Whither Socialism? (Wicksell Lectures)
Average customer rating: 3 out of 5 stars
  • Swing and a miss
  • To err is human. To err this much is Stiglitz
  • Fight the man! This book is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • At the Heels of Giants
  • Economics of the Real World
Whither Socialism? (Wicksell Lectures)
Joseph E. Stiglitz
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0262691825

Book Description

The rapid collapse of socialism has raised new economic policy questions and revived old theoretical issues. In this book, Joseph Stiglitz explains how the neoclassical, or Walrasian model (the formal articulation of Adam Smith's invisible hand), which has dominated economic thought over the past half century, may have wrongly encouraged the belief that market socialism could work. Stiglitz proposes an alternative model, based on the economics of information, that provides greater theoretical insight into the workings of a market economy and clearer guidance for the setting of policy in transitional economies.

Stiglitz sees the critical failing in the standard neoclassical model underlying market socialism to be its assumptions concerning information, particularly its failure to consider the problems that arise from lack of perfect information and from the costs of acquiring information. He also identifies problems arising from its assumptions concerning completeness of markets, competitiveness of markets, and the absence of innovation. Stiglitz argues that not only did the existing paradigm fail to provide much guidance on the vital question of the choice of economic systems, the advice it did provide was often misleading.

The Wicksell Lectures

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Swing and a miss.......2006-04-19

This book has three purposes. The first is to bring Stiglitz's technical work in economics to a popular audience. The second is to criticize both socialism and laissez faire capitalism and explain the collapse of the Soviet Union. The third is shameless self promotion far beyond the requirements of the first purpose. 1 succeeds somewhat, 2 fails miserably, and 3 succeeds perfectly.

For the most part, Stiglitz's criticisms of market socialism are based upon the idea that all planned or market socialist schemes are based on the assumption that economies behave in classical Walrasian fashion. At times, it almost seems like he thinks market socialists want a completely "free" market, only with worker ownership! While some socialists in the calculation debate believed in classical Walrasianism, no modern socialists or existing socialist planers did. As supporters of the discredited von Mises like to point out, Oskar Lange never used the scheme he developed in the calculation debate when he became an important central planner in Poland.

Do Stiglitz's arguments have any bearing on whether socialism has inherent efficiency problems? Very questionable. Do they say anything about why actually existing socialism "failed"? Give me a break.


In terms of presenting his own innovations in economic theory, Stiglitz does a decent job that could be better. In the 1970s and 1980s, Stiglits used theories of imperfect, costly and asymmetric information, costly and incomplete contracting, and separation of ownership from control to outline a whole host of market failures that have generally been glossed over. This book would be very valuable to many people if he had merely stated the "Greenwald-Stiglitz theorem" or his credit rationing hteory in plain English and did so in some depth. However, gives bits and pieces of his theories because they are most relevant to his dead end plan of generating insights about socialism.

I notice some free marketeers here criticizing the book's focus on market failure caused by imperfect information because we can't assume that the state has better information than private agents. These people miss the point and it makes me wonder if they read the book. Stiglitz shows how the nature of information generates INCENTIVE problems. Everyone may be informed of these problems, but it would be unprofitable for private firms to correct them.

To see a better perspective than Stiglitz's on the implications of his arguments see John Roemer's article "An Anti-Hayekian Manifesto," New Left Review (May/June 1995)

1 out of 5 stars To err is human. To err this much is Stiglitz.......2004-09-15

Although, as Stiglitz points out several times, capitalism is not perfect at transmitting information through the pricing system, he fails to demonstrate how state controlled firms could possibly do any better. He correctly observes that firms operate internally without a price system, but he also fails to observe that individual firms are small in comparison to the market, which is what allows firms to calculate how resources are used internally. This book is full of large errors and over simplifications of the regulatory and market process. However, if you're a serious socialist, it's the best book out there for you.

5 out of 5 stars Fight the man! This book is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2004-09-10

This nobel prize laureate knows how to stick it to the man!!!!!!!!!!

The man wants us to know that managers under capitalism have strong incentives to work!!!!!!!!

He also wants us to think that the general equilibrium model shows us that socialism can work!!!!!!!!!!

Oscar Lang and Frederick Hayek are both the man!!!!!!!!!!

...but not in a good way!!!!!!!!

Joseph Stigletz is the man in a good way!!!!!!!!!!

PS: This is a very difficult read.

1 out of 5 stars At the Heels of Giants.......2004-06-05

This book possesses two distinct features. First, it errs frequently. Second, it errs amateurishly. Perhaps the most important error in this book is in how it was researched. It references nothing that Lange and Hayek wrote during the Interwar Debate on Socialism. It references none of the articles that Lerner or Knight published in this debate. It references nothing by Mises, Robbins, Durbin, Dickinson, or Dobb at all. The only article from this debate that Stiglitz read was Taylor's 1929 article- the worst one from the socialist side. Stiglitz also ignores the work of interpreters of this debate. He does not reference Bergson, Heilbroner, Lavoie, Kirzner, T Hoff, Roberts, Murell... In other words, Stiglitz barely scratched the surface of what was actually written in this debate- yet HE claims that THEY did not know what they were talking about. Of course, he did do some research for this book. Stiglitz referenced 126 of his own publications.

The shoddy research of this book shows up in its arguments. Stiglitz refers to the Arrow-Debreu model in discussing the debate between Lange and Hayek. In the ADM scheme of things there is a complete set of markets where unrestricted competition among perfectly informed persons reigns. Naturally, such perfect conditions yield perfect results- on paper. Actual markets do not deliver these results so "the competitive paradigm is not robust" (p107). Of course, it makes no sense to think of the Lange-Hayek debate in terms of Arrow Debreu anyway. This debate over socialism took place mainly in the nineteen thirties. The ADM was published in 1954. Socialism also suffers from incentive problems, so Stiglitz tells us that the Lange-Lerner model of market socialism does not depict reality either. He claims that Lange did not understand the difficulties in allocating capital. In reality, Lange (1938) and Dickinson (1939)wrote explicitly about severe problems in allocating capital.

For those who have actually read and understood the writings of the old socialists, like Lange, Schumpeter, and Dickinson, and their opponents Mises, Hayek, and Robbins this debate looks quite different. All of these economists recognized problems in both systems and wrote about them explicitly. Lange is well known for admitting to the danger of the bureaucratization of economic life under socialism. Hayek stressed the problems with information under both systems, and in fact spelled out the crucial informational imperfections in markets by 1937. Mises, Hayek, Lange, and Schumpeter all thought in dynamic terms that went far beyond the models with which Stiglitz likes to play. Stiglitz tries to reduce Schumpeter's process of creative destruction to a simple (and weak) game theoretic argument. He also ignored Mises completely- this is an unforgivable error.

The main purpose of this book is to play up the importance of its authors prior writings on imperfect information. All past accomplishments on both sides of this debate get recast into a form that makes the author of this book the only one who has made a worthwhile contribution, when in reality it is the contributions of intellectual giants like Hayek, Mises, Lange, Dickinson, and Schumpeter that rise above all else. Modest scholars recognize the shoulders that they stand upon from the past. The author of this book shows little such modesty, and even less in terms of important and original advances. This book should not be taken seriously.

5 out of 5 stars Economics of the Real World.......2002-01-23

Stiglitz shows how much things can change, when you drop assumtions like costless information, zero transaction costs etc. According to the general equilibrium theories he crizices, a central planner could archive an outcome that is at least as efficient or better than the market, by imitating perfect competition (Lange-Lerner-Taylor Theorem). Stiglitz shows that by dropping unrealistic assumptions both real markets and market socialism aren't that efficient as the perfect competition paradigma predicts. What is needed is competition and some state regulation. He makes a good case for a third way between neoliberalism and central planning.

There is no math in the book, so it can be read at many levels. It covers a broad range: Competition policy, privatization theory, forms of competion and much more. After reading it, I had a much better understanding of real world problems economies face.

On a side note: Nicholas review is simply wrong. Stiglitz employs almost only rational choice models. Problems occur because information is costly, not because people are dumb.
Whither Marxism?: Global Crises in International Perspective
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    Whither Marxism?: Global Crises in International Perspective
    Bernd Magnus
    Manufacturer: Routledge
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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    History & TheoryHistory & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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    MarxismMarxism | Political Doctrines | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
    SocialismSocialism | Political Doctrines | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
    ASIN: 0415910439

    Book Description

    This is the companion volume to Spectres of Marx, and tackles the central theme of the fate of Marxism after the global collapse of communism.

    Lessons of Science. Fourth in the Series of Fabian Autumn Lectures, 1950. "Whither Socialism? - Values in a Changing Civilisation".
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Lessons of Science. Fourth in the Series of Fabian Autumn Lectures, 1950. "Whither Socialism? - Values in a Changing Civilisation".
      J Bronowski
      Manufacturer: London: Fabian Society 1951. (Fabian Tract No. 285)
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      ASIN: B000NKFNE0
      Socialism and Study of Man. Second in the Series of Fabian Autumn Lectures, 1950. "Whither Socialism? - Values in a Changing Civilisation".
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Socialism and Study of Man. Second in the Series of Fabian Autumn Lectures, 1950. "Whither Socialism? - Values in a Changing Civilisation".
        Austen Albu
        Manufacturer: London: Fabian Society 1951. (Fabian Tract)
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback
        ASIN: B0000CHU7P
        Socialist Values in a Changing Cicilisation. Fifth in the Series of Fabian Autumn Lectures, 1950. "Whither Socialism? - Values in a Changing Civilisation".
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Socialist Values in a Changing Cicilisation. Fifth in the Series of Fabian Autumn Lectures, 1950. "Whither Socialism? - Values in a Changing Civilisation".
          R H S Crossman
          Manufacturer: London: Fabian Society 1951. (Fabian Tract No. 286)
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback
          ASIN: B000NKFNEK
          Whither France
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            Whither France
            Leon Trotsky
            Manufacturer: Beekman Books Inc
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            GeneralGeneral | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
            Communism & SocialismCommunism & Socialism | Ideologies | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
            ASIN: 0846452960
            Whither Russia?: Towards capitalism or socialism
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Whither Russia?: Towards capitalism or socialism
              Leon Trotsky
              Manufacturer: International Publishers
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Unknown Binding
              ASIN: B000856H1I
              Canada -- whither bound?
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                Canada -- whither bound?
                William Ivens
                Manufacturer: n.p
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Unknown Binding

                SocialismSocialism | Political Doctrines | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
                ASIN: B0007K18CM
                Socialist values in a changing civilisation: Fifth in the series of Fabian autumn lectures, 1950; Whither Socialism?-Values in a changing civilization (Fabian tract series)
                Average customer rating: Not rated
                  Socialist values in a changing civilisation: Fifth in the series of Fabian autumn lectures, 1950; Whither Socialism?-Values in a changing civilization (Fabian tract series)
                  Richard Howard Stafford Crossman
                  Manufacturer: Fabian Publications; Gollancz
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Unknown Binding
                  ASIN: B0006DHLSU
                  Western Christianity's whence and whither: An analysis in dialectic terms
                  Average customer rating: Not rated
                    Western Christianity's whence and whither: An analysis in dialectic terms
                    Frederic Hastings Smyth
                    Manufacturer: Society of the Catholic Commonwealth
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Unknown Binding
                    ASIN: B0007HKR68

                    Eat What You Kill: The Fall of a Wall Street Lawyer
                    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
                    • Well Told Story About An Intriguing Subject But Analysis Could Be Better
                    • Spellbinding and hugely educational
                    • Important book about ethics
                    • a patient reader reaps far more than an ethics case study
                    • terrific, gripping, insightful
                    Eat What You Kill: The Fall of a Wall Street Lawyer
                    Milton C Regan
                    Manufacturer: University of Michigan Press
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Paperback

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                    ASIN: 0472031600

                    Book Description

                    "A wonderful character study of someone whose cognitive dissonance ('I am brilliant, therefore I must be doing everything correctly') led directly to his downfall. Students would do well to read this book before venturing forth into a large firm, a small firm, or any pressure-cooker environment."
                    -Nancy Rapoport, University of Houston Law Center

                    "Eat What You Kill is gripping and well written. . . . It weaves in academic commentary and understanding of professional ethics issues in a way that makes it accessible to everyone."
                    -Frank Partnoy, University of San Diego Law School


                    He had it all, and then he lost it. But why did he do it, risking everything-wealth, success, livelihood, freedom, and the security of family?

                    Eat What You Kill is the story of John Gellene, a rising star and bankruptcy partner at one of Wall Street's most venerable law firms. But when Gellene became entangled in a web of conflicting corporate and legal interests involving one of his clients, he was eventually charged with making false statements, indicted, found guilty of a federal crime, and sentenced to prison.

                    Milton C. Regan Jr. uses Gellene's case to prove that such conflicting interests are now disturbingly commonplace in the world of American corporate finance. Combining a journalist's eye with sharp psychological insight, Regan spins Gellene's story into a gripping drama of fundamental tensions in modern-day corporate practice and describes in perfect miniature the inexorable confluence of the interests of American corporations and their legal counselors.

                    This confluence may seem natural enough, but because these law firms serve many masters-corporations, venture capitalists, shareholder groups-it has paradoxically led to deep, pervasive conflicts of interest. Eat What You Kill gives us the story of a man trapped in this labyrinth, and reveals the individual and systemic factors that contributed to Gellene's demise.

                    Customer Reviews:

                    3 out of 5 stars Well Told Story About An Intriguing Subject But Analysis Could Be Better.......2006-07-17

                    Eat What You Kill: The Fall of a Wall Street Lawyer is the story of John Gellene, the only attorney to ever go to jail for making an incomplete disclosure of "connections" to creditors and parties in a bankruptcy case. While it is clear that Gellene committed an ethical lapse, the fact that he was prosecuted, convicted and served time is truly surprising. Others have failed to disclose much more and have suffered much lighter consequences. As a result, the question of why this particular case resulted in a prison sentence rather than a slap on the wrist is really interesting, particularly to lawyers.

                    This is a book about lawyers and the law, so that a little background on the law is helpful Representing large companies in bankruptcy is big business. The fees can run into the millions of dollars. In order to secure one of these potentially lucrative appointments, the lawyer must seek court approval of his employment and demonstrate that he is "disinterested." To show that he is "disinterested," the lawyer must submit a sworn statement disclosing his "connections" to the debtor and its creditors. Since the statement is submitted under penalty of perjury, a false statement is subject to criminal prosecution.

                    In the Gellene case, the large New York law firm of Milbank, Tweed was hired to represent Bucyrus-Erie Corporation in its bankruptcy proceeding. The bankruptcy was very contentious because the largest unsecured creditor, Jackson National Life, had accused the company's investment banker, Goldman Sachs, with manipulating the company's financial affairs to its own benefit. Things got worse when a Goldman Sachs partner, Mikael Salovaara, started his own firm, South Street Fund, and that firm did a deal with Bucyrus-Erie which put them ahead of all the other creditors.

                    All this happened before bankruptcy lawyer John Gellene entered the picture. However, it created an adversarial situation between the company and between different groups of its creditors. The debtor's attorney would be caught in the middle of this conflict and would have to navigate it in order to successfully reorganize the company. John Gellene began representing Bucyrus-Erie a year before its bankruptcy at a time when his law firm was not representing either Salovaara or South Street. However, shortly before the case was filed, Milbank, Tweed began representing South Street in another bankruptcy and also represented Salovaara in a dispute with his partner. Both of these were "connections" with creditors. However, Gellene failed to disclose these relationships in either of two affidavits filed with the court.

                    Gellene successfully guided Bucyrus-Erie through its reorganization and his firm was paid nearly $2 million in fees for doing so. Unfortunately, his successful plan put the company's old adversary, Jackson National Life, in control of the company. Years later, Jackson found out about the failure to disclose and sued Milbank, Tweed to return its fees and for malpractice. This proved to be very costly for Milbank, Tweed but it was worse for John Gellene. The publicity spawned by the fee litigation prompted the U.S. Attorney to file criminal charges against Gellene. A deal to plead to a misdemeanor fell through and the case went to trial. The prosecution sought to portray the failure to disclose as black and white, the while the defense attempted to put the statement in context. The jury sided with the U.S. Attorney and Gellene was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in prison. Gellene went from being a highly respected bankruptcy attorney to a convicted felon in a relatively short period of time.

                    Eat What You Kill does a good job of telling the story and does an adequate job of explaining why this lawyer did what he did, but really fails to answer the big question of why John Gellene was prosecuted. The book does its best job at opening a window onto the pressures faced by a big firm lawyer struggling to survive but cutting corners to do so.

                    Part 1 of the book does a slow but methodical job of setting the stage. In particular, it describes the world of the large New York law firm where security is an illusion. Gone are the days where clients maintained loyalty to a single firm and firms maintained loyalty to their partners. This world was replaced by a much more fluid one where clients award their business to the best suitor and partners compete against each other in a continuous tournament to see who can bring in the most clients, or failing that, who can bill the most hours. In such a world, it is tempting to cut corners if doing so means being able to attract more business and bill more hours. Additionally, it creates an atmosphere where the "service partners," the ones who perform and supervise the work, must maintain the good will of the "rain makers" who bring in the clients.

                    Parts 2 and 3 of Eat What You Kill tell the guts of the story in a fast-paced, easy to read manner. It is exciting to watch (at least from a bankruptcy lawyer's vantage) as John Gellene tries strategy after strategy to bring the reorganization to a successful conclusion before the company implodes under the weight of the litigation. Then, just as Gellene has achieved success, everything comes crashing down on him with the weight of a Shakespearean tragedy.

                    Part 4 and the epilogue try to make sense of what happened. This part of the story could have benefited from a thorough job of editing and re-writing. Pieces of the story which were apparent from the original telling are replayed over and over again in over 70 pages of mind-numbing discussion without achieving a coherent explanation. The epilogue strays into proposals for reforming legal ethics while paying scant attention to the story.

                    It is possible for the reader to put together the "why" of John Gellene's actions, but it requires some patience. In short, Gellene was placed in an atmosphere where he had to succeed to survive. Disclosing the connections to Salovaara and South Street would have risked losing a lucrative piece of work that he had already been working on for a year. It would have also risked incurring the displeasure of his rain maker who controlled the relationships with Bucyrus-Erie, South Street and Salovaara. The disclosures were one piece of paper of thousands filed in the case. There must have been overwhelming pressure to give them scant attention and move on to more substantive issues. If Gellene did weigh the risks in any detail, he probably dismissed them, since disclosure violations frequently resulted in mild consequences. Thus, it is likely that John Gellene felt sucker-punched when he was indicted, tried and convicted.

                    Unfortunately, the book gives little emphasis to the "why" of his prosecution. White color prosecutions are rare and prosecutions for failure to disclose conflicts in a bankruptcy case are rarer still. In this case, the Asst. U.S. Trustee (an official charged with overseeing bankruptcy proceedings) had previously been the U.S. Attorney. Perhaps he approached the case with a prosecutor's mindset rather than from a bankruptcy point of view and thus was able to lobby for a prosecution. This was a case where a big New York law firm collected millions of dollars in fees in a case filed in Wisconsin. Perhaps jealousy and mistrust of outsiders played a role. Unfortunately, these themes are not discussed in any depth.

                    This is an interesting book about an interesting topic, but a revised edition could be better.

                    5 out of 5 stars Spellbinding and hugely educational.......2005-08-11

                    Hats off to Professor Regan for his prodigious research and painstaking, vivid recreation of the saga of a prominent lawyer's startling rise and fall --an all-the-more remarkable achievement given Gellene's refusal to cooperate in this project. This is an amazing look-behind-the-curtain as to: how large law partnerships reward and penalize their producers and non-producers; how complicated bankruptcy negotiations unfold; how investment bankers and vulture investors exploit weakened corporations; how a brilliant professional succumbed under pressure to career-ending ethical blunders; and much more. An extremely valuable reading experience for practioners and students of law and business that deserves to be a best-seller.

                    5 out of 5 stars Important book about ethics.......2005-08-09

                    Great book showing what can go wrong when law firms let top lawyers get away with violating common practices.

                    5 out of 5 stars a patient reader reaps far more than an ethics case study.......2005-05-05

                    Read for: lessons in bankruptcy law and practice, junk bonds, vulture investment, corporate law generally, white collar crime and trial tactics, and a nuanced ethical exploration

                    Avoid if: seeking simple answers, easily bored by thorough and balanced legal arguments

                    "Eat What You Kill" explores in excruciating detail the rise and fall of John Gellene, bankruptcy attorney extraordinaire, who failed to disclose a conflict of interest which landed him in prison.

                    Yet Milton Regan's book offers more than an ethics case study. A blow-by-blow survey of corporate restructuring, bankruptcy litigation tactics, and white collar criminal prosecution, Regan's book overwhelms with useful instruction. Though focused upon Gellene's life at law, Regan uses it as a prism to explore the environment of many others swimming in the same waters.

                    Lay readers may find the professorial tone both vice and virtue, as the riches grow tiresome to anyone uninterested in following the pros, cons, counter-pros, and counter-cons of various litigation tactics and arguments. Within this web of contextual detail, the ethical story threads diverse legal doctrines.

                    Offering no simple denunciations or defenses, Regan sees Gellene as merely a lawyer who tends to lie to avoid the consequences of his own negligence. Flawed, perhaps, but hardly a gross flaw.

                    Refraining from potshots or praise permits Regan to hold Gellene accountable while looking more deeply into the practice of corporate law itself. Regan's conclusions seem to be that lawyers, preoccupied with the business of law, lose sight of its spirit.

                    5 out of 5 stars terrific, gripping, insightful.......2004-12-23

                    A better read, simply as a page-turner, than many novels.

                    Gellene, the protagonist/anti-hero of this book, graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from Georgetown with degrees in philosophy and economics. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, then clerked for Justice Morris Pashman of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Pretty impressive resume, eh? He had the "world at his feet," yet before much more time had passed he was in a prison cell.

                    This book should act as a warning on several levels. On one of them, it warns a certain type of investor about the nature of the chapter 11 process (in the course of which Gellene made the false statements that led to his downfall). Vulture investing in the instruments of distressed companies going through this process isn't an explicit theme of the book, one it ends up here nonetheless. There are traps for vultures, too.

                    France Restored: Cold War Diplomacy and the Quest for Leadership in Europe, 1944-1954 (The New Cold War History)
                    Average customer rating: Not rated
                      France Restored: Cold War Diplomacy and the Quest for Leadership in Europe, 1944-1954 (The New Cold War History)
                      William I. Hitchcock
                      Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
                      ProductGroup: Book
                      Binding: Paperback

                      GeneralGeneral | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
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                      2. Grand Designs and Visions of Unity: The Atlantic Powers and the Reorganization of Western Europe, 1955-1963 Grand Designs and Visions of Unity: The Atlantic Powers and the Reorganization of Western Europe, 1955-1963
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                      ASIN: 080784747X
                      Release Date: 1998-09-30

                      Book Description

                      Historians of the Cold War, argues William Hitchcock, have too often overlooked the part that European nations played in shaping the post-World War II international system. In particular, France, a country beset by economic difficulties and political instability in the aftermath of the war, has been given short shrift.

                      With this book, Hitchcock restores France to the narrative of Cold War history and illuminates its central role in the reconstruction of Europe. Drawing on a wide array of evidence from French, American, and British archives, he shows that France constructed a coherent national strategy for domestic and international recovery and pursued that strategy with tenacity and effectiveness in the first postwar decade. This once-occupied nation played a vital part in the occupation and administration of Germany, framed the key institutions of the "new" Europe, helped forge the NATO alliance, and engineered an astonishing economic recovery. In the process, France successfully contested American leadership in Europe and used its position as a key Cold War ally to extract concessions from Washington on a wide range of economic and security issues.
                      America and the Return of Nazi Contraband: The Recovery of Europe's Cultural Treasures
                      Average customer rating: Not rated
                        America and the Return of Nazi Contraband: The Recovery of Europe's Cultural Treasures
                        Michael J. Kurtz
                        Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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                        Binding: Hardcover

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                        ASIN: 0521849829

                        Book Description

                        In the ruins of Hitler's Third Reich, Allied occupiers found millions of paintings, books, manuscripts, and pieces of sculpture hidden in thousands of secret hideaways. This book reveals how the American Military Government in Germany, spearheaded by a few dozen dedicated Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives (MFA&A) officers and enlisted men, coped with restoring Europe's cultural heritage. Caught up in often bitter diplomatic wrangling during and after the war, the American restitution effort struggled to unearth and return what the Nazis had hidden. (Based on the pioneering study of cultural restitution first published in 1985.)
                        Europe's Postwar Recovery (Studies in Macroeconomic History)
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                          Europe's Postwar Recovery (Studies in Macroeconomic History)

                          Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
                          ProductGroup: Book
                          Binding: Paperback

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                          ASIN: 0521030781

                          Book Description

                          This book reassesses Western Europe's miraculous economic recovery from World War II and the crisis of 1947. The contributors expose the role of international institutions and contrast the very different national experiences. Their historical analysis has policy relevance--to the debate over the Maastricht Treaty and the Single Market Programme, to the difficulties of adjustment in formerly centrally planned economies, and to reform of the Bretton Woods institutions. This book will be of interest to students of modern European history and to economists.
                          The Legacy of Nazi Occupation: Patriotic Memory and National Recovery in Western Europe, 19451965 (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare)
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                            The Legacy of Nazi Occupation: Patriotic Memory and National Recovery in Western Europe, 19451965 (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare)
                            Pieter Lagrou
                            Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
                            ProductGroup: Book
                            Binding: Hardcover

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                            ASIN: 0521651808

                            Book Description

                            This book offers a comparative analysis of how postwar society dealt with the disruptive legacy of Nazi occupation in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. It examines the postwar trajectories of resistance fighters, labor conscripts employed in Nazi Germany and victims of Nazi persecution and genocide. Their experiences were often incompatible with the patriotic narratives, aimed at restoring national pride and with the international context, requiring reconciliation with West Germany. In the conflict between memories of the war and the contingencies of the postwar political agenda lies a key to understanding European history since 1945.

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                            This volume, in Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare series, examines how France, Belgium and the Netherlands emerged from the military collapse and humiliating Nazi occupation they suffered during the Second World War. Rather than traditional armed conflict, the human consequences of Nazi policies were resistance, genocide and labour migration to Germany. Pieter Lagrou offers a genuinely comparative approach to these issues, based on extensive archival research; he underlines the divergence between ambiguous experiences of occupation and the univocal post-war patriotic narratives which followed. His book reveals striking differences in political cultures as well as close convergence in the creation of a common Western European discourse, and uncovers disturbing aspects of the aftermath of the war, including post-war antisemitism and the marginalisation of resistance veterans. Brilliantly researched and fluently written, this book will be of central interest to all scholars and students of twentieth-century European history.
                            A Question of Priorities : Democratic Reform and Economic Recovery in Postwar Germany
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                              A Question of Priorities : Democratic Reform and Economic Recovery in Postwar Germany
                              Rebecca L. Boehling , and Rebecca Boehling
                              Manufacturer: Berghahn Books
                              ProductGroup: Book
                              Binding: Paperback

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                              Similar Items:
                              1. The Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic
                              2. Germans on Welfare: From Weimar to Hitler Germans on Welfare: From Weimar to Hitler
                              3. Hitler's Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial War, and the Nazi Welfare State Hitler's Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial War, and the Nazi Welfare State

                              ASIN: 1571811591

                              Book Description

                              Over the last few years, there has been a noticeable increase in studies on the postwar period of Germany, reflecting the crucial importance of these years for an understanding of the developments in the two Germanys. With her study of U.S. occupation policy and its effects on German social and political developments in Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart, Rebecca Boehling offers a most valuable contribution to this debate. She examines the decisions made by the U.S. Military Government regarding German municipal personnel from the first year of the occupation, when all city officials were appointed directly by Military Government or with its explicit approval, through the first postwar municipal elections in 1946 and 1948, when democratic self-government was gradually restored. Boehling explores the far-reaching effects of personnel decisions on German political life within the framework of U.S. policies intended to denazify and democratize Germany. The conclusion she draws is that the early local-level German developments under U.S. occupation facilitated economic recovery in a manner that restricted the implementation of political and social goals of democratization.
                              Recovery and Restoration: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Politics of Reconstruction of West Germany's Shipbuilding Industry, 1945-1955 (International History)
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                                Recovery and Restoration: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Politics of Reconstruction of West Germany's Shipbuilding Industry, 1945-1955 (International History)
                                Henry Burke Wend
                                Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
                                ProductGroup: Book
                                Binding: Hardcover

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                                ASIN: 0275969908

                                Book Description

                                Because of Germany's strong reputation in naval construction, the Allies slated the shipbuilding industry for dismantling after 1945; however, by 1955, West German shipbuilders had regained their place among the world leaders in this industry. This study traces the reconstruction through the labyrinth of Cold War diplomacy, foreign aid programs, and West German politics. By linking the histories of U.S. foreign policy, German business, and postwar "Americanization," Wend demonstrates not just the impact of U.S. policy on West German reconstruction, but also the influence of local actors on the direction, implementation, and success of U.S. policies. The recovery of German shipbuilding meshed well with most of the Truman administration's critical foreign policy initiatives, including the Marshall Plan. As American commitments became globalized, the U.S. relied heavily on West German actors and their institutions for the successful implementation of its policies. In shipbuilding, this reliance strengthened the role of the industrial association, the vertical integration of shipyards with Ruhr industries, and awakened opposition of British and American interest groups. Although U.S. policies failed to alter this industry's structure, West Germans did accept the American production model in the reconfiguration of individual shipyards in the 1950s.

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