That’s quite a mixed bag. But so is this book. Of interest to election watchers to see what’s happening out on the fringes.
Multimillionaire Forbes (Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy—and What We Can Do About It, 2014, etc.) turns in a mix of the old and new, the sensible and the puzzling in this three-pronged assault on things as they are.
To revive an America that deserves to rule the world but has somehow (thanks, Obama) gotten off track, the author touts his “Big Three Reforms”: Obamacare has to be scrapped, the tax code has to be rewritten, and the Federal Reserve has to be reined in. All three are, of course, anti–big government, though Forbes brings more specifics to the table than Donald Trump, and he lands some points in so doing: no one can contest, for example, that health care is about the convenience of the insurance corporations and not that of the consumer. Forbes’ putative populism extends to the notion of the flat tax, one that he’s been promoting for more than two decades—and one that would, of course, benefit the rich above all else. Surprise. “Contrary to what some people believe,” he protests, “a Flat Tax [his capitals] is actually progressive.” It is, depending on how you define “progressive,” but getting back to the gold standard, another old bugaboo, is an oddly reactionary turn in an increasingly abstracted economy. Still, just as his eponymous business magazine resists easy classification, often tacking to the liberal side of things, Forbes doesn’t come off as a doctrinaire conservative. There are some usual provocations here, along with some same-old, same-old, especially in his insistence that whatever is wrong with America can be laid on Obama, thanks to whom “people are directing their rage toward immigrants, bankers, the ‘rich,’ ‘idlers’ content to live off government handouts—and even the police.”
That’s quite a mixed bag. But so is this book. Of interest to election watchers to see what’s happening out on the fringes.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-259-64112-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.
A well-constructed critique of an economic system that, by the author’s account, is a driver of the world’s destruction.
Harvard Business School professor Henderson vigorously questions the bromide that “management’s only duty is to maximize shareholder value,” a notion advanced by Milton Friedman and accepted uncritically in business schools ever since. By that logic, writes the author, there is no reason why corporations should not fish out the oceans, raise drug prices, militate against public education (since it costs tax money), and otherwise behave ruinously and anti-socially. Many do, even though an alternative theory of business organization argues that corporations and society should enjoy a symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit, which includes corporate investment in what economists call public goods. Given that the history of humankind is “the story of our increasing ability to cooperate at larger and larger scales,” one would hope that in the face of environmental degradation and other threats, we might adopt the symbiotic model rather than the winner-take-all one. Problems abound, of course, including that of the “free rider,” the corporation that takes the benefits from collaborative agreements but does none of the work. Henderson examines case studies such as a large food company that emphasized environmentally responsible production and in turn built “purpose-led, sustainable living brands” and otherwise led the way in increasing shareholder value by reducing risk while building demand. The author argues that the “short-termism” that dominates corporate thinking needs to be adjusted to a longer view even though the larger problem might be better characterized as “failure of information.” Henderson closes with a set of prescriptions for bringing a more equitable economics to the personal level, one that, among other things, asks us to step outside routine—eat less meat, drive less—and become active in forcing corporations (and politicians) to be better citizens.
A readable, persuasive argument that our ways of doing business will have to change if we are to prosper—or even survive.Pub Date: May 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5417-3015-1
Page Count: 336
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's...
A fresh, provocative analysis of the debate on education and employment.
Up-and-coming economist Moretti (Economics/Univ. of California, Berkeley) takes issue with the “[w]idespread misconception…that the problem of inequality in the United States is all about the gap between the top one percent and the remaining 99 percent.” The most important aspect of inequality today, he writes, is the widening gap between the 45 million workers with college degrees and the 80 million without—a difference he claims affects every area of peoples' lives. The college-educated part of the population underpins the growth of America's economy of innovation in life sciences, information technology, media and other areas of globally leading research work. Moretti studies the relationship among geographic concentration, innovation and workplace education levels to identify the direct and indirect benefits. He shows that this clustering favors the promotion of self-feeding processes of growth, directly affecting wage levels, both in the innovative industries as well as the sectors that service them. Indirect benefits also accrue from knowledge and other spillovers, which accompany clustering in innovation hubs. Moretti presents research-based evidence supporting his view that the public and private economic benefits of education and research are such that increased federal subsidies would more than pay for themselves. The author fears the development of geographic segregation and Balkanization along education lines if these issues of long-term economic benefits are left inadequately addressed.
A welcome contribution from a newcomer who provides both a different view and balance in addressing one of the country's more profound problems.Pub Date: May 5, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-75011-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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