Globalization and Progressive Economic Policy - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521643767 ISBN 13: 9780521643764

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1998

Synopsis

In Globalization and Progressive Economic Policy, thirty-six prominent economists analyze the impact of the emerging global economy on our national sovereignty and standards of living. Does globalization cause inequality? Instability? Unemployment? Environmenal degradation? Or is it an engine of prosperity and wealth for the vast majority of the world's citizens? The authors analyze problems, institutions and possible government responses, and conclude that globalization can be a force for good or ill depending on the degree of regulation that governments and citizens can exercise over its trajectory.

About this title

About the Author:

Dean Baker is the cofounder of the Center for Economic Policy and Policy Research in Washington, DC. Before founding the center, he was a senior economist in Washington's Economic Policy Institute. He has authored or edited several books, including The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer (2006), Social Security: The Phony Crisis (1999, with Mark Weisbrot), Getting Prices Right: The Debate Over the Consumer Price Index, which won a Choice book award as one of the outstanding academic books of 1998, and Globalization and Progressive Economic Policy (Cambridge University Press, 1998, coedited with Jerry Epstein and Bob Pollin). Dr Baker has also written for a variety of professional and general-audience publications. His work on economic policy issues is often cited in the media, and he is frequently interviewed on television and radio. Dr Baker has also testified a number of times before Congressional committees. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Review:

"This book on globalisation stands out for its breadth of coverage, the quality of its contents and for the unusual perspectives it provides on the subject. The book shows how to understand the costs and benefits of globalisation and what citizens and governments should do to ensure that economic justice and economic stability are not among its casualties. A 'must-read' for scholars, students and policy-makers." Ajit Singh, Cambridge University

"Here is a book that will force you to reconsider much of what you think you know about policy in a globalized economy. Even if you do not agree with the conclusions, you will be enriched for having pondered these unconventional perspectives." Dani Rodrik, Harvard University

"This book sheds valuable light on understanding the central role international financial liberalisation has played in the recent Asian economic crisis, and on predicting what will be the consequences of the neo-liberal policies the IMF has imposed on Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. More importantly, the book provides many progressive policy ideas to those of us who have been bewildered by the propaganda that 'there is no alternative' to neo-liberalism." Soo Haeng Kim, Seoul National University

"Amidst the hype and half-truths about globalization, this collection stands out for its richly documented and path-breaking analysis. Destined to become the standard against which future critical analyses of the global economy are judged, this book is ideal for course use and is a must-have for the libraries of all social scientists interested in these critical issues." Juliet B. Schor, Harvard University

"The editors of and contributors to this compelling new book go far beyond the numbers, to set out and debate big ideas about the history of capitalist development in the twentieth century. Does the present revival of free markets - the neo-liberal regime - constitute a welcome return to the generally benign processes of global integration that preceded World War I? Or does it represent a dangerous undermining of the socially solidaristic embedding of market forces that was the great invention of the post World War II welfare state? As this book shows, the reappearance of all the old problems of political and economic instability and worsening inequality strongly support the second interpretation. Without new forms of state regulation such as those described in this volume, unfettered global capitalism threatens to wreck havoc with balanced, civilized, equitable economic growth." Bennett Harrison, New School for Social Research

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0521643767
• ISBN 13: 9780521643764
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 532
• Editor: Baker Dean, Epstein Gerald, Pollin Robert