Review of A Free Nation Deep in Debt: The Financial Roots of Democracy (Hardcover)

"A Free Nation Deep in Debt" is James Macdonald's first literary contribution to the field of political economy and it is rich in historical detail, a fact which may make it a challenging read for anyone unacquainted with ordinary economic history and its specific historiography. Macdonald, an investment banker for many years who now lives in Oxford, England, discusses the idea that the way a country borrows its money is associated with what kind of government it has. In his discussion, Macdonald traces the evolution of public debt from antiquity to the present, arguing that public finance and political freedom are more closely interrelated than most people realize.

For those who like some structure in a book of this complexity, it can easily be divided into an introduction and four main sections. The first seven pages, with the title "Introduction: The Financial Roots of Democracy," sketches out what is to come, providing the reader with a framework for the coming text and raising the essential questions with which the author will wrestle.

The first section traces the history of public finance and political freedom from the end of the Bronze Age to the end of the Dark Ages, contrasts two different types of finances -- tribal and imperial, explains the historic advantages of autocratic government, considers the critical period when some of the emerging societies settled down and civilized themselves without losing their political freedom, and, in regard to the so-called Dark Ages, asks why they had a more intense and enduring effect in western Europe than in other places. This initial section sets the stage for a comprehensive description of the relationship of public finance and political freedom in the Middle Ages and modern times.

The second section deals with medieval Europe. It was to be the role of medieval Italian city-states to bring back the idea of democratic public financing and modify it so it could become a workable plan for public financing. According to Macdonald, "The system that they created, although in one way fatally flawed, set off a chain of events with results that no one could have predicted." The third section of the book continues the discussion of public finance by looking at the attempts of other European states to come to terms with the implications of the Italian strategy.

The fourth and final section considers events after the French Revolution, and the author suggests that "The outcome of the Napoleonic Wars demonstrated the superiority of a political system based on the alliance of parliamentary government and public debt, but now there was a new question: Would a system created in a world of restricted citizenship and limited franchise prove compatible with universal suffrage. It was the role of the nineteenth century to find a solution to this problem. In the devastating wars of the first half of the twentieth century, this solution was put to the test." And Macdonald concludes that "The First World War was the apotheosis of 'democratic' public finance, the Second its swan song."

Throughout the reading of "A Free Nation Deep in Debt," one is struck continually by both the historical detail the author has uncovered and the factual surprises which he springs on the reader. How many of us realize, for instance, that the problem of public financing was intimately related to the fall of Rome or that in the eighteenth century it was commonly accepted that public debt and political liberty were intimately related? Regarding our own time and country, how many of us realize that the role played by the United States in World War I was funded with public debt?

I will leave it to the experts in economic theory and history to evaluate what appear to be Macdonald's conclusions in this romp through political economy from ancient Mesopotamia to the United States in the twentieth century. Has public borrowing from citizens in times of war gone hand in hand with modern democracy, as Macdonald argues? Does he present a compelling case showing why a democratic government is able to borrow more cheaply from its citizen-lenders than an autocratic state who does not consider its citizens to be equals? Was, in fact, World War II the "swan song" of democratic public financing? And, if true, has this occurred as a result of a decline in the public's trust of government, particularly in Western nations, combined with increasing globalization of the economy?

Readers can decide for themselves whether Macdonald adequately answers the above questions, as well as the other questions he tackles. Suffice to say, "A Free Nation Deep in Debt" is a comprehensive and detailed consideration regarding a certain aspect of economic history, specifically the relationship between public financing and political freedom. Certainly an interesting read, but let the reader beware. This scholarly book is definitely not Sunday afternoon "leisure" reading.

Fortunately for the reader, this book is enhanced with a detailed appendix of notes on currencies which describes them and sets out their relationships in historical context. Furthermore, a helpful glossary is provided which explains the technical terms used in the text, although the educated reader will not have much difficulty with the terms as they are used since they are explained as they occur within the text itself. The author has also provided thirty-five pages of notes, a 21-page bibliography, and a useful index with both major and minor topics listed.



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Review of This Changes Everything: The Relational Revolution in Psychology (Hardcover)

The philosopher Ken Wilber first alerted to the work of Carol Gilligan. I was already aware of some of the work of Jean Baker Miller and Judith Lewis Herman and the revolution in psychology that they had spawned. But some of the details I did not known and they are captured in the remarkable narrative of Christina Robb's book.

Almost thirty years ago, Carol Gilligan wrote an essay entitled "In a Different Voice," that was subsequently expanded into a book that I recommend highly. She described the marked discrepancies in morality and self-expression between men and women. For women, the whole notion of self tends to be inextricably bound up in a web of close relationships. Women tend to be more diligent about maintaining and nurturing these relationships, and inter-personal details tend to be more important to them, than they are for most men. At the time that she started writing about this, much psychological thinking in the United States had not yet dragged itself out of the confines of the post-Freudian theorizing that had dominated American psychology for decades. Gilligan and her co-workers identified relationships as the foundation of our psychological and physical states. At the time, the idea that men and women might tend to think and relate in different ways was anathema. I did a brief stint in Boston around that time, and it was pretty clear what could and could not be thought about. Despite the incredible liberal and intellectual traditions at Harvard, there were clearly some "no go" areas in psychology; gender differences being just one of them. Gilligan's work was courageous, and taken together with the findings of psychiatrists Judith Lewis Herman and Jean Baker Miller, would ultimately lead to radical alterations in the way that we understand the psychology of women. Are these gender differences social, political or biological? The answer is, I think, yes: all of the above.

Christine Robb has managed to capture the quiet revolution that these scientists introduced, and which is still being felt today. Though it is surprising how often discussion of gender differences are still omitted from much work on self-psychology. In an otherwise wonderful book - The Self in Neuroscience and Psychiatry, edited by Tilo Kircher and Anthony David - there is scarcely any mention of gender.

I would not normally expect to get through a 450-page book at one sitting: I'm not a speed-reader! But this is so well written and the biographies and interviews so enthralling, that I did indeed polish it off at one sitting. Though I feel sure that I shall return to it in the future.

Though this is a big juicy book with pages of references and a bibliography, I'm going to make a prediction that it is going to be one of those rare cross-over books that will be read not just by academics and psychology students, but also by people who really are interested in knowing more about themselves and understanding relationships. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this one gets featured on Oprah! It's that good.

Highly recommended!



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Review of Connected: 24 Hours in the Global Economy (Hardcover)

This is the penultimate insiders view of the world economy as Altman ( a serious business journalist with a PhD.), lets you peek inside the worlds of a dozen decision maker/influencers/ordinary people in many countries, in the same24 hr period. Fascinating and much more insightful than The World is Flat. I can never read the world business news the same way again. It caused me to renew my online The Economist subscription. I appreciated the inside views on currency exchanges, credit and inflation. The story of Haier in China - delightful vignettes. I had forgotten how much Japan lacked competition until pointed out by Altman. The background on why the US will continue to force its dollar lower is worth the book price. The story about the plight of Chinese peasants really pulls at your gut. A must read, it is topical, thought provoking and appropriate for our market planning.



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Review of The Interpreter (Hardcover)

This is an satisfying, entertaining first novel and mystery which explores New York City's Korean American immigrant and merchant community and their 1.5 Generation children.Told in the third person, we meet Suzy Park, on the cusp of turning 30, an ivy-educated, unfinished daughter of immigrant, Korean greengrocers in the Bronx.Estranged from her family, Suzy has aimlessly tripped from one adulterous relationship and temporary job to another.It is a life of unscented impermanence, with dull colored cars and a forever incomplete cathedral.She shuns her fellow 1.5 Generation members who strive in school.Her latest job is as an interpreter for the city court system.As an interpreter, she cannot take sides in court cases, but she is a keen observer and picks up the nuances and subtleties of languages, tones, and expressions.As the story unfolds, the reader will hope that Suzy not only interprets and transfers these depositions, but learns to interpret her own life choices and place in America.Although her parents were killed in a robbery of their store nearly five years ago, she never discusses the tragedy, not even with her friends or prying roommate.But when one client hints at some knowledge of a prior murder of greengrocers, Suzy picks up the trail of the mystery.Like the layers of a greengrocer's onion, the story unfolds as clues are unpeeled in each chapter.Was the robbery a murder?Why did the family move so often?Along the way, the author mixes in Korean culture, Nabokov, the INS, Japanese cinema, news radio-WINS, botany, van Gogh, and King Lear to create an absorbing, expeditious mystery.



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Review of The Will of the People: How Public Opinion Has Influenced the Supreme Court and Shaped the Meaning of the Constitution (Hardcover)

Because U.S. Supreme Court justices have effective life tenure under the federal Constitution, the high court has long been viewed as a undemocratic institution in our society.The "countermajoritarian" nature of the Court has been a cause both for censure and celebration.On the one hand, the Court has been faulted for sitting as a "superlegislature," in which five (out of nine) middle-aged to elderly judges can strike down the enactments of democratically elected bodies.On the other hand, a counter-majoritarian Court has been seen as a bulwark for fundamental liberties or powerless minorities whose status should not be determined by a popular vote.

Friedman's book renovates this well-rehearsed debate by challenging its core premise.Taking a broad yet detailed historical perspective, he observes that the Supreme Court is rarely out of sync with popular opinion.Under this view, both the demerits and the merits of judicial review will be dampened.The Court is not as susceptible to the charge that it is an activist institution out of touch with the polity.At the same time, it is also not as worthy of praise as an institution that can protect rights and groups from majority whims.

The book is a fascinating sociological study of the Court.It is also an important theoretical work that shows how unelected officials are held indirectly accountable to the people.Most of all, it is a call to reflect and act that is all the more effective for not coming to us as a polemic.This book argues that what we as individual citizens believe, say, and do affects the meaning of the Constitution.It addresses us all, which is why we all should read it.






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Review of Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America (Hardcover)

Friedman writes on world population, the increase of the global middle class, and the growing energy crisis.All of this has contributed to a world that is in desperate need of an energy solution.The thing I like about Friedman's approach is he's optimistic and he's practical.His major points are...

-- The battle over green (energy) will define the first part of the 21st century, just like the battle over red (communism) defined the last half of the 20th century.
-- Everyone needs to accept that oil will never again be cheap...
-- Off-shore drilling may be a temporary fix, but it's not the long-term solution.
-- The fossil-fuel age will end only when we invent our way out of it...
-- The last big innovation in energy production was nuclear power half a century ago, which is an important component to solving our energy problem, but we need additional solutions...
-- In order to further real innovation we need people "throwing crazy dollars at every idea, in every garage, that we have 100,000 people trying 100,000 things, five of which might work, and two might be the next green Google."
-- Friedman emphasizes the practical side of green - "It's the incredible sense of opportunity here. It's not just about saving the polar bears. It's not just about saving three generations from climate change. It's also about rising to the greatest economic opportunity that's come along in a long, long, time."

In the end, he is asking for collaboration and innovation.Of course that begs the question - where does the money come from for all of this?It's always easy to point at the government, but when we look at where real economic solutions have come from it's most often private industry.I wish Friedman would have written on how governments can create environments were private industry is incentivized to create, invent, and discover.Even so, Friedman's book is a needed wake-up call.



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