Something to leave under the tree for that relative who can’t get enough of Ayn Rand, insistent that there are values to...
“Overeducated cartoonist” Gonick, the pen behind numerous cartoon guides to scientific and historical subjects (The Cartoon History of the Universe, etc.), returns with this look at the reigning economic system of the day.
Hypercapitalism, Kasser (Chair, Psychology/Knox Coll.; Lucy in the Mind of Lennon, 2013, etc.) writes in his accompanying text, is “a system that celebrates materialism, consumerism, and status.” It does so, he continues, at the expense of other values that could be more important, such as community, public education, environmental quality, and other like matters. Psychological studies indicate that those who fall under the spell of consumerist cultism care demonstrably less for such things as treating other people fairly and not ravaging the planet. That a psychologist and not an economist is writing about economic matters is telling, for the thrust of the argument is really one of values: not the price-setting values of supply and demand but instead those that determine whether one needs a gadget and whether by buying it he or she will improve someone else’s life. “The idea here,” writes Kasser, “is to be mindful of one’s values and act accordingly when buying things.” Of course, as an alarmed postindustrialist might say, if everyone were to act on such values, then the entire enterprise would collapse—which, the authors suggest, is the whole point, substituting an entrepreneurial spirit for saving the world for making a fortune. Those who are familiar with Gonick’s pleasingly Mad-influenced style will find no surprises in his straightforward presentation, and Kasser doesn’t deliver much news—indeed, his argument is reminiscent of the pop-cultural criticism of Vance Packard, Erich Fromm, and Alvin Toffler of decades past. Still, though it lacks the punch of a Piketty or a Stiglitz, it’s a timely counter to those who celebrate predatory economics as the best of all possible financial worlds.
Something to leave under the tree for that relative who can’t get enough of Ayn Rand, insistent that there are values to cherish other than selfishness.Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62097-282-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: The New Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
SEEN & HEARD
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.
Known for her often contentious perspectives, New York Times opinion writer Weiss battles societal Jewish intolerance through lucid prose and a linear playbook of remedies.
While she was vividly aware of anti-Semitism throughout her life, the reality of the problem hit home when an active shooter stormed a Pittsburgh synagogue where her family regularly met for morning services and where she became a bat mitzvah years earlier. The massacre that ensued there further spurred her outrage and passionate activism. She writes that European Jews face a three-pronged threat in contemporary society, where physical, moral, and political fears of mounting violence are putting their general safety in jeopardy. She believes that Americans live in an era when “the lunatic fringe has gone mainstream” and Jews have been forced to become “a people apart.” With palpable frustration, she adroitly assesses the origins of anti-Semitism and how its prevalence is increasing through more discreet portals such as internet self-radicalization. Furthermore, the erosion of civility and tolerance and the demonization of minorities continue via the “casual racism” of political figures like Donald Trump. Following densely political discourses on Zionism and radical Islam, the author offers a list of bullet-point solutions focused on using behavioral and personal action items—individual accountability, active involvement, building community, loving neighbors, etc.—to help stem the tide of anti-Semitism. Weiss sounds a clarion call to Jewish readers who share her growing angst as well as non-Jewish Americans who wish to arm themselves with the knowledge and intellectual tools to combat marginalization and defuse and disavow trends of dehumanizing behavior. “Call it out,” she writes. “Especially when it’s hard.” At the core of the text is the author’s concern for the health and safety of American citizens, and she encourages anyone “who loves freedom and seeks to protect it” to join with her in vigorous activism.
A forceful, necessarily provocative call to action for the preservation and protection of American Jewish freedom.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-593-13605-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 22, 2019
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf