The war for wealth

In the past few decades, technological developments have liberated work from geographical boundaries, radically reshaping the global economic infrastructure. It is not difficult to see that the global distribution of work is having an enormous effect on the world we live in. But it is harder to predict what effect globalisation will have 10 or 20 years down the line. One view sees the end-point as an equal distribution of wealth across all the world's nations. But others are less optimistic. Subscribing to the latter view is Gabor Steingart, award-winning journalist and author of 'The War for Wealth'.

For Steingart, the effect of Western economies exporting their industrial sectors to Asia will not be equality but a reversal of the inequality that saw the West grow affluent while billions starved in the East. The economies of China and India will flourish as ever more of the 'productive core' of American and Western European economies heads towards the Orient, leaving, he argues, those old economies to wither. The idea that countries can do without industry and survive on a service economy alone is misguided, says Steingart. 'If we allow manufacturing jobs to be offshored without blinking, service jobs will soon follow,' he writes.

But while he argues that there is potential for catastrophic consequences, Steingart does not suggest that Western organisations try to resist globalisation per se to prevent this fate, nor give up without a fight. Instead, he calls for a pragmatic approach to our economic relationship with the East. The ideological war between free market capitalism and protectionism helps no-one, Steingart says; its redundancy as an idea is evident in China's simultaneous success at both.

'The War for Wealth' provides a compelling history of 20th century economics, and for IT decision-makers pondering what the long-term effects of offshoring might be, this book will provide food for thought. Interested? Why not read Pete's full review online via the Information Age website: www.information-age.com and decide for yourself whether Steingart's arguments ring true.

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