Adam Smith in His Time and Ours Review

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(More customer reviews)I couldn't disagree more with the review of Max Hayes. It would and does shock people to learn that Adam Smith wasn't primarily an economist as we think of the term. The fact that his work was centered around moral philosophy and making people "decent" is widely unknown and most people have never even heard of The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Robert Heilbroner said it best when he called Smith "the most quoted and least read of the worldly philophers."
This book is not a biography of Smith, which would probably be pretty boring. It is an examination of his ideas. Muller starts by placing the book in its intellectual context of earlier traditions. Than he turns to an examination of Smith's work as a whole. This is important because to often Smith is limited to The Wealth of Nations, which is only one element of his thought. Muller examines The Theory of Moral Sentiments and the Lectures on Jurisprudence to form a more complete picture of Smith as a moral philisopher.
The most important element of this book is the demonstration that Smith was not a defender of unrestrained greed. Smith sought to defend and construct institutions that would channel individual self-interest into benefical results for the whole of society. Nor was he an enemy of government. While it is true that he thought government often proved a danger to the market because of the influence of what we call special interests, Smith did not reject government regulation totally. In fact he argued for regulation of banking and interest rates and advocated using the government to try and correct the negative effects capitalism had on the intellect of the people through public financed education.
Muller writes a compelling book demonstrating that Smith is not the proto-libertarian so many people claim. That in fact Smith would probably be quite dismayed at the uses to which his thoughts have been applied.

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The Economics of Innocent Fraud: Truth For Our Time Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a 62-page essay on fraudulent aspects of the current economic and political reality in the United States as seen by an illustrious economist and one of the most influential men of our time. Noteworthy is the fact that John Kenneth Galbraith was 95-years old when he wrote this a year ago. Judging from the wisdom and clarity of his expression, I can only say (to recall a line from a Meg Ryan movie, if you will): "I'll have what he's having."
I identified ten "frauds" as I was reading, but I think I may have missed one or two. Before I list them and comment, let me quote the last line in the book because I think it is important: "War remains the decisive failure."
Why Galbraith chose the word "decisive" is something of a puzzle. Decisive for what or for whom? Is he implying some sort of "decision" as regards humankind? Does he think we are going the way of the dodos? For myself it is clear that unless the war system is ended, most human beings will never progress beyond a tribal mentality, and will continue to suffer what Galbraith calls "death and random cruelty, [and the] suspension of civilized values..." (p. 62)
The "innocent" frauds that Galbraith calls to our attention are actually not all that innocent. What he means by "innocent" is that for the perpetrators, there is "no sense of guilt or responsibility" as though the fraudulent were children. Indeed from the perspective of Professor Galbraith's extensive experience and learning, many of the people who run our economies and our political systems are children. At any rate, there is a somewhat lofty and even grandfatherly tone to this treatise.
The first "fraud" is the use of the euphemistic "market economy" instead of the slightly stained "capitalism" to describe the present economic system. (By the way, Galbraith does not number his frauds. I do it for the sake of keeping them straight in my mind.)
The second is the fact that in the modern corporation, ownership--that is, the stockholders--have little to no authority while the professional managers call all the shots including setting their own compensation (fraud #7). Galbraith attributes this to the fact that corporations have become so vast and complex that the relatively unsophisticated ownership cannot really understand how to run the enterprise and so must yield to management.
Fraud number three is one that interests me a lot. Galbraith writes, "Reference to the market system as a benign alternative to capitalism is a bland, meaningless disguise of the deeper corporate reality--of producer power extending to influence over, even control of, consumer demand." (p. 7) This really is one of the most pressing problems of our time because the corporate power, through its ability to influence and control its legions of employees and the media, also has "influence over, even control of" who runs for office and who is elected in national and state governments. Indeed, in fraud #8 Galbraith notes that "A large, vital and expanding part of what is called the public sector is for all practical effect in the private sector." (p. 34) He specifically identifies the "defense" industry as being largely controlled by defense contractors in the private sector. Elsewhere in the essay, Galbraith refers to "the control of consumer choice and sovereignty" indicating that he understands that the control extends to the electorate. (p. 13)
Fraud number four is the way we hypocritically value "work." For some it is toil and for others it is a pleasure and indeed largely the reason for living, and yet how differently we are compensated, with those who need it least often getting the most in financial reward.
Fraud five refers to the corporate bureaucracy. While corporate people sneer at government agencies as being bureaucratic, large corporations have become just as bloated or even more so. (Chapter V: "The Corporation as Bureaucracy.")
Fraud #6 is the phony celebration of small businesses and family farms in the political rhetoric. Galbraith comments, "For the small retailer, Wal-Mart awaits. For the family farm, there are the massive grain and fruit enterprise and the modern large-scale meat producer." (p. 25)
Fraud #9 (I've mentioned numbers 7 and 8 above) is the fraud of economic predictions. Galbraith observes: "The financial world sustains a large, active, well-rewarded community based on compelled but seemingly sophisticated ignorance" (i.e., stockbrokers, stock analysts and other financial prognosticators). He adds, "...those...who tell of the future financial performance of an industry or firm, given the unpredictable but controlling influence of the larger economy, do not know and normally do not know that they do not know." (p. 40)
Finally there is the quaint fraud of the actions of the Federal Reserve Board, which Galbraith claims have no real effect on the economy.
For an interesting book on the corporation as a psychopathic entity (yes, psychopathic) see, The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Bakan. In fact Galbraith should read this book. It would further part of his thesis.
In part this modest book is a succinct warning about how corporations are becoming more and more powerful as they gain greater and greater control over our lives. Perhaps what Galbraith is saying in his laconic way is that there is a very real danger that bit by bit we are on the way to a nation controlled not by a democratic electorate or even by republican checks and balances, but by an oligarchy of corporate power.


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Hamilton's Blessing: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Our National Debt: Revised Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a revised and updated version of a book originally published in 1997. The author reviews the history of the national debt from the beginning of the United States to the present, and does so in an engaging and informative manner. The book is written in a style that does not assume the reader has any specialized knowledge about financial or tax matters.
The author discusses the financial plight of the United States after the American Revolution, and the reasons why Alexander Hamilton (first Secretary of the Treasury) pressed for the creation of a national debt to deal with that financial plight. The author does a good job of setting forth the pros and cons of a national debt that have been raised and debated throughout American history, identifying the political ideas and movements that have influenced the debate over the national debt. The author also shows how and why the national debt has fluctuated over the years, and points out the consequences (both intended and unintended ) of the national debt and efforts to reduce it. Finally, the author reviews the rapid growth of the national debt during the past 40 years, identifies the serious fiscal problems posed by the current huge national debt, and proposes some possible solutions to address the national debt in a serious, systematic way.
Anyone interested or concerned with the current state of the U.S. national debt, regardless of the person's political views, should read this book. Whether you agree or disagree with the author's arguments and conclusions, you can learn much from this book.


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Marx for Our Times: Adventures and Misadventures of a Critique Review

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(More customer reviews)"Marx for Our Times" by Daniel Bensaid is a scholarly and timely defense of Karl Marx, who remains the preeminent critic of capitalism. Mr. Bensaid leads us on an intellectually stimulating journey where we understand how Marx's thought is principally a "critical theory of social struggle" whose scientific methodology is replete with chaos theory and contingency. That the spectre of really non-existing socialism has allowed an unalloyed Marx to inspire a new generation of anti-globalization protesters and thinkers proves the durability and ongoing relevance of Marx's writings.

The book is divided into three sections. The first is on the topic of historical reason. Marx was opposed to capital's tendency to use its wealth to create systems characterized by domination and dependency. Marx offered a hopeful and alternative vision of how people might channel their material progress towards the liberation of human potential. Therefore, the historical determinism suggested in "The Communist Manifesto" is but one possible outcome that might result from class struggle. However, it is true that capital frequently shapes history through crises that are usually resolved by political struggle and occassionaly lead to revolutionary change.

The second section focuses on class struggle. Mr. Bensaid cites a number of theorists who have recently sought to wrap Marx into neoliberal market theory, where the invisible hand of the market might result in a just distribution of resources. The author responds to these critics by pointing out that Marx attempted to transcend the struggle between labor and capital (rather than settling for distributive justice, which was an emerging idea in Marx's lifetime). Marx believed that theories of justice and the critique of political economy were irreconcilable; equality would prove elusive as long as the working class was dedicated to producing the surplus value that sustained elitist privilege. Rather, Marx advocated a program of working-class empowerment where the people might administer their own affairs and thereby allow the state to wither away.

Section three discusses Marx's approach to the sciences. Mr. Bensaid writes that Marx and his contemporary Charles Darwin stressed instability, disequilibrium and tendential laws that represented a radical upheaval in the scientific thought of the day. In marked contrast with reductionist Newtonian science, Marx and Darwin reveled in chaos bound within systems that could be defined but whose outcomes were not always known. Understanding that quantity is a measure of qualitative processes, Marx criticized the economists of his day for their reductionism by only seeking to measure that which has already been inputed into the capitalist system; by ignoring so-called "externalities" such as ecological and human costs, Marx reminds us that the abstract measure of labor as money produces a system that is incapable of harmonizing humanity with nature. This insight in turn suggests, in the author's powerful concluding chapter, how an environmentally prophetic Marx could be essential to helping us secure a more humane, democratic and environmentally sustainable future.

In today's world where global market irrationalities are leading us towards disaster, Mr. Bensaid is to be commended for solidly reconnecting Marx with contemporary issues and providing insight into how we might do better.


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Reveals the 'post-modern Marx' to show that this nineteenth-century thinker is relevant to the twenty-first century of global capitalism.

The end of Soviet Socialism signaled to some observers that the ghost of Marx had finally been laid to rest. But history's refusal to grind to a halt and the global credit crisis that began in 2008 have rekindled interest in capitalism's most persistent critic.

Written during the mid-nineties, a period of Western complacency and neo-liberal reaction, Marx for Our Times is a critical reading of dialectical materialism as a method of resistance. Without denying the contradictory character of Marx's thought, and with a sensitivity to the plurality of theories it has inspired, Daniel Bensaid sets out to discover what in Marx remains dynamic and relevant in our era of accelerating economic change.

Marx's theory emerges, not as a doctrinal system, but as an intellectual tool of social struggle and global transformation in a world where capital continues to dominate social relations.

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The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time Review

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(More customer reviews)Jeffery Sachs' "The End of Poverty" is three books in one: First, it is an exploration of the world, focusing on economics but surveying wide array of topics regarding international relations and politics, and offers a portrait of the planet today. Second, it is a crash course in development economics. Finally, it is an impassioned plea for more western aid to poor countries particularly in Africa.
I know of no better book for understanding the current state of the world. In several brilliant
Chapters, Sachs takes us through the hyperinflation of Bolivia, the post Cold War transition to market economies in Poland, Russia, India and China, and the struggles for existence in Sub Saharan Africa. All these are put into context of International Relations, Economics and Politics, and personified through Sachs' description of his own role in these happenings. It's a tour de force.
The weaknesses here are the complete absence of the Middle East, and Sachs' all-too-human tendency to portray himself as the epicenter of the events he describes, convincing Polish politicians to accept responsibility, and leading the fight against hyper inflation in Bolivia. But his involvement has not necessarily been as influential or beneficial as he portrays it: Bolivia, at least, can hardly be called a success story; Even though Sachs praises both its leaders and its policies, Bolivia is still not up to its 1980 level of GDP per Capita (p. 108).
As a primer on development economics, "The End of Poverty" is a more of a mixed bag. At best, it offers powerful insights, particularly about the importance of Geography to economic development. Although the case has been made before (most famously by Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies but also by David Landes and others), Sachs really drives the point home about how close a relationship exists between geography and economic possibilities. Possibly he overstates the case somewhat - based on their geography, Egypt and Panama should have been economic empires - but Sachs truly has opened my eyes to a dimension in the question of economic development which I had barely considered before.
Africa is the chief victim of its geography, Sachs argues. In his view, the solution to Africa's problems is not really economic - it is not a matter of right monetary and fiscal policies but of hospital beds, malaria nets and AIDS treatments - readily available technocratic solutions which are missing for lack of funds only.
On the other hand, some of the chapters of theory are painful to read, particularly the one in which Sachs compares development economics to emergency medicine. His history of the world economy from time immemorial to the present is pedestrian and hardly innovative (it owes much to David Landes' superior The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor . Like Landes, it also owes much to Adam Smith - he is quoted in virtually every chapter of Sachs' book). But development theory - as opposed to technocratic solutions - is ridiculously over simplified (in Sachs' view, it boils down to two words - "foreign aid" pp. 247-250), as William Easterly points out in his review [...]- it's false to think that we know all the answers, and that the UN and other aid agency are sufficiently efficient to carry out the solution even if we had known them. For development economics, Easterly's own The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics is a must read.
As an advocate, Sachs's chief cause is persuading Western governments, and particularly the US, to live up to their obligation of spending 0.7 percent of each nation's GDP on aid. Sachs is an enthusiastic advocate of the Millenium Development Goals - a UN program to half poverty by 2015 - and of UN secretary general Kofi Annan (whom he calls "the world's finest stayrsman" p. 205. For a more balanced - although still highly favourable - view of Annan, see The Best Intentions: Kofi Annan and the UN in the Era of American World Power).
Sachs effectively promotes his development goals from challenges left and right; Sachs points out that African Governments are no more corrupt then other governments (pp. 312-314); that "economic freedom" does not guarantee economic growth (p.320), and that reducing Infant Mortality rates coincides with a reduction in birth rates (pp. 324-325). I was also shocked to realize how little the US spends on foreign Aid (I knew it was little, but I didn't know it proportionally less than any Western country save Italy, p. 302) and that the 400 richest Americans are 20% richer than the one hundred and sixty one million, three hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants of Botswana, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda (p. 305). Sachs convincingly argues that America often finds itself militarily involved in economically collapsing states (whether Vietnam, Lebanon, Zaire or Bosnia Herzegovina), and that indeed almost every country in which the US had to intervene suffered "state failure" (p.334). Wouldn't it be better to spend more on preventive medicine instead of risking American troops in the battlefield?
From the left, although Sachs identifies with the motives of the "Seattle Movement", he disagrees with their policy recommendations, calling for more - not less - trade, and for a large role for Multi National Corporations in reducing poverty.
Yet Sachs offers little place for dissenting views? Is the UN really this effective an instrument for poverty reduction? Is money spent in Africa really solving problems? To date, no country has been lifted from poverty via the large scale government sponsored policies Sachs promotes - instead, they have developed through mostly their own efforts with limited amounts of outside help. Africa does need more foreign aid - but maybe it needs more foreign humility, too.

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