Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 331
EAN: 9780307277992
ISBN: 0307277992
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 288
Publication Date: 2008-09-09
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: 2008-09-09
Studio: Vintage

From one of America's foremost economic and political thinkers comes a vital analysis of our new hypercompetitive and turbo-charged global economy and the effect it is having on American democracy. With his customary wit and insight, Reich shows how widening inequality of income and wealth, heightened job insecurity, and corporate corruption are merely the logical results of a system in which politicians are more beholden to the influence of business lobbyists than to the voters who elected them.

Powerful and thought-provoking, Supercapitalism argues that a clear separation of politics and capitalism will foster an enviroment in which both business and government thrive, by putting capitalism in the service of democracy, and not the other way around.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Allow me to be unconvinced
Comment: Reich suggests that economic history after 1945 can be divided in two phases: the "almost Golden Age" and the ensuing phase of "super capitalism'. They roughly correspond with the age of mass-production/culture and the following period of diversification, long tail, etc. The move from one to the other is, according to Reich, caused by the introduction of technological innovations created during the cold war. It is - as with every historical thesis - hard to prove and Reich doesn't bother to elaborate after having given just a few examples.

Using a somewhat `journalistic' style he gives a excellent description of the entanglement of commerce and American politics in both phases. He has however completely failed to convince me that the current phase of super capitalism is, in contrast by the previous phase, characterized by an far larger encroachment of commerce on politics.

The term industrial-military complex does not appear in his text, though he wryly comments that during the "almost Golden Age" the CIA appeared to `discover' situations that required American military intervention whenever American business interest were at stake. I suggest that, using his own arguments and examples, a case could be made that commercial interests in that earlier phase had a far more direct and influential effect on American policies than in the phase of `super capitalism'.

In his `journalistic' style he could as easily have presented the Seattle riots, consumer campaigns, the Brent Spar affair, etc. of the super capitalism phase as a sign of the `empowered citizen' that is celebrated in so many other articles and books of lately.

The fact that American politicians - despite the rhetoric - do not seem to be able to `lead' was - I suggest - as true in the earlier as in the latter phase. It may be the perennial incapability of American politicians that drove the empowered citizens to change policy by pressure companies into a `social responsibility agenda'. Considering the influence of companies on American politicians that may not be such a bad tactic.

Though after the publication of his book, the election of Barak Obama can also partly be attributed to the grass root movement he was able to create and tab for finance by using the power of the internet.

As a European, I keep being surprised by the way in which Americans pretend to understand other countries developments as being a mere copy of the American way. Others may suggest this to be arrogance, but that would be given too much credit to the rest of us. We have the same national-centric views of the world. Suffice it to say that I strongly object to mr. Reichs suggestion that `the same thing' happened the world over, though I do agree that commerce has a huge influence on politics in any country. It just plays out differently elsewhere.

There is however one aspect of this americo-centrism that worries me. It is the way in which unwelcome side-effects of super-capitalism, such as the loss of certain jobs state-side, are interpreted as being part of the character of a system in need of repair. There is no mention of the systems spread of wealth around the globe and what it has done to improve circumstances outside the US. Let's just hope that the nr. one team that now is not anymore always on top, and sometimes has to experience loss, does not blame and change the rules of game, but accepts that others may at times be more competent at it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, Accessible Read on a Sound SocioEconomic Thesis
Comment: thoughtful, well-written thesis on how we as americans fill various relationships in the economy, society and our democracy (ie. we are "investors," "consumers" and "citizens")...most often, in the modern global economy ("supercapitalism"), we as citizens, even with our democratic voices, lose out to the forces of investing & consuming. Reich isn't apologetic about this - he just states it in a factual manner that really does make simple sense.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: So-so, but you're better off with the NeoMarxists if you want to learn about this topic.
Comment: I'm a longtime fan of Reich's pieces on NPR's Marketplace and bought this book thinking it would be of a similar bent. I was mistaken. Reich does a mediocre job of leading the reader through the forces that created the current economic climate and his views of global capitalism are simplistic at best. If you want to read up on the effects of globalization, try the Neo-Marxist writings of Frederic Jameson, David Harvey, and of course, Karl Marx.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Refreshing, Clear, and Challenging
Comment: Robert Reich's book is refreshing from a variety of perspectives. It is refreshing because he doesn't settle for cheap criticism or partisan sniping. It is refreshingly honest; he establishes a clear line of responsbility between citizen behavior and economic or social consequences, whether intended or unintended. His grasp of history and personal observations in government service are clearly stated and will, hopefully, serve as the basis for authentic dialogue. More important, Robert Reich challenges us to recognize that we are unlikely to evolve as individuals or as a nation unless we reclaim our role as citizen in a republic dedicated to the proposition that we are capable of governing ourselves.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Required reading to understand our current economic downfall
Comment: Robert Reich blends the ideas that not only are companies but also citizens of America are to blame for the current economic crisis. He details the rise and ultimate fall of deregulation, the increased availability of resources and the somewhat new idea of fierce competition between deeply rooted and fledgling companies. Mr. Reich shows that corporations looking to increase their stock prices are hurting the economy by the ways they go about doing so.

But the most telling aspect of the story is how we, as citizens of America, are allowing these corporations to continue their greedy ways and how we are almost of the same mindset.

Definitely pick this item up if you want to understand how we can get out of the current mess and the history of it all.

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