Publishers Weekly
- Publisher's Weekly
Gates is enthusiastic about both capitalism and democracy--but he's a little concerned that one (capitalism) is advancing at the expense of the other, and that today's profit-or-perish economy endangers the viability of community. "My goal," he writes, "is to smarten up free enterprise." So, in this well-meaning populist primer, Gates--former counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance--maps out a plan for a more "democratic capitalism" that would make the world safe from the ravages of global financial markets that benefit the few at the expense of the many. Among other things, he proposes a "freeloader's levy" that would take money from the $8 trillion now stashed in the world's tax havens and redistribute it to humanitarian projects in the developing world, and he imagines a scheme for reinvesting retirement assets to assist self-reliant pensioners. Most compellingly, he proposes a series of strategies (based in part on his 1998 book The Ownership Solution) for "peoplizing ownership"--expanding the edges of corporations through various customer, employee and citizen stock-ownership plans. Gates is at his best when analyzing specific tactics to back up his rhetorical salvos. But a number of his critiques lose their focus as he barrels pell-mell through an onslaught of subject matter--foreign relations, monetary policy, bioterrorism, Gandhi, perceived misdeeds of Wal-Mart, and cybernetics. Still, even if the answers Gates turns up don't always hit the mark, at least he's raising an important set of questions. (June) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
Library Journal
Gates is an investment banker, lawyer, and advocate of "shared capitalism." As chief counsel for the Senate Finance Committee in the 1980s, he lobbied extensively for Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), the focus of his first book, The Ownership Solution (LJ 4/15/98). Here, he unleashes a political-economic manifesto for the new century. Building on his earlier arguments for the need to share wealth and connect more people to the economy, Gates examines the deficiencies of American democracy. He proposes an educational campaign for community leadership along populist lines that would transcend partisan politics. His idea of "democratic capitalism" combines elements of political theory with economic innovation, with an eye on the global community. Gates also calls for new and more effective political leadership and addresses a series of "common questions" raised by skeptics. This persuasive and well-documented work will generate thoughtful discussion. Recommended for public and academic libraries.--Thomas A. Karel, Franklin & Marshall Coll. Lib., Lancaster, PA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\
