The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy - Hardcover

Although [Rodrik s] message is nuanced and rigorous, drawing on history, logic and the latest economic data, he manages to convey it in simple, powerful prose that any reader can follow .a much-needed addendum to [Adam] Smith s famous formulation.--Steven Pearlstein"

Takes on the biggest issue of our time globalization and eloquently enlarges the debate about the extent and limits of global cooperation.--Gordon Brown"

In this cogent, well-written book, Rodrik, a Harvard economist, critiques unalloyed globalization enthusiasts, taking aim at their desire to fully liberalize foreign trade and capital movements.--Richard N. Cooper

Takes on the biggest issue of our time--globalization--and eloquently enlarges the debate about the extent and limits of global cooperation.--Gordon Brown

Although [Rodrik's] message is nuanced and rigorous, drawing on history, logic and the latest economic data, he manages to convey it in simple, powerful prose that any reader can follow....a much-needed addendum to [Adam] Smith's famous formulation.--Steven Pearlstein

Simply the best recent treatment of the globalization dilemma that I've read, by an economist or anyone else....He gives us nothing less than a general theory of globalization, development, democracy, and the state. The book provides the pleasure of following a thoughtful, critical mind working through a complex puzzle. Rodrik writes in highly friendly and nontechnical prose, blending a wide-ranging knowledge of economic history and politics and a gentle, occasionally incredulous, skepticism about the narrow and distorting lens of his fellow economists.--Robert Kuttner

A Big Book, one that may shape a new way of thinking about the global economy. . . . The style is conversational, but sweeping and authoritative--professorial in the positive sense. Rodrik is less of a polemicist . . . preferring to stay inside the tent, but he can pack a polite punch when necessary.--Duncan Green, Oxfam International, author of From Poverty to Power

From the mercantile monopolies of seventeenth-century empires to the modern-day authority of the WTO, IMF, and World Bank, the nations of the world have struggled to effectively harness globalization's promise. The economic narratives that underpinned these eras—the gold standard, the Bretton Woods regime, the "Washington Consensus"—brought great success and great failure. In this eloquent challenge to the reigning wisdom on globalization, Dani Rodrik offers a new narrative, one that embraces an ineluctable tension: we cannot simultaneously pursue democracy, national self-determination, and economic globalization. When the social arrangements of democracies inevitably clash with the international demands of globalization, national priorities should take precedence. Combining history with insight, humor with good-natured critique, Rodrik's case for a customizable globalization supported by a light frame of international rules shows the way to a balanced prosperity as we confront today's global challenges in trade, finance, and labor markets.