Product Description

A bestseller in hardback, this book offers a powerful defence of the global market economy. Martin Wolf explains how globalization works, critiques the charges against it, argues that the biggest obstacle to global economic progress has been the failure not of the market but of governments, and offers a realistic scenario for economic internationalism in the post-9/11 age. For this paperback edition, Wolf provides a new introduction to update the debate. "Let a splendid new book on globalization be the last for a while: it will not be bettered soon ...Why Globalization Works is the fullest and most sophisticated treatment to date of the case for globalization. All the topics Wolf addresses have been addressed elsewhere, but never before with such depth of thinking, and in one place ...The definitive treatment of the subject, and an absorbing read." Economist "Accessible and clearly argued ...A wealth of material on every page." Bruce Bartlett, The Wall Street Journal "No one has summarised more coherently the recent, voluminous research ...Elegantly and persuasively, Wolf marshals the facts." Niall Ferguson, Sunday Telegraph "A necessary and compelling read for all who want to understand the logic of unfolding events." Robert Skidelsky, New Statesman "Meticulous, well-structured, and persuasive." Martin Vander Weyer, Spectator

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22582 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
"Splendid... The definitive treatment of the subject, and an absorbing read." Economist; "A wealth of material on every page." Wall Street Journal "Let a splendid new book on globalization be the last for a while: it will not be bettered soon... Why Globalization Works is the fullest and most sophisticated treatment to date of the case for globalization. All the topics Wolf addresses have been addressed elsewhere, but never before with such depth of thinking, and in one place... The definitive treatment of the subject, and an absorbing read." Economist; "Accessible and clearly argued... A wealth of material on every page." Bruce Bartlett, The Wall Street Journal; "No one has summarised more coherently the recent, voluminous research... Elegantly and persuasively, Wolf marshals the facts." Niall Ferguson, Sunday Telegraph; "A necessary and compelling read for all who want to understand the logic of unfolding events." Robert Skidelsky, New Statesman; "Meticulous, well-structured, and persuasive." Martin Vander Weyer, Spectator"

Wall Street Journal
"A wealth of material on every page."

Bruce Bartlett, Wall Street Journal
"Accessible and clearly argued ... A wealth of material on every page."

Customer Reviews

Four Cheers for Globalization
This remarkable book should be read by all those who are interested in the future of the world and how the blessings enjoyed by rich nations could and should become general.

Martin Wolf explains how such progress depends on the spread of liberal capitalism and how this necessarily involves further globalization. He refutes with care and remarkable politeness the ill-considered arguments of his opponents.

The book's outstanding quality derives from the author's passionate goodwill for humanity and the controlled patience which he has brought to the rebuttal of arguments which are often exceedingly weak or even downright silly.

Being on the side of the angels is not enough to produce a great work but, as the author has the additional qualities of an incisive mind and elegant style, the result is a book which will increasingly be recognised as a classic.

Brilliant.
This book provides a powerful argument for governments to encourage rather than hinder the development of a liberal globalized economy. Martin Wolf's thesis is presented intelligently and clearly, and should be comprehensible to non-economists. There is none of the jargon and convoluted discourse, loved by both social scientists and economists, which prevents the reader from truely understanding what the author is saying and hence hiding any illogicality in the arguments.

My main fear was that there would be little in the way of new material for someone who has been an avid reader of Wolf's articles in the FT and who has read other authors on the subject. However, there is such a wealth of interesting detail and originality in the analysis that this book is a must read for everyone.

The definitive work on globalisation
Why is this book so good? Because it is so very readable. Wolf has taken a very large subject and broken it up into all the various sections that really need to be covered. He takes all the main arguments against globalisation and argues each case in turn. He explains the benefits in a clear and simple way, using interesting case materials. This book is well researched and can be used as reference material for a University course, but at the same time it is an easy read that can be consumed from cover to cover - not easy to achieve with a subject such as this. Wolf has written a classic.