Globalization Books

This is a great book and it came in two days - way earlier than we anticipated! Good shape , great product!

This is a fascinating look at how people all over the world live. My children have enjoyed thumbing through it, & our realtor gives it out as gifts to his clients! A unique project indeed.

This book was created from pictures taken in the early 90's, so it is s bit dated, especially in the more developed nations. Things like computers and other tech is obviously missing. I know that many destitute Africans now even have cell phones, not shown here. Otherwise, this is a great book and is very educational. After reading it, I got to wondering what my possesions on the street would look like...

I thoroughly have enjoyed this book, looking at the people from around the world and their possessions and realizing how different I live from another. It was amazing to see each family so proud, of either how little they have or how much they have, and to have all that they own on display (from in the dead of winter to floating on a boat!).

This book is absolutely a wake-up call for many people out there who think they don't have enough! Beautifully put together. Outstanding.

This book was extremely disappointing unless you would like to know how many gallons of water it takes to illegally cross from Mexico into the United States. The author takes a liberal and sympathic view of illegals and tries to sway the reader into thinking that breaking the law is OK for these people. Give me a break. Where is the equal-sided journalism? What about the economic drain to healthcare, gang violence and drugs that these people bring into the United States? If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and swims like a duck then it is a duck. Illegals are illegals are illegals. Don't waste your time on this book.

"A passionate exponent of more human solutions to the problems of illegal border crossings...John Annerino, an Arizona writer-photojournalist, tells the story up close and personal in a gut wrenching, bare knuckle account...His account puts flesh and bones on the story behind the dreams, and skeletons,too," Desert Candle.

There are those who call themselves experts on the subject and those who are. John is the genuine expert. His points on the subject can only be done by being there and doing it. That is John, that is how he is. That is how he lives. A Master photographer, a Father, Journalist. His treatment on the border issue is a no-holds-barred trip into the unknown. He makes it known, he does it masterfully! When I read Dead in Their Tracks I found it to be the best publication on the subject. It should be required reading for those who are studying Hispanic Culture here at the University of Arizona! When one has the folks at ABC News and other News organizations beating on your door for your knowledge on the subject you know it is John Annerino. When you read a John Annerino book or see his imigaes you are guaranteed that you have exposed to the very best in subject treatment. Dead in Their Tracks will take you for a ride you won't soon forget.

-"Photojournalist John Annerino plunges into a world few Americans ever consider, much less confront: a pitiless trek through the southwestern Arizona Desert that can deliver a man to steady work - or to a whimpering death," Laura Brooks, The Arizona Daily Star.

-"Anyone interested in this slaughter should run, not walk, to John Annerino's Dead in Their Tracks," Charles Bowden, author of Down by the River.

-"A passionate chronicle. The story...is gripping and profoundly disturbing," Susan J. Tweit, The Bloomsbury Review.

-"A stunning portrayal of the dangers (including death) faced by immigrants eager to work in the United States," Library Journal.

-"I'm trying to illuminate the lives of those who continue to die in America's killing ground," Annerino said," abcnews.com.

-"A gripping firsthand account of crossing the Camino del Diablo in the company of Mexican nationals...Annerino's evocative words and haunting pictures make the issue impossible to ignore," Donnamarie Barnes, People Magazine.

-"The story is riveting.Annerino's writing is emotional and graphic," Ernesto Portillo, San Diego Union-Tribune.

-"Through cholla cactus and scorpions, along sands simmering at 140-160 degrees, John Annerino and four Mexican companions stumble toward an oasis north of poverty: the American dream," oneworldjournies.com.

-"The book is a testament and a memorial.Thirty pages list the known dead...Annerino deserves praise for putting this story into words and pictures," Will Chaffey, San Antonio Express-News.

-"A gripping work of investigative reporting," Nicole Davis, National Geographic Adventure.

-"Seen on CNN and featured on CNN Bokchat, John Annerino has worked on the border for Newsweek, ABC Primetime, National Geographic Adventure, and America 24/7," KmG

This book is poorly written, _utterly_ disjointed, and has a cloying sentimentality that is really annoying. By that I mean it's not at all analytical: it includes random snippets of poems, etc. that serve only to confound the reader looking for some meat. Plus, there are certain phrases like "cutting sign" that I hadn't the foggiest idea about until I looked it up. Help the reader out here.

Yeah, it's hot as hell in the desert, and it's doggone handy to have water. It sucks that people are dying in the desert and the forces that draw them to _El Norte_ are highly complex and not necessarily their fault. Still, they are breaking the law from the word go, and well they know it, and it seems to me there are worse tragedies involving truly innocent people. Plus, it peeves me to no end that these illegals have largely trashed some of the most beautiful and exotic wildernesses in the U.S. So my sympathy is just not all that deep.

The photos are for the most part of lousy quality as well. Why it took carrying several cameras, as the author claims, to produce these pictures is beyond me.

Lastly the book is VERY short, with a ridiculously long appendix addressing every single death that has occurred in this area ... newsflash: no one is going to read that.

How could the editors have allowed a book like this to go to press? It's absolutely amateurish, despite being driven by sincere emotions.

Culture Clash is one of the most helpful books I've ever read, but it is also an easy book to read. It is helpful if you manage any kind of team, even if you're not working in another country. But if you work outside of your native country, you should definitely read this book.

The 21st century has witnessed the shrinking of the world into one global village. Today, businesses and financial markets are irrevocably interlinked. The internet has spawned a remarkable revolution which enables people from around the world to communicate for free with one another through email and online messengers.

As national boundaries become less important, people from all over the world have to interact with each other. Cultural clashes can be inevitable unless people learn to understand how other cultures think and behave.

Thomas Zweifel's book is a must read for today's global managers, diplomats, students, world travellers - infact just about anyone who wants to be a part of the globalized free world.

I have just finished reading Thomas Zweifel's book on culture clash and high performance. Each and everyday curtural clashes take place in public schools,and this very good leadership book should be used by public school administrators to assist them in dealing with their diverse student bodies. I especially like the lab sections because they were built on thinking and questions and not a simple listing of the commonplace activities. Walk down any public school hallway and you will see a great deal of diversity and it was refreshing to see a book that contained ideas school administrators could use to help these students in their daily ives.

You cannot truly talk about multinational business issues much less work in a international professional space without understanding the cultures in question and the many pitfalls associated with "diving right in" with possible good intentions but little cultural knowledge. This small yet information heavy book is essential in understanding and navigating Culture Clash.

This book is a must read. For anyone in business looking to climb the corporate ladder this book offers very valuable insight. The author shares his broad and fascinating experiences working with different cultures. I couldn't put this book down. It was a real eye opener.

In my opinion this is a must read for anyone even remotely interested in the future of our country! The diagrams clearly explain the subject matter as well as make it easier to remember. Despite the seriousness and amount of information in "We the People: A Call to Take Back America", the book is a breeze to read so you'll have time to finish it before election day! We the People opened my eyes beyond just the candidates. I understand now the safety measures our founding fathers wrote into the Constitution, and how far America has strayed from why the Constitution was written in the first place - to protect us, the people.

Thom Hartman uses a serious comic-book style to show the danger of giving up our freedoms, mega-corporate power, and having a corporate-controlled liar like G.W. Bush as President. Hartman shows a keen understanding of danerous historical trends, particularly the Alien-and-Sedition acts of the late 1790's, and the harmful stranglehold of railroads in the late 1800's. Now we have large corporations counting our votes on non-verifiable electronic machines - can you imagine a more evil scenario? Not that the author is 100 percent. His anti-NAFTA view seems foolish, and he lays off the egotistical jerk (Ralph Nader) that put Bush in office - no matter how much Nader denies it. Still, the rest of this book makes perfect sense and is surprisingly educational.

Although this book is in cartoon form, and is perhaps written for young people, it very clearly lays out how our government works, step-by-step, and includes elaboration of significant developments and flaws. In spite of the simplistic and light format, it contains a substantive overview of American government, and it is worth the price of the book and the time. Get several copies and give them to your friends, and your friend's children. There is no excuse for ignorance when Thom Hartmann makes learning this easy and fun. It is by no means a place to end, but it can be a good place to start.

I enjoyed reading Thom Hartmann's WE THE PEOPLE: A CALL TO TAKE BACK AMERICA. The comic book style made reading interesting and fun, as Hartmann takes the reader through a brief history of the USA and exposes how our government is being hijacked by big corporations.

Neo-Conservatives might find the book leaning too far to the left, but I think Hartmann takes a centrist stand. He does a good job explaining "corporate personhood," a corporation that claims to be a person therefore entitled to legal protections like a real person, and how corporations have slowly started taking more and more control over our government.

One thing I wish he did would've been to describe certain events like the "Alien and Sedition Acts," which comes up in the book. But Hartmann does provide website addresses to find out more info.

Even though the book was written in 2004 it's still very relevant to what is going on today. The illustrations by Neil Cohn are fun too.

This is a simplified version of Thom's political and historical insight. It's done in cartoon style making it entertaining and a valuable learning aid for children or even adults who can gain knowledge about our nations democracy.

Hats off to Mr. DePalma! As a long-time marketing professional who has grappled with trying to help upper management "get" the importance of the web as a co-equal channel within the marketing mix-particularly as it relates to drumming up business globally- "Business without Borders" delivers the information and strategic paths that any business thinking of going global needs to know and understand. I highly recommend this book to anyone who already is engaged in doing business overseas or is simply thinking of doing so; "Business without Borders" delivers comprehensive "glocalized" web marketing strategies and important lessons learned for everyone.

This book is as pragmatic and current as I have ever seen. Depalma takes the concepts and current challenges associated with international commerce and provides practical guidance for anyone seeking to start or improve their worldwide practice.

Well worth the time and money!

DePalma has produced a detailed, well-reasoned tour de force for companies who need to act on the globalization imperative. He touches on every aspect of the globalization process, including target market analyses, localization, internal corporate issues, and much more. Even companies who are well along in their efforts to operate globally (in every sense of the word) could learn a thing or two from DePalma's book.

He personalizes what could easily become a dry subject by regularly invoking a fictitious model protagonist named "Mira Vozreniya" - meaning "world view" in Russian (with tongue planted firmly in cheek) - to guide the reader through the intricate and complicated process of taking products global. His approach is hands-on, with many summarizing charts, tips, data points, and tools for would-be globalizers. And he spends significant time on the 8th Continent and web-related issues, in the process dispelling many a myth about the instant globality of a web presence. The book is filled with real-life examples of what to do and what not to do to be successful globally.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is, or soon will be, involved in the massive undertaking that is globalization in a corporate environment. There is a great deal to digest in DePalma's book (dare I say, too much?), but if companies implement even a fraction of what he lays out, they will do well for themselves.

Having spent too many years of my professional career on personalization, I picked up this book to find out the personalization angle in e-business globalization. The author didnot disappoint me as the book succintly describes globalization as full-context personalization. However, the book is much more than this viewpoint. Mr. DePalma makes the business case for e-business globalization, and gives concrete steps for planning, implementing and measuring a globalization strategy. I liked both the content and its presentation. First, the author has a knack for getting to the gist of an issue such as 3 P's of global marketing. Second, the presentation is very precise with the right amount of details such as the elements required for correct language representation from scripts to encoding methods. Third, the material is action oriented as the example for when to use machine translation vs. human translation. Well done!

The Guiding Principle for Going Global Online

A solid piece of work, highly recommended to anyone who must understand how to develop a successful global Internet business. De Palma comes with an ace pedigree, widely respected, coming out with "customers are three times more likely to buy from websites in their own language", an industry standard mantra.

De Palma hits key areas, highlighting best practices of the market leaders and their global websites and systems. For once, we have web-based globalization ("Marketing and Selling on the Eight Continent") analysed within a business context. If only pets.com had read this book ...

Content is extensively researched. Case studies are made; corporate budgets, marketing plans, infrastructure, etc., are dissected. Plenty of practical examples, including the names we're all familiar with for the right reasons (eBay, etc.) and the wrong reasons (boo.com et al) too.

If you're in the business of expanding your markets through the web this is the book for you. Increasingly, "E-Commerce" is less dependent on the US ($600 billion worldwide versus $850 billion in the US estimated for 2003). If you want to grow your business, look outside your own borders.

De Palma shows how a successful web business deals with "big issues": Education about global and local markets; planning for international web business; implementing technology and translating into foreign languages, organizing people and resources and, crucially, measuring the return on investment. Of course, parts of what he says applies to international business in general, so don't think this book is just for the web-literate.

The tone is pragmatism. De Palma is realistic about the planning and management of a global web business (it does NOT mean translating into every language under the sun). Much to his credit, he provides valuable information on areas that competing titles duck to avoid, e.g., international tax, contractual and legal requirements - and provides good advice for staying out of trouble.

A technical foundation is included. This isn't a book for techies, but it does educate the executive and student audience about implementing globalized web technology. Experts will contest his comments on TMX, Machine Translation and Unicode, however, the rest of the technical stuff is sound (no "did you know that they have different shaped mailboxes in England?" nonsense).

De Palma, throughout the book, underpins his thesis with the need for a Chief Globalization Officer (an executive to champion web globalization in a company). You can cringe at Grand Poo-Bah titling redolent of dot coms, but fair enough, it does underline the critical importance of bringing globalization issues to senior management attention. Basically, if you're not getting the message through to board level, your enterprise will remain a beggar at the globalization banquet.

In sum, you can take this book as The Guiding Principle for Going Global Online. Recommended to seasoned executives, students of international commerce and technology, globalization gurus and the plain interested. OK, we know business book sales are down 30% since the end of the 1990's. So, if you're going to buy one, buy this one.

You know, this is not the sort of book I would normally read. But there it was, suddenly, on the coffee table one night. How it got there I have no idea. Just curious, I began to leaf through the pages, and the words began to resonate with me. Unable to sleep, I read it through in one sitting by candlelight. The next morning, I began to look at things around me differently. First, I removed several unessential appliances from the house in an effort to simplify my existence. Then it became time to de-clutter and I threw out several items I realized I had no more use for. Then, and this all seemed so logical in light of the things I'd read, I divorced the wife and sent her on her why. Sure, she cried a bit, but I knew I was doing the right thing. And I've never regretted it. This is, indeed, one of the best books I've read all year.

Please say this review is helpful to you. They told me that if I post another unhelpful review they're going to kill my ferret.

It was obvious to anyone who has known Peyser that something like this was bound to happen. I refer, of course, to Peyser's bout of aphasia during his freshman year at the College. Clearly this mysterious illness has returned in book-length, perhaps even a global, form. We may never really know what Peyser is up to in this book. Oh, for some Young and Champollion to decode this, the Rosetta Stone of post-modernism!

I don't usually tolerate so-called theory, but this was fun!

Don't let the title fool you--this is a down-to-earth, engaging work that deserves to be read by a much larger audience than the academic field it's probably relegated to.

This is a powerful, bleak book. None of the writers Peyser deals with is particularly optimistic. The possible exception is Howells but there is a dark undertow even to his work which Peyser makes sure we see. So a book about utopia is also a strangely, depressing read. 40 years or so after Brooke Farm, who would have thought things would have gotten so sad? Of course it was the turn the century and the best of the Western thinkers were thinking sad and pessimistic thoughts. And now here we are at the turn of another century and we have this powerful, bleak book. Have we come all that far after this century of bloodthirsty carnage? Is Utopia even further away than it was 100 years ago? Read Peyser's powerful, bleak book and see if you can answer some of these sad questions yourself. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

READ THIS BOOK! Since the first Diet for a Small Planet came out in the 1970's, I've had a profound change in my thinking about planetary health. I read once about how much the bio-waste of dinosaurs affected the atmosphere of the early planet- decaying flesh, methane emissions, pushing the planet into global warming. Frances Moore Lappe informed me that not only is the methane associated with our meat industry a problem, the interrelated costs to the environment of the feed industry- nitrogen, fuel emissions, methane, etc- are enough to tip the scale to disaster by themselves. I just read a story- just this second- 12/17/08- on the Discovery Channel website, about the meat industry nitrogen effluent (7 million tons per year) causing a dead zone presently the size of Massachussetts in the water of the Gulf of Mexico, and it is expected that without help, it will eventually kill the Gulf like the Dead Sea. Well, Ms. Lappe has been talking about this stuff for thirty years. I used to think she was a shrill Chicken Little. No more. There are too many people for us to blindly do what ever we please. As a group, we've got to institute controls. READ THIS BOOK!

This is a very interesting book. It features in one part a detailed description of 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank, who used microloans to help Bangladeshis, especially women, get out of poverty and earn for themselves. By issuing very small loans, the people of Bangladesh are able to build their businesses or working conditions and change their lives. I recommend this book.

I won't say much here, because the other reviewers have described the book well. All I will say is that this is one of the very best books I have ever read. Not only does Lappe have an incredible way with words, but she summarizes her profound insights in such a way that really organizes one's thoughts for genuine reflection. Add to that a well-documented and researched approach, as well as fascinating stories of different communities around the world which they themselves visited.

Good copy. Excellent vegetarian recipes. Explains why we need to eat lower on the food chain. If we do, we can feed the world's hungry people.

Thirty years after the publication of the highly acclaimed "Diet For A Small Planet", Frances and her daughter Anna Lappe have come out with a potent sequel and a beautiful statement of hope for a more equitable world through the world-wide spread of organic and sustainable agriculture techniques and locally controlled "fair" market modalities now challenging the status quo of chemical fed, toxic pesticide/GMO laden crops, and the lopsided "free" market capitalist WTO agenda that has been reaping havoc on the environment and small farmers everywhere.

The Lappes traveled to 5 continents while researching this book and their travels are both fascinating and uplifting as they report on people all over the world demonstrating that going organic and controlling their own markets are reaping major benefits in healthy, abundant food production while cleaning up the environment.

The Lappes do not reject world trade or capitalism, rather, they demonstrate how unregulated "free" markets monopolized by huge international corporations have been inadvertently causing food scarcity, bankrupting and polluting people all over the world, yet with an injection of regulation in the form ethics, strict fair trade measures, etc., they believe capitalism can "evolve" to a more sustainable, equitable, and healthy method of food distribution- a similar optimistic view shared by Lovins and Hawken in their book, "Natural Capitalism".

The inefficiencies of nutrient and food distribution is brought home in quantifying the huge amount of crops, water, and land required to feed cattle. The amount of energy necessary to produce an ounce of meat could feed hundreds of people on a much healthier vegetarian diet, hence, the myth of food scarcity and the need to grow more food to feed the world.

Every chapter finishes with a recipe and there are many more at the end of the book along with several pages of resources and contact information on a host of organizations advocating social responsibility.

i bought this book for my aunt who is a single, middle-aged, jouyful southern woman. she is an exuberant believer in Jesus Christ who unfortunately doesn't know much of his world beyond the USA, and i thought this would be a good way for her to explore it while connecting (a word that is very near to her counselor's heart) with people.
i don't know how much she has read yet, but my sister and i devoured it in the few days that we had it. we came away from it feeling even more curious about life in different places and reminded of our privilege as women to live in a financially independent manner.
all in all, if you need an antidote to self, this book will help.

I read the Material World several years ago and I was excited to see that Peter and Faith had published a "sequel" of sorts for the book. Women in the Material World is fascinating, especially if you can review it side by side to the Material World. I thought the questions regarding love in their marriage and their expectations for their children were so interesting. I am very happy with my purchase of this book and I recommend it to anyone who is considering it.

A sequel to the authors' successful, "Material World: A Global Family Portrait," which interviewed 30 "statistically average" families from around the world and photographed them surrounded by all their worldly goods, "Women In The Material World," by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel, revisits 21 women from these families.

With interviews conducted by women over a period of days, even weeks, and 375 color photographs of women captured in their daily lives, this is an absorbing look into an overlooked world of marriage, women's work and families. From female circumcision to divorce, from finances to education, gender roles, work, and friends, women discuss every aspect of their lives - seemingly freely.

Two themes repeat through this largely agricultural world - women's work begins before dawn and ends long after dark and most women feel they have enough children - whatever that number may be.

This is a fascinating, captivating and beautiful volume, to be read, not just browsed.

This book is a superlative sequel to the early Material World by Peter Menzel. I have read the earlier book so many times that when this new volume came out, I bought it immediately sight unseen. In this book, Faith D'Aluisio revisits 19 of the 30 families featured in the Material World to find out about the women's lives.

The articles are organized alphabetically, together with short features on marriage, laundry, work, education, childcare, hair, food, water, and friends. At the back of the book, we find statistical charts about women, and a useful statistics glossary. Each article has an extended interview with the mother of the family that reveals parts of her life story as well as her attitudes towards topics such as marriage, child care, education, money, and possessions. The articles are of course filled with numerous color photos, large and small, of the women at work and with other family members.

The Material World itself is a monumental book, but it was hard to go back to it after reading this book, where we find that the details presented in the Material World were so incredibly superficial. For example, family life for Maria dos Anjos Ferrerira in Brazil or Carmen Balderas de Castillo in Mexico isn't nearly as rosy as one might guess from looking at their original smiling photos in the Material World. On the other hand, Zhanna Kapralova from Russia continues to be a survivor. No matter how much you learn from the Material World, it will be far eclipsed by this book with its extended interviews and additional photographs.

A companion to Material World: Portrait of the Global Family, this book is an incredible expose of the lives of typical, average women all over the world. I, as an American woman with everything I could ever possibly dream of, especially appreciate seeing how things may have different for me had God just decided to make me the girl child of a Vietnamese working family vs. my background. It really makes you take stock of your life, appreciate it, and feel blessed no matter what your circumstances may be. America is truly a wealthy and favored nation. Even our poor, compared with most of the countries in the world, are rich! We should all feel compelled to give back, not matter how much (or how little) we have. I've been giving this book to my friends for gifts (thank you, Amazon!) A MUST READ!

I can vouch for the genuine success in business of the author of Fitting In, Standing Out. The author states that she was 14 when she knew what she wanted to do, but actually she was only about 8 or 9 when she first had her dream of being a CPA of an extraordinary nature. She was truly one who let nothing stop her to achieve her goals.

The only thing missing from her tale is that there were so many that had to fight for women's rights first to allow her dream to come true, and they should also be acknowledged. The author also overlooked the support from family she received to help her achieve her goals and that the truly successful person maintains a balance of both career and family.

The FISO factor is an imaginative way to approach a way to succeed in the corporate world.

Blythe's book has become the centerpiece of how I fit leadership and personal development into a tight circle - when I look at all the leadership, consulting and other books; they fit into one of the FISO Factor Catalysts. This makes FISO the foundation, the leadership platform as Blythe states, of personal success. I've now recommended this book to over 100 people without hesitation. Life long learning dictates continuing to read new books and developing ones' self and FISO with the six catalysts is the center of the mind map. When you have read your Zig Ziglar and Stephen Covey, sit down with this book as you develop your mission statement and you will be rewarded. But remember, to successfully execute your mission statement, you will need the skills to fit in and stand out - the FISO Factor.

Author Blythe McGarvie presents a thoughtful, intelligent analysis of the paradox of leadership success - the simultaneous needs to "fit in" and "stand out" She teaches the prospective executive how to build a strong platform of leadership, resting firmly on this seemingly contradictory foundation. McGarvie explains that to be accepted and allowed to thrive, you must learn how to integrate or "fit in" to your company's culture and structure. Then, you must also "stand out" by visibly exhibiting your strengths, intelligence and talents, so you can move up the ladder. Drawing on her extensive executive experience, she breaks the "FISO Factor" down into six basic elements including fiscal savvy, honor, perceptiveness, networking, thirst for knowledge and worldwide citizenship. We recommend this well-reasoned, thought-provoking leadership development program to anyone who is searching for the keys to unlock the executive suite.

Ethical standards and implications can make or break a company today" example, Enron. "In late 1999, several years before the high-profile revelations of corporate misconduct that began emerging in and after 2001," a survey of employee perceptions of organizational and leadership integrity discovered that 76 percent said they had observed violations of the law or company standards in the past twelve months. Clearly, U. S. employees are witnessing ethical and legal misconduct at work. Thus, a crisis in integrity leads directly to a crisis in trust. Integrity is a business imperative.

Prior to the "Scientific Revolution," mysticism was an integral and unquestioned part of human beliefs. The North Star has spiritual and mythical significance. Alternately called the Fire Star and the Chief Star by different groups. Integrity is clearly the Chief Star of today's business leaders because it creates a context for everything they do. Integrity's definition has evolved over the years but today its primary meaning as a "steadfast adherence to strict moral or ethical code" is widely acknowledged. Ethics is a key quality in long-term leadership success.

Globalization is our passport to business opportunity. Corporations exist in an ever-connected global community. Global citizenship enables leaders to transcend geographic boundaries. However, globalization is controversial today, viewed by many as un-American.

Everyone ages, but we all know people who never seem to get old. Sure, they have wrinkles and gray hair, but because they also have a sparkle in their eyes and active, open minds, we tend not to perceive them as "old." How do these people retain their youthful countenance? "Often, it is their interest in the world, their curiosity. They have discovered a wellspring of renewal that drives passion, alertness, and spirit. It is a love of learning." Business cannot hope to prosper in a foreign country, "be it Romania, China, or Peru, without an appreciation for the values, beliefs, social mores, politics, tastes, and fears of the people in that country. Philosophy, history, and literature can provide the access to thoughts and feelings of a culture."

Business is but one aspect of life's experience, hardly distinct or isolated from the environment in which it functions. "Business success depends upon people and therefore upon awareness of politics, social trends, attitudes and values, and a myriad of other expressions of human emotions, fears, drives, and desires. Literature and philosophy are the best sources for appreciating whatever universals might exist among people over time and place. Literature and history allow for a more time sensitive and culturally determined appreciation of the human condition." The author's father obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1969.

In 1865, an Oxford mathematician named Charles Lutwidge Dodson self-published a flight of fancy which has entranced both children and adults ever since. "Writing as Lewis Carrol, Dodson created an excellent parable for all aspiring leaders" by the title, "Alice In Wonderland." Historically, the integrity of corporate leaders has often been questioned. "The Robber Barons of the late 19th century, men such as Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius and William Vanderbilt, and J. P. Morgan, were accused of building great personal fortunes by unsavory means. Interestingly, the widespread use of the derogatory label dates to the 1930s and the era of the Great Depression, which is often blamed on the manipulations of business leaders or poor government responses. During both world wars, corporate leaders were accussed of profiteering."

She ends with this quote, often attributed to Dale Carnegie: "Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get." It is her hope that this book helps you find both, in business and in life.

I tend to side with free market economists on many issues, but I am always open to convincing arguments against that thinking. For me, Bernstein almost gets there. I agree that power is a major issue in many of the decisions that are made regarding economic policy, I just don't know if things play out as nefariously as Bernstein suggests. His approach also is a little too glib, which makes it a bit of a turn-off and a distraction from his fact-based arguments. For example, don't just repeat your claim that certain businesses are "addicted" to low-wage employees - show something empirical. Some of the Mexican workers in New York City's service industries may find this addiction beneficient.

Bernstein does have some serious and strong claims. For example, that growth is not benefitting people equally but rather mostly those at the top, leaving the vast middle class trailing, is a major problem. Also, the fact that the middle-class is hit hard by higher than overall inflationary increases in areas like housing and higher education, is also a serious issue that needs to be addressed.

I'm just not so sure that his solutions are the most workable. Where, ultimately, does sustained job creation come from? Is it from small businesses or from the large invesors whom Bernstein so disdains?

I think that Bernstein poses serious questions but is weak on the answers.

My Dad and I have been having this running debate about the direction the world is going. I say better, he says worse, and we never seem to come to any consensus. Crunch, by that rare bird a progressive economist, could be exhibit #1 in the evidence Dad presents to support his case. Bernstein makes the (valid) point that while our country has gotten much richer on the whole over the past two-decades, most folks feel economically "crunched" due to stagnating wages and significant increases in costs for housing, health care, and education. While some things have gotten cheaper due to globalization (like computers), this has not made up for the rise in expenses for the most important things we need, and just to keep up families have had to work longer hours in jobs that are increasingly less secure. Bernstein is an excellent writer, a clear minded economist (one of the first to recognize the growth in low-wage workers and a big source for my dissertation), as well as a player on the Washington policy scene. So is Dad right? I think that Bernstein's time horizons are simply too short, and the growth in living standards, health and longevity over the long run due to increases in technology and the spread of market economics are the really big stories. Sure, we should fight for a progressive agenda (and elect Obama), but Bernstein's observations and policies ideas are not in conflict with recognizing that on a macro sense we would not want to trade life in 2008 for life in 1958.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the facts behind the newspaper headlines. Bernstein doesn't bother with dry theories. He delves right into explanations. The book is worth reading just to debunk some widely believed myths, such as Social Security going bust and benefits of lobbying against technological changes.

Bernsein has made technical information accessible and even humorous. Commenting on a random graph, he writes (p 32): "I kind of see a little doggie running, but that's me."

The key to this book also comes on page 32:
"We're clearly kickin' back, spending money hand over fist, with little regard for what works and for what's cost effective and what's' not."

Although he's writing here about the medical system, this statement also applies to our programs of education, criminal justice, economic development, employment and poverty. Let's face it: societies don't run on scientific or logical principles.

I do have some quibbles about some of Bernstein's specifics and solutions.

To revamp the medical system (I like his term, "Medical Industrial Complex"), Bernstein supports a single payer system like Canada's. I lived in Canada for a few years (although as a certified medico-phobe, I never saw a doctor).

Countries with single payer systems have huge tax rates - higher than 50% at the upper levels. If you're earning $40-45K or more, you may be able to buy a comprehensive policy in the US for less than the additional sums you'd pay in taxes for a single payer system.

Single-payer systems require huge investments of time. I knew someone whose operation kept getting delayed till she got an infection and had to be admitted as an emergency. Others told me they had to return a dozen times for a simple check-up because doctors got paid small amounts for each office visit, whether it took 7 minutes or 70.

Often these systems are supplemented by private care or the overload is handled by paying US providers. I kept hearing about an underground market for health care: for as little as $1000 you could jump the queue.

I would also supplement Bernstein's answer to, "Why are teachers paid a lot less than stock traders?" Value and ability to measure output matter, but so do supply and demand. Desirable jobs pay less. Big companies pay more because they want to choose from a larger applicant pool. Airlines offer very low salaries to flight attendants, but thousands apply.

Of course supply can be controlled artificially, through rigid or even bizarre licensing requirements. Unions also can control supply. Unions tend to be most powerful with employees who feel powerless and/or are just not marketable or in demand. In unionized universities, English professors support unions and finance professors often wish they'd go away. On a micro-level, I would recommend staying marketable, not appealing to unions or waiting for the government to get around to fixing things.

On page 171, Bernstein notes that unions face organized opposition. Folks who have been in unions can be quite cynical too. The combination of dues and a long strike can wipe out financial gains. Union presidents tend to get very close to company presidents, not their own members. Unions make deals and enjoy wide latitude when deciding who they will help and how much, with little real accountability.

Finally, Bernstein addresses the opportunity costs of war. We could make an even stronger case for the opportunity costs of the criminal justice system, which is based on ideology and emotion, not scientific analysis of human behavior.

Overall, though, the book is intended more as a primer than a stimulus to thought or action. For this objective, Crunch is more successful and far more enjoyable than most.

This is a fantastic book. I love the author's no B.S. approach to the economic troubles that face Americans.

He explains why much of today's economic policy is little more than rationalized greed. In particular how the Federal Reserve Board's hiking of interest rates when labor markets get tight is great for the large investor class, (lowers wages by increasing the number of unemployed in a slowed economy), but hammers working people.

I also enjoyed the explanation of the "education myth", how it is naive to think the 70% of the population that does not attend college should somehow do so and all will be well. The author pointed out this is an easy way for the free market apologists to place the blame for gross inequality on "other people"...if only they would do this, or that, they could live worthwhile lives. Right. The devaluing of others labor and the addiction of American business to cheap labor in general is an age old sport.

Mr. Bernstein seems to enjoy poking fun at the free market zealots and economists who think all will be well for everyone through the magic of the market place. As if greed and injustice do not exist. This "Easter Bunny/Santa Claus" economic approach is ripped by the author and I loved every single line. Finally someone from Washington with the guts to tell it like it is.

This was just a great book. Easy to read, and gets to the heart of real issues impacting average Americans. I loved it.

Let's start by understanding that Dr. Bernstein is not an economist. His Ph.D. is actually in the area of Social Welfare. And that tells us a lot about this book. In general, the only place in American academics where Marxism is still taught as a legitimate theory of economics is in Departments of Sociology.

Dr. Bernstein is correct to raise the concern that rigid adherence to certain economic assumptions can "lead to ideology." But he would do better overall to recognize that it is just as likely that ideology can lead to certain economic assumptions -- as is the case with his thinking.

In general, when reading this book, it is essential at the start to recognize that Dr. Bernstein's worldview is fundamentally Marxist/Keynesian in nature. He is a proponent of government action. He is a proponent of regulation (just better written). He sees corporations and wealthy people as unduly powerful. He exhibits a marginal belief in and understanding of markets, their functions and their powers.

Bernstein blames many things on so-called "bubbles." Unfortunately, he takes no pains to understand the nature of these events and he adopts a generally feckless approach to reasoning about these events and their effects. His conclusions are doubtful simply because his starting point is not solid.

I have rated the book a five not because I agree with any of its premises or conclusions, but because I would want fair minded people to read and understand how a left-leaning economic thinker approaches the issues of the day. I agree with almost nothing in the book, but I still think it is a good specimen of leftists' economics-styled politics framed in more formal economic terms.

At this point, I am going to reread the book and be back with specific commentary on important arguments in the book.