|
|
|
|
 |
BusinessWeek: January 10, 2000 |
|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
Auto Beat
Bangalore Tigers
Blogspotting
Brand New Day
Byte of the Apple
Economics Unbound
Eye on Asia
Fine On Media
Green Biz
Hot Property
Investing Insights
Management IQ
NEXT: Innovation
NussbaumOnDesign
Tech Beat
Working Parents
TECHNOLOGY
J.D. Power Ratings
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Wildstrom: Tech Maven
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Classic Cars
Car Care & Safety
Hybrids
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads |
|
International -- Readers Report
The Bottom Line Isn't the Bottom Line (int'l edition)
Defense of the status quo ignores the fact that many of the richest people in the world are finding the nonmaterial aspects of their lives harder and less meaningful. The maintenance of corporatism in the face of such facts depends on the fiction that the subjects of modern sophisticated marketing have freedom of choice. This illusion is becoming increasingly threadbare--particularly when the Internet allows more honest mass communication, unaccompanied by the commercial filter of advertising. Freedom requires the discipline of responsibility if it is to have any meaning. Who is taking responsibility for the planet's climate? For the education and health care of a billion Third World children? For the propagation of values other than status and materialism? Certainly not those who attend or influence WTO and G8 summits. Despite its reach, corporate capitalism is only another ideology, and growing numbers of well-educated, socially and environmentally aware, and intensely committed individuals are dedicated to its replacement. Many of us around the world see the Seattle protesters as heroes articulating a truth that is hard to hear through the thousands of commercial messages we are subjected to daily. Graham Caswell Arklow, County Wicklow, Ireland Return to top  Crony Capitalism Lives on in China (int'l edition) Regarding "Goldman's big bet on China" (Cover Story, Dec. 6): By focusing on a few "super league" clients to create a "positive virus" of referrals, Goldman has made big-money deals. But isn't this just a slick way of saying "crony capitalism"? By cashing in on political contacts (such as the premier's son) or buying into small, money-losing projects to win larger, more profitable ones (such as Li Ka-shing's dormant apartment building), Goldman is playing by the rules of classic cronyism--and it's paying off big in the short term. What has happened to condemning Asian cronyism and the evils of political-based economic decisions? Since Goldman is scoring huge deals, maybe Asia's brand of crony capitalism is not so bad after all? Or rather, is it that the likes of Goldman are themselves undermining the development of market-based financial and economic systems in Asia? Brian Goldstein Beijing Return to top The American Way: Not the Only Way (int'l edition) "Germany is leading--in the wrong direction" (European Business, Dec. 13) is ethnocentric. What author John Rossant complains about is called cultural and societal differences. Our idea that we are creating a global society--worse, a global culture and a global market place--is a dangerous illusion. Note the glee of others when the WTO talks in Seattle failed. Both the developed friends of ours and those bringing up the rear enjoyed seeing us fail. They have different social-economic and societal traditions and agendas; they have no desire of becoming "little Americas." We must stop telling others that "our way" is the best one and will solve their problems. This insensitivity will only antagonize those whom we think we are helping. Klaus D. Schmidt Brooklin, Me. Return to top | |
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright 1991-2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Notice |
