Description
For the left and the right, major multinational companies are held up as the ultimate expressions of free-market capitalism. Their remarkable success appears to vindicate the old idea that modern society is too complex to be subjected to a plan. And yet, as Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski argue, much of the economy of the West is centrally planned at present. Not only is planning on vast scales possible, we already have it and it works. The real question is whether planning can be democratic. Can it be transformed to work for us?
An engaging, polemical romp through economic theory, computational complexity, and the history of planning, The People's Republic of Walmart revives the conversation about how society can extend democratic decision-making to all economic matters. With the advances in information technology in recent decades and the emergence of globe-straddling collective enterprises, democratic planning in the interest of all humanity is more important and closer to attainment than ever before.
Since the demise of the USSR, the mantle of the largest planned economies in the world has been taken up by the likes of Walmart, Amazon and other multinational corporations
About the Author
Leigh Phillips is a science writer whose work has appeared in Nature, Science, the New Scientist and the Guardian, amongst other publications.
Michal Rozworski is a union researcher and writer based in Vancouver, Canada. He holds graduate degrees in economics and philosophy and publishes frequently on political economy.
Reviews
Provocative and lively book. * Morning Star *
Philips and Rozworski's book is a timely exhortation to rethink the wisdom that markets always do it better. -- Hettie O'Brien * New Statesman *
People's Republic of Walmart is fast-paced and provocative. It offers readers a refreshing perspective on today's highly planned capitalist enterprises, and the prospect of a new form of democratic, transparent and socialist planning. -- Ann Pettifor * TLS *
Book Information
ISBN 9781786635167
Author Leigh Phillips
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Verso Books
Publisher Verso Books
Weight(grams) 231g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 18mm
An engaging, polemical romp through economic theory, computational complexity, and the history of planning, The People's Republic of Walmart revives the conversation about how society can extend democratic decision-making to all economic matters. With the advances in information technology in recent decades and the emergence of globe-straddling collective enterprises, democratic planning in the interest of all humanity is more important and closer to attainment than ever before.
Since the demise of the USSR, the mantle of the largest planned economies in the world has been taken up by the likes of Walmart, Amazon and other multinational corporations
About the Author
Leigh Phillips is a science writer whose work has appeared in Nature, Science, the New Scientist and the Guardian, amongst other publications.
Michal Rozworski is a union researcher and writer based in Vancouver, Canada. He holds graduate degrees in economics and philosophy and publishes frequently on political economy.
Reviews
Provocative and lively book. * Morning Star *
Philips and Rozworski's book is a timely exhortation to rethink the wisdom that markets always do it better. -- Hettie O'Brien * New Statesman *
People's Republic of Walmart is fast-paced and provocative. It offers readers a refreshing perspective on today's highly planned capitalist enterprises, and the prospect of a new form of democratic, transparent and socialist planning. -- Ann Pettifor * TLS *
Book Information
ISBN 9781786635167
Author Leigh Phillips
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Verso Books
Publisher Verso Books
Weight(grams) 231g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 18mm
