered corrupt and dirty.” Of course, spiderwebs are designed to trap prey, and the prey in question are ordinary taxpayers and law-abiding citizens. Close to the center of the web are the ultrawealthy, surrounded by concentric rings of “fixers” who attend to their needs for a surprisingly small portion of the proceeds, selling themselves cheap. Often, these are financial insiders who do such useful things as disguising the location of their beneficiaries, since, as Hoang notes, “offshore funds and banks are less likely to do business with anyone who has a US mailing address or passport” because of comparatively stringent U.S. tax laws. In this well-written study, Hoang shows how inequality is a direct consequence of this spiderweb capitalism, which constitutes a zero-sum game in which drug cartels, organized crime, and the superrich are indistinguishable.
A work of true crime as much as scholarship, highly readable and maddening.Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-691-22911-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Princeton Univ.
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Harari delivers yet another tour de force.
A highly instructive exploration of “current affairs and…the immediate future of human societies.”
Having produced an international bestseller about human origins (Sapiens, 2015, etc.) and avoided the sophomore jinx writing about our destiny (Homo Deus, 2017), Harari (History/Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) proves that he has not lost his touch, casting a brilliantly insightful eye on today’s myriad crises, from Trump to terrorism, Brexit to big data. As the author emphasizes, “humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or equations, and the simpler the story, the better. Every person, group, and nation has its own tales and myths.” Three grand stories once predicted the future. World War II eliminated the fascist story but stimulated communism for a few decades until its collapse. The liberal story—think democracy, free markets, and globalism—reigned supreme for a decade until the 20th-century nasties—dictators, populists, and nationalists—came back in style. They promote jingoism over international cooperation, vilify the opposition, demonize immigrants and rival nations, and then win elections. “A bit like the Soviet elites in the 1980s,” writes Harari, “liberals don’t understand how history deviates from its preordained course, and they lack an alternative prism through which to interpret reality.” The author certainly understands, and in 21 painfully astute essays, he delivers his take on where our increasingly “post-truth” world is headed. Human ingenuity, which enables us to control the outside world, may soon re-engineer our insides, extend life, and guide our thoughts. Science-fiction movies get the future wrong, if only because they have happy endings. Most readers will find Harari’s narrative deliciously reasonable, including his explanation of the stories (not actually true but rational) of those who elect dictators, populists, and nationalists. His remedies for wildly disruptive technology (biotech, infotech) and its consequences (climate change, mass unemployment) ring true, provided nations act with more good sense than they have shown throughout history.
Harari delivers yet another tour de force.Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-51217-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
An intriguing approach to identifying and relating to one’s emotions.
An analysis of our emotions and the skills required to understand them.
We all have emotions, but how many of us have the vocabulary to accurately describe our experiences or to understand how our emotions affect the way we act? In this guide to help readers with their emotions, Brackett, the founding director of Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence, presents a five-step method he calls R.U.L.E.R.: We need to recognize our emotions, understand what has caused them, be able to label them with precise terms and descriptions, know how to safely and effectively express them, and be able to regulate them in productive ways. The author walks readers through each step and provides an intriguing tool to use to help identify a specific emotion. Brackett introduces a four-square grid called a Mood Meter, which allows one to define where an emotion falls based on pleasantness and energy. He also uses four colors for each quadrant: yellow for high pleasantness and high energy, red for low pleasantness and high energy, green for high pleasantness and low energy, and blue for low pleasantness and low energy. The idea is to identify where an emotion lies in this grid in order to put the R.U.L.E.R. method to good use. The author’s research is wide-ranging, and his interweaving of his personal story with the data helps make the book less academic and more accessible to general readers. It’s particularly useful for parents and teachers who want to help children learn to handle difficult emotions so that they can thrive rather than be overwhelmed by them. The author’s system will also find use in the workplace. “Emotions are the most powerful force inside the workplace—as they are in every human endeavor,” writes Brackett. “They influence everything from leadership effectiveness to building and maintaining complex relationships, from innovation to customer relations.”
An intriguing approach to identifying and relating to one’s emotions.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-21284-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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