Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth
Written by Webmaster
- ISBN13: 9781605092898
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Today’s economic crisis is the worst since the Great Depression. However, as David Korten shows, the steps being taken to address it do nothing to deal with the reality of a failed economic system. It’s like treating cancer with a bandage. Korten identifies the deeper sources of the failure: Wall Street institutions that have perfected the art of creating “wealth” without producing anything of real value: phantom wealth. Our hope lies not with Wall Street, Korten ar… More >>
Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth
February 28th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
It is sad that such a text can garner any serious attention. Reading this book made me sick. How could such a man ignore even the most basic economic principles in favor of lies. He doesn’t even seem to grasp the basic concepts of investment.
He must understand these principles, which leads me to conclude that he spreads lies to further his agenda of setting up a green Economy that provides love, life and health rather than profits (which he seems to view as unnecessary and essentially evil). I guess he believes that this will lead to a tribal utopia where people live in small communities without any access to the global community.
He completely ignores the downfalls of government and how the government and not wall street played a major part in this economic recession (which he seems to believe is bringing us to the brink of the destruction of humanity).
Wall street doesn’t just create “phantom wealth” it funds major companies that develops breakthrough technologies across all sectors of the economy. Heads of companies such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet donates their entire fortunes to those in need. But Dave wants to do away with all that in favor of equality and social justice.
A totalitarian dictatorship would be required for us to ever see this type of “New Economy.”
Drastic changes may be needed for our country and world. But these proposals are in the wrong direction.
Sorry for the ranting, disjointed review, I’m unhappy and tired of this type of writing. Rating: 1 / 5
February 28th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
I thought some of the ideas deserve merit (maybe 10 pages of the entire book), but on balance the thinking is rehashed mid-century social structure. The most enlightening concepts centered around local growing, shopping, employment and ownership that decentralizes Wall Street control of middle class success and individual freedom to make choices that are unique. Rating: 1 / 5
February 28th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
The great fatal fallacy that Mr. Korten, and many before him (including Karl Marx) have made, is confusing the creation of THINGS with the creation of WEALTH. Since the development of trade, commerce and the usage of “money” a few thousand years ago, the world population has zoomed. For tens of thousands of years, man was just a hunter-gatherer, who had to avoid big animals in order not to get eaten himself. There were relatively few people on earth at the time, for survival was difficult. Even when Columbus and Europeans discovered North America some 5 centuries ago, there were only perhaps 5-15 million native “Indians” (as he called them) able to subsist on the continent. Even as late as 1800, the entire planet is estimated to have had only 1 billion, or perhaps only twice as many as in Roman times. But in the last 2 centuries, since the dawn of the industrial revolution and the growth of capitalism, the world population has increased nearly 7 fold. So if nothing else, capitalism has increased the possibility of human survival, though some begrudge the right of others to exist.
Workers naturally believe that wealth is created by making things. But that is not true. Wealth is created by SELLING things at a PROFIT! Something you make may be very useful, but if no one will buy it at a price above the cost of your labor and expenses, i.e., at a profit, the item produces no wealth even if it is a useful item. The creation of profit is the creation of wealth.
Now, it is true that Wall Street and the financial industry often turns itself into a wild casino, and then its actions can become destabilizing. People can gamble some of their money if they are working and have some to spare. But when people are enticed into gambling when they are broke, then it makes the rich richer for a while, but it drives the poor further into despair. Booms turn into busts, and the engine of capitalism gyrates out of control, and has to be re-tuned. But you don’t simply throw away the engine and get a horse when that happens. The impulse after a great and frightening bust, as we are now experiencing, is to want to pick up a wrench and beat up the old engine, when it should be used to repair and put into place the safety systems needed to keep it from gyrating out of control again. Rating: 2 / 5
February 28th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
The author bases his perceptions and conclusions on the fallacy that normal market behavior is a learned mode of behavior. He says that the teaching of Economics should be banned from colleges. His notion is that somehow we’re all going to wake up in ‘never=never land’ of pure equality.
His willingness to deny individuals their rights is appalling and all too accepted these days.
If you don’t ascribe to his view then you’ll not get past the second page. You’ll either want to punch him out or fall asleep. Rating: 2 / 5
March 1st, 2010 at 1:36 am
David Korten’s Agenda for a New Economy is a disappointing book if one expects an in-depth and balanced analysis of the issues he considers. I don’t think the tone and substance of the book will convert many readers. If you already agree with Dr. Korten’s perspective, you may find his vigorous denunciations of Wall Street and calls for radical reform to be invigorating. But you will not find in-depth discussions of the opposing arguments to his positions, even to refute those arguments. I have not read Dr. Korten’s other books, so perhaps he has more in-depth discussion there, and is using this book simply as a timely summary of his views. But, in my view, there are other books with a similar perspective to this book that do a better job of analysis.
To give some examples:
1. Much of the book is concerned with denouncing Wall Street. This is probably a popular position right now. Dr. Korten denounces Wall Street for only creating “phantom wealth”, as opposed to the “real wealth” created by production of goods and services. Yet he never really critically analyzes the opposing view that modern, complex societies may benefit from financial intermediaries that help both individuals and large organizations to raise capital. The excesses of the current financial system do not mean that it serves no useful purpose.
2. Much of the book is highly critical of large corporations. Yet he never really critically analyzes the opposing view that large corporate production helps realize significant economies of scale. There are alternatives to eliminating large corporations to limit corporate power, for example by strengthening sources of countervailing power such as labor unions.
3. Dr. Korten is convinced, as are some segments of the environmental community, that long-term environmental sustainability requires a significant shrinking of our current consumption of material goods. Yet he never seriously critiques the opposing view of most mainstream economists that environmental problems can be addressed adequately, and economic growth maintained at a moderate rate, if we “get the prices right” via pollution taxes or permits for CO2 emissions. He mentions Jeffrey Sachs’s claim that environmental problems and poverty problems could be addressed at an ongoing cost of less than 3% of global output only to mock the claim, not to refute it. But Sachs is not the only economist making such claims.
4. Dr. Korten appears to endorse some radical monetary schemes that would try to limit money creation via bank lending, and substitute monetary creation via the government printing money to support spending when needed. It is somewhat interesting that his monetary solutions seem to coincide with those of some very conservative groups. I am not a monetary economist, but I think at the very least it is questionable whether such a system would in fact provide a more stable and less inflationary money supply than the current system. In any event, he does not seriously address possible critiques of his radical monetary system.
In the book’s preface, Dr. Korten mentions some other books as possible resources for those interested in his perspective. I think at least three of the books he mentions are superior to the current book in providing more persuasive arguments for perspectives similar to Korten’s. Gus Speth’s “The Bridge at the Edge of the World” is more fair-minded and provides much more detailed discussion of environmental issues and the economy. Michael Shuman’s “The Small-Mart Revolution” provides many more local, practical examples of how to strengthen local economies. Bill McKibben’s “Deep Economy” is more engagingly written and less polemical in tone. Rating: 2 / 5