The Trap [Hardcover]

James Goldsmith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1994

James Goldsmith, after amassing a vast fortune in the 1980s, turned his companies into cash before the stock market collapse on Black Monday. he officially "retired" from business to devote himself to ecological causes. (His brother, Teddy, is the founding father of the British green movement, and publisher of the "Ecologist"). His enquiries led him to confront the worldwide problems of unemployment, urban decay, the poisoning of our food and air, and made obvious the lack of essential solutions politicians, of whatever persuasion, were offering. He confronts in this book, the "sacred cows" of modern political and economic thought, exposing why global free trade will destroy nations, the lies about the nuclear energy industry, why agricultural policy is poisoning and destabilizing communities, and the cost of a welfare state that doesn't deliver welfare.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

Product Details

• Hardcover: 207 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786701854
• ISBN-13: 978-0786701858
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #183,838 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How our Values have been turned upside down by industrial society, February 8, 2009

By 

Owen Cooney - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trap (Paperback)

Mr. Goldsmith was a private equity billionaire who made his fortune buying companies and assets from developed and developing countries around the world. Yet despite this success, his book openly questions the notion of unfettered global markets.

He describes how the shift from locally produced goods to goods produced anywhere in the world could destroy the prosperous economies of the developed world that were built up over centuries. This will happen, according to him, because global free trade will create unbridgeable divide between the rich over the ordinary people.

The rich will stay rich by investing their capital into Multinational Companies. In order to compete and make profits, these companies will exploiting ever cheaper sources of labour in developing countries.

In the other hand, the ordinary people in developed countries will lose their jobs because the cost of their salaries are too expensive in a global economy that include 4 billion people wiling to work for "almost nothing".

Mr. Goldsmith not only lays out arguments against global free trade. He also gives his rationale for why industrial agriculture and nuclear power are bad ideas. While many see these three issues as defining visions of modern progress, Mr. Goldsmith, suggests that there is a dangerous "inversion of values" behind these three issues. Instead of measuring progress in term of mankind's well-being and social stability, our modern industrial society has made economic growth and the development of new technologies the key goals for society. This "inversion of values" is the root cause for modern problems such as urban slums and enviromental deterioration.

"Rising long-term unemployment, increasing violence, growing proverty in urban slums, environmental deterioration and a general realization that something fundamental has gone wrong..."

Despite the gloominess of the message, reading Sir James Goldsmith's book, The Trap, originally published 1993 is both an educational and entertaining experience. Check out this Charlie Rose interview with James Goldmith on Youtube, which including a lively debate with Laura Tyson, President Clinton's Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, and I think you'll see why!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdwmI9O4LEA

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important books of our time, November 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Trap (Paperback)

In "The Trap," Goldsmith points out the moral bankruptcy of the neo-right's "every man for himself" (particularly men, particularly white and wealthy) world-view, and also provides a vision for the future of compassionate *and* workable politics, economics, and community. Like Robert Theobald's "Reworking Success," or Thom Hartmann's "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" (all highly recommended and available on amazon.com), Goldsmith courageously confronts us with the problems we face and offers realistic solutions. Highly recommended!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Trap is a great book, January 29, 2011

By 

mike - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Trap (Hardcover)

The book was written in 1994 and everything in it has either come true or is still becoming true. Really quick read to get insight into why our would is the way it is.