The Globalization Gap: How the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Left Further Behind [Hardcover]

Robert A. Isaak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2004

Globalization is inevitable and inexorable -- but it's also magnifying the chasmbetween rich and poor. At home and abroad, new extremes of wealth anddeprivation are increasingly threatening the stability of the entire global system.The Globalization Gap reveals how globalization is spreading poverty, disease,and the disintegration of traditional cultures. A few "winners" are using theirwealth to buffer themselves against these radical transformations, writes Dr.Robert Isaak. But, in most places, the new wealth generated by globalization isnot trickling down. The result? More misery -- and political upheavals that willendanger us all. It doesn't have to be this way, says Isaak: we can gain thepromised benefits of globalization -- without the withering unfairness. Isaakpresents a realistic blueprint for sharing opportunity and creating sustainableinnovation everywhere, not just amongst the wealthy. Isaak shows how a newglobalization can give the poor a powerful stake, both here and abroad. In sodoing, he takes on the most crucial challenge of the 21st century: makingglobalization work for everyone. Isaak's ideas can lead towards a more stable,peaceful world, in which we can all build our futures -- rich and poor alike.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

"Globalization encourages the well-positioned to use tools of economics and politics to exploit market opportunities, boost technological productivity, and maximize short-term material interests in the extreme," states this academic and consultant, who sets out to explain how the richest people everywhere have structured a world order that maximizes their advantages while creating greater social and economic distance from those who are disadvantaged. He notes that in the U.S. the current boom has hidden the downward economic spiral for many, caused by realities such as the "jobless recovery," median income falling, pensions threatened, and rampant unemployment and underemployment. Among his recommendations for change is the establishment of a nongovernmental organization to coordinate the richest private foundations to focus their enormous power, although he acknowledges that obtaining this control from these foundations would be difficult. Too many of the author's opinions about globalization may be controversial, yet his views are thoughtfully presented and are instructive even for those who may not agree. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Back Cover

Globalization Has Triumphed, But Can We Save the Poor?

“An impassioned report on the dangerous side of globalization, the book is a much-needed counter to the widespread propensity of economists to spring automatically to its defense. Recognizing that globalization cannot be wished away, the author turns to the proper question: how can we ensure that its potential contribution to welfare is not lost?”

     —William Baumol, Emeritus Professor, Princeton University, and co-author of Downsizing in America: Reality, Causes and Consequences

“Robert Isaak is unique among critics of Globalization in that he accepts it as inevitable but goes determinedly to propose innovations that can make it work better economically and socially for the rich and the poor.”

“Robert Isaak's new book presents fresh ideas on globalization that will enrich a polarized debate between the pessimists and the hyper-optimists. His work brings back Ortega y Gasset classic ideas of the late 1930’s when the "masses" brought down globalization and with it the worst recession and the bloodiest war. I am sure that Isaak's book will guide the readers to look forward after learning from past ideas and experiences.”

     —Jorge Pinto, former Ambassador of Mexico and member of the Board of the World Bank. Director of the Center for Global Finance

For most people except the world’s very richest, globalization is failing—catastrophically. If we don’t act, its failure will lead to a global upheaval worse than any in human history. But there’s another, better path. Isaak shows how a new globalization can give the poor a powerful stake, both here and abroad. Isaak's ideas can lead toward a more stable, peaceful world, in which we can all build our futures—rich and poor alike.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: FT Press; 1 edition (July 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131428969
• ISBN-13: 978-0131428966
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,050,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A regrettably 'Lite' treatment of an important issue, December 30, 2005

By 

Bob Long (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Globalization Gap: How the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Left Further Behind (Hardcover)

When I checked this out of my library, I was looking forward to an insightful read of a really critical topic for our time. What I found instead was a very fluffy book, long on statements, short on facts and real insights. Taking a good look at the references shows one of the problems - many of the references are from newspapers and magazines, not journals or analytical works. I can almost imagine the author sorting out a shoebox of clippings while outlining the chapters.

If you want something with some real substance to it, you'll have to look elsewhere. I don't think it's an accident that the author's picture doesn't appear on the book jacket.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Biased, biased, biased, February 2, 2006

By 

A. Grapsas - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Globalization Gap: How the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Left Further Behind (Hardcover)

I had to read this book as part of a macroeconomics course.

I go to a technical school where entrepreneurship and global business are discussed in nearly all of my classes-from World Civilization and Its Source to Macroeconomics to Data Structures & Algorithms.

I've already read a few books on globalization and I have to say Isaak's work is the worst so far. His support is often non-descript and not used in appropriate locations. Indeed, it appears as if he only put in references for the pure purpose of putting in references.

There is one underlying solution that Isaak seems to imply would benefit the world community: the rich providing social aid to the poor. He ignores charities and foundations established to provide such. Instead, it seems he advocates something more similar to Marxism. Essentially, he's calling for a redistribution of wealth in an even fashion.

I cannot suggest this book to anyone wanting to learn about Globalization. Instead, purchase The Globalization Gap only if you want a laugh at what drivel will be published.

On the flip side, I enjoyed The Virtue of Prosperity. I haven't read Money Changes Everything yet, but I hear good things.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Quite disappointing and factually inaccurate in places, March 30, 2008

By 

Sutirtha Bagchi (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Globalization Gap: How the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Left Further Behind (Hardcover)

Let me start off by saying that I am someone who believes that while globalization is not a panacea for all evils, it is a good rather than bad thing. So therefore it is only to be expected that I would not rate a book titled "The Globalization Gap: How the Rich get Richer and the Poor Get Left Further Behind" very favorably. However my rating of a single star for this volume, is in large measure influenced by the fact that it is inaccurate in places and also because of the faulty wooly-headed policy recommendations it advocates as solutions to the world's problems.

The essential precept of the book is this: In time period t=0, let's say a rich person earns $100 per month and the poor person earns $10/ month leading to a ratio of 10:1. Now let's say after 20 years, the rich person earns $250/ month while the poor person earns $12.50/ month. Now the ratio of incomes has changed to 20:1. Since that ratio has deteriorated against the poor person, globalization is at fault and therefore the cure to this "problem" is that money should be taken away from the rich person and handed out to the poor person without any thought given to what that does to economic incentives. The key fault with this logic is that the poor person's income did not increase as rapidly as the rich person is because he is outside the globalization regime and fails to benefit from it. Therefore globalization, while not the entire solution, is a part of the solution and not the problem. It is important to note that the rich person did not grow rapidly because he "snatched away" opportunities from the poor person as the author would like us to believe but because he was able to benefit from globalization while the poor person was unable to.

In addition to this, the book also suffers from factual inaccuracies. For instance, when Robert Isaak talks about how African countries suffer from high tariff rates to the richer countries, he is simply wrong. In reality, the vast majority of African countries enjoy zero (or close to zero) tariffs for their agricultural imports under the African Growth & Opportunities Act (AGOA) with the U.S. and a similar agreement with the European Union. So therefore not only he is incorrect in his diagnosis of the problem and his subsequent recommendations, he is incorrect with the basic facts too.

Overall, this is seriously an unbalanced book on the topic. If you really want to read a decent book on the topic, try reading "Globalization and its discontents" by Joseph Stiglitz. While I disagree with a lot of what is said in that book as well, at least the style is far better and the facts accurate as compared to this disaster.