| |  | Books : The Commanding Heights: the Battle Between Government & the Marketplace That Is Remaking the Modern World |  | | | | | | | | | |
Binding: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Touchstone Books
Manufacturer: Touchstone Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 464
Publication Date: February 23, 1999
Publisher: Touchstone Books
Sales Rank: 870499
Studio: Touchstone Books
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
The Commanding Heights is about the most powerful political and economic force in the world today -- the epic struggle between government and the marketplace that has, over the last twenty years, turned the world upside down and dramatically transformed our lives. Now, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Prize joins with a leading expert on the new marketplace to explain the revolution in ideas that is reshaping the modern world. Written with the same sweeping narrative power that made The Prize an enormous success, The Commanding Heights provides the historical perspective, the global vision, and the insight to help us understand the tumult of the past half century.
Trillions of dollars in assets and fundamental political power are changing hands as free markets wrest control from government of the 'commanding heights' -- the dominant businesses and industries of the world economy. Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw demonstrate that words like 'privatization' and 'deregulation' are inadequate to describe the enormous upheaval that is unfolding before our eyes. Along with the creation of vast new wealth, the map of the global economy is being redrawn. Indeed, the very structure of society is changing. New markets and new opportunities have brought great new risks as well. How has all this come about? Who are the major figures behind it? How does it affect our lives?
The collapse of the Soviet Union, the awesome rise of China, the awakening of India, economic revival in Latin America, the march toward the European Union -- all are a part of this political and economic revolution. Fiscal realities and financial markets are relentlessly propelling deregulation; achieving a new balance between government and marketplace will be the major political challenge in the coming years. Looking back, the authors describe how the old balance was overturned, and by whom. Looking forward, they explore these questions: Will the new balance prevail? Or does the free market contain the seeds of its own destruction? Will there be a backlash against any excesses of the free market? And finally, The Commanding Heights illuminates the five tests by which the success or failure of all these changes can be measured, and defines the key issues as we enter the twenty-first century.
The Commanding Heightscaptures this revolution in ideas in riveting accounts of the history and the politics of the postwar years and compelling tales of the astute politicians, brilliant thinkers, and tenacious businessmen who brought these changes about. Margaret Thatcher, Donald Reagan, Deng Xiaoping, and Bill Clinton share the stage with the 'Minister of Thought' Keith Joseph, the broommaker's son Domingo Cavallo, and Friedrich von Hayek, the Austrian economist who was determined to win the twenty-year 'battle of ideas.' It is a complex and wide-ranging story, and the authors tell it brilliantly, with a deep understanding of human character, making critically important ideas lucid and accessible. Written with unique access to many of the key players, The Commanding Heights,like no other book, brings us an understanding of the last half of the twentieth century -- and sheds a powerful light on what lies ahead in the twenty-first century.
Amazon.com Review:
The 'commanding heights,' according to Pulitzer Prize-winnerDaniel Yergin and international business advisor Joseph Stanislaw, arethose dominant enterprises and industries that form the higheconomic ground in nations around the globe. In their analysisof the new world economy, The Commanding Heights: The Battle BetweenGovernment and the Marketplace That Is Remaking the Modern World, they examine 'the individuals, theideas, the conflicts, and the turning points' that are responsible. Andby considering events such as the ongoing Asian monetary crisis,they suggest what the ultimate interconnection of financial marketsmight mean in the future.
Customer Reviews Average Rating: 
Rating: - The Commanding Heights : The Battle for the World Economy
A book from Dr. L's class that help to shape my belief in freedom in the marketplace. A very good historical overview of the economics of the middle and late 20th Century. There are wonderful historical explanations of the rise of socialism in the west and communism in the east as well as the two grand economic schools in the west which were the products of Keynes and Hayek.
Rating:  - Landmark Book on Globalization and Economic & Trade Policy
If you want to understand globalization, this book is required reading.This book provides a full overview and history of 20th century globalization.It discusses the economic choices that third-world countries were making in order to become integrated into the first and second-world international trade system. It discusses the international financial institutions, the newly industrializing economies, market economic policies vs. state controlled economies, trade liberalization, trade policy decisions, ... Read More
Rating: - Global Economics
&Both the bookDVD are excellent. It is one thing to have lived through global change, it is another thing to understand the interconnections and long-term effects. The focus in several countries is a centrally planned or market-driven economy. Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, China and the United Kingdom are examined in detail for their success and failure. The Soviet Union - Russia, tried to retain dictatorial control and continues to have problems. The "Chicago School of Economics" celebrates its wisdom, ... Read More
Rating: - Capitalism won.Socialism lost.
That's the central message of this book.But to know why it happened, how it happened, and the geographic extent of this outcome, you need to read this fascinating book.
Now if we can just get our own federal government to realize this . . .
Also read what could be a good companion book: The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else
Rating:  - Not critical enough; offers one perspective and does not back it up
This book was rather fun to read but I am not convinced that the authors have as deep an understanding of the phenomena they are writing about as they would like the readers to believe.The book reads like a narrative, full of assertions that are not backed by rigorous analysis of hard evidence.The authors do not critically explore causal relationships, nor do they talk about research that has done so.They present only one particular perspective on the unfolding of events, and they do not defend this perspective ... Read More
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