Global Dreams: Imperial Corporations and the New World Order [Paperback]

Richard J. Barnet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1995

Global Dreams focuses on five companies to reveal the far-reaching impact global corporations have on the world's economy, environment, and people. Today, 300 companies control about 25% of the world's productive assets and governments are losing control of their countries economies. This book illuminates these shadowy areas.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Barnett ( Global Reach ) and Cavanagh, a Fellow at the Washington, D.C., Institute for Policy Studies, start off slowly in criticizing the power of worldwide conglomerates, but they pick up speed as the book progresses. They focus on five corporations as the basis for analyzing five industries. Thus Bertelsmann and Sony are the case studies of publishing and the media and their impact on global culture; Ford, of manufacturing and workplace issues; Philip Morris, of the food business and global market; and Citicorp, of the world financial and banking system. The authors are not especially critical of the five companies profiled. Nevertheless, they effectively make their point that various forces led by technology have created a global system that is largely ungoverned and unregulated by nation-states, resulting in negative implications for most of the world's population. While eliminating jobs and cutting other costs may provide short-term gains, those policies will have negative long-term consequences even for the global giants themselves as fewer people will have the money to afford the products that are produced.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Barnet and Cavanagh, both authors of books on world economics, potently expound on multinational corporations and the "globalization" phenomenon. They explain how a handful of giant corporations have increased the scale and sophistication of their operations and consequently have globally accelerated cultural and economic integrating processes. The innovative aspect of this book is the way it masterfully organizes commercial activities into four "global webs." It then presents profiles of five of the driving pioneers of such webs, namely Sony, Bertelsmann, Philip Morris, Ford, and Citibank. The authors parallel these cases with critical analysis showing the weakening of international relations, particularly among industrial nations. The authors conclude that though there is room for a "global village," there is yet no authority that can deal with the evolving global responsibility and its new challenges. Recommended for both public and academic libraries. --Ali D. Abdulla, East Carolina Univ., Greenville, N.C.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684800276
• ISBN-13: 978-0684800271
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,339,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provocative and Scary, December 8, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Global Dreams: Imperial Corporations and the New World Order (Hardcover)

Imperial Corporations is an easily readable, fact-filled book portraying the rise of a "standardized culture" across the planet. This is a culture of Pepsico and Madonna, of Bertelmann and American Express. The book is full of scary facts about these major corporations, andothers, such as Sony and Citibank. It reads like a novel and you can breeze through it, though, as I said, it's full of incredibly interesting material on the global corporate power structure.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Obviously well researched., February 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Global Dreams: Imperial Corporations and the New World Order (Paperback)

All one needs to do to realize the importance of this work is to watch CNNFN or any other business news channel, read the wall street journal et al. Merger, merger, merger,. The UN, World Bank, Corporate greed, A juvenile and naive population, which will happily step over the bodies of those less fortunates whose 401's didn't come through or never possessed. Of course for any of this to culminate in the true end game scenario, they must assume a greater yet degree of control of the people and their money. I suggest you read "Transfer: the end of the beginning," by Jerry Furland, also available through amazon.com. I highly recommend both of these books.