Synopses & Reviews
Hinds takes offers a fresh perspective on the social, political, and economic disturbances now affecting our world. This book looks at those disturbances not as separate problems, but rather as the coherent symptoms of a deep technological revolution that is changing the shape of society on the scale of the Industrial Revolution: the Connectivity Revolution, the basis of the New Economy. Analyzing the resistance to change that erupted violently in response to that last major economic upheaval, Hinds shows how Communism, Nazism, and fundamentalism owe their triumphs not to the prevalence of poverty or oppression but to the rigidity of societies threatened by profound social changes prompted by rapid technological progress. Demonstrating that their rigidity was caused by the same kind of state intervention in the economy that is now being proposed to stop globalization, he argues persuasively that only a horizontal, flexible society can smoothly manage change in such a way that the pain of transformation—and therefore, the risk of giving birth to new varieties of destructive regimes—is minimized.
Review
Provides the reader with a remarkable analysis of the challenges that the new 'information-related' technologies present in today's world. Manuel Hinds, an eminent Latin American policymaker in his own right, describes the difficulties of our current global environment, enriched by a fascinating historical perspective. Mr. Hinds's strong belief in the values of democracy and of the market economy is inspiring. Yet, it presents a major challenge to policy and opinion makers alike: how to use the technological revolution to improve society at large, without incurring the tragic mistakes of the past.Claudio M. Loser The Inter-American Dialogue
Review
Comprehensive graduate collections.Choice
Review
Provides the reader with a remarkable analysis of the challenges that the new 'information-related' technologies present in today's world. Manuel Hinds, an eminent Latin American policymaker in his own right, describes the difficulties of our current global environment, enriched by a fascinating historical perspective. Mr. Hinds's strong belief in the values of democracy and of the market economy is inspiring. Yet, it presents a major challenge to policy and opinion makers alike: how to use the technological revolution to improve society at large, without incurring the tragic mistakes of the past.Claudio M. Loser The Inter-American Dialogue
Synopsis
Hinds offers a fresh perspective on the social, political, and economic disturbances now affecting our world. This book looks at those disturbances not as separate problems, but rather as the coherent symptoms of a deep technological revolution that is changing the shape of society on the scale of the Industrial Revolution: the Connectivity Revolution, the basis of the New Economy.
Synopsis
Offers a fresh perspective on the social, political, and economic disturbances now affecting our world.
About the Author
MANUEL HINDS is a consultant to private and public institutions, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Bank of Development, and the International Monetary Fund.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Resistance to Change, Stagnation, and Destructiveness
The New Economy
The Economic Disruptions
Riches and Stagnation
Cold-Blooded Destructiveness
The Resurgence of Fundamentalism
The Inversion of Reality
Divisiveness and Social Interest
The Road Ahead
The Challenge
The False Solutions
Politics and the New International Order
The Problem of Social Cohesion
Forever Flowing
Bibliography
Index