Turbo-capitalism : winners and losers in the global economy

In this critical analysis of today's free-market capitalism, Edward Luttwak shows how it is vastly different from the controlled capitalism that flourished so successfully from 1945 to the 1980s. Turbo-capitalism is private enterprise liberated from government regulation, unchecked by effective trade unions, unfettered by concerns for employees or investment restrictions, and unhindered by taxation. The winners - the architects and acrobats of techno-organizational change - become much richer; the losers, the majority, become relatively or absolutely poorer and are forced by downsizing to take the traditional jobs of the underclass, more and more of whom end up in prison. Led by the United States, closely followed by Britain, turbo-capitalism is spreading fast throughout Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world (only in France and Japan is there any resistance) without the two great forces that check its enormous power in the United States: a powerful legal system and the stringent rules of American calvinism. Acknowledging the great efficiency of turbo-capitalism, Luttwak provides no solutions but describes in powerful detail the major societal upheavals and inequities it causes and the broad dissatisfaction and anxiety that may result. Washington Monthly - Jonathan Rowe ...[Q]uietly the more principled conservatism survives, and evidence of this is Turbo-Capitalism... ..He sees the market as a qualified good rather than an absolute one, a means to an end but not an end in itself....Perhaps it will take a conservative to explain this new politics and prod the opinion establishment to acknowledge it. Edward Luttwak has offered a large contribution to this end. In this incisive and controversial expos of the hidden effects of today's free-market capitalism, Edward Luttwak describes in powerful detail how it vastly differs from the controlled capitalism that flourished from 1945 to the 1980s. Turbo-capitalism is private enterprise liberated from government regulation, unchecked by effective trade unions, unfettered by concerns for employees or communities, and unhindered by taxation or investment restrictions. The winners in this free-for-all are getting much richer, while the losers are becoming poorer and are forced by downsizing to take the traditional jobs of the underclass. Led by the United States, closely followed by Britain, turbo-capitalism is spreading fast throughout Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world without the two great forces that check its enormous power in the United States: a powerful Legal system and the stringent rules of American calvinism. Luttwak exposes the major societal upheavals and inequities turbo-capitalism causes and the broad dissatisfaction and anxiety that may result. "Business Week rankings of US corporate chiefs: one for the highest earners of 1996 - he was number one at $102,449,000, or $280,682 per day including weekends and vacations - and one for the least effective in raising shareholder value." A study of the hidden ramifications and inequities of free-market capitalism explores its frequently devastating impact on economic and social values and opportunities