Product Description

In this work, Ohmae argues that not only have nation states lost their ability to control exchange rates and protect their currencies, but because they no longer generate real economic activity, they have forfeited their role as critical participants in the global economy. Ohmae contends that five great forces - communication, corporation, customers, capital and currencies - have usurped the economic power once held by the nation state. He explains how communications control the movement of capital and corporations across national borders, how demanding consumers determine the flow of goods and services, and how harmful governmental policies are increasingly disciplined by the actions of informed consumers, profit-seeking corporations, and currency markets. The result, Ohmae claims, has been the rise of the region state, the natural economic zones that have emerged, for example, between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Ohmae argues that to establish a presence within these regional markets, corporations must jettison their "country strategies" and instead focus on special strategies for particular regions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #504212 in Books
• Published on: 1996-08-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

Review
Taking issue with intellectual Francis Fukayama, who posits the end of history, business strategist Ohmae (The Borderless World, 1990) more plausibly prophesies the eventual demise of the nation-state, because it has become "an unnatural, even dysfunctional, unit in terms of which to think about or organize economic activity." Writing with his customary brio and clarity, the Tokyo-based, MIT-educated consultant makes a persuasive case for the arresting proposition that sovereignty is increasingly irrelevant. Characterizing borders as a cartographic illusion, he observes that what he calls "the four I's" - industry, investment, individuals, and information - now flow across frontiers with little hindrance. As commercial enterprises capitalize on market opportunities at the ends of the earth or closer to their home bases, however, traditional governments remain in thrall to outdated notions of national interest and to the importunate demands of parasitic constituencies seeking shelter from economic rivalry. While central governments are still major players on the world stage, Ohmae insists that they have lost the capacity to adapt to change, let alone respond effectively to its challenges. He documents the significant extent to which nation-states remain focused on parochial issues during an age when real-time information is the common coin of industry and distance has become economically immaterial. The resulting power vacuum has been filled by what the author dubs region states, geographic territories oriented toward the global economy, not their host countries. Cases in point range from Baden-Wurtemberg, San Diego/Tijuana, and Wales through Korea's Pusan perimeter and Hollywood, which has profited greatly from the warm welcome it extended foreign capital, whether from the Japanese or Rupert Murdoch. Elegant perspectives on what the socioeconomic future might hold from a past master of the geopolitical game. The engrossing text has helpful tabular material and graphics throughout. (Kirkus Reviews)

Customer Reviews

Clear and concise
This goes beyond the description of why governments are obsolete in the age of globalisation, and suggests an alternative of federated regions competing to offer the best conditions for free trade. This will bring greater economic growth than keeping globally competitive industries and regions as cash cows made to pay for the economically uncompetitive special-interest sectors of a country.

I found this interestingly suggests a return to bioregionalism, as Ohmae argues against the 'artificial' nation state as an artifact, but suggests regions of 5 to 20 millions as a suitable size for a single distribution network, being large enough to be worth targeting and small enough to avoid diffusion and duplication in the marketing structures that cater to it.

The downsides are the fact that the descriptions are obviously dated by now, and the poor quality reproduction of the few diagrams in one chapter.