Customer Reviews

George Soros On Globalization

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I bought this book because I wanted to learn something about the globalization debate and try to understand why it has gotten some people stirred up enought to riot in Seattle and stage mass protests elsewhere. I had at least heard of the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO before all this got started, but (like probably 98% of Americans) I had no real idea of what they do or how they do it. I didn't want to start out by reading either an economist (since as a general rule they seem to be excruciatingly poor writers) or one of the radical reformers (ditto). George Soros seemed like the perfect solution -- a successful player in the international financial markets, who has directed a significant chunk of his wealth to international philanthropic efforts. In other words, someone who has seen the problems from the inside and is working to remedy them (even though he has a stake in the current system). Soros' conviction in France last week for insider trading probably hurts his personal credibility, but doesn't affect the validity of his arguments about our international institutions and the US's role in the world.

"George Soros on Globalization" is a short book (about 180 pages, with *lots* of blank space), which is both its chief virtue and a significant limitation. It's a fast read and gave me a good overview of the problems with our global financial and trade arrangements (what these markets can and cannot do, the role the US has played and should play in the allocation of private and public goods), and a basic understanding of some possible solutions. Brevity also translates to very little explanation, however (I still don't really know what the World Bank and the IMF do), and very little development of Soros' thoughts on possible solutions. For example, Soros suggests that strengthening the ILO (rather than weakening the WTO) is the way to address global labor issues, but it's hard to imagine this happening and before I would consider this a practical solution I'd want to know more about how this would work and whether it's really feasible.

The "centerpiece" of Soros' book is his proposal for a reformed method of providing foreign aid through Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). Unfortunately, if you don't know anything about currency reserves and how they affect the economies of developing countries (and I don't), a lot of this discussion will be over your head. I had to take on faith quite a few bald statements about how SDRs would work and how they will benefit developing nations. And I had some questions about the parts that were easier to follow. For example, Soros proposes an independent board of professionally qualified experts who will identify projects that are eligible for donor financing. He emphasizes the importance of this board being professional, expert and free of national ties -- but he makes no suggestion as to how this laudable but probably unrealistic goal is to be achieved.

Soros' concluding chapter is essentially a plea for the US to develop a broader understanding of its global interests -- that we are strongest and safest when we promote a more equitable distribution of public goods (such as health, education and the rule of law) and take a more multi-lateral leadership role in the reduction of poverty worldwide. I happen to agree with Soros here, but I doubt that this chapter will persuade anyone who is not already inclined to accept Soros' conclusions.

Despite the defects noted, I would recommend this book to anyone who is wondering what the fuss over globalization is all about. If you read nothing else, this will at least give you an overview of the issues. Soros' writing style tends to the oracular pronouncement (there are lots of one or two sentence paragraphs -- as if the book grew out of a series of bullet points that he couldn't be troubled to turn into real paragraphs), which can be annoying, but it does get you through the material quickly. Overall, a stimulating read.

George Soros is generally an articulate, thoughtful, and sincere person who puts his money where his mouth is. He never hides his political agenda as other economic pundits do. In this short book he opens the debate on what directions should be taken in the international community to tackle some of the perceived defects of the global financial system. He takes the current US government to task for being unilateral, whether that's a fair criticism or not is debatable; nevertheless, he is sincere in trying to find solutions that might be better for everybody concerned, including the US.

The book is very much an opinion piece: its like an extended op ed, so don't expect a tutorial or clear explanation of how globalization has done or how it works. In his previous books he has more about his life, experience, and insights into the financial world, and these books are more interesting reads. In reality, this book more of a political treatise with a economic focus, which you may or may not agree with. But he sincerely puts forth a concrete proposal to use the WTO and IMF in an effective manner to create his vision of open societies, a laudable goal, which no doubt will be ignored. He is interested in debate, but its too bad he is not publically accessable, like all rich and famous (I tried and failed), since he needs to be informed of some scientific analogies similar to his concept of reflective processes and that might help him come up with a more realistic proposal (that might work). Moreover, he would understand why his seemly practical proposal is too idealistic, even for a hard-nosed capitalist with significant experience in international finance. Although he cites talking to numerous people on this proposal (a quite impressive list), apparently none of them understand enough science and history to help; this is not surprising since the mainstream (typically established, rich and/or famous) can never see or solve tomorrow's problems. Too bad: he is smart enough, logical enough, and interested in tackling problems that nobody else sees in the almost correct light (open societies) as he does.

This book is an interesting take on the problems inherent in globalization. (Think the Argentinean default)

Soros has distinct credentials to write on the subject:
1 - He's made quite a bit of money (Billions) off of currency speculation.
2 - He has financed numerous foundations attempting to resolve the problems described.

The book makes for interesting reading to the non-economist, in that it explains the WTO, World Back, IMF and other international organizations supporting global development. It defends their success against their missions, while highlighting the deficiencies. Soros admits the complexity of the problem, and proposes several solutions.

There were two major weak spots in the book:
1 - His concept of Special Drawing Rights could use more explanation. Identical descriptions occur 3 times, but none are accessible to the lay reader.
2 - He makes blanket accusations against "market fundamentalism" without defining it, or explaining why it continues to be the dominant view.

Bottom line: If you're looking for a high level explanation of the issues with globalization and the key international organizations involved, this is the book for you. If you're looking for clear resolutions, this may prove elusive.

This is an easy to read common sense book that absorbs and addresses some of the criticisms of the World Trade Organization, speaks to the weakness of the International Labor Organization, and proposes the equivalent of a global Marshall Plan, but as a multi-national initiative. It is essential reading at a time when too many politicians do not yet make the connection between terrorism and what George Soros has called "the other axis of evil: poverty, disease, & ignorance."

At a time when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is treating anti-globalization activists as just one step under terrorists (in one recent case denying a Canadian activist entry to the U.S. to honor an invitation to speak at a U.S. university), George Soros' is easily the most responsible and the wealthiest voice cautioning all of us that the combined forces of globalization (which reduces citizen sovereignty) and consumerism (which reduces citizen prosperity) could be the death knell of capitalism.

I am reminded of how the U.S. Secret Service ran amok against so-called "hackers" (the best of them trained at MIT and now multi-millionaires) because it did not understand that hackers are like astronauts, pushing the edge of the envelope, and it did not understand that it was the U.S. communications and computing industry that was criminally negligent in offering the consumer and the government a national information infrastructure that was incredibly fragile and full of security holes. It was industry that failed to exercise due-diligence, and it was hackers that exposes these flaws well in advance of the Y2K panic. The anti-globalization activists, Lori Wallach among them (and she has clearly influenced Soros in this book) are the 21st Century hackers for world peace and prosperity.

Globalization and consumerism threaten billions of Arabs, Chinese, Indians, Muslims, and Russians around the world--and thus they threaten us as well. Although many brilliant minds foresaw these challenges in the 1970's, among them those speaking to the limits to growth, sustainable growth, and the need for new forms of world governance, it is only after 9-11 that the world appears ready to listen to George Soros and others who understand that we cannot continue to emphasize short term corporate profit over long term citizen survival.

His proposals for Special Drawing Rights are helpful, and merit adoption. It is with a little concern, however, that I see his concession to "elite" management of these remedial resources. I lean toward the view that the people are now both informed and connected, and that we must empower down to the neighborhood level if we are to restore civil society around the world (this includes no longer supporting repressive governments for the convenience of our corporations), so there is still a gap between Soros and the natural leaders down in the ranks with the people.

Thomas Jefferson said that "A Nation's best defense is an educated citizenry." Justice Brandeis said that the greatest threat to a nation's liberty is "an inert citizenship." George Soros may be said to be the first and foremost educator and leader on the critical matter of whether of whether or not this Nation might yet surmount great challenges of its own making.

This book was written by one who knows, and who has profited, greatly, from the defects of the global financial/capitalist system. But what sets Mr. Soros apart from the other 'sheep' who would guard the hen-house is his courage to expose the existing faults of the system, and to propose a credible solution by which to arrest the accelerating spiral downward of our dysfunctional world economy. That Mr. Soros has placed substantial personal wealth in defense of his cause bears witness to his laudable commitment in this regard. The 'good of the few' is indeed preserved by the 'good of the all'.

This book presumes familiarity with concepts developed by Mr. Soros in 'The Crisis of Global Capitalism' (Little Brown & Co., 1998), and one would wish that Mr. Soros would delve more deeply into the root cause of our current economic/financial malaises: greed, corruption and the lack of moral - let alone religious - precepts.

All in all a positive step forward.

Globalization developments of international institutions have not kept pace with the development of global financial markets and political structure. In Globalization, George Soros maintains markets are amoral but still require distinctions between right and wrong: his insights on the operations of the World Trade Organization and ideas of an incentives-based system for the provision of public goods will intrigue college-level students of social and political history.

I bought this book in 2003 and reading it again. The book is still relevant and contains insights about how the world works and gives suggestions on how to ride with the turbulent tide. I may have read it fast before and forgot all about it. I found it again after going through my collection of books looking for materials for my essay practice. I also found the reviews very helpful. The book and the reviews gave me more ideas on how to answer the TOEFL essay prompt on improving the community. I initially wrote literacy in line with the Federal government's No Child Left Behind policy. Focusing on education, I found more support and stronger arguments from this book and its reviews. Here is my essay exercise for your reference (http://www.scribd.com/doc/5890688/Improve-Your-Community).

Well, I read a book on Globalization by George Soros. That was interesting in that he is a world financier who believes that the current system is unjust and that institutions need to be strengthened. He had some suggestions that I found interesting, the ones that I understood at least. George seems a little full of himself at times, recounting his own activities that seemed a little self-gratifying, which probably comes from being so influential and powerful as a leading world hedge fund manager. But his humble beginnings, his deep concern for justice and fairness in the world economic order, and his commitment to effecting some kind of positive change in the world are extremely admirable, and I am very impressed by him.

As a college graduate with a degree in economics i bought this book with gusto and enthusiasm. It was a sad mistake because I felt let down by the quality of the writing. Soros explains that he is an expert on the subject and able-minded to write such a book because he has sympathy for the future of the world. I believe that is his only qualification in that this book lacks any reason behind the statements. Soros makes blatant remarks about US and World institutions without ever providing an example to back it. I was mostly interested in his SDR's topic but then found that he glazed over it and never fully explained what he expects them to help. Quite disappointing. He lacks basic essay writing skills although I am sure some of his other books are up to the standard.

Mr. Soros certainly deserves our consideration at least as a currency trader, but his prescription for world economics is tainted with a naive, Utopian world view. Like Marxists, his ideas sound wonderful and longingly cooperative, but the real-world will not cooperate nor will governments and corporations play along unless their self-interests are met first.