Against the Dead Hand: The Uncertain Struggle for Global Capitalism - Hardcover

Lindsey, Brink

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471442771 ISBN 13: 9780471442776

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2002

Synopsis

A refreshing, insightful look into the political and economic dynamics driving globalization today Globalization: it's earlier than you think. That's the provocative message of Against the Dead Hand, which traces the rise and fall of the century-long dream of central planning and top-down control and its impact on globalization-revealing the extent to which the "dead hand" of the old collectivist dream still shapes the contours of today's world economy. Mixing historical narrative, thought-provoking arguments, and on-the-scene reporting and interviews, Brink Lindsey shows how the economy has grown up amidst the wreckage of the old regime-detailing how that wreckage constrains the present and obscures the future. He conveys a clearer picture of globalization's current state than the current conventional wisdom, providing a framework for anticipating the future direction of the world economy.

About this title

About the Author

BRINK LINDSEY is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. He founded and serves as Director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies, a leading voice for free trade and open markets in the Washington trade policy debate. Lindsey's Cato Institute studies have received national and international press attention, and his articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and many other publications. He is a contributing editor of Reason magazine. Lindsey has appeared on CNN, BBC, National Public Radio, and numerous other media outlets.

From the Back Cover

Acclaim for Against the Dead Hand

"Informed, lively, and challenging, Brink Lindsey's book illuminates the tough road ahead in the fight for free markets and against the dead hand of the past. I have benefited greatly from reading this book and so can everyone who cares about freedom."

-George P. Shultz

Former U.S. Secretary of State

"There are few higher callings than exposing the antiglobalization movement for what it really is: an enemy not just of clear thinking but also of economic progress. Brink Lindsey rises to this task manfully. In this eloquently written and powerfully argued book, he shows that, far from being complete, the current wave of globalization has just begun. And to charges that globalization is responsible for the problems of much of the developing world, he explains that the real blame lies with years of failed experiments with big government and closed borders. Read this book if you want to understand the most important debate of our time."

-Adrian Wooldridge

Coauthor, A Future Perfect: The Challenge and Hidden Promise of Globalization

"In this fascinating and wide-ranging book, Brink Lindsey destroys two dangerous myths: that trade is bad for the poor and that globalization is inevitable. From the Thai countryside to the streets of New Delhi, he shows how today's economic problems spring from choices made decades ago, when the world's governing classes were enamored of the gospel of centralization and control. Only if we turn away from that Industrial Counterrevolution, he argues, will we find our way toward international peace, prosperity, and progress."

-Virginia Postrel

Author, The Future and Its Enemies:

The Growing Conflict over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress

"Despite globalization, recent years have been filled with cruel disappointments for many of the world's poor in developing and formerly communist countries. Brink Lindsey insightfully identifies the formidable obstacles that block their progress. In particular, he shows that the failure to build adequate legal institutions that define and protect property rights is of critical importance."

-Hernando de Soto

Author, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else

From the Inside Flap

AGAINST THE DEAD HAND

What's the most powerful, dynamic, and irresistible force at work in the 21st-century economy? If you said globalization, millions of people agree with you-and all of you might be wrong. In Against the Dead Hand, Brink Lindsey looks at the realities of globalization and concludes that the genie is not yet out of the bottle.

A senior fellow at the Cato Institute and Director of the Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies, Lindsey is in a position to know that much of the triumphalism that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of world markets was premature. He demonstrates that international economic integration has faced-and will continue to face-a daunting array of obstacles still in place after the worldwide failure of top-down economic control.

Against the Dead Hand traces the rise and fall of the central-planning ideologies that dominated the 20th century, from the extreme of Soviet Communism to social democracy in the West to the protectionism seen virtually everywhere. It reveals the remarkable extent to which the "dead hand" of the old collectivist dream still shapes the contours of today's world economy, and it explains the complex political and economic dynamics that drive globalization forward in spite of the obstacles.

This provocative book combines historical perspective and analytical insight with incisive and colorful reporting from the world's current economic trouble spots. Lindsey's rich and nuanced portrait of globalization provides invaluable guidance for investors, entrepreneurs, and corporate managers who must contend with the uncertainty and volatility that now roils the world economy.

Challenging, contrarian, and meticulously researched, Against the Dead Hand will convince you that the greatest rewards of globalization are still in the future and that those who profit most will be those who understand and respond to today's realities.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471442771
• ISBN 13: 9780471442776
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352