Globaloney 2.0: The Crash of 2008 and the Future of Globalization

by Michael Veseth

Overview

Globalization is in retreat, but history tells us that this is but a temporary reversal. Globalization will return, but in what form? More cycles of boom and bust? Or can globalization be rebuilt on a more feasible and sustainable platform? These are the compelling questions that Michael Veseth tackles in this thoroughly revised and updated edition of his award-winning book.

Veseth shows how pre-crash visions of globalization were based on three powerful myths: that global finance was a stable foundation for a global economy, that global markets homogenized and Americanized the world, and that globalization itself was irresistible—impossible to shape or oppose at any level from the grassroots on up. The world economic crisis has revealed globalization's Achilles heel: the fundamental instability of global financial markets and the unsettled foundation of economic globalization generally. This realization is a necessary first step, but it alone is not enough. We must rethink the rest of globalization's myths, Veseth persuasively argues, if we want to move beyond boom and bust to a sustainable global future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742567450
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	01/16/2010
Series:	Globalization
Pages:	238
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Michael Veseth is Robert G. Albertson Professor of International Political Economy at the University of Puget Sound.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1: Globalization? Or Globaloney?
Chapter 2: Financial Globaloney: Safe as Houses
Chapter 3: The Crash of 2008 and the Global Market Myth
Chapter 4: Golden Arches Globaloney
Chapter 5: The Only Game in Town
Chapter 6: Grassroots Globaloney
Chapter 7: Slow-balization: Using Globalization to Fight Globalization
Chapter 8: Globalization and the French Exception
Chapter 9: The Future of Globalization (and Globaloney)

Editorial Reviews

Michael Veseth continues his amiable progress through the enchanted, topsy-turvy world of contemporary economic mythology. A real economist with an observant mind, he provides a series of suave and charming tales from his travels through the real world—stories whose subjects range from Adam Smith to Michael Jordan, from soccer to the French, from mediocre mass food to global good wine. Skillfully blended together, these chase away the goblins of globaloney and leave us with a nicer world than we had thought.

David P. Calleo

Veseth. .. succeeds in debunking conventional wisdoms, and his digressions on such subjects as the international wine trade and French snobbery are entertaining.

The Instrumentalist

Engaging, illuminating, and thought-provoking.

International Review Of Modern Sociology

In Globaloney, Michael Veseth achieves a rare combination: he conveys important economic arguments in a vivid and highly entertaining style. For anyone trying to assess the goods and bads of headlong progress toward a global economy, and trying to sort bogus fears from genuine reasons for concern, this book is a great place to start.

James Fallows

Michael Veseth's entertaining book is written for a more general audience than standard academic texts and as such represents an attempt to engage the mythology and the rhetoric of globalisation on its own ground. Most interestingly, perhaps, Veseth chooses to take on some of globalisation's harshest critics, suggesting that they are as guilty of conjuring up myths to serve particular claims about the world as are their opponents in the pro-globalisation camp. Veseth's proseis eminently readable while being grounded with solid empirical findings. Globaloney should prove to be of great use in the classroom.

Political Studies Review

Here's a book to break the spell cast by simplistic economic creeds from both left and right. If you want to make fresh discoveries about the global marketplace, Michael Veseth is your man. Don't let his lively, informal prose style fool you. He has a scientist's keen nose for tracking what's true back to its native lair: that wild thicket of fact where prevailing theory just won't fit.

Howard Cutler

With his customary verve, Michael Veseth has launched a passionate broadside against what he calls the 'myths' of globalization. Not everyone will agree with his unorthodox views; many will be provoked. But this book deserves to reach a wide audience. In a style both witty and easily accessible, Veseth uses familiar elements of popular culture to challenge conventional thinking. Readers will feast on Globaloney.

Benjamin J. Cohen

Michael Veseth's Globaloney is the perfect down-to-earth primer for undergraduates trying to understand the debate over globalization. By focusing on commodities within every student's reach—baloney, Michael Jordan, and soccer balls—Veseth transparently links abstract global processes to real life.

Herman Schwartz

Michael Veseth's imaginative account of the varieties of globalization demands the attention of both scholars and students of the world economy. Through original case studies and deeply informed analyses, Veseth presents a fresh picture of a refreshingly diverse and serendipitous globalization. While the media, activists and policymakers generally paint globalization with a single brush, Veseth draws on a broad palette to puncture popular myths and promotes critical thinking. Globaloney is an important new work that advances our understanding of globalization and its effect on society and culture as well as business and finance.

G. Pascal Zachary

A lively and informative textbook that brings to life the real meaning of globalization. The author is neither a cheerleader for nor a crusader against globalization. He simply seeks to explain this concept and its various manifestations in an objective fashion.

Nader Entessar

This book presents a novel and engaging critical analysis that incorporates insights from political economy into a story that will appeal to a wide readership.

Jarrod Wiener

This book is destined to please many readers.

Choice Reviews - P. K. Kresl

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITIONMichael Veseth's Globaloney is the perfect down-to-earth primer for undergraduates trying to understand the debate over globalization. By focusing on commodities within every student's reach baloney, Michael Jordan, and soccer balls Veseth transparently links abstract global processes to real life.--Herman Schwartz

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITIONIn Globaloney, Michael Veseth achieves a rare combination: he conveys important economic arguments in a vivid and highly entertaining style. For anyone trying to assess the goods and bads of headlong progress toward a global economy, and trying to sort bogus fears from genuine reasons for concern, this book is a great place to start.--Fallows, James

Praise for the first edition In Globaloney, Michael Veseth achieves a rare combination: he conveys important economic arguments in a vivid and highly entertaining style. For anyone trying to assess the goods and bads of headlong progress toward a global economy, and trying to sort bogus fears from genuine reasons for concern, this book is a great place to start....--James Fallows, national correspondent, The Atlantic Monthly, and author of Breaking the News and Looking at the Sun

From the Publisher

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION
Veseth . . . succeeds in debunking conventional wisdoms, and his digressions on such subjects as the international wine trade and French snobbery are entertaining.

Washington Post Book World

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION
This book is destined to please many readers.

CHOICE - P. K. Kresl

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION This book is destined to please many readers.
— P. K. Kresl

CHOICE