Fans pick 100 books like The Globotics Upheaval

This is one of the most influential books on economic globalization written in the last decade, and it will certainly continue to be crucial to understand the future of globalization.

Rodrik’s Globalization Paradox pinpoints the key policy trade-offs in a globalized economy: If policymakers opt for “hyper-globalization” while insisting on national decision-making, they could find their societies in the “golden straitjacket” of global capitalism.

Alternatively, they could give up sovereignty to democratically legitimized “global governance”.

As the latter is difficult to achieve and often unacceptable to national policymakers, Rodrik argues for limiting hyper-globalization.

The existence of a globalization paradox as well as Rodrik’s conclusion, has been hotly discussed, but the ongoing debate only proves the importance of his book.

I enjoyed this book because it provides a demanding, essential, and controversial reading.

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and his long-time co-author Bruce Greenwald make three crucial points: First, learning is the key to innovation and thus to economic and societal progress; second, many of our institutions, especially the strong protection of intellectual property rights often inhibit learning and innovation; and third, openness to trade is not always the best way to promote learning.

Instead, the authors advocate “an infant-economy protection” of the entire manufacturing sector in developing economies.

Whether or not you follow the authors in their conclusions, this book is an intellectual treat for anyone who enjoys a challenging read.

Populists are dividers. They campaign on the basis of representing the pure mass of people over a reviled elite. For left-wing populists (such as those who have sometimes prevailed in Latin America), the elite are affluent landowners. For right-wing populists (the kind who have emerged in recent decades), the elite are intellectuals, immigrants, and internationalists.

Barry Eichengreen's book provides a historical and economic analysis of populism. Eichengreen traces the rise of populist movements from the 19th century to the present, identifying economic insecurity, inequality, and globalization as key drivers. He discusses how populist leaders exploit economic grievances and mistrust of elites to build broad-based support, often advocating protectionist and anti-immigrant policies.

Through case studies of populist leaders, such as Donald Trump in the United States and Marine Le Pen in France, Eichengreen illustrates the potential dangers of populism to economic stability and democratic governance while also suggesting policy measures to… show more.

Financial Times columnist Martin Sandbu laments “the end of belonging”, a decades-long but unwritten social contract in postwar Western-style social market democracies that promised boomers and their parents broadly shared prosperity.

Being a boomer myself, I know all too well what he is talking about. However, he argues that globalization is often used as a scapegoat, and posits that national policies to offset the negative side effects of (global) markets are feasible even in a globalized world.

He proposes a range of policies from wealth taxes to minimum wages, active labor market policies, and macroeconomic stimuli to create a high-pressure economy, but emphasizes that it is crucial to put together a comprehensive package of all suggested policies to make (global) markets work for everyone.

I admit that I am intrigued by the ingenuity and the training of the Israeli Defense Forces. This is a thriller of a different kind.

I read this book to research and understand how the Israelis evolved their “we have no choice but to be the best” ethic. This is not a book about politics or moral judgments. It is an objective overview of how the army came into being and how, to this day, they discard conventional military thinking in defending their country—whether through battlefield strategy, innovation in defense technology, or intelligence services.

I found the book fascinating, especially the Israelis’ lateral thinking, encouragement, and application of ideas.

A great, approachable book on the omnipresence of connected technology. I’ve read this book several times. It was—and remains—an unsettling read because it demonstrates the extent to which digital technologies are, as Sadowski notes in the title, “Taking Over the World.” 

Sadowski encourages me to think expansively about the impact of emerging technology. It’s not only that we’ve got more smart “stuff” (which we do), but that the ideas behind always-on technology are becoming so normalized to be somehow unremarkable. This book is clear about the remarkable impact of smart tech—and it paints a bleak picture. Maybe pair it with “Undrowned” or “A Psalm for the Wild Built” to even you out.

To understand why some workers are paid more than others, you have to understand how skills are valued and rewarded in the labor market, and how that has changed, as the economy has evolved.

Focused on the United States, Katz and Goldin provide a sweeping overview of how education leads to skills and income, drawing on the most well-established theories in economics. It misses some important causes of inequality, but is essential for understanding the one of the deepest economic forces governing wages: the supply and demand of human capital.

A wakeup call for many. Martin made the case of how tech is accelerating and impacting work, bringing the threat of massive unemployment to the public scene, and insisting that it’s not only blue-collar jobs that are concerned.

Critics noted a narrow stance that fails to account for factors like shifting demographics and trends like gigging. And massive unemployment has not yet materialized, though to his defense less than a decade has passed since. The only remedy from Martin – Universal Basic Income – is not a miracle solution applicable worldwide.

The book’s focus is more on convincing audiences of the upcoming problems than working on solutions. Setting aside these critics, Rise of the Robots remains an undeniable classic for anyone curious about tech’s impact on work.

I loved this book because it not only picks apart the concept of "innovation" and helps you approach its usage across work, media, and everyday life but it also goes into exploring an alternative view – that of "maintenance."

It’s packed full of great examples, provides much-needed clear analysis of things we take for granted (like bridges!), and gives me hope for different ways of approaching how to talk about technology, innovation, and the future.

As a researcher, I’m always looking out for fresh ways to approach familiar problems.

Three problems really bother me. One is the idea of reducing all the different types of media, and all the different ways families use media, to a simplistic formula – screen time. As if we could just measure screen time, reduce it by turning parents into screen time police, and thereby solve the problems of our digital age.

Another is the idea of seeing parents as having all the power and children as willful or ignorant or naughty and so needing to be controlled. As if families weren’t trying to be more democratic and as if parents had nothing to learn from their children. The third is the idea that families have got to work all this out on their own, as if digital innovators and the wider society weren’t in some ways part of the… show more.