False Dawn : The Delusions of Global Capitalism

by John Gray

Book Overview

False Dawn proposes that the attempt to impose the Anglo-American--style free market on the world will create a disaster on the scale of Soviet communism. Gray believes that even America, the supposed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1862075301
• ISBN13: 9781862075306
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Granta Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.7" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

Competing Capitalisms

Two writers who interest me because of the quality of their writings and the arguments which they put forward are Michael Prowse and John Gray. Both of these men have at one time been associated with what is known as the New Right, a term generally taken to mean, a heterogenous group of academics, intellectuals, scholars, journalists and sundry others who contributed to the resurgence of classical liberal, whig and similar ideas associated with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Both of these authors have since turned away from those ideas and developed their thinking in other directions. When I began to read this book I was reminded on Hayek's reason for not reviewing Keynes' General Theory: that he did not need to do so as he believed that Keynes would once again change his mind. However, as I proceeded to immerse myself in the material I began to gain some insight into the direction that Gray has gone. I am sure that there are many who would simply dismiss these ideas as not worthy of serious consideration given that Gray is considered a turncoat in some quarters, and there are some who would merely denounce them from a simplistic neo-liberal point of view but I believe that such attitudes are seriously misguided. As Peter Wynarczyk once pointed out to me, we must all put our theories in the public domain so that they may be tested against competing theories. We can build walls against attack but then what use is a theory which is merely conditional. Gray recognises that many who swear allegiance to the neo-liberal doctrines have not fully thought through the implications of those theories and similarly also recognises the political ramifications of those policies when implemented by politicians and others. After reading this book I am not coninced that Gray himself is anti-market. He seems to articulate a view of markets which are set within a social context, indeed he postulates competing capitalisms which to my mind is fully compatible within a classical liberal framework. The target of his attack appears to be what he views as a programme, a political programme, of a world order based on a contemporary American conception of what a free market ought to be. Whereas Gray argues that the emergence of the phenomenon of globalisation is driven by the spread of new technologies as opposed to the breaking down of barriers against open or laissez faire economics, he develops the notion of a particular type of capitalism hell bent on world domination. False Dawn assesses the damage to other capitalisms and the implications thereof, and foresees a time when the general applicability of American capitalism will ultimately lead to it's demise and at a great cost. He believes that this juggernaut cannot be stopped easily due to the damage done to the power of the state through the past twenty or so years of it's extension to the global economy. False Dawn also places this attempt to global economic domination within a context of the grand ideas

Much more than McWorld-ization - A political perspective

This is a very well written book that brings out a political perspective on Globalization, Free Trade and its impact/consequences. Unlike most books which run into conspiracy theories of Capitalism running amok and corporations driving covert agendas, this book instead takes a look at the political scenarios existing in various key countries & the complex interplay between the political history of the state & the impact of capitalism & hence the very role of the State. After dissecting Britain & the US, the author goes on to give very well researched examples from Russia and East Asian States - he covers the political history of each of these places & clearly outlines how Capitalism morphs into a regional variant under different political systems and the consequences of this morphing.The author powerfully argues how Capitalism & Globalization are not delinked from the role of the State ... and debunks the myth of a single universal culture. The book ends on a dark note where it raises serious questions about the presence & effectiveness of a Global governing body to handle the inadequacies of capitalism, driven by technological globalization.Its not an easy book to read, and requires a good knowledge of political history (US/UK/Russia/Singapore/China/Japan) & basic economics; but once finished, it is a definitive eye opener from a political perspective, on how the situation today has developed and what the future holds out.

Strong and timely words

Gray argues that the attempt of global hegemons to bring about a single global market is largely the political project of a few planners. Gray asserts that power-based free-marketeers have a compelling interest in concealing the particular social vision they are promoting within their discourse. It is this "vision" that Gray points out as the central "lie" of "free market' ideology. Gray argues that free market ideology relies heavily on a strong state with the aim of eliminating those vestiges of civil society which still exist that have the power to check the ambition of corporate capital. He states that it is intolerable for the West to entertain the thought that "countries can achieve modernity without revering the folkways of individualism, bowing to the cult of human rights or sharing the Enlightenment superstition of progress towards a world civilization." Gray very pointedly asserts, "Global laissez-faire is an American project," that in reality is "a mere nationalization of American corporate interests." Gray's deepest concern is over the long-term impact of this American action on international political stability. Even so, Gray asserts that, because of the power-based manner in which America wields its project upon others, it is "destined to fail," though not without costs. He states that, "In this, as in much else, it resembles that other twentieth century experiment in utopian social engineering, Marxian socialism [...]. Each was ready to exact a large price in suffering from humanity in order to impose its single vision on the world. In line with this argument, Gray further contends that the attempt to impose the Anglo-American-style free market on the world will create a disaster on the scale of Soviet communism. Even America, Gray asserts, the supposed flagship of "the new civilization," is doomed to moral and social disintegration as it loses ground to other cultures that have never forgotten that the market works best when it is embedded in the roots of their societies. And Gray is no jello-head. He was an operative in the Thatcher Administration who is now Professor of Economics and European Thought at the London School of Economics. Strong and timely words from a man with the perspective to back them up.

Raises some interesting questions.

The book isn't entirely convincing, having been written by a political scientist rather than an economist it has been criticised as being polemical.But having said that the author does raise some interesting points. The book is a real eye-opener, especially to those Americans who think that nations all want to be more like the USA. Read it.From the book:"The perception that countries which subscribe to none of the tenets of `the American creed' are surpassing the United States is too painful to enter into public consciousness. To accept that countries can achieve modernity without revering the folkways of individualism, bowing to the cult of human rights or sharing the Enlightenment superstition of progress towards a world civilisation, is to admit that America's civil religion has been falsified.For most Americans such a perception is intolerable. Instead, evidence of the superior economic growth, savings rates, educational standards and family stability of other countries that have repudiated the American model will be repressed, denied and resisted indefatigably. To admit this evidence would be to confront the social costs of the American free market. The free market works to weaken social cohesion. Its productivity is prodigious; but so are its human costs. At present the costs of the free market are taboo subjects in American discourse; they are voiced only by a handful of sceptical liberals. If the fact that free markets and social stability are at odds could be admitted, the conflict between them would not thereby disappear, but it could perhaps be moderated."

A Provocative View of Global Capitalism.

John Gray argues convincingly in this book that a single global market is largely a political project, while economic globalization is the result of the spread of new technologies throughout the world and it can go on without a free market. An unexpected consequence of globalization is that it accentuates uneven economic development within countries and between countries. This causes high structural unemployment, the fall of real wages for certain working groups and the need of two-income families. The author concludes that global capitalism is inherently unstable because a world-wide free market can not be self-regulated. Without radical reform it will fall apart as trade wars, competitive currency devaluations, economic collapses and political upheavals are bound to happen. This is an excallent analysis of the current state of global capitalism as we approach a new millennium.