Turbo-Capitalism: Winners And Losers In The Global Economy

Used book was accurately described as to condition, and I am satisfied.

The more things change the more they stay the same. I think this book explains the destruction of our world.The Calvinist theory.We need more regulationPopulism will be the cost of turbo capitalism destroying peoples lives.It is a dense book at time but very thought provoking.

I have always felt that it wouldn't be so difficult to get most people to agree to a basic proposition: just as fish need water, people need a culture to live in. I can well imagine that people of widely divergent economical philosophies might agree on this point, each perhaps for their own reasons. Progressives might feel that whatever vision they have for a more equitable ordering of things would be impossible to bring about and sustain without the nexus of personal virtues that can only be inculcated by a strong culture. Those of more libertarian convictions, like myself, might feel that while things might work better if the government would stay out of a lot of things which it doesn't do particularly well, that says absolutely nothing about the government's role in protecting culture as a precious resource. For the idea that personal initiative is the best lever to overturn many problems, is not at all mutually exclusive from the commonsense notion that cultures need to be supported as a matter of sheer rationality. Without it personal intitiative doesn't have chance... that fish won't swim. Our present situation, as many diverse people seem to intuit, combines the worst of several worlds, so to speak. We have government that seeks to regulate all over the place, without actually doing anything. This creates "cover" for all sorts of industries which can claim they have tacit approval, and yet are functioning in a de facto Wild West. Medicine is one of the best example. The government is supposedly protecting people from bad drugs, but in fact is not. Doctors are supposedly trained for competence and ethics, but may I suggest here respectfully, that a profession where acccording to scientific data they are woefully unable to perform simple handwashing in hospitals, might be better regulated my stringent private rating agencies than by the government. We have a country now where inner respect for self-reliance has been used cynically to create a corporate welfare state. I can't think of any thinker withwhom I disagree more than Noam Chomsky, but he did have one great observation on the contemporary situation: "Free markets are for the poor; government subsidies are for the rich". Personally I think government subsidies should be used when it in the rational interest of the society --out of society's own self-interest, not because we can't imagine a world without this or that industry. Businesses need to lose their sacredness, and we need to put that sacredness into our culture. Such a preface as I've made is even unworthy of this great book. Luttwak is the only thinker that I've read whom sums up our contemporary situation with unswerving honesty. He shows this especially by mentioning what few do, how our contemporary situation has skewed social relationships. I think that the level-headed view, which he represents, sees these changes as a result of vast worldwide changes which are hard to do anything about, but also indeed as the result of things we could have done something about. Knowing the difference would take some care. But let me humbly submit that only within the parameters of a specific culture can you make such fine distinctions. Precisely because values, pace Evangelical thinkers, are not just inculcated by a culture or religion, values are what you've got when you've done the business of life. And only a strong culture allows you to do good business both personal and professional. The puerile idea that everything rides basically on what we inculcate into the young goes against what every kid knows. Every kid knows quite well wherehe fits or doesn't fit. Only a strong broad culture can create the breadth so that the maximum amount of people fit somewhere. The infantalizing vision of Evangelicals has helped create the nursery school vacuum we live in now. And in this world where even adults are trying not to be simply misjudged, is it surprising that some men will feel the only way to prove their manhood is by starting wars? Not getting into fights is the signof true military vigor: great soldiers historically only fight when necessary and then they fight with everything they've got. The half-hearted fight, imposed by weak civilian leaders, is what you get in a vacuum. Because we no longer know what we're fighting for. A culture gives a space and horizon to see the goals. Right now we have no goals as a culture. People who need no help get the help, and those who truly need it don't. We have our first and last priorities inverted. We truly don't know what to put first. Culture is not just something that you make a priority. Culture is what allows you to have priorities in the first place.

He is a snippet

Unlike some other reviewers, I find that Edward Luttwak's analysis of the new capitalism, or what he calls Turbo capitalism, was very well considered and presented. Luttwak knows europe very well, as he lives and teaches in Italy and speaks a number of languages fluently. The book is not a condmenation o cpaitalism; rather it shows how from the late seventies and after the fall of Soviet communism the Keynesian economic system that had been devised to produce a compromise between the aspirations of socialism and the practical realities of capitalism, which existed in much of the Western world has been dismantled. He notes that in order to reduce the appeal of socialism, which was gaining ground throughout Europe prior to the rise of fascism and after the Second World War, Western governments were almost forced into satisfying vast numbers of their populations by institutionalizing such benefits as free medical service and schooling. the equalizing policies help to soften demands for outright socilaism while allowing free enterprise to grow - albeit with some regulation. Luttwak then terms 'turbo capitalism' that transformation, which took place after the fall of the Berlin wall, characterized by the de-regualtion of free enterprise and the simultaneous retraction of the social welfare mechanisms that had been established in the post-war period. Luttwak also looks at how certain market inefficiencies, like having too many employees, family businesses and fewer working hours actually helped make the 'capitalist' system more sustainable for the vast majority - or for what used to be the middle class until a decade ago. Turbo capitalism has accelerated and accentuated class divides, reducing the influence and size of the middle class. There are some cultural anecdotes involving work hours and differences in public morality between the United States and Europe mentioned here and there and they add an amusing effect. i found little to object in what he noted, as he remained fair and relevant. Overall this is an excellent book, which provides a great deal of insight into an the socio-economic processes that affecting the modern society.

The author's clarity of thought and prescience are amazing.When he outlines the possible evolution, at the time of writing, of the political landscape he could be describing, word by word, the present one, with a backlash against ruling elites and less than fully rational expectations of change.

Post 2008 it seems appropraiate to look back on neo liberalism in its heyday and assess the project at it's most successful. This is what Edward Luttawak did at the time from an avowedly pro capitalist perspective. The result is a comprhensive and devastating critique of the accelerated accumulation he calls "turbo capitalism".From Russia to the hollowed out heartland of the USA from geo politics to psychology Luttawak examines the affect of the new capitalism and finds it defficient in all areas except the enrichment of those at the top. Thus it breaks up families; discourages inevstment; generates structural unemployment; and undermines democracy wherever it is practised.Luttawak's conclusion is that turbo capitalism like the excesses of the left will pass undercut by its own inadequacies. This must have looked like wishful thinking when the book was published in 1998 now it looks like a prophecy overdue fulfillment.

Bright intelligence at work, important text. But is trade liberalization the main determinant of the process described in Edward Luttwak's Book?