Global Dreams: Imperial Corporations and the New World Order

Barnett ( Global Reach ) and Cavanagh, a Fellow at the Washington, D.C., Institute for Policy Studies, start off slowly in criticizing the power of worldwide conglomerates, but they pick up speed as the book progresses. They focus on five corporations as the basis for analyzing five industries. Thus Bertelsmann and Sony are the case studies of publishing and the media and their impact on global culture; Ford, of manufacturing and workplace issues; Philip Morris, of the food business and global market; and Citicorp, of the world financial and banking system. The authors are not especially critical of the five companies profiled. Nevertheless, they effectively make their point that various forces led by technology have created a global system that is largely ungoverned and unregulated by nation-states, resulting in negative implications for most of the world's population. While eliminating jobs and cutting other costs may provide short-term gains, those policies will have negative long-term consequences even for the global giants themselves as fewer people will have the money to afford the products that are produced. (Feb.)