George Soros On Globalization (Paperback)

by George Soros

By "krchicago" (Chicago, IL United States)  

I bought this book because I wanted to learn something about the globalization debate and try to understand why it has gotten some people stirred up enought to riot in Seattle and stage mass protests elsewhere. I had at least heard of the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO before all this got started, but (like probably 98% of Americans) I had no real idea of what they do or how they do it. I didn't want to start out by reading either an economist (since as a general rule they seem to be excruciatingly poor writers) or one of the radical reformers (ditto). George Soros seemed like the perfect solution -- a successful player in the international financial markets, who has directed a significant chunk of his wealth to international philanthropic efforts. In other words, someone who has seen the problems from the inside and is working to remedy them (even though he has a stake in the current system). Soros' conviction in France last week for insider trading probably hurts his personal credibility, but doesn't affect the validity of his arguments about our international institutions and the US's role in the world.

"George Soros on Globalization" is a short book (about 180 pages, with *lots* of blank space), which is both its chief virtue and a significant limitation. It's a fast read and gave me a good overview of the problems with our global financial and trade arrangements (what these markets can and cannot do, the role the US has played and should play in the allocation of private and public goods), and a basic understanding of some possible solutions. Brevity also translates to very little explanation, however (I still don't really know what the World Bank and the IMF do), and very little development of Soros' thoughts on possible solutions. For example, Soros suggests that strengthening the ILO (rather than weakening the WTO) is the way to address global labor issues, but it's hard to imagine this happening and before I would consider this a practical solution I'd want to know more about how this would work and whether it's really feasible.

The "centerpiece" of Soros' book is his proposal for a reformed method of providing foreign aid through Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). Unfortunately, if you don't know anything about currency reserves and how they affect the economies of developing countries (and I don't), a lot of this discussion will be over your head. I had to take on faith quite a few bald statements about how SDRs would work and how they will benefit developing nations. And I had some questions about the parts that were easier to follow. For example, Soros proposes an independent board of professionally qualified experts who will identify projects that are eligible for donor financing. He emphasizes the importance of this board being professional, expert and free of national ties -- but he makes no suggestion as to how this laudable but probably unrealistic goal is to be achieved.

Soros' concluding chapter is essentially a plea for the US to develop a broader understanding of its global interests -- that we are strongest and safest when we promote a more equitable distribution of public goods (such as health, education and the rule of law) and take a more multi-lateral leadership role in the reduction of poverty worldwide. I happen to agree with Soros here, but I doubt that this chapter will persuade anyone who is not already inclined to accept Soros' conclusions.

Despite the defects noted, I would recommend this book to anyone who is wondering what the fuss over globalization is all about. If you read nothing else, this will at least give you an overview of the issues. Soros' writing style tends to the oracular pronouncement (there are lots of one or two sentence paragraphs -- as if the book grew out of a series of bullet points that he couldn't be troubled to turn into real paragraphs), which can be annoying, but it does get you through the material quickly. Overall, a stimulating read.