Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World's Cultures

by Tyler Cowen

A Frenchman rents a Hollywood movie. A Thai schoolgirl mimics Madonna. Saddam Hussein chooses Frank Sinatra's "My Way" as the theme song for his fifty-fourth birthday. It is a commonplace that globalization is subverting local culture. But is it helping as much as it hurts? In this strikingly original treatment of a fiercely debated issue, Tyler Cowen makes a bold new case for a more sympathetic understanding of cross-cultural trade. Creative Destruction brings not stale suppositions but an economist's eye to bear on an age-old Are market exchange and aesthetic quality friends or foes? On the whole, argues Cowen in clear and vigorous prose, they are friends. Cultural "destruction" breeds not artistic demise but diversity.


Through an array of colorful examples from the areas where globalization's critics have been most vocal, Cowen asks what happens when cultures collide through trade, whether technology destroys native arts, why (and whether) Hollywood movies rule the world, whether "globalized" culture is dumbing down societies everywhere, and if national cultures matter at all. Scrutinizing such manifestations of "indigenous" culture as the steel band ensembles of Trinidad, Indian handweaving, and music from Zaire, Cowen finds that they are more vibrant than ever--thanks largely to cross-cultural trade.


For all the pressures that market forces exert on individual cultures, diversity typically increases within society, even when cultures become more like each other. Trade enhances the range of individual choice, yielding forms of expression within cultures that flower as never before. While some see cultural decline as a half-empty glass, Cowen sees it as a glass half-full with the stirrings of cultural brilliance. Not all readers will agree, but all will want a say in the debate this exceptional book will stir.

Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Politics, Art, Cultural, Sociology

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Tyler Cowen (born January 21, 1962) occupies the Holbert C. Harris Chair of economics as a professor at George Mason University and is co-author, with Alex Tabarrok, of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution. He currently writes the "Economic Scene" column for the New York Times and writes for such magazines as The New Republic and The Wilson Quarterly.

Cowen's primary research interest is the economics of culture. He has written books on fame (What Price Fame?), art (In Praise of Commercial Culture), and cultural trade (Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World's Cultures). In Markets and Cultural Voices, he relays how globalization is changing the world of three Mexican amate painters. Cowen argues that free markets change culture for the better, allowing them to evolve into something more people want. Other books include Public Goods and Market Failures, The Theory of Market Failure, Explorations in the New Monetary Economics, Risk and Business Cycles, Economic Welfare, and New Theories of Market Failure.

Reviews

[Daniel Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most "Cowenian" of any of Tyler's books. Everything Tyler writes is true and important. Sadly, no matter how strong this book is, the thesis will go over the head of most cultural critics filled wth shallow, non-rigours and fiercely anti-market views.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

plowing through the first chapter. Jeepers Creepers, 20 pages of "I statements" to define where he plans on taking the rest of this.

One such statement did prick my attention: Mr. Cowen is going to treat 'cuisine' as something completely separate from family/domestic life. As if cuisine is not food. Looking forward to seeing if he can pull it off.

The copy that I bought used is inscribed "To Michael, from a very big fan of what you are doing-- Tyler Cowen, love to know who Michael is and what he's doing.

4-25-12 this guy is enjoying his moment. I think that he's a 'thought aggregator' in the way that the Huff post is a news aggregator. too many footnotes, not much new.

[Vadim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Построенное на примерах обсуждение того, как глобализация делает страны все более похожими друг на друга, а жизненные пути людей все более разнообразными и менее похожими.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but not top-tier Tyler Cowen. The fundamental thesis of the book is correct: trade is good and is a benefit to culture. Interesting discussions of Indian and Navajo textiles, and surprisingly philosophical for a Cowen book- a sophisticated and ambivalent discussion of cosmopolitanism in the book (I felt too ambivalent in the context of wider nationalist encroachment today).

Nevertheless, it is not the equal of the masterful In Praise of Commercial Culture, which I felt opened up new conceptual frameworks and was rich in interesting detail. Further, the cinema chapter struck me as obvious, in a world of Scott Sumner movie reviews: of course we should watch more Asian films; of course Hollywood isn't so great.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 1 out of 5]

An Analysis of Tyler Cowen's Creative Destruction

The book reads like the novel American Psycho
with him rambling on about Afropop, Persian Rugs, Bollywood films and what kind of Eskimo soapstone sculptures are really fantastic, as he then recommends what goat cheese to have with the squid, and with what salsa is best on the side

and his fave nail gun and coffee table as well!

No Clarity
No Argument

I'd rather give my cat an enema than read any possible sequel to this book

[Cold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. He applies some powerful ideas to explain various aspects of culture. Preserving "diversity" across societies and over time requires denying cultural choice to consumers in certain geographies and demographics. Often this is prescribed by a European cultural elite and it takes the form of anti-globalism or anti-Americanism.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

By trading cultures, each region increases its diversity, but the world as a whole becomes more homogeneous. That's the core here. He backs that idea up with countless examples which should be fun to bring up in future conversations. He talks about how many primitive, tribal cultures only really developed once they encountered the outside world (like how steel drum bands wouldn't exist without the oil industry) and also how isolation can breed creativity. It's obvious the idea of trading culture on a global scale is more complex than can best be addressed in 200 pages, but Cowen does a good job supporting a common thread nontheless.

In the end, trading with others lets us access a huge range of goods, but it also gives us a common ground with our fellow man. It's a quick read, but a good one. Oh, and lots of examples of food. This is Cowen, after all.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

A balanced and insightful book. While Cowen does concede that Globalization isn't entirely good for the arts, he does show pretty conclusively that it is an overwhelmingly positive development for the arts. Globalization does change the way art and artists interact with customers and the market and Cowen looks pretty closely at how this impacts art and culture. Cowen isn't a prose stylist, but he writes clearly and cleanly. If you have any interest in how markets shape art and culture, you can learn a lot here.

[Vikas · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting ! cultures are not absolutes in themselves and have evolved over a period of time. they are not absolutes.Hence, no point in trying to preserve something for the sake of it - what you're trying to protect is itself evolved.

[Klmukesh]

Outstanding

[Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book describing the evolution of culture/arts and the interplay between different cultures.

[Vladimir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone interested in how globalization impacts culture should read this book. Cowen presents a convincing argument that trade helps culture far more than it hurts.

[Jade · Rating 1 out of 5]

I felt like the arguments in this book, while interesting, weren't very clear, which made it hard to follow.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.