Monthly Review 57, 11 April 2006
Monthly Review April 2006, Vol 57, 11
REVIEW OF THE MONTH
'Neoliberalism: Myths and Reality' (downloadable) by Martin Hart-Landsberg
"Agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have enhanced transnational capitalist power and profits at the cost of growing economic instability and deteriorating working and living conditions. Despite this reality, neoliberal claims that liberalization, deregulation, and privatization produce unrivaled benefits have been repeated so often that many working people accept them as unchallengeable truths. Thus, business and political leaders in the United States and other developed capitalist countries routinely defend their efforts to expand the WTO and secure new agreements like the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) as necessary to ensure a brighter future for the world’s people, especially those living in poverty. "
'The Lawyer’s Typist: Variations on a Theme by Paul Samuelson' by Cheryl Payer
Nora, who was Improving her Mind with a night school course in introductory economics, settled down to do her homework. That week’s assignment was the chapter on international trade in the textbook for the course (which the instructor had assured the class was The Very Best, being the seventh edition of Paul Samuelson’s Economics: An Introductory Analysis.
'Rebel in the House:The Life and Times of Vito Marcantonio' by John J. Simon
"Vito Marcantonio was the most consequential radical politician in the United States in the twentieth century. Elected to Congress from New York’s ethnically Italian and Puerto Rican East Harlem slums, Marcantonio, in his time, held office longer than any other third-party radical, serving seven terms from 1934 to 1950. Colorful and controversial, Marcantonio captured national prominence as a powerful orator and brilliant parliamentarian. Often allied with the U.S. Communist Party (CP), he was an advocate of civil rights, civil liberties, labor unions, and Puerto Rican independence. He supported social security and unemployment legislation for what later was called a “living wage” standard. And he annually introduced anti-lynching and anti–poll tax bills a decade before it became respectable. He also opposed the House Un-American Activities Committee, redbaiting, and antisemitism, and fought for the rights of the foreign born. He was a bold outspoken opponent of U.S. imperialism."
BOOK REVIEWS
The Hidden History of the Americas by Richard Peet
A review of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus by Charles C. Mann.
Rebellion of a New Generation by Elizabeth Wrigley-Field
A review of Letters from Young Activists: Today's Rebels Speak Out by Dan Berger, Chesa Boudin, and Kenyon Farrow, eds., with preface by Bernardine Dohrn.
Darwin's Materialism by Richard York
A review of Darwin: Discovering the Tree of Life by Niles Eldredge.
REVIEW OF THE MONTH
'Neoliberalism: Myths and Reality' (downloadable) by Martin Hart-Landsberg
"Agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have enhanced transnational capitalist power and profits at the cost of growing economic instability and deteriorating working and living conditions. Despite this reality, neoliberal claims that liberalization, deregulation, and privatization produce unrivaled benefits have been repeated so often that many working people accept them as unchallengeable truths. Thus, business and political leaders in the United States and other developed capitalist countries routinely defend their efforts to expand the WTO and secure new agreements like the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) as necessary to ensure a brighter future for the world’s people, especially those living in poverty. "
'The Lawyer’s Typist: Variations on a Theme by Paul Samuelson' by Cheryl Payer
Nora, who was Improving her Mind with a night school course in introductory economics, settled down to do her homework. That week’s assignment was the chapter on international trade in the textbook for the course (which the instructor had assured the class was The Very Best, being the seventh edition of Paul Samuelson’s Economics: An Introductory Analysis.
'Rebel in the House:The Life and Times of Vito Marcantonio' by John J. Simon
"Vito Marcantonio was the most consequential radical politician in the United States in the twentieth century. Elected to Congress from New York’s ethnically Italian and Puerto Rican East Harlem slums, Marcantonio, in his time, held office longer than any other third-party radical, serving seven terms from 1934 to 1950. Colorful and controversial, Marcantonio captured national prominence as a powerful orator and brilliant parliamentarian. Often allied with the U.S. Communist Party (CP), he was an advocate of civil rights, civil liberties, labor unions, and Puerto Rican independence. He supported social security and unemployment legislation for what later was called a “living wage” standard. And he annually introduced anti-lynching and anti–poll tax bills a decade before it became respectable. He also opposed the House Un-American Activities Committee, redbaiting, and antisemitism, and fought for the rights of the foreign born. He was a bold outspoken opponent of U.S. imperialism."
BOOK REVIEWS
The Hidden History of the Americas by Richard Peet
A review of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus by Charles C. Mann.
Rebellion of a New Generation by Elizabeth Wrigley-Field
A review of Letters from Young Activists: Today's Rebels Speak Out by Dan Berger, Chesa Boudin, and Kenyon Farrow, eds., with preface by Bernardine Dohrn.
Darwin's Materialism by Richard York
A review of Darwin: Discovering the Tree of Life by Niles Eldredge.
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