Book Description
A piercing and vital look at how capitalism is consuming U.S. society.
An apt sequel to Benjamin R. Barber's best-selling Jihad vs. McWorld, Consumed offers a wrenching portrait of how adult consumers are infantilized in a global economy that overproduces goods and targets children as consumers in a market where there are never enough shoppers. Driven by a frantic imperative to sell, consumer capitalism specializes today in the manufacture not of goods but of needs.
This provocative culmination of Barber's lifelong study of democracy and capitalism shows how the infantilist ethos deprives society of responsible citizens and displaces public goods with private commodities. Traditional liberal democratic society is colonized by an all-pervasive market imperative. Public space is privatized. Identity is branded. Our world, homogenized. With brilliance and depth, Barber confronts the likely consequences for our children, our liberty, and our citizenship, and shows finally how citizens can resist and transcend the civic schizophrenia with which consumerism has infected them.
Customer Reviews:
Hard read but.......2007-09-24
Benjamin R. Barber's "Consumed" is a hard book to read but a necessary one. Barber tells us how capitalism once met the "needs" of people and that it now just meets what he calls "faux" demand. It's the rise of the protestant ethics and ethos that has made capitalism thrive until today. The rise of infantilization and the dumbing of consumers has given corporations the power to control our so called "wants." Barber doesn't give us a solid solution to this (even he admits it will take a big effort) growing problem but it is a start.
How a book infantilizes adults and swallows citizens whole.......2007-09-03
It seems like there is an endless market for "Marx-lite" books by people who hate America and the West. Here is another example without a new idea in sight. Famous authors, such as Marx, Sombart, and Gaibraith, have previously rebottled this old wine. Like them, Barber hates our movies, our culture, our food, our sports, our consumer products, our free markets, and, of course, the likes of Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Gates, Gilder, Wal-Mart, GM, Google, and on and on. It is depressing just going through all the parts of America he feels are misdirected and even immoral. Is this really a person who loves America?
Where are the positive examples and why this perspective? Because, as the Nobel Prize winning economist Hayek has pointed out, for socialists, "Every activity must derive its justification from conscious social purpose." Thus Barber must tear down all those activities that he feels have either no purpose or the wrong social purpose. This quote by Hayek is a succinct summary of the motivation behind the book. Toward this end, Barber quotes many attention-grabbing sources. For example, on page 51 he asks us to consider, "Karl Marx who presciently explained how `the expansion of production and of needs becomes an ingenious and always calculating subservience to inhuman, depraved, unnatural, and imaginary appetites.'" A question: Does that really describe you or your friends?
Like most socialists, he has no respect for the individual: We are all at the mercy of those terrible companies who want to sucker us into buying things we don't want or need. Hey, but Barber will be happy to decide what we need. He knows the truth -- ask him. But why is he or some other group better qualified to decide what we need?
Barber has no understanding of free markets, the emerging global economy, or even the mom and pop shop on the corner. Like many academics, who have never produced anything but papers and books, he writes with absolute confidence and with noteworthy ignorance, not because he is unintelligent but rather because his starting perspective is wrong.
This is a long tedious book: Barber seems to crank this stuff out by the ton. As he would say, this book is an immoral waste of resources that we as consumers should reject because it has no larger social value. The only thing it has going for it is a mighty ad campaign aimed at corrupting children, infantilizing adults, and swallowing citizens whole. But, then again, each of us will have to decide that.
Right on the mark..........2007-08-16
I see a number of other reviewers belittling the book because of some trivial factual error regarding sports figures or celebrities, but in my eyes those points merely underscores the point that Barber is trying to make. In the end the constant media focus on these types of people is in my eyes a mass distraction. Does it change my life one iota when a drunken celebrity does something stupid? Not at all, but the media covers it for hour on end, and people lap it up.
People defend popular culture such as Harry Potter or Shrek, but these are all pure escapism and have very little relevance to our daily lives. Reviewers of those films make tortured comparisons to try and prove relevance to daily life, but the sad fact is that many people have become conditioned to not expect more, and perhaps not even have the patience to view a more substantive work.
Other reviewers insist that they aren't manipulated and that they have free choice. To an extent that is true, but one can easily argue that many people are making poor choices because they have been so deeply conditioned by advertisers. How can you justify spending 50K$ on a car, and replacing it when it is 3 years old when an inexpensive well-made car will fulfill the basic needs of transportation and may last 5-8 years instead? How can you justify spending money on bottled water when tap water in most areas is just fine? And how can you justify accumulating tens of thousands in consumer debt just to acquire all of this stuff? There are countless such examples all over the place.
And finally, there is the paradigm that runs deeply through our society that having more money and having more material goods will somehow make you happier. The problem is that these desires can never be satisfied - there is always something more, and there is always someone else who has more. In the end all of this materialism leaves people feeling empty, and the only tonic that they know to try and fill the void is to go out and shop some more.
On the other hand, if you can reach a point where you are content with what you have, you may find that many of the things that you do have are completely superfluous and can be donated to Goodwill or sold. Get rid of enough stuff, and that McMansion will seem empty, and a more modest and affordable house may meet your needs quite nicely.
Best Book I've Read in 5 Years.......2007-07-11
This is the best book I've read in 5 years. And I usually read 30 or so a year. It is the most challenging thing I've ever read. Throughout almost every sitting with the book, I would have to walk away and just sit to let it soak in. It was extremely cutting and exposing to me. And I dare say convicting. It's helped me to realize what a hyper-consumer I am and how childish I am in my tastes and entertainment. Even how childish I am in my spending. I never thought there would be a day when I felt like I needed to grow up and be a man, but this book helped me to entertain the possibility. The basic idea of the book focuses on the infantilization (dumbing down) of our society via the means of marketing and advertising. And the hyper-consumerism capitalism that we live with today. I couldn't recommend this book more highly. But I will give one disclaimer. It's 300+ pages of really small type. What makes it worse is that the author writes it like an academic paper. For example the first chapter which is only 35 pages long has 98 footnotes. It's just a really difficult read where reading 20 pages takes you an hour. So you'll either love the book or hate it. If you're a nerd, you might dig it. If you're not a nerd, you won't.
Try something else........2007-06-19
I confess, I didn't read the whole book. A friend gave it to me, and I parked it on the shelf after reading half and skimming the rest. Jeez-Louise! I'd hate to spend a week on an expedition cruise with this guy! He'd be the first one trying to feed the animals and then monopolizing the talk at dinner till everyone wanted to jump overboard. I didn't realize corporate America had captured everyone's free-will. The evil Bill Gates and Steve Jobs must be supressed along with Rupert Murdoch and the Walton family! I suggest reading Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville. He still rings true today. You'll sleep better at night. You want an entertaining picture of rampant consumption in America today, seen through the lens of 1840's when the all-corrupting market swallowed the entire continent of North America...and yes, is still swallowing it...There's a lot to eat out there, bunky! Read Heyday by Kurt Andersen. We may not be perfect but there must be some attraction if 12 million people will risk life and limb to get here one way or another. Mr. Barber and his book would probably be better fare in Venezuala or Cuba.
Customer Reviews:
Corporate greed.......1998-10-10
A completely compelling account of exactly how far a business will go to make a profit. Brodeur is a brilliant writer.
An amazing account of how corporations poisoned millions........1998-03-08
An amazing account of how the asbestos companies poisoned millions and conspired to prevent the release of the dangers of asbestos. The book displays the possibilities of corporate greed and contains a blueprint for preventing future toxic nightmares.
Book Description
This volume provides a uniquely rich set of arguments and data for prioritizing our responses to some of the most serious problems facing the world today, such as climate change, communicable diseases, conflicts, education, financial instability, corruption, migration, malnutrition and hunger, trade barriers, and water access. Leading economists evaluate the evidence for costs and benefits of various programs to help gauge how we can achieve the most good with our money. Each problem is introduced by a world-renowned expert analyzing the scale of the problem and describing the costs and benefits of a range of policy options to improve the situation. Shorter pieces from experts offering alternative positions are also included; all ten challenges are evaluated by a panel of economists from North America, Europe, and China who rank the most promising policy options. Global Crises, Global Solutions provides a serious, yet accessible, springboard for debate and discussion and will be required reading for government employees, NGOs, scholars and students of public policy and applied economics, and anyone with a serious professional or personal interest in global development issues. Bjørn Lomborg is Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of Aarhus and the director of the Danish Environmental Assessment Institute. He is also the author of the controversial bestseller, The Skeptical Environmentalist (Cambridge, 2001).
Customer Reviews:
Bjorn Lomborg: GlobalCrises, Glbal Solutions.......2007-05-07
This book appears at the first look about economy. It is not. Its starting premise is the question: if you have limited resources and have to prioritize, what would you do in our global warming situation. It is a hard
headed treatment of the subject matter by a multitude of subject experts. Their complete set of policy proposals then evaluated by eight of the world top economists.
It is interesting, how fast the discussion veers off after discussing the economics into the very conditions enabling or blocking the desirable economic developments, such as conflicts, communicable diseases, sanitation and trade barriers just to mention a few.
The book can be read on two different level.For casual reader and policy maker most the numbers are avoidable and still be a very readable and very thoughtful and interesting material. For those, who want hard numbers and hard details, that is provided too, but not necessary for understanding.
This is the multicolored, multifaceted work of many dedicated individuals who - by the work they are dedicated to perform - are forced to set priorities in expending limited resources. I was surprised by their reasoning, and I trust, so will you be.
if you care about the world.......2007-03-08
why arn't global politics based on these arguments? it's a pleasure to read the scientific arguments that lomborg uses to validate his claims. it's a shame that we cannot organise the solutions to make this world a better place for a lot of people at no expense to our own prosperity. all the hard (econometrical) stuff is almost easy to read.
next year i'll read it again and see how far we are...
Raising the Level of Debate About Global Problems.......2006-08-09
Most people never think about the unavoidable tradeoffs involved in ameliorating social problems. With opportunity costs in mind, may we must dedicate ourselves to a better world.
I have two respectful criticisms:
1. If people focused only on the problems that we could do most to solve then that would reduce the pressure to solve problems. However rational it might seem to shift all foreign aid from funding education to funding AIDS prevention, the result would probably be less total aid. The way politics works, one big problem is sometimes treated less seriously than two problems that are half as big.
2. It is difficult to quantify any of these problems, but some of them, like global warming, are much harder to quantify. The "worst case scenario," unlikely as it may be, has the potential to do such incredible damage, that we need to act on it. Reducing global warming might be conceived of as an insurance policy, whereas preventing AIDS is more likely an investment in mutual funds.
Global Crises, Global Solutions.......2006-07-20
I enjoyed Bjorn Lomborg's latest work as a thought provoking alternative to conventional wisdom on different aspects of globalisation. Unfortunately, much of the scientific and political community have become prisoners to theories which have dubious merit. They are followed more out of political correctness and the prevailing winds of public opinion, than research and testing.
By including other experts who provide alternative opinions and challenge each other, Lomborg has followed the true spirit of scientific method - development of a theory and testing it through falsification. It is a shame that some purported scientists have tried to silence him in a similar way to Galileo. Poor science leads to inadequate policy.
The book is a worthy successor to the Environmental Sceptic and reflects a growing concern in the scientific community about the need for more rigorous research and debate on key issues. It's content is well laid out.
Clearly, the amount of material is not designed for reading in one session. However, it is a valuable resource book suited to those interested in entering into the debate on key global issues. You can pick an individual topic and obtain a good grounding in it.
I look forward to Bjorn Lomborg's next offering.
Highly Recommended!.......2005-07-27
This report is an excellent, controversial and refreshing approach to global problems. Daily, the news media and politicians declare that another crisis is urgent. Often, loud, public resolutions accompany these pronouncements. Political blocs form to push through agendas based on those resolutions. The only thing missing from the process is a dispassionate analysis of whether the solutions make economic sense and, if so, which ones make the most economic sense. This book of compiled essays from the Copenhagen Consensus - as documented in The Economist - provides that missing element. The conference drew from United Nations documents to assemble a list of the most urgent problems facing the world and identified those that presented opportunities for solutions. Then it set the task of identifying solutions that would provide the biggest benefit for the cost, examining 38 proposals for spending $50 billion over four years. Surprisingly, some of the most economically rational projects never make headlines and never turn up in public exhortations. When was the last time you saw someone climbing onto a platform to demand mosquito nets to prevent malaria in Africa? That may not come up nearly as often as adherence to the Kyoto Protocol, which provides a far weaker cost vs. benefit scenario. According to the analysts from Copenhagen, the former seems to be a very sound use of the world's problem-solving resources, but the latter costs a lot and seems to deliver relatively few benefits. We highly recommend this intriguing, sweeping conversation.
Average customer rating:
- Great theory, but not always an easy read
- Value edition for the budget minded
- A Very Standard Economic Postulate
- Don't buy the Dover edition of this book.
- great idea, little proof
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The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Dover Value Editions)
Max Weber ,
Talcott Parsons , and
R.H. Tawney
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ASIN: 048642703X |
Book Description
This brilliant study opposes the Marxist concept of dialectical materialism and its view that change takes place through the conflict of opposites. Instead, Weber relates the rise of a capitalist economy to the Puritan determination to work out anxiety over salvation or damnation by performing good deeds — an effort that ultimately encouraged capitalism.
Customer Reviews:
Great theory, but not always an easy read.......2007-07-30
Max Weber's thesis that the Protestant work-ethic helped give rise to the spirit of modern capitalism is well known, but how true is it? Weber goes into an impressive review of historical details on how Luther's concept of the calling became the Calvinist concept of labor to glorify God, and finally the Puritan concept that is applied to business as well as anything else. In short, the Protestant hard-work ethic, intended to be a sign of election and to glorify god, inadvertently (at least in part) gave birth to the spirit of capitalism, of sustained, planned, methodical profit-making. Though capitalism is no longer dependent upon religion for maintaining its ethos (we are all caught in the rat race), it is fascinating how Weber makes a compelling case that a once anti-materialist Protestant Christianity came to affirm the capitalist spirit by way of a hard-working ethic. Many of Weber's themes are persuasive, if also controversial. Weber has by no means isolated the final or full cause of the take-off of capitalism in modern times, but he has made a good case for one contributing factor. Would that his style of writing had been a bit more direct - Weber's insights are at least worth careful reading.
Value edition for the budget minded.......2007-06-06
The "reviews" about Weber's thesis could fill libraries. Ooops! They actually have!
So let's ignore that.
The focus here is on value, and this Dover value edition is perfectly fine for the thrifty college student on a limited budget who needs to read this work for an assignment but doesn't want to be at the mercy of the University Library.
This is a seminal work that reaches far into other fields of inquiry, so it is likely you will need it no matter what your field.
The binding is an el-cheap-o slab of glue, so it won't lie flat on your desk when you are transcribing a quote for a citation.....but since you've downloaded the text file you'll just cut and paste anyway.
Academic citations to this edition are perfectly acceptable in scholarly papers and under MLA, ASA, APA, ACS, APSA, "Turabian" and MHRA style guidelines (and perhaps others).
A Very Standard Economic Postulate.......2007-04-15
Assuming Max Weber's thesis to be true proves useful. By assuming it as a postulate, one gains a potential way of understanding the beliefs of the western-world's upper pareto boundary and the typical ressentiments / bad faith (bad-tempered, difficult mental traps everyone who tries to create something can't help but fall into from time to time, mea culpa!) of the lower.
Max Scheler (who advised Karol Wojtyla as a Ph.D. student) seems to have done something similar to what Max Weber describes the upper pareto boundary (somewhere over the rainbow as the song goes) as having done. Max Scheler "attempted to reconcile Nietzsche's ideas of master-slave morality and ressentiment with the Christian ideals of love and humility."
Anyway, just projecting a few of my other readings onto this one a bit. L8R.
Don't buy the Dover edition of this book........2006-10-26
The Dover edition of the book has been bound so tightly that it's difficult to turn the pages--and to read the words, which are nearly swallowed up by the binding. It feels like if you force it at all, the whole binding will come unglued.
It may be cheap, but it *feels* so extremely cheap that it's just not worth the money saved. Buy yourself another edition--or for that matter, just get the text free online. Anything's better than trying to read this edition.
great idea, little proof.......2006-09-26
As part of my enquiry into the forces that the Reformation unleased, I decided to at last read this classic.
Alas, it was disappointing in that Weber makes the assertion - that reformation-spawned ideologies were the foundation of the capitalist revolution - and then offers little historical explanation as proof of his thesis. Instead, what he does is to painstakingly describe the ideologies in question, to show that they are compatible conceptually with his definition of capitalism (the rise of an urban bourgeoisie that created wealth by investing in industry as a major new economic actor, eventaully leading to the eclipse of the old land-based aristocracy). As Hannah Ardnt said, so long as you are far enough from reality, you can make almost any ideas appear compatible. As such, I was unconvinced that a) the feeling of being among the elect made people work harder to prove it by material success and b) that a heightened sense of individuality that arose with separation from the papist ideologies augmented this pursuit of self-development via the massing of personal capital. While the protestant ideologies may conform vaguely to these notions, that does not in the slightest prove a direct causal connection. Indeed, one might argue that it was the repression by the Inquisition - against the bourgoise's challenge to traditional aristocrats - that may have delayed the development of capitalism in Catholic countries for a few centuries. (That capitalism did develop in many Catholic countries also undermines the book's prinicpal thesis.)
This essay is interesting as a pioneering attempt at sociological determinism from a rather existentialist perspective, but reading the whole thing was a bit much for me. Weber was a great and innovative thinker, however out of date his modes of reasoning have become - they are strictly qualitative. Not recommended except asof historical interest.
Book Description
This volume integrates traditional sociological concepts and insights with an ecological awareness and applies it to the globalization process. It takes a dynamic view of globalization as an evolutionary process with a potential for unprecedented transformation of social structure and consciousness.
Book Description
This book employs an "issues approach" to consumer economics. Each chapter has one or two consumer issues that are highlighted through engaging, real world examples. These real world examples are highly applied aspects of everyday consumer situations.
Book Description
America's leaders say the economy is strong and getting stronger. But ordinary Americans aren't buying it. They see what the rosy statistics hide: We are all struggling under the weight of terrifying economic instability. No matter how well educated and hard working we are, we know that the bottom can fall out at any moment. Meanwhile, the safety net that once protected us is fast unraveling. With retirement plans in growing jeopardy while health coverage erodes, more and more economic risk is shifting from government and business onto the fragile shoulders of the American family. In The Great Risk Shift, Jacob S. Hacker lays bare this unsettling new economic climate, showing how it has come about, what it is doing to our families, and how we can fight back. Behind this shift, he contends, is the Personal Responsibility Crusade, eagerly embraced by corporate leaders and Republican politicians who speak of a nirvana of economic empowerment, an "ownership society" in which Americans are free to choose. But as Hacker reveals, the result has been quite different: a harsh new world of economic insecurity, in which far too many Americans are free to lose. The book documents how two great pillars of economic security--the family and the workplace--guarantee far less financial stability than they once did. The final leg of economic support--the public and private benefits that workers and families get when economic disaster strikes--has dangerously eroded as political leaders and corporations increasingly cut back protections of our health care, our income security, and our retirement pensions. Hacker concludes by advocating an "insurance and opportunity society" that would safeguard economic security and expand economic opportunity, ensuring that all Americans have the basic financial security they need to reach for and achieve the American Dream. Jacob Hacker brings into focus as never before the pressures that the Great Risk Shift exerts on our pocketbooks and on our lives. Blending powerful human stories, big-picture analysis, and compelling ideas for reform, this remarkable volume will hit a nerve, serving as a rallying point in the vital struggle for economic security in an increasingly uncertain world.
Customer Reviews:
A book to avoid out of respect to fellow taxpayers.......2007-07-30
My book came, and I flipped through it to the last chapter--the REAL reason why I got this book.
While I knew this was a whiny tome about how people are being expected to shoulder more and more of their own social burdens, the title did contain a "how you can fight back" clause.
Well, the so-called "fighting back" involves exchanging one set of social programs for another, for example:
Medicare--of course, this would become Universal Health Care.
Retirement--instead of the accounts we have now, there'd be a Universal Savings account invented to take it's place. This account would cover any kind of savings you can imagine--retirement, college, etc., and would take the place of the ailing Social Security program.
Welfare--another magical account would be created to cover "insecurity": periods of unemployment, downshifting or pay cuts, high inflation, death of a working spouse, etc. to take the place of the existing food stamp, AFDC, unemployment, and/or disability. This would become Universal Insurance.
In short, the author proposes turning America into a highly-taxed, highly-coddled state like Denmark, where all is provided at taxpayer expense (up to 80% of people's pay), and only enough is left for housing, food, gas, and fun (like there'd be any fun on THAT plan!). Where would low-income earners come up with the money for THIS plan?
A quick calculation reveals that we couldn't even afford to pay rent on the 20% of our remaining income, let alone eat and commute, on our middle-class income with this plan.
Taxpayers would contribute to the new accounts, and the government would administer them just like it does now, except that your dollars would have your name on them. Personally, my dollars have my name on them now with my own private accounts, and I'm not paying for something I don't want or need.
There are solutions to these problems in existence now, but few are able to (or choose to) take advantage of them. This plan would take the choice out of the equation, and as far as I can see, doesn't account for the entrepreneurial spirit or self-employment.
If you prefer being self-sufficient, self-reliant, personally responsible, and to live below your means, then stay away from this book. There's nothing here for you except anger. This plan is clearly geared for the mindless sheep out there who want something for nothing, only this plan shows how dear the cost of that something would be--we're already paying up to 40% of our incomes in various taxes just to support people and government now!
What got us into trouble as a country is the fact that government borrows against assets--what's to say the government won't borrow against THESE assets as well? I don't want my accounts to be used as collateral by Uncle Sam.
Where oh where is the INCENTIVE to improve one's self, dear author? This is what got the "have-nots" into the position they're in now!! We've been leading horses to water for so long, they now expect us to bring it to them--and we STILL can't make them drink.
Rising Inequality and Anxiety in America.......2007-05-11
This past fall I heard Jacob Hacker speak about his work in The Great Risk Shift, and I just finally got around to reading the book. What I like about Hacker is that he not only critically examines complex political and societal issues, but he beautifully transforms his conceptions into practical solutions. He doesn't just ask, "What can we do?" He shows us how it can be done.
There are points I agree with in his book and other points I still have some reservations about, but his explanations and reasoning is thoroughly engaging nonetheless. For instance, he proposes a health coverage plan that reemphasizes national concerns about health care security. His proposal places more obligations on employers, which in my opinion, is a plausible expectation if the United States is not willing to adopt a universal health coverage plan. Hacker points out that a large contributor to the rise in bankruptcies is a result of healthcare costs. It's clear that health care insecurity poses great risks to countless Americans from all different placements of the socioeconomic spectrum.
I did face some apprehension and concern regarding his "universal insurance" proposal. This insurance would be designed to protect families in the event of a threatening change in finances and security - for instance a drastic pay decrease. Although I can agree that current job market conditions are very unstable (I myself have faced a drastic pay decrease formerly working in the business sector), I also feel as though we generally have a highly exaggerated sense of materialism and pretentious consumption patterns in America. How will these factors be accounted for when claiming instability and who is entitled to what? Is this where federal money should go when much larger issues regarding our nation's schools, health and extreme poverty are being neglected?
In the Great Risk Shift, Hacker identifies significant points of concern for Americans and the anxieties and rising inequality pressing citizens. With higher and higher concerns, these are questions we will be continually readdressing for years to come. This book proves Hacker always has amazing ideas and great things to say. We can contiunally look forward to his new approaches at examining significant social and political issues.
An attempt to ameliorate economic volatility.......2006-12-16
Although Jacob Hacker exaggerates the level of risk shift in the "Great Risk Shift", he makes some public policy proposals that deserve at least debate if not adoption.
Much of the book is a critique of what he calls "The Personal Responsibility Crusade", which he views as the vehicle for the shift. He tends to overreach at times. Much of the talk I have heard regarding "personal responsibility" was directed about teenage pregnancy or fathers who abandon those they impregnate and/or their children. He is right that "personal responsibility" is sometimes invoked as an argument against certain government social programs but those programs also have very real budgetary concerns that feed most of the efforts to constrain them.
Some of his arguments also seem peculiar. On page 66 Hacker quotes some corporate statements to outline what he calls the "new contract" for workers. "The only job security is a successful business" and "if loyalty means that this company will ignore poor performance, the loyalty is off the table". It is strange he would cite these as somehow new, when were they not true? Even under the "old contract", an unsuccessful business could not offer job security, nor was poor performance ignored.
Hacker makes a compelling case that there is more volatility in incomes (although incomes are generally higher) than in the past. His argument that this was essentially by design is a little less compelling. The three decades after World War II is his (and that of many others) reference point for security. That era can't be recreated. Fortunately, he doesn't resort to the easy (but unwise) option of endorsing trade protectionism, rather he recognizes the globalized economy is a fact of life and suggests a series of measures to mitigate the greater risk born by workers.
For health care coverage, he proposes something called "Medicare Plus", which is a variation on "pay or play" coverage proposals, which require employers to cover their employees or pay into the government plan that covered their employees and everyone outside of the employer market. It isn't really clear why this proposal is better than a universal government run system, other than Hacker seems to think the latter can't be enacted.
He also wants to enhance unemployment insurance and introduce "wage insurance" (for those who are displaced and take a new job that pays less than their previous job).
He also makes a proposal that appears to be novel, what he calls "universal insurance" that would cover families from an array of potential vicissitudes. Both this idea and wage insurance do not have a track record (at least not in the United States) and may not work as well in practice as they might in theory, but they at least deserve discussion.
Strong on describing the issue; Weak on solutions.......2006-11-20
"The Great Risk Shift" has much to recommend it. Hacker cogently explains the way risk has been transferred since the New Deal and Great Society eras (when health care, pensions and the like were seen as collective or corporate responsibility) to individuals. Hacker is at his best in describing the issue -- indemnity medical plans replaced with HMOs or medical savings accounts; defined benefit pension plans replaced with defined contribution plans or 401(k)s; secure, full-time jobs replaced with several part-time jobs cobbled together to make a less-than-full-time salary; broken families who cannot be relied upon for support.
Where the book falters, however, is in its view that every risk should be socialized, at least to some extent. When it comes to catastrophic health risks, many would agree that society should assist. I tend to agree with Hacker that one's medical insurance should not depend on one's employer: some businesses cannot afford adequate insurance for their employees. Likewise, adequate health insurance cannot always be purchased in the market: insurance companies "cherry pick" the healthiest candidates. Thus, Hacker has convinced me that we need some sort of baseline national health insurance, at least for significant or catastrophic illnesses (after all, we have something like it today, as those with health insurance subsidize the emergency room visits of those without it). However, we need to beware of a system with Canada-style rigidity or one which leaves no room for innovations.
Fewer would want to subsidize pensions, however, and Hacker fails to provide a real solution. The problem with defined contribution plans is not that they cannot work, but that they must be adequately funded. They can work if employers contribute enough to them so that employees can have a real pension when they retire. Likewise, individuals should be allowed to put greater amounts of pre-tax income into 401(k)s, and companies should be able to match a greater amount dollar-for-dollar. (This is the type of free-market solution that Hacker does not favor, as he believes individuals are not always able to manage their own 401(k) money.) In any event, Hacker provides no advice for those who find themselves in a defined contribution plan, under the present rules, other than "save more and stop spending on luxuries." As for broken families, that is a trend that predates "the risk shift" and will not be solved by the government. Although Hacker wants more risks to be socialized, it is important to ask what this will cost, and whether we will have a Eurpoean-style economy at the end of it.
Hacker has correctly identified the trend to shift risk from government and corporations to individuals. The question is whether the solutions he suggests will be appropriate and cost-effective. The jury is still out.
Unchallenged Assumptions.......2006-11-16
From his comfortable tenure at Yale, Jacob Hacker offers us an analysis of where things have gone wrong with the American economic system. He identifies three traditional pillars of economic security:
1. The family
2. The workplace
3. Public and private benefits
The first two are under siege. The third one is at risk. Hacker argues that the erosion of that third one - public and private benefits - is not inevitable.
Fair enough. But let's start with the family. The decrease in the stability of the family unit over the years didn't just happen. Victims of the Jerry Springerization of the family - as a mainstream example of how far things have gone askew - have no one to blame but themselves. The freedom to treat family relationships as a disposable commodity is bound to come with some trade-offs. Economic security is one of them. While the erosion of family bonds has been widespread, it is not inevitable either.
As for the other two pillars, they revolve around the ability of commerce to fund them. More corporate profits means more tax revenues - and at least the possibility of more jobs. Without corporate profits, we have no corporations to bash, no corporate profits to tax, and no jobs or benefits, public or private.
Yes, traditional jobs are under siege and traditional benefit programs are morphing. Hacker says we have choices. Yes, we do.
We could, as a society, opt to have more stable jobs, even in an era of increasingly worldwide competition. This is a valid choice. Many parts of Europe have opted for lower overall standards of living in exchange for greater job security and more leisure. Many EU citizens appear willing to tolerate double-digit long-term unemployment rates and higher tax rates in exchange for generous social safety nets.
Of course, we in America have always been looking for the free lunch. Look at U.S. savings rates, which are negative. A critical examination across all socioeconomic classes suggests that the personal saving deficit may have more to do with an insatiable appetite for big-screen televisions, $90 a month cable services, frequent restaurant dining, coiffed hair and acrylic nails, rather than for prudent expenditures on basics like food and shelter.
But by all means, we should welcome Mr. Hacker's debate. It will be useful to make explicit the trade-offs that come to light in the process.
Book Description
Designed as an introduction to general economics for non-majors, Sharp/Register/Grimes’ Economics of Social Issues presents economic concepts as useful tools to analyze contemporary social issues. Each chapter presents economic concepts then places them within the context of very current issues facing society. The book may also be used to supplement principles courses with lively social issues to add relevance to the economic principles being taught.
Customer Reviews:
Good introduction to applied economics.......2006-12-04
This is an introductory policy economics book. The principal weakness of this book is that it does not give a solid explanation of economic theory, and it will probably be a bit basic for anyone who has taken even separate introductory courses in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. The book appears to be designed to stand alone as introductory economics textbook for non-economics majors. What little (very little) economic theory is needed to understand this book is explained within, but it is not enough to meet even the needs of introductory class economics class for business or economics majors. Political science majors might find this book useful for giving them an introduction to the economic issues at hand in education, unemployment, free trade, government spending, social security, and other areas (such as the business of big sports). Importantly, the authors seem to come out with new editions often, so they are hopefully keeping up to date on the issues.
This book will give someone as solid a foundation as can be achieved wihtout really learning economic theory, which makes me think that it would be best for people studying a political or policy-related field. It could perhaps be used in a serious economics class, provided sources of more in depth information are also used.
Wrong Edition.......2005-07-06
I am supposed to get 16th edition, instead I received 15th edition. The book was completely changed from the previuos edition
outstanding introduction to economics.......1999-03-18
this is an outstanding book for those who want to know more, but not too much more, about economic thinking. modern examples and applications make the book easy to read, for a university text.
Book Description
"This is one of the most coherent and comprehensive theories of evaluation yet formulated and one that makes a most valuable contribution. The authors are pioneering in important new directions."
--Ernest R. House, author of Professional Evaluation and Evaluating with Validity
"This book is the best I've ever read detailing a practical theory of evaluation. It is comprehensive, beautifully written, and makes sense of the evaluation enterprise. It does so by emphasizing the major function of evaluation as sense-making about policies and programs."
--Thomas D. Cook, professor, sociology, psychology, education, and public policy, Northwestern University
Programs that serve the needs of the public continually face changes brought by social, political, and economic forces. To survive these changes, organizations must evaluate their programs wisely and realistically. This book offers a new approach to evaluation, one that will encourage all kinds of organizations and agencies to improve their contributions to social betterment. The authors draw from three decades of evaluation practice and theory to present their own framework for conceptualizing evaluation and for pragmatically assessing social policies and programs.
They analyze four purposes of evaluation:
To review the merit of programs and their value to society
To improve the organization and its services
To ensure program compliance with mandates
To build knowledge and expertise for future programs
For the practitioner, these purposes help define the approach and methods for an evaluation. The authors also enrich their discussion with four possible modes of inquiry: description, classification, causal analysis, and values inquiry. Filled with tables, charts, and figures, this resource invites organizations to make the most appropriate programming decisions based on thoughtful and systematic methods. Evaluation: An Integrated Framework for Understanding, Guiding, and Improving Policies and Programs is a tool that scholars can use to rejuvenate their view of evaluation and that practitioners can use to integrate the best techniques with a contemporary understanding of social policy and change.
Customer Reviews:
A Primer for sorting out conceptual muddles in the field.......2004-01-22
Amidst a burgeoning growth industry in policy evaluation, characterized by a plethora of approaches and non-standard language usage, editors of two prominent evaluation journals join forces with a third colleague to provide an overview and an inclusive framework that differentiates in simple language, major approaches taken to policy and program evaluation to date.
Beginning with a core definition of evaluation as assisted sense-making whose ultimate objective is social betterment, the authors distinguish four purposes of evaluation: (1) assessment of merit and worth (2) program and organizational improvement, (3) oversight and compliance, and (4) knowledge development. Conceptual clarity over purpose(s) helps avoid muddles encountered in everyday arenas of evaluation and is directly pertinent to modes of inquiry appropriate to those purposes. In the second section of the book the authors distinguish four types of evaluative inquiry and discuss how to plan corresponding evaluative methods appropriate to the purpose(s) at hand. With a view toward conceptual coherence, they spend a chapter grounding their conception of evaluation as assisted sense-making in a philosophy of common sense realism. The third and final section of the book then considers closely, uses and challenges for each of these four modes of evaluative inquiry and devotes one chapter to each: (1) "Description," (2) "Classification," (3) "Causal Analysis," and (4) "Values Inquiry." In so doing, the authors contribute toward enhanced clarity in the "evaluation jungle" at significant levels of analysis and deliver what they promise in simple common sense language: an integrated framework for understanding, guiding, and improving public and nonprofit policies and programs.
My only reservation is related to what in content is also a strength. Rich in academic references, with an adaptation in format, these references could have better been placed in endnotes rather than parentheses. This would have facilitated reading flow. The decision to keep a format that is probably more useful in journals than books accounts for a one star deduction and four star rating.
A solid well-grounded theoretical analysis that will help those engaged in policy/program evaluation sort out a lot of muddles ahead of time rather than unnecessarily being caught in the mire. Another indication that, while good theory will never get as far as accounting for all the exigencies in a complex world, good theory is helpful in avoiding unnecessary confusions and many commonplace and wholly predictable errors in advance. Highly recommended.
Aimed at both practitioners and academics.......2003-08-23
This book serves two purposes. It is a comprehensive text on evaluation aimed at both practitioners and academics, but most importantly, it is a treatise aimed at introducing a new evaluation framework. It is a textbook with a point of view. The authors begin with the premise that the fundamental purpose of evaluation is social betterment, which is "...the reduction or prevention of social problems, the improvement of social conditions, and the alleviation of human suffering." From these roots, they build a new `realistic' evaluation framework. Although aimed primarily at public and non-profit organizations, many of the lessons can be applied in the private sector as well.
Part one examines why one would want to do an evaluation in the first place. The authors purport that evaluation is a fundamental part of the democratic process because it is crucial in informing policy and decision makers about the effectiveness of public policy and programs. The book reviews the four purposes of evaluation (assessment of merit and worth, program and organizational improvement, oversight and compliance, and knowledge development) and introduces the four inquiry modes (description, classification, causal analysis and values inquiry). The authors provide extensive coverage and a critique of the academic debates concerning purposes, modes and methodology. This leads to the proposal of a realistic philosophy, which aims to move beyond traditional paradigm silos. The authors argue that by focusing on the ultimate goal of social betterment and by seeking to surface underlying values, it is possible to follow a path that tailors methodology to intended purpose.
Part two covers evaluation planning and begins the practical application part of the book. Different evaluation purposes become paramount and are more aptly suited, depending on the environment (stable, competitive, shifts in funding or new policy/program). Choosing appropriate methodology and evaluation extensiveness (i.e. quality) is aided by an understanding of primary and secondary evaluation purposes; the book provides decision-making matrices as well as many examples and references. The authors expand on their notion of a `common-sense realistic' philosophy and provide an extensive overview of the supporting principles. It is a philosophy underlined by the notion of evaluation as `assisted sensemaking' that aims to build upon and extend natural human perceptual processes. In practice, it is flexible, antiformalist and rejects the fact-value and qualitative-quantitative dichotomies. In short, it aims to do what works in a given situation and contributes the most to social betterment.
Part three provides extensive detail on the four inquiry modes (description, classification, causal analysis and values inquiry). Each chapter provides a complete overview: detailed arguments about how the selected mode can be used to support the four evaluation purposes, examples of specific evaluation methodology, interactions, notable caveats and pitfalls and an overview of critical opinion. The sections on classification and causal analysis are especially extensive, full of detailed methodology and references to external sources. The authors expand on the notion of how values inquiry can be critical in a complementary role with other modes.
The authors conclude with a statement that the field of evaluation is "...moving towards yet another rite of passage." They argue that evaluators need "...to take their proper place in the policy community" and they must become "...shameless in broadly spreading their findings...." They make a final argument in support of their realistic philosophy.
The book is often dense with citations, making for difficult reading at times. In places, especially in part one, the level of detail is far beyond that needed by the average practitioner. However, this would seem to suit the academic audience, who would find the sections devoted to methodology (aimed at practitioners) unnecessary. It seems a happy compromise. Name and subject indexes facilitate use of the book as a reference text. A thorough bibliography points the reader to external sources. It is a text thoroughly worth the attention of anyone interested in the field of evaluation.
Aimed at both practitioners and academics.......2003-08-23
This book serves two purposes. It is a comprehensive text on evaluation aimed at both practitioners and academics, but most importantly, it is a treatise aimed at introducing a new evaluation framework. It is a textbook with a point of view. The authors begin with the premise that the fundamental purpose of evaluation is social betterment, which is "...the reduction or prevention of social problems, the improvement of social conditions, and the alleviation of human suffering." From these roots, they build a new `realistic' evaluation framework. Although aimed primarily at public and non-profit organizations, many of the lessons can be applied in the private sector as well.
Part one examines why one would want to do an evaluation in the first place. The authors purport that evaluation is a fundamental part of the democratic process because it is crucial in informing policy and decision makers about the effectiveness of public policy and programs. The book reviews the four purposes of evaluation (assessment of merit and worth, program and organizational improvement, oversight and compliance, and knowledge development) and introduces the four inquiry modes (description, classification, causal analysis and values inquiry). The authors provide extensive coverage and a critique of the academic debates concerning purposes, modes and methodology. This leads to the proposal of a realistic philosophy, which aims to move beyond traditional paradigm silos. The authors argue that by focusing on the ultimate goal of social betterment and by seeking to surface underlying values, it is possible to follow a path that tailors methodology to intended purpose.
Part two covers evaluation planning and begins the practical application part of the book. Different evaluation purposes become paramount and are more aptly suited, depending on the environment (stable, competitive, shifts in funding or new policy/program). Choosing appropriate methodology and evaluation extensiveness (i.e. quality) is aided by an understanding of primary and secondary evaluation purposes; the book provides decision-making matrices as well as many examples and references. The authors expand on their notion of a `common-sense realistic' philosophy and provide an extensive overview of the supporting principles. It is a philosophy underlined by the notion of evaluation as `assisted sensemaking' that aims to build upon and extend natural human perceptual processes. In practice, it is flexible, antiformalist and rejects the fact-value and qualitative-quantitative dichotomies. In short, it aims to do what works in a given situation and contributes the most to social betterment.
Part three provides extensive detail on the four inquiry modes (description, classification, causal analysis and values inquiry). Each chapter provides a complete overview: detailed arguments about how the selected mode can be used to support the four evaluation purposes, examples of specific evaluation methodology, interactions, notable caveats and pitfalls and an overview of critical opinion. The sections on classification and causal analysis are especially extensive, full of detailed methodology and references to external sources. The authors expand on the notion of how values inquiry can be critical in a complementary role with other modes.
The authors conclude with a statement that the field of evaluation is "...moving towards yet another rite of passage." They argue that evaluators need "...to take their proper place in the policy community" and they must become "...shameless in broadly spreading their findings...." They make a final argument in support of their realistic philosophy.
The book is often dense with citations, making for difficult reading at times. In places, especially in part one, the level of detail is far beyond that needed by the average practitioner. However, this would seem to suit the academic audience, who would find the sections devoted to methodology (aimed at practitioners) unnecessary. It seems a happy compromise. Name and subject indexes facilitate use of the book as a reference text. A thorough bibliography points the reader to external sources. It is a text thoroughly worth the attention of anyone interested in the field of evaluation.
Book Description
Hands-On Social Marketing provides a comprehensive guide to the social marketing process for professionals who wish to influence health or social behaviors using effective techniques of this emerging field. Written in a friendly, engaging style, this book leads the reader throughout the steps involved in developing, implementing, and evaluating a social marketing program. Hands-On Social Marketing also includes comprehensive worksheets and practical sidebars providing expert advice. This "how-to" book is both instructional and functional, with an emphasis on low-cost methods and do-it-yourself guidelines. After explaining the basic concepts of social marketing, Hands-On Social Marketing devotes a section to each of the five steps in the author's model of the social marketing process: Planning Message and materials development Pretesting Implementation Evaluation and feedback The main message of this book is that you yourself can do social marketing! About the Author Nedra Kline Weinreich is President of Weinreich Communications, a social marketing firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has worked in the fields of social marketing and health communciations for many years for clients such as the U.S. Public Health Service Family Planning Grantees, Virginia Department of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, National Institute of Mental Health, and National Center of Child Abuse and Neglect Clearinghouse. She earned her master's degree in health and social behavior from the Harvard School of Public Health and is a certified health education specialist. In addition to conducting training and providing consultation on developing social marketing programs, she has written several articles on social marketing. She publishes a website, the Social Marketing Place, at, http://www.social-marketing.com.
Customer Reviews:
Made-to-Order for Social Marketers.......2004-12-17
This work book is chock-filled with practical help for preparing an effective social marketing plan. I enjoyed the easy-to-use forms. Many great ideas for applying social marketing too. It's so hard to find resources that relate to the unique nature and challenges of this kind of marketing. If you are a non-profit change oriented social marketer you need this book on your shelf!
Terrific resource for nonprofits.......2003-02-26
I have used this resource with clients who have few resources and little experience in social marketing. It is a well written guidebook that explains the steps in developing social marketing strategies and provides well constructed worksheets. The book is extremely enlightening for organizations who are doing this for the first time or who cannot afford high-priced consultants. As a writer without much social marketing background, it helped me help my clients. It might be worth noting that the reference is designed for U.S. use and cites resources only available here, but I still found the basic approach helpful for an overseas client.
Books:
- Cost Accounting (12th Edition) (Charles T Horngren Series in Accounting)
- Cost Accounting Student Guide, 12th Edition
- Designing and Managing the Supply Chain w/ Student CD-Rom
- E-Commerce: Business, Technology, Society (3rd Edition)
- Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data
- Elliott Wave Principle: Key to Market Behavior (Wiley Trading Advantage)
- Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (7th Edition)
- Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
- Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide
- Exploring Illustration (Design Exploration Series)
Books Index
Books Home
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- Plowing the Sea: Nurturing the Hidden Sources of Growth in the Developing World
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- Her Last Call To Louis MacNeice
Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World
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Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (American Empire Project)
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God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
