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Reviewed for Journal of Management Consulting, 1997
reviewed by John D. Trudel CMC
The scope of this book, and the research that went into it, are incredible. It analyzes emerging realities that are missed by our Cold War era news media and political dialogues. Greider’s depth and span – ranging from National Editor of Rolling Stone to having published the definitive book on the Federal Reserve System – boggle the mind.
A critic who hated the book started, "Unfortunately, William Greider’s One World, Ready or Not is the best-written book on the global economy I have yet read. It is a panoramic work: Greider tells the stories of businessmen, financiers, government officials, workers, and activists from around the world . . ." Such comments are typical of the negative reviews that I have read. They damn with praise, admit that most facts are correct (without saying which ones are wrong), bemoan the fact that the book will influence many, and wind up saying that its conclusions and recommendations are "woefully flawed." Those who liked the book -- I am one -- say things like "compelling, well presented, and most persuasive."
This book puts into clear perspective the paradoxical trends I have seen as a practitioner of global Information Age business for the past two decades. It is not a "check-list" to help managers cope with their next staff meeting. Rather, it gives top level insights of where the tsunami of chaos is heading and what propels it. It contains data I’ve not seen reported elsewhere.
The best markets in the world are those where I practice: high technology, high margins, and high growth. A frequent question: Is U.S. business winning or losing in these markets? Greider and I agree that the answer is "yes." Some, Microsoft and Intel and Silicon Valley, are winning big time. But many large firms are on endless downward spirals, most metrics point at societal decline, the trade imbalance increases, and U.S. policy seems irrelevant or worse.
The U.S. loses high-tech and high-wage jobs at an increasing rate, and Government efforts often make matters worse. Alabama paid $200,000 per job to get a small Mercedes plant. Our Commerce department persists in trying to sell-out the U.S. patent system to accommodate Japan.
For reasons Greider explains, few U.S. multinationals care. Foreign alliances tend to neutralize U.S. companies on trade issues. They are in a crazy situation. "The U.S. government doesn’t mind if GM and Toyota get together to make cars, but not GM and Ford. It’s OK for Texas Instruments and Hitachi, but not TI and Motorola."
While trade deficits and job losses have been discussed for years, we are now in the end-game phase. Greider notes that 1994 may demarcate the end of America’s economic dominance. That was the first time since 1917 that the annual outflow of financial returns to foreign investors exceeded all the dividends, interest, and profits paid to U.S. investors.
Albert Einstein was once asked to name the most powerful force in nature. He replied, "Compound interest." Unnoticed and unreported, our economy moved into the classic debtor’s trap. The rest is inexorable mathematics. Like a household that tries to live on its credit cards, we go deeper in debt each month to pay for last month’s spending.
A British Economics Professor computes that U.S. debt, now at 9% of GDP, will double as a percentage of GDP about every 5 years. A Yale Professor notes, "One of the Japanese strategies is to keep us from doing anything rash for the next decade and a half — until they have become self-sufficient in Asia and no longer need us."
The key problem is, as one Motorola manager put it, "Americans don’t have the foggiest understanding of what’s happening to them and why." Fortunately, given awareness, solutions exist. Greider suggests specific corrective actions, but his main contribution is starting the dialog.
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