The Great Tradeoff: Confronting Moral Conflicts in the Era of Globalization
Book Description
Body
The global financial and economic crisis that began in 2008 has blasted livelihoods, inspired protests, and toppled governments. It has also highlighted the profound moral concerns long surrounding globalization. Did materialist excess, doctrinaire embrace of free trade and capital flows, and indifference to economic injustice contribute to the disaster of the last decade? Was it ethical to bail out banks and governments while innocent people suffered?
In this blend of economics, moral philosophy, history, and politics, Steven R. Weisman argues that the concepts of liberty, justice, virtue, and loyalty help to explain the passionate disagreements spawned by a globally integrated economy.
Editorial Reviews
These questions have absorbed my former colleague Steven Weisman of the Peterson Institute for International Economics for some years now. His new book, "The Great Tradeoff: Confronting Moral Conflicts in the Era of Globalization," provides an excellent text for the discussion we need. Weisman painstakingly avoids dogmatism and is careful in laying out the often-agonizing choices we face. E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post
I only wish that this book had been written when I was still teaching at Syracuse. I would surely have assigned it. It's an important achievement that a lot of people should understand. I think that this tradeoff between moral concepts and indeed the interplay between morals and markets is something that we deemphasize in our modern understanding of economics. Arthur C. Brooks, American Enterprise Institute
This was an exceptional piece of work. It was obviously well written because that's what he's been doing for a long time. It was thoughtful because he's a thoughtful guy. It was incredibly researched as you heard him and Arthur Brooks describe. And it was balanced. Steven Rattner, Former Counselor to the Secretary of the US Treasury
Weisman’s book is spot-on, in its timing, in the topics covered, and in the values-based framework the author brings to bear in discussing globalization’s tradeoffs. Michael Anderson, Washington and Lee University
These questions have absorbed my former colleague Steven Weisman of the Peterson Institute for International Economics for some years now. His new book, "The Great Tradeoff: Confronting Moral Conflicts in the Era of Globalization," provides an excellent text for the discussion we need. Weisman painstakingly avoids dogmatism and is careful in laying out the often-agonizing choices we face. E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post
Data disclosure: The data underlying the figures in this analysis are available here [xlsx].
Contents
Selected chapters and sections are provided for preview only.
1. What We Talk about When We Talk about Globalization
I The Conflicts of Liberty and Justice
2. Economic Liberty: From Freedom of the Seas to Freedom of Capital
3. The Wolves and the Lambs: "Justice, Justice Shalt Thou Pursue"
4. Justice for All: Defining and Measuring Inequality
II The Conflicts over Instilling Virtue
5. The Hazards of Moral Hazard
6. Government and Just Deserts: A Brief US History
7. Bubbles, Panics, Crashes, and Bailouts: Moral Hazard in the Marketplace
8. Who's Afraid of Debt? Debt as a Public Policy Tool
III The Conflicts over Loyalty
9. The Moral Imperative of Loyalty
10. Grappling with the Communitarian-Cosmopolitan Tradeoff
11. Loyalties in Conflict: Jobs, Communities, and Multinational Corporations
12. Who Governs? The Role of Liberal Internationalism
13. Pulling Together the Threads Notes Bibliography Acknowledgments Index
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index