Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

Outlines the history of business/government relations in the United States, and explains why the laissez-faire doctrine has always appealed to Americans. In this text, the author recognizes that the government must encourage collaboration among companies.

Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Harvard B School professor Lodge wants to jettison old-fashioned laissez-faire economics and unashamedly adopt a national industrial policy, but his thesis ignores a good many economic developments that argue against it. Even the book's title is ironic, since the Soviets are struggling toward a laissez-faire policy. Lodge sees close government/business cooperation as the only way for the U.S. to regain international competitiveness. He praises the Japanese model of subsidizing strategic industries, even as the ``Japanese miracle'' has begun to show signs of decay. He wants the American government to underwrite industrial research and development and engage in protectionism. He approves of the government-subsidized Sematech semiconductor consortium and favors a similar program for high-definition television (HDTV). However, Sematech is behind schedule and, as others have convincingly argued, HDTV is already an outmoded technology. Lodge's vision of big government cozying up with big business isn't justified by the facts. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Lodge (Harvard Business School) extends his preeminent scholarship with this concise volume analyzing US failings in international competition. The central theme that Lodge advocates in this work is that, in America, "business and government are not adversaries; they are partners." Perspectives on business-government roles and relationships are set in an international/comparative framework, critically contrasting the US with its major international competitors. Several sad episodes plainly expose some US sectors as uncoordinated, parochial, and mutually suspicious (high-definition TV, FSX aircraft, semiconductors, remote satellite sensing); yet Lodge also points to some US adaptations to the new industrial-policy realities that reflect greater business-government cooperation. The meliorative potentials are underscored when Lodge examines achievements of industry associations and the "governmental affairs managers" of individual firms. Lodge amply cites other competitive encounters, and the arrangements and efforts of other nations and of multinational companies in this up-to-date, well informed, and evenhanded volume. It should prove invaluable at this juncture with its concrete, pragmatic, and hopeful approach. Highest recommendation for professional and upper-division and graduate level collections. -J. C. Thompson, University of Connecticut

Booklist Review

No two words have entered mainstream usage faster than glasnost and perestroika. And perhaps no two words have been more overused or misused. But in this case, perestroika, or "restructuring," is used quite appropriately--if a little ironically. Lodge, a professor at Harvard Business School, calls for a complete restructuring of the relationship between government and business in the U.S. Avoiding the negative connotations that nationalization carries with it in the U.S., Lodge argues that the choice is between individualism and communitarianism. After providing a historical overview of government-business relations, he claims that the individualistic laissez-faire policies of the past prevent U.S. industry from competing in the world marketplace. Communitarianism, on the other hand, stresses community needs over individual needs and is best exemplified in Japan, where government policies and business goals are often the same. Lodge attempts to provide reasoned, thoughtful answers to the anticipated objections his proposals will raise. To be indexed. --David Rouse