Review by Booklist Review
An ironic theory in an age when most Communist nations are rushing headlong into capitalism: to wit, that "laissez-faire capitalism no longer speaks to the needs of the modern world, which requires a more sympathetic blend of business/governmental collaboration and an assertive approach to trade." But understandable, since Kuttner--long a fixture as a New Republic economic correspondent and founding coeditor of the liberal quarterly American Prospect--has never smiled too broadly upon unabashed capitalism. Kuttner faces the changing world scene by harking back to an earlier model: the Concert of Nations, negotiated after the end of the Napoleonic wars. Domestically, Kuttner blames our current woes on underinvestment in training and overkill in management-labor adversariness as well as on the lack of public investment in the infrastructure. Thus, the author plants himself squarely against deregulation, privatization, lower taxes, and the liberation of market forces--all signature elements of the 1980s growth spurt. ~--Allen Weakland
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War--far from signalling a victory for unbridled free-market capitalism--portend the end of laissez-faire economics. That's the provocative thesis of Kuttner's sweeping, important reassessment of America's economy and its place in the newly emerging world order. For a quarter-century after WW II, he argues, the U.S. practiced a mixed brand of capitalism, with much of the national planning done under military auspices. Meanwhile, the U.S. preached laissez-faire, since it was the country best positioned to exploit open global markets. A Business Week columnist and economic correspondent for the New Republic, Kuttner urges a ``policy of planning'' to reclaim America's industrial leadership, plus a global system of collective security instead of an East-West arms race in which the U.S. acts as free world super-cop. This closely argued book administers a potent dose of economic reality. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Kuttner's brief here is not against capitalism but, rather, against its ""utopian variation""--the laissez-faire idealism of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. While conceding the many virtues of a free-market economy, Kuttner (The Life of the Party, 1988; The Economic Illusion, 1984, etc.) claims that it doesn't always efficiently distribute the needs of a civil society, nor does it naturally regulate a balance between supply and demand. Kuttner sees an unregulated economic policy causing drastic boom/bust cycles, environmental destruction, and the denigration of social values, punishing the innocent while rewarding unproductive speculators. In fact, he argues, strict laissez-faire had to be put aside to cope with the Great Depression, wartime planning, postwar recovery, and the cold war--all of which demanded strong governmental intervention. Kuttner points out that America must compete with highly successful trading partners (notably Japan and Germany) who are advantaged by strong cooperatives of government, management, labor, and education in mixed, non-laissez-faire economies--economies that generate ample savings for further investment and long-range planning while being unburdened by the staggering costs of world hegemony. Despite his critical analyses, Kuttner is optimistic about world trends--the decline of fascism and communism, increased cooperation among large nations, and the spread of liberal capitalism. He believes that America could prevent further decline by reducing its deficits, encouraging more savings, making wise public investments, and seeking to secure cooperative and productive partnerships among the forces of labor, management, and education. A detailed and persuasive analysis. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
