Review by Choice Review
Bollier, a journalist and public policy analyst, contrasts the gift economy or "the commons" (resources not part of the market economy such as natural resources on public land or publicly funded research) and the market economy, contending that Americans have been squandering their commons by allowing the market economy to absorb the types of activities that are far better suited to the gift economy. He contrasts icons of market economics such as Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, and Gary Becker with proponents of the commons, e.g., Garrett Hardin ("The Tragedy of the Commons," a 1968 Science article), Richard Titmuss (The Gift Relationship, 1970), and Ralph Nader. The book abounds with examples that demonstrate how the market economy is eclipsing the gift economy. Bollier is factual (many footnotes and citations) and convincing in building his case for the gift economy, although some will think he has overstepped his argument in a later chapter against copyrights and patents. Even the commercialization of culture comes under attack as Bollier decries the allocation of bandwidth to television stations for HDTV. The electromagnetic spectrum was previously held as a commons by the government; now, Bollier sees that commons as being commercialized. Appropriate for economics, government, and law collections, upper-division undergraduate through faculty. B. P. Keating University of Notre Dame
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
