Book Notes: One World, Ready Or Not

I've been meaning to write about One World, Ready Or Not (1997) by William Greider for some time since I finished reading it a few weeks ago, but it is a difficult book to describe in detail given it's scope and content. I first encountered Greider in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine where he writes about politics and economics and was impressed by his intelligence and rational thinking. Needless to say, he is somewhat liberal and progressive. This book is an excellent look at globalism, especially how economic systems and policies affect the world. Some of these sections are bit difficult to follow, but I found his case studies of different companies and labor movements quite fascinating, especially the section about the airplane industry and Boeing in particular. He explained how Boeing parcels out parts contracts to countries that order airplanes as a sort of kickback for countries doing business with them.

The section about the negative impact of free trade zones on the poor people who work in them is very telling. (For a more comprehensive look at the exploitation of third world workers see Naomi Klein's excellent No Logo, which is a good companion text to this). It is something that has troubled me since I saw a large group of peasant girls lining up at the gates of a textile factory in Cambodia, they looked like they were twelve, it was very Dickensian. The fact that they make around $20 a month for shoes that cost over $100, is absurd to me. I'd like to present some of the suggestions he has for reforming the global economic system, which has been spiraling out of control. All of them seem quite reasonable to me.

1. Tax capital instead of labor.

2. Reform the terms of trade to ensue more balanced flows of commerce, compelling export nations to become larger consumers of the global production.

3. Bring the bottom up-raising wages on the low end as rapidly as possible-by requiring trading nations to honor labor rights.

4. Forgive the debtor-that is, initiate a general write-off of bad debts accumulated by poorer nations.

5. Reform the objectives of central banks so they will support a pro-growth regime instead of thwarting it.

6. Refocus national economic agendas on the priority of work and wages rather than trade or multinational competitiveness, as the defining issue for domestic prosperity.

As Greider mentions, "None of the propositions I have suggested is especially radical or even new in historical terms, since they all have been actively employed at one time or another." Nonetheless, I don't really expect to see any of these reforms adopted given the fact that there's no real economic motivation to do so. The problem as Greider states it, is that there is no governing body with the best interests of workers overseeing economic policies. As a result the gap between the haves and have-nots will continue to extend. All in all, a very thought provoking look at global economics.

Comments

[dave]

You should also chec Greider's 'Who Will Tell the People.' Also a worthy read. May have to check out Gore Vidal thanks to you.
I did a stint in Korea teaching English for a while my own self and had a chance to visit Japan twice. I absolutely loved Japan. How is living there doing for you?
dave

Also see if you can find 'Constructing the Political Spectacle' by Edelman. A good one as well.

[MC]

Hi Dave, thanks for the recommendations, I'll check them out. Vidal comes highly recommended a great essayist and thinker. I really like living in Japan, never a dull moment, especially in Tokyo. I've been to Korea once and also found it really intereting. I really like Korean food as well.