Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity($25.00Value)

Description

The author of the best-selling book The End of History explains the relationship between culture and economics and predicts which countries will win the ongoing battle for economic dominance. 50,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo. Tour. Fukuyama (The End of History and the Last Man, LJ 1/92) examines the impact of culture on economic life, society, and success in the new global economy. He argues that the most pervasive cultural characteristic influencing a nation's prosperity and ability to compete is the level of trust or cooperative behavior based upon shared norms. In comparison with low-trust societies (China, France, Italy, Korea), which need to negotiate and often litigate rules and regulations, high-trust societies like those in Germany and Japan are able to develop innovative organizations and hold down the cost of doing business. Fukuyama argues that the United States, like Japan and Germany, has been a high-trust society historically but that this status has eroded in recent years. This well-researched book provides a fresh, new perspective on how economic prosperity is grounded in social life. Highly recommended for academic libraries. Jane M. Kathman, Coll. of St. Benedict Lib., St. Joseph, Minn. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. Fukuyama's first effort at global punditry, The End of History and the Last Man (1992), was an international best-seller; his new book is a blueprint for success in this "posthistorical" world. Neoclassical economics, Fukuyama maintains, is 80 percent correct but ignores the role of social capital ("reciprocity, moral obligation, duty toward community, and trust" ) in facilitating the "stability and prosperity of postindustrial societies." High-trust societies like Japan, Germany, and (in spite of our individualism) the U.S. develop the kind of flexible organizations that the global economy demands far more easily than do low-trust societies or "familistic" nations like China, France, Italy, and South Korea. Fukuyama assesses the success and failure of various social structures, arguing that the U.S. needs to overcome its "Crisis of Trust" : "American liberals need to understand that they cannot take organic cohesion of American society for granted. . . American conservatives, for their part, have to understand that before they cut back the role of the state in society, they should have some idea about how to regenerate civil society and find alternative ways of taking care of its weaker members." Though much of this is traditional conservative thought dressed up in contemporary jargon, Fukuyama's track record, strong publisher promotion, and a 50,000-copy print run should generate interest. Mary Carroll