Economics – Page 46 – Public Intelligence Blog

2005/10/192009/09/25

Review: Rage of the Random Actor

5 Star, Congress (Failure, Reform), Corruption, Crime (Government), Culture, Research, Democracy, Economics, Education (General), Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Philosophy, Politics, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Secession & Nullification, Threats (Emerging & Perennial), Truth & Reconciliation, Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution, Voices Lost (Indigenous, Gender, Poor, Marginalized)

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary, Compelling, Urgently Applicable to All

October 19, 2005

Dan Korem

I am utterly astonished to not see this book at the top of the charts and being absorbed by every school principal, every small town mayor, every police chief, and every counter-terrorism expert. This book is extraordinary, it is compelling, and it is utterly and urgently applicable to every single person who wishes to “defuse” potentially deadly “random actors.”

Although it is a thick book packed with details, you do not have the read the whole thing to extract value. Suffice to say that armed with this book, communities and organizations will have all they need to know to achieve early warning of potentially threatening “random actors.”

This is not a book full of psycho-babble. If anything, it is solidly grounded in practical case studies going back twenty years, and I for one, as a 30-year veteran intelligence professional, including clandestine service with constant exposure to bad boys and girls, find the book credible, useful, and easy to understand.

The bottom line, without seeking to simplify the book, is avoid de-personalization, prevent bullying, open up to individuals and empower them, and above all, be alert for any sense that they see teachers or other authority figures as “CONTROLLING” and rules as “INAPPLICABLE.”

The author's finding that terrorism is a rich kid's game, and that most US-based random actors will come from upper middle class families in small towns, are consistent with my own research and practical experience with revolutionaries.

Sadly, the underlying theme across the book is that of societal collapse. The major institutions, from school to church to sports to social clubs are all degenerating and failing to provide the inclusiveness and alternatives to boredom and alienation that they once represented. The threat of “random actors” imposing catastrophic fatal acts on their communities is very real.

This book is an important reference work, and one that I would recommend be bought in bulk, and discussed in a structured manner by every school staff and every local police department…and of course by parents!

2005/05/232009/12/04

Review: Freakonomics–A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything [ROUGH-CUT EDGE] (Hardcover)

4 Star, Economics

Oversold–modestly provocative vignettes,

May 23, 2005

Steven D. Levitt

This book is about 75% solid thinking and 25% hyped up marketing and clever packaging. I certainly do not begrudge the award winning authors their success, but I was truly expecting something a little deeper and more broad-reaching. One sixth of the book is about children's names correlating with success and scores–I was reading about that in the 1970's, when folks were proving that the same paper by a David would get a half point better score than one attributed to Moonbeam.

Bottom line: an excellent airplane book, by all means worth the time it takes to read (lots of white space), but over-sold.

Better books include:
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-first Century Organization
Revolutionary Wealth: How it will be created and how it will change our lives
Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Power at the Edge of the 21st Century
Infinite Wealth: A New World of Collaboration and Abundance in the Knowledge Era
Information Payoff
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything

2004/01/012009/12/04

Review: Ecological Economics–Principles And Applications

5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Economics, Environment (Solutions)

Most up-to-date and detailed “textbook” in this area,

January 1, 2004

Herman E. Daly

Edit of 21 Dec to add links.

Dr. Herman E. Daly may well be a future Nobel Prize winner …he is especially well-regarded in Norway and Sweden, where he has received prizes one step short of the Nobel. He is the author, co-author, or primary contributing editor of many books that fully integrate the disciplines of economics and ecology. I bought the three most recent for the purpose of selecting one to give out at my annual Global Information Forum. I ended up choosing For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future, in part because it is available in paperback and is not a more expensive “trade” publication; and in part because it is strong in laying out specific ecological policy areas in the context of a strong theological or ethical perspective. More on that in its own review.

Of the three books (the third one that I reviewed is Valuing the Earth: Economics, Ecology, Ethics) this, the text-book, is assuredly the most up-to-date and the most detailed. If you are buying only one book for yourself, this is the one that I recommend, because these are important issues and a detailed understanding is required with the level of detail that this book provided. It should, ideally, be read with “Valuing the Earth” first (see my separate review of that book, from the 1970's updated with 1990's material and new contributions), then “For the Common Good”, and finally the text book as a capstone. But if you buy only one, buy this one.

Tables of contents rarely do justice to the contents but in this case, they excel. This is one of the most intelligent, structured, useful outlines it has been my privilege to examine. Read the Table of Contents information provided by the publisher to satisfy yourself. From Part I with three chapters (An Introduction to Ecological Economics) to Part II with 4 chapters (The Containing and Sustaining Ecosystem: The Whole) to Parts III and IV (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, respectively, five and four chapters each) to Part V with four chapters (International Trade), and finally to Part VI (Policy) with chapters on General Policy Design Principles, on Sustainable Scale, on Just Distribution, and on Efficient Allocation, the content of the book is elegantly organized and accurately described.

Readings and other references make this a true textbook suitable for policy adults, graduate students, and undergraduates. It is the perfect single book in this field, not least because of its appreciation for religious vision and ethics as a foundation for making decisions that favor sustainable community over corporate greed and government fiat.

Dr. Joshua Farley as co-author appears to have brought a rich background as first an understudy and then an original contributor in his own right. God willing, America will one day have a President that uses the co-authors as primary advisors, along with E. O. Wilson, Brian Czech, and J. F. Rischard, among a handful I particularly respect. I feel a real sense of privilege in having discovered these three books and the work of Dr. Daly. At the age of 52, as I see America and the world inflamed by ideologues and crooks betraying the public trust, I cannot help but feel that those of us old enough and experienced enough to think for ourselves have a 20-year intellectual and moral battle ahead of us, one that will determine the future of the Earth. Anyone old enough to drive needs to read at least one of his books, but those of us old enough to feel fully equal to the task of confronting our sell-out Senators and sell-out Representatives need to arm ourselves with the specifics that Drs. Daly and Farley offer us, and join the battle for managing the commonwealth in favor of all of us.

2004/01/012009/12/04

Review: For the Common Good–Redirecting the Economy toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future

5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Economics, Environment (Solutions)

Ethical, Humanitarian, Communitarian, Sustainable,

January 1, 2004

Herman E. Daly

Edit of 21 Dec 07 to add links

Dr. Herman E. Daly may well be a future Nobel Prize winner …he is especially well-regarded in Norway and Sweden, where he has received prizes one step short of the Nobel. He is the author, co-author, or primary contributing editor of many books that fully integrate the disciplines of economics and ecology. I bought the three most recent for the purpose of selecting one to give out at my annual Global Information Forum. I ended up choosing this book to give away to hundreds, in part because it is available in paperback and is not a more expensive “trade” publication; and in part because it is strong in laying out specific ecological policy areas in the context of a strong theological or ethical perspective.

Of the three books I reviewed, (the newest Ecological Economics: Principles And Applications, the oldest, updated, Valuing the Earth: Economics, Ecology, Ethics) the first, the text-book, is assuredly the most up-to-date and the most detailed. If you are buying only one book for yourself, that is the one that I recommend, because these are important issues and a detailed understanding is required with the level of detail that this book provided. It should, ideally, be read with “Valuing the Earth” first (see my separate review of that book, from the 1970's updated with 1990's material and new contributions), then this book (“For the Common Good”), and finally the text book as a capstone. But if you buy only one, buy the text book.

This is a second-edition work, updated from the 1984 first edition. I like it very much in part because it comes across as less academic and more common-sense in nature. Part One does a lovely job of tearing apart the fallacy of misplaced concreteness with respect to economics, the market, measuring economic success, the reduction of the human to a “good” that can be traded without regard to humanity and ethics and community, and land. Part Two gently introduces the reader to the many distinguished thought-leaders and practitioners who have gradually matured the discipline of economics to embrace humanity, community, and sustainability as non-negotiable realities that cannot be ignored.

Part Three, a major factor in my choosing this book over the others for broad pro-bono distribution, addresses the specifics of policies one element at a time: free trade versus community; population; land use; agriculture; industry; labor; income policies and taxes; from world domination to national security as an objective. Finally, Part Four, without being corny or preachy, describes the religious or ethical vision (I still think the Golden Rule works as a one-sentence definition of common interest).

An afterword on debt in relation to money and wealth is particularly timely as the American public foolishly allows the White House carpetbaggers to run up a $7 trillion deficit that our great-grandchilden will never be able to pay off if we continue is these evil and irresponsible directions, all in sharp opposition to the sensible and ethical constructs in this book.

Of the three books, none of which really duplicate one another in any negative way, albeit with overlaps, this is the second that I recommend for purchase, after the textbook.

2004/01/012009/12/04

Review: Valuing the Earth–Economics, Ecology, Ethics

5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Economics, Environment (Solutions)

A Treasure Chest–The Originals Plus the Current Masters,

January 1, 2004

Herman E. Daly

Edit of 21 Dec 07 to add links to more recent books that build on this.

This is one of three books that I bought for review with the intent of selecting one for broad pro-bono distribution. Although I chose “For the Common Good” and I recommend “Ecological Economics” as the one book to buy if you buy only one (see my reviews of those books at their own pages), this book is a treasure chest of original and current thinking that should certainly be in your hands if you can afford all three books. As another reviewer has noted, it finally re-publishes some of the hard to get original thinkers from the steady-state economics era of the 1970's. However, it does so with an ample leavening of 1990's authorship, and hence could reasonably be regarded as a first-class “readings” complement to the text book (“Ecological Economics”).

There is a chart on page 20 of this book that is quite extraordinary. Titled “The ends-means spectrum”, it brilliantly runs down from the top: Religion and Ethics as guidelines to ultimate and intermediate ends of humanity; to the middle Political Economy as a means of managing the factors of production to specific political ends; to the bottom: Technics and Physics as the “ultimate” foundation or “ground truth” of flow-entropy-matter-energy that must constrain political and religious ends.

This book, in which Kenneth N. Townsend is the second contributing editor-author, blends practical, political, economic, and theological writings, over several decades, in a most pleasing manner. E. F. Schumacher's “Buddhist Economics” jumped out at me, reminding me that our predominantly Protestant corporate capitalist ethos is very far removed from the realities that guide and repress billions around the Earth, all of whom have fewer options than we do. With that thought in mind, I strongly recommend William Greider's “The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy” as a very current complement to any of the books that Dr. Daly has helped bring into the marketplace of ideas.

2003/12/072009/12/04

Review: In an Uncertain World–Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington

5 Star, Capitalism (Good & Bad), Economics, Politics

Solid Serious Overview of Core Economic Security Issues,

December 7, 2003

Robert E. Rubin

Edit of 22 Sep 08 to recognize that Rubin did not bail out Mexico, he bailed out Wall Street, and Paulson is about to rip the heart out of every American taxpayer in the boldest and most insane national treasury rip-off anyone on this planet could conceive of….we don't need a Wall Street bail-out, we need a complete recall of both the Executive and the Legislative leaderships–a fresh start. These pigs have destroyed the nation–see my new book, free online from 24 Sep, ELECTION 2008: Lipstick on the Pig.

Edit of 21 Dec 07 to recommend update and reissuance in collaboration with John Bogle, author of The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism: How the Financial System Underminded Social Ideals, Damaged Trust in the Markets, Robbed Investors of Trillions – and What to Do About It and a few others whose books are linked below.

Rubin is self-effacing and not at all, in any way, claiming personal credit for how well it went as America experienced one of its greatest economic booms, despite some rather scary international threats to our economic security. I believe this will be a classic reference for years to come.

1) Early on, and then throughout the book, Rubin does a fine job of documenting and explaining why markets, which are relatively autonomous beasts, and at least as important as governments and government policies, in setting the economic security environment.

2) A corollary to the above, but all the more important because it dovetails precisely with Henry Kissinger's caution (“Does America Need a Foreign Policy”), is Rubin's detailed articulation of how U.S. politics and US policy mechanisms are not now well-suited to coping with the new risks of the global economy. The speed and reach of the marketplace is now such that the industrial-era government bureaucracies and 1970's information technology stovepipes are completely inadequate–however well-intentioned a President might be, the current structure and current approaches to establishing economic strategies and policies are NOT OKAY.

3) Rubin is quite excellent in explaining in a very understandable manner how specific fiscal policies toward other states (e.g. Mexico) can be directly related to consequences in terms of illegal immigration (surging if Mexico is allowed to collapse), illegal drugs and crime, and trade.

4) Especially helpful in this book is its emphasis on the importance of educating the American public as a pre-requisite to the politics of making the right economic decisions for America. Rubin quotes Clinton as saying that one of his (President Clinton's) greatest lessons learned from his two-term Presidency was the need to do the public education (political strategy) before the public politics and deal-making. Senator David Boren (today President of the University of Oklahoma) and Mr. David Gergen have made this point earlier (“Preparing America's Foreign Policy for the 21st Century”), but Rubin's focus merits strong emphasis, because in combination, our mediocre policy structure and our mediocre public understanding combine to create not one but two devastating Achilles' heels for US economic security policy-making.

5) Rubin excels at documenting the direct relationship between poverty and inner-city distress and poor education of important segments of America's population, and its economic well-being. He extends this analysis internationally, focusing on how vital it is to extend the fruits of prosperity across all nations and peoples, if the US is itself to have sustainable economic stability and prosperity.

6) The book is a case study in decision-making, a manual of how to and how not to approach problems for which, as he notes with frequency, there are no certain outcomes. I was very impressed by his acute sensitivity to the fact that most subordinates are incapable of speaking utter truth to their bosses–they pull their punches. This is equally true, as he explicitly notes, of Chief Executive Officers invited to meet with the President. Rubin appears gifted in his ability to draw out the concerns and negatives from all subordinates, with a special kindness extended by him to the most junior or front-line subordinates, a kindness that is repaid in full with honest opinion.

7) I noticed some very strong observations from Rubin on the inability of the Department of State and of the Central Intelligence Agency to provide him with core information that he needed on Indonesia, among other fiscal hot spots. Lee Kuan Yew from Singapore turned out to be much more useful to him in understanding the context and possibilities. From this Rubin draws the lesson that the Department of State needs to get smarter about economics, and that a new kind of Foreign Service Officer is needed, one that is not just following political matters, but economic matters. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that State needs to migrate from the old POL-MIL mind-set, to a new POL-ECON mindset. CIA must of course get much better at understanding demography, public health, economics, and infrastructure issues down to the province and township letters, something that will require them to finally take Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) much more seriously, and to become competent in 29+ languages.

8) “Rubin's Rules”, actually prepared by his staff as a going-away gift when he departed Treasury, are listed on page 251, with an 11th rule on page 252, and are alone worth the price of the book. They will not be repeated here, they are precious.

9) Rubin is critical of the private sector for having over-invested in Third World ventures without doing the due diligence related to risk assessment, and he ventures into some discussion of the importance of defining and communicating best practices, codes and standards for debt management, bankruptcy, deposit insurance, and bank supervision. I could not help but reflect on how much more important the ISO might become if it also becomes central to economic security and stability by contributing a standards process that helps reduce and mitigate risk for all.

10) There are many other gems in this book, from his review of “deficit economics” (and why it is an idiot idea writ large), to how Monica Lewinsky cost the US taxpayer much more than the cost of the impeachment proceedings, to the need to always review old assumptions, to the dangerous reliance by Wall Street on models (as with Long-Term Capital Management failure), to the need to redefine GDP calculations (in addition to deducting negative investments like prisons and health care that others have recommended, Rubin suggests that the presence or absence of positive investments related to environmental sustainability need to be included).

This is a solid serious book about core economic security issues. I venture to say that no one could run for President, or be an effective President, without absorbing all that Robert E. Rubin has to teach us. His assistant author, Jacob Weisberg, is to be congratulated for helping bring this extraordinary work to the marketplace. We all benefit.

2003/09/242009/12/04

Review: The Great Unraveling–Losing Our Way in the New Century

4 Star, Economics, Politics

Read Preface and Introduction, Skip the Rest,

September 24, 2003

Paul Krugman

Edit of 21 Dec 07 to add comment and links.

New Comment: the author was ahead of his time. See new links below.

The book is worth buying for the Preface and Introduction alone. The rest of the book is a somewhat irritating replay of every column the author has ever written, and not nearly as well done or as riveting as, say, Tom Friedman's replays in “Longitudes & Attitudes”. However, if you have not read the author's columns, his bite-size descriptions of irrational exuberance, crony capitalism, the failure of the Federal Reserve, fuzzy math, how markets go bad, and global spoilage, then they are all certainly worth browsing.

The Preface has three core ideas: 1) the elites are ruling badly and not beneficially for the majority of the population including all the voters and most of the stockholders; 2) politicians and corporation chiefs are getting away with blatant lies to the public because of a media that avoids critical inquiry; and 3) open sources of information–all that lies in the public domain–are more than adequate for anyone to get a grip on reality.

The Introduction is a bit scarier and more pointed. The author joins Mark Hertsgaard, author of The Eagle's Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World in suggesting that the radical right is creating nothing less than a Reichstag in America. In the author's view, and he quotes Kissinger in chilling terms, the radical right is a revolutionary power that is very deliberately and with malice at all times, rejecting and undermining the democratic rules of the game. In the author's words, the radical right is “a movement whose leaders do not accept the legitimacy of our current political system.” The author goes so far as to suggest that the radical right considers elections as “only a formality” and that they will do anything–including subversion of the Constitution–to “win” those elections and reap the domestic and foreign “looting rights.”

Disclosure: I used to be a conservative Republican and used to think such ideas were simply over the top. I have been radicalized by the last 200 books I have read (and reviewed on Amazon) and I have to say, while the third of the nation that is close-minded and ideologically-blindered on the right may give the author short shrift, the other two thirds–the drop-outs and splinter parties, and the failing Democrats–they should take Krugman very seriously. He is an economist, teaching at Princeton, not a journalist nor a sensationalist, and in my view, when one combines his book with that of Clyde Prestowitz, a Presbyterian elder and solid Reagan Republican and fiscal conservative (Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions), with that of William Greider, writing on the immorality and social costs of capitalism as we practice it today (The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy), one can only conclude that the Republic, and that for which it stands, have been hijacked, are being looted, and the American Democratic experiment is on very thin ice.

The index to this book is helpful in running down specific individuals, corporation, and organizations that have committed crimes against the Nation that the author has addressed in his many columns for the New York Times, as repeated in this book.