Epocile Globalizarii: Geografie, Tehnologie si Institutii

by Jeffrey D. Sachs

Povestea omenirii a avut dintotdeauna o dimensiune globală, iar Jeffrey D. Sachs, renumitul economist și expert în dezvoltare sustenabilă, străbate cele mai importante etape din istoria lumii, arătând modul în care putem face față provocărilor de astăzi, precum și oportunitățile oferite de secolul al XXI-lea.

Sachs îl poartă pe cititor prin șapte epoci distincte de schimbări tehnologice și instituționale, de la stadiile incipiente ale vieții pe Pământ la oamenii moderni timpurii și la migrația pe distanțe lungi, încheind cu reflecții asupra globalizării actuale.

Volumul abordează o varietate de teme, precum influența geografiei, tehnologiei și instituțiilor asupra revoluției neolitice, rolul calului în ascensiunea imperiilor, expansiunea teritorială vastă din epoca clasică, progresul civilizațiilor după deschiderea rutelor maritime din Europa spre Asia și cele două Americi, epoca industrializării și epoca digitală din prezent.

Dinamica acestor epoci din trecut oferă o perspectivă nouă asupra procesului din prezent – o globalizare bazată pe tehnologii digitale. Epocile globalizării este o carte esențială pentru oricine dorește să înțeleagă lumea în care trăim, o lume aflată sub semnul schimbării și transformării.



„În această carte erudită și, totodată, accesibilă tuturor cititorilor, Jeffrey D. Sachs reconstituie istoria oamenilor moderni, de la migrația noastră din Africa, petrecută cu aproximativ 70 000 de ani în urmă, până astăzi. Într-o relatare revoluționară, el demonstrează modul în care geografia, tehnologia și instituțiile generează schimbarea.” Prasannan Parthasarathi, Boston College



„Această carte excepțională, ale cărei contribuții sunt neprețuite pentru dezbaterea referitoare la viitorul globalizării, rezumă într-un mod excelent provocările existențiale ale omenirii și prezintă idei îndrăznețe pentru asigurarea supraviețuirii umanității.” Vuk Jeremić, fost președinte al Adunării Generale a Națiunilor Unite



„În lucrarea Epocile globalizării, Sachs oferă un cadru istoric și analitic unic și excelent, menit să faciliteze înțelegerea procesului de globalizare, evidențiindu-i natura dinamică și abordându-i implicațiile sociale și economice. […] Analiștii, decidenții politici, liderii sociali și politici, cetățenii interesați de acest subiect, și de viitorul economiei globale, cu toții pot extrage lecții neprețuite din această carte.” Felipe Larraín, fost ministru de finanțe al statului Chile

Genres: Economics, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Technology, International Relations, Geography

384 pages, Paperback

Published January 23, 2025

About the author

Jeffrey David Sachs, is an American economist, public policy analyst, and former director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, where he holds the title of University Professor, the highest rank Columbia bestows on its faculty. He is known as one of the world's leading experts on economic development and the fight against poverty.

Sachs is the Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs and a professor of health policy and management at Columbia's School of Public Health. As of 2017, he serves as special adviser to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 global goals adopted at a UN summit meeting in September 2015. He held the same position under the previous UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and prior to 2016 a similar advisory position related to the earlier Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight internationally sanctioned objectives to reduce extreme poverty, hunger and disease by the year 2015. In connection with the MDGs, he had first been appointed special adviser to the UN Secretary-General in 2002 during the term of Kofi Annan.

In 1995, Sachs became a member of the International Advisory Council of the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE). He is co-founder and chief strategist of Millennium Promise Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty and hunger. From 2002 to 2006, he was director of the United Nations Millennium Project's work on the MDGs. He is director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and co-editor of the World Happiness Report with John F. Helliwell and Richard Layard. In 2010, he became a commissioner for the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development, whose stated aim is to boost the importance of broadband in international policy. Sachs has written several books and received many awards.

Reviews

[Kimba Tichenor · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book economist Prof.Jeffrey D. Sachs outlines the dynamics of six previous ages of globalization (The Paleolithic Age, 70,000–10,000 BCE; The Neolithic Age, 10,000–3000 BCE, The Equestrian Age, 3000–1000 BCE, The Classical Age, 1000 BCE–1500 CE, The Ocean Age, 1500–1800, and the Industrial Age 1800–2000) in order to shed light on the current Digital Age of globalization. He argues that each of these previous ages led to new forms of governance, and from this he, concludes that a new global form of governance is needed if we are to successfully overcome the world's three greatest challenges today: 1) the intensification and growth of inequalities of income and wealth, i.e. both the continued existence of extreme poverty across the globe and rising inequalities within rich societies that are worsening due to new technologies that displace workers from their jobs 2) the "violation of planetary boundaries" through human-induced climate change, loss of biodiversity, and increasing pollution 3) the threat of global war and the annihilation of the species through such a war.

As a warning about the dire consequences that will ensue from human-induced climate change if the nations of the world, in particular the United States, continue to ignore the recommendations and advice of technological and scientific experts, this book is an eye-opening treatise that deserves careful consideration.

However, as a history, it is much less successful. Although the author carefully defines each of the terms that appears in the book's subtitle, i.e. geography, technology, and institutions, the author never clearly defines what he means by globalization. Given that no consensus exists among social scientists and historians about the start point of globalization (proposed starting times include: the industrial age in 1800, age of maritime expansion in roughly 1500; and the integration of Asia around 1000, as well as earlier historical markers) and that the author dates globalization to human ancestor's first appearance on earth, providing a definition of globalization and an explanation for his dating are critical. Instead, he assumes that the applicability of the term to "some seventy thousand years ago" when humans first began moving from Africa to other regions of the world is a matter of no controversy. Consequently, the book also includes no discussion of the dates assigned by other social scientists and historians to the process of globalization. This failure to acknowledge or engage with the existing literature on globalization raises some red flags for this book as a work of history that simply cannot be overlooked, despite the book's noteworthy discussion of contemporary challenges.

I would like to thank Net Galley, the publisher, and the author for the free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished a book written in 2005 which said that if we abandon our fear of top-down government-led solutions, sacrificed, and all worked together to mitigate environmental catastrophe, we might just come out of this all right. Then, I read this brand-new book, which says the same thing.

The relative success of books by Jared Diamond, Niall Ferguson, Yuval Noah Harari and others seems to indicate that writing big-big-worldview books about the history of everybody and everything since the beginning of time is what all the kids at the cool table of the lunchroom are doing now. This is another contribution from that table. Going way way back at least relieves you of the need to guess what fresh type of shameful and appalling idiocy will engulf the present-day headlines next.

Sachs joins the three writers above in the stable of big-think writers whose books I've actually finished. There's a larger pool of big-think writers whose books I've failed to finish, because the prose did not hold my interest long enough to allow the ideas to penetrate my brainpan. I mention it only because I wish to complement the author on clearing the brainpan hurdle by writing a clear and readable book about a dense and difficult topic. This is no mean achievement, given that writing in a clear manner is almost like begging rival public intellectuals to come and joyfully harpoon your ideas until you and your ideas sink in a bloody mess before being engulfed by the next news cycle.

That's the praise. Now the criticism.

I'd love to know more about any number of topics, but it seems in our sad times that the debate on most topics consists of arguing about and/or changing the meaning of words, an activity of limited utility, in my sight. This book is another example of this discouraging trend. In this case, it seems to me, the author is attempt to redefine “globalization” as a phenomenon not new to our age but happening continuously since humanity gathered together in units larger than a single family. People headed out of Africa? Globalization. Adopted the agricultural advances of their neighbors? Globalization. Traded over longer and longer distances? Gl….. well, you get the picture.

What's the point of defining globalization this way? This is a sincere question! Maybe (I'm guessing here) the logic is that, if we define globalization as something that has been happening since the misty dawn of time, maybe it's less of a scary demon. Maybe we're supposed to think of it as something natural, like the change of seasons. Is that right? If so, who exactly is supposed to adopt this new mindset and feel less afraid of globalization?

I guess it just seems like, if you made a Venn diagram with two circles, and the circles were labelled, from left to right, “Probable readers of this book” and “People who demonize globalization”, the two circles wouldn't have even a slim little overlapping wedge in the middle. Or, to put it another way, the people who might need this worldview readjustment are likely to never receive it.

New topic: there should be some sort of public shaming for people who write books citing statistics from the People's Republic of China but don't include even the slightest hint that many pretty smart people believe that most statistics out of China are, to be blunt, lies. In this case (around Kindle location 2757), Sachs cites a lot of International Monetary Fund-generated statistics on Chinese growth. Of course, IMF statistics are likely to be most reliable than PRC statistics, but I believe that, at some point, IMF statistics have to be based on information assembled and distributed by the PRC, which pretty much poisons the well, as far as statistical reliability goes. I'm not saying that writers shouldn't go ahead and use them, I just think that the possible unreliability of such statistics should be at least mentioned in passing.

The book ends with some suggestions about how we can make things better. Generally, they are: forget about parochial interests in favor of the good of all on the planet. That's great, but I want to know – how do you do that? How do you get people to look past their narrowest short term interests? And not just people – how do you get the five permanent UN Security Council members to accept a vastly enlarged body that dilutes their power? I'm not trying to be a smart aleck – it just seems to me like every big thinker can point to the goal, but nobody can tell us how to get there.

Thank you to Netgalley and Columbia University Press for the free advance egalley copy of this book.

[Dan Castrigano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sort of like a 200 page wikipedia article on the history of the world. So I really liked it. He divides the history of globalization into seven ages: paleolithic, neolithic, equestrian, classical, ocean, industrial, digital. It was cool learning about the Lucky Latitudes across Eurasia (25-45 degrees N). I bought it to read about the SDGs, but the SDGs were only the last chapter. I knew a lot of the stuff in here. I did enjoy learning about the doctrine of subsidiarity - the fact that the local-est form of governance is preferred, if possible. Private, local, regional, nation-state, and transnational. So that was cool. Reading this also cements my belief in universal basic income.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: A study of seven ages of globalization, in which geography, technology, and institutions result in scale-enlarging transformations with global impacts.

Jeffrey Sachs is one of those big picture thinkers one needs when tempted to focus in the minutiae of life. I first came across this in The End of Poverty, published in 2005, where Sachs wrestled with the steps needed to eliminate poverty throughout the world.

Here, he enlarges his focus to the whole 70,000 year expanse of human history. He traces seven ages of globalization, contending that the interplay of geography (including climate, natural resources, and biodiversity), technology (from hunting implements and stone tools to steam driven machinery to digital information systems), and institutions (religious, economic, and political) came together in each age to create scale enlarging transformations with global implications.

The seven ages through which he traces these interactions are:

1. The Paleolithic (70,000-10,000 bce): foragers arising from Africa to adapt to a variety of habitats, using tools to manipulate nature, and formal tribal societies.
2. The Neolithic ((10,000-3000 bce): The transition to agricultural societies across the temperate zones ("the Lucky Latitudes") allowing the rise of farming settlements with domesticated animals.
3. The Equestrian Age (3000-1000 bce): The domestication of the horse facilitating transport and travel, writing systems, accompanied by more sophisticated administrative institutions allowed for the first empires.
4. The Classical Age (1000 bce-1500 ce): The successive rise and fall of empires in Asia, the Fertile  Crescent and the Mediterranean, all aligned on travel routes and the Lucky Latitudes, including the rise of Islam. This was the period of the rise of  the major religions and the ideas and institutions multiplied the expansion of global reach.
5. The Ocean Age (1500-1800): The explosion of knowledge disseminated by the printing press, the development of sailing vessels into ocean-going ships led the most effective countries to extend their power into the Americas and East Asia,  resulting in the expansion of capitalism.
6. The Industrial Age (1800-2000): The steam engine and then the internal combustion engine, the massive growth in food production resulting led to global population growth and increasingly sophisticated financial and political structures and a parade of successive global powers: Great Britain, the United States, China and other East Asian countries.
7. The Digital Age (Twenty-First Century): The shift to an age of global information systems, highly integrated economies, resulting both in political rivalries and the necessity of global political institutions to address global crises such as climate change.

Sachs combines description with quantitative tables and statistics to illustrate trends. His argument is that we have always been a global family (albeit the Americas and Australia and the Pacific Islands being isolated from Africa and Eurasia until the Ocean Age) and human migrations, technological innovations and ever-more sophisticated institutions facilitated global connections, and increasingly global empires and systems. He argues that all these have brought us to a place where we face three major challenges: rising inequality, massive environmental degradation, risks from major geopolitical changes, including the possibility of devastating conflict. He contends for working toward sustainable development with a dynamic and adaptive process of planning on a global scale. He argues for a social-democratic ethos as has contributed to the success of northern European countries. Most fascinating, and a check on the consolidation of power, is his discussion of the importance of subsidiarity, of moving tasks to the most local level compatible with effective management.

I suspect some version of what Sachs proposes may be right. Yet the rise of authoritarian movements, the denial or overly simple explanations of poverty or environmental issues, and the breakdown of international cooperation seems a cause of great concern for me. Sachs offers us a tour de force treatment of the development of globalization through human history. But it seems idealistic in a way that seems to rely on us heeding the "better angels of our nature" if there is such a thing. I wonder if the failure of such optimism to deliver on its promises contributes to the rise of authoritarianism. I wonder if the only hope is a somewhat pragmatic and proximate politics without grand schemes, tyrants or visionaries, a politics of adults who realize all solutions are proximate.  Yet that doesn't mean resignation. We can come up with less than perfect political arrangements, less than perfect environmental solutions, and less than perfect economic arrangements. We might do something more sustainable, more just, and more equitable, and probably different than our plans. And reading Sachs, we may have a better sense of the connection of the local and the global, and the ways geography, technology, and our institutions link us together.

________________________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Mircea Petcu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Globalizarea se referă la interconexiunile de natură tehnologică, economică, instituțională, culturală și geopolitică dintre societățile din întreaga lume.

Omenirea a fost înntotdeauna globalizată, încă de la dispersarea oamenilor moderni din Africa în urmă cu aproximativ 70 000 de ani. Cu toate acestea, globalizarea și-a modificat structura de la o epocă la alta. Schimbările au fost adesea rapide și violente.
Conform interpretării autorului, din trecutul îndepărtat și până în prezent, omenirea a trecut prin șapte epoci distincte ale globalizării. În fiecare dintre aceste epoci, schimbările globale au fost mediate de geografia fizică, tehnologie și instituții.

Economiștii au dezbătut timp îndelungat dacă bunăstarea și progresul sunt rezultatul geografiei, al tehnologiei sau al instituțiilor. De fapt, o astfel de dezbatere este nechibzuită. Motorul schimbării este dat de INTERACȚIUNEA dintre cele trei. Să luăm drept exemplu Revoluția Industrială: fără brevete (instituții) n-ar fi existat motorul cu abur, fără ingeniozitatea și priceperea lui James Watt în domeniul tehnologic (tehnologia) n-ar fi existat niciun un brevet, iar fără accesul direct la resursele de cărbune (geografia fizică), ingeniozitatea lui Watt ar fi fost, în cel mai bun caz, pur teoretică.

China, în jurul anului 1000, în timpul dinastiei Song, a îndeplinit condițiile de mai sus. Cu toate acestea, Kaifeng (capitala Imperiului Song) nu s-a transformat într-un Birmingham asiatic. Ce a lipsit? O scânteie, poate simplul hazard. Cert este că, dacă industrializarea ar fi început acum o mie de ani în China, istoria lumii ar fi arătat cu totul altfel.

Autorul susține că istoria are o direcție și că este posibil progresul pe termen lung.

Recomand

[Carlos Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book. Sachs is nothing if not erudite, and to give a useful history of our species in approx 220 pages is a remarkable accomplishment. You get a bit of history, a bit of economics, a bit of politics, a bit of science, a bit of philosophy. Sachs's basic framework of the stages of globalisation - and the changes associated with them - is compelling and timely, given that we're currently at the start of a new stage (the digital era) which is bringing a new round of massive changes that humanity must prepare for. The policy focus on sustainable development and multipolarity is crucial and correct.

My criticism is the same as my criticism for a lot of 'big history' - needs more Marxism, more class analysis. For example, thinking about the origins of the industrial revolution in terms of geography, institutions and technology will only get you so far; the key element is how slavery and colonialism generated an unprecedented concentration of capital that fed directly into the technological and institutional advantages Sachs discusses (for more on this, Capitalism & Slavery is a great place to start).

Also a lot of the key source material is by other European and North American researchers. I think the book's scope would be enhanced by bringing in ideas from Global South thinkers. For example How Europe Underdeveloped Africa would have been a great addition to the bibliography.

Criticisms aside, 'The Ages of Globalization' is well worth reading.

[Levent Kurnaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have expected more from Jeffrey Sachs. This is a summary of the lecture notes on basic world history and a bit on sustainability at the end. As summary, it is tidy, but as a book from one of the major players in the field of sustainability, it lacks insight.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed Jeffrey Sachs' books. He provides a history, in this case a history throughout human time, and uses data to describe the impacts on the world and on humans. There's always a clear purpose, which is to describe a well-defined problem impacting the planet and our place in it. He always also provides detailed solutions. When I read his works I feel like peace can be achieved one small and measurable chunk at a time. What I appreciated by this book, however, is the one sad quote by Goering at the end. It is the one thing holding us back and for which the book doesn't have a solid fix. But, you can't blame a person for being unable to solve the ultimate problem of world peace in 223 pages. I'd like to meet Mr. Sachs.

[Stewart Ehly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeffrey D. Sachs: The ages of Globalization. New York: Columbia University Press. 2020

The Ages of Globalization is an exciting book for the general reader. By design, a great deal of history is compressed into the relatively short text. However, the issues discussed will resonate with anyone who has completed a course on world history. The good news is that Sachs’ writing is vastly more interesting than most of what passes for academic history. The publisher’s summary notes that the book covers more than 70,000 years of human history, with seven ages (from Paleolithic to the current Digital Age) considered in terms of human activities during each period. Since the author is an economist, his approach comes across as fresh even as he focuses on the evolution of technology in service to human interests. The scope of his examination of technology includes attention to the means by which people produced structure in their communities to resolve challenges of survival and growth. The intended and unintended consequences of such growth are explored. Human interactions with the natural world are considered including attempts throughout history to master the inhabitants of that world. While there are plenty of books that go deeper on every one of the topics Sachs introduces, his short work is worth your attention and time. A side note: one of my most enjoyable recent reads, Mark Essig’s Lesser Beasts (2015) is an example of a book that digs deeper into a specific example to control the environment through agriculture. Essig similarly looks over a very long time span in evaluating the consequences of our efforts to serve our needs.

[Warren Mcpherson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweeping review of the development of society over an extremely long time period. The remarkable and compelling theme is a look at inflection points that dramatically changed our thinking and social relations. This perspective helps envision the implications of changes currently taking place that may change the nature of the logic that dominates our thinking.

The analysis included some thought-provoking ideas. The significance of communication and population concentrations in early time periods was well demonstrated. Some technologies tend to reinforce centralized power structures while others undermine that power. The explanation of the implications of the domestication of the horse was wonderfully thought-provoking. The discussions of the other eras were similarly insightful.

Intermediate summaries were consistently understated. This is solid academic development but delivers little anticlimaxes throughout the book.

The review of the UN seemed bland. It didn't address the challenges of supporting international agencies without undermining democratic engagement. While the book mentioned the importance of principles it didn't differentiate between democracies and dictatorships or address direct challenges to democracy itself. The conclusion was numerically sensible didn't feel like it represents a qualitative advance.

The book is a great journey. I don't feel the conclusion was a strong synthesis of the content that would effectively elevate great ideas and it feels like that is a missed opportunity.

[Brian Stump · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like a world history speed run. Identifies the three major challenges facing the Digital Age as wealth inequality, environmental destruction, and conflict between converging world powers.

[جبرئیل · Rating 3 out of 5]

Globalization is the change that emerges on a global level(planetary) by the intricate interplay of :

1-) PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY (climate, flora and fauna, diseases, topography, soils, energy resources, mineral deposits, and Earth processes that affect the conditions of life)
2-) HUMAN INSTITUTIONS ,(politics, laws, and cultural ideas and practices that guide society.)
3-) TECHNOLOGY.(the hardware and software of our production systems).

Spanning from 70,000 BCE to present day.
Author proposes 7 different ages:
Paleolithic (70,000-10,000 BCE)
Neolithic (10,000 to 3000 BCE)
Equestrian (3000-1000 BCE)
Classical (1000 BCE to 1500 CE)
Ocean (1500-1800)
Industrial (1800-2000)
8-) Digital (present day, 21st century)

The author focuses on 5 questions:
1-) what have been the main drivers of global-scale change?
2-) how do geography, technology, and institutions interact?
3-) how do changes in one region diffuse to others? 4-) how have these changes affected global interdependence?
5-) what lessons can we glean from each age to help us meet our challenges today?


Its filled with maps and charts! Which are extremely useful!

The relevant questions the book addresses in later parts is, why and how it was Britain who developed technologies through science and overtook the world leadership.
How and why it was not China?
How industrialisation affected colonised lands and their economic development. How technology is a cause of economic inequality and why a Philosophy and a Global System is needed to control this disaster.

The book also expounds upon the concepts of global governance including Sustainable Development and institutions like United Nations. How UN is a pawn of US and why its a disease now.

“Yet in important operational ways, the UN remains a twentieth-century institution guided by rules laid down by the United States in 1945.”



A good read, the first half was boring until the book became relevant from the Classical age.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

war bad, global warming bad, robots bad, all our problems can be solved if we get along and listen

[Leeya]

read for school, not bad, but not something I would pick up on my own

[Louis Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eye opening description of Globalisation and justifications for the winners and losers throughout human time.
- Globalisation occurs as the scale increases- from normadic tribes --> Global Governance
- Technological advancement helped Empires rule - Taming Horses in the Equisterian age or GB adding gunpowder to ships to win the Ocean age
-Physical Geography - "Lucky Lattitudes" - Managable Diseases, Temperate Climate for Crops, Abundant Natural Resources helping with metals and coal in various ages. Coastal Trade = Key too.
- Mongolian Empire - 2nd largest in History - 13 years prior = higher rainfall --> greater grasses --> healthier horses --> win the empire
- Song Dynasty - CHINA - 1st modern Capatalist Economy - paper money & banking.
- Interconnection of EURASIA on Silk Road - diffusion of intellectual ideas too
- China "could've been" like UK in IR but pursued Autarky Policy - no free market trade until 1978
- GB's horrible past - impoverished india with textile tarrifs, kill and enslave native populations - bring in diseases etc.
- "Plans are useless - but planning is essential to success" - Eisenhower
- Social-Democratic model = Northern Europe = Top 5 on SDG progress = Top 5 on Wellbeing
- For every GDP / Capita need to redruce environmental impact
- Asia 60% world pop but just 20% of UN - Reform this!
- Environmental, Equalities & Peace in world were we could kill all humans but also alleviate all from Poverty
-Camels foundation of Historic Armies

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing, fascinating book about the development of humankind from the beginning to the present! Highly recommended for all interested in geography and anthropology!

[Amanda Irving · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally finished reading this book by the eminent economist Jeffrey Sachs. His analysis of globalization beginning from the Paleolithic age (70,000-10,000 BCE up to the modern Sustainable Development age (2015- current) is detailed, scholarly, and written for a general audience.

There were a few key takeaways I obtained from reading his book. One takeaway is that our actions have a significant impact on the earth and have global implications. For example, the climate change crisis has been at the forefront for some years now due to our thoughtless habits, such as using fossil fuels and destroying our natural land to generate profit. A second crucial takeaway is an importance of practicing a social-democratic way of life. Social inclusion and prosperity and protecting our precious planet are critical to a harmonious life.

[Diana Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cada vez más conectada con la lectura no ficción que me lleva a la mirada del pasado y las perspectiva de futuro. En todas las edades de la globalización, se generaron cambios significativos que de una u otra manera nos lleva al presente, a las condiciones de hoy. Unas no muy favorables pero con definición de estrategias que pueden de cierto modo mitigarlas.
Leí a Sachs como parte de mi ejercicio académico, buscando un concepto de sostenibilidad que enfocará el triple impacto tan utilizado hoy en día en las organizaciones como parte de sus procesos de evaluación. Sin embargo, me encontré con otro fundamento de muchísima importancia como el consenso y el llamado a un destino común no basado en la homogeneidad o las diferencias, sino la importancia de fortalecer las culturas en un mundo diverso.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Globalization has existed since the formation of the earth. Boundaries have been created to denounce the existence of the eventual need to rely on others. Sachs presents charts, graphs, and other analytical data points to support the ebb and glow of this toxic term (globalization) that has permeated since the evolution of Lucy. Very scientific, but will poetically set Aristotle against Kant for differences of political ideologies . This is a good book showcasing the need more now than ever, during a pandemic, to keep our heads above the fray: “The challenge then, is not an unbridgeable divide of human belief but rather the clash of interests and ambitions. The problem is one of politics rather than irreconcilable human differences.”-p212

[Kellan Fabjance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where much of the criticism of this book must lay for some is of course the final chapter, where Sachs looks to the future, to what needs to be accomplished in this “digital age” era of globalization. That is to be expected, as Sachs has been a surrogate for Bernie Sanders and lays out his case for social democracy of the “Northern European” variety as a path to a sustainable development model.

Setting that aside, I found the book to be an easily readable synthesis of disciplines that provides a very broad overview of how we got to where we are now. I am sure, if I wasn’t a novice, that I could find more criticisms of Sachs’ methods and historical generalizations and conclusions. The book does provide a launching off point, giving me several books to add to my list.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this book on Libby. Probably it is a book that is better read in hard copy so you can see all the graphs and other charts and diagrams and also look at references and bibliographic information.
I enjoyed the approach and the overview of how humans came to where we are now. The author and I tend to have similar political and sociological views, but those with a conservative or very religious point of view would probably be unnerved by his ideas.

It was interesting that I had read almost all the authors that he quotes. And much of what he presents I have already read in other books. Still, it was a good listen.

[Greg Hawod · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great account of the history of globalization from Paleolitic period to Digital age. The book is well written, easy to understand, and eye opening in many aspects.

While many may not agree with some ideas of the author here, the book was able to present ample evidence to support each claim and suggestion.

If you are someone who wants to know and get acquainted with the history, politics, and how other factors affect globalization as we know it today, this book will help.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Globalization is not a Twentieth Century Phenomenon

Such an interesting concept that globalization is not a twentieth century phenomenon and that there has been levels of it throughout history. The book is well researched and easy to read. Maybe the author should not reference his previous book, it distracts from the topic at hand and smacks of self serving.

[Donn Carstens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where we’ve been and where we’re going.

The need to recognize our successes and failures as a species is made clear as Sachs takes us from our beginnings to our likely future. He makes clear that if we don’t shape up we will be shipped out.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

After 40 years in the Academic desert, Sachs is here to tell you the message of his god on how you should run this world or you would feel the wrath of his god.

[Foggygirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read,

[David DeJesus LaSanta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provided great understanding on the global economy

[John Cryer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scholastic review of the history of mankind and globalization highlighting the paths we've followed in the past and the root causes of the challenges we face today.

[Rudyard L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the very few books that starts at 5 stars and ends at 1. Starts as an interesting and succinct summary of ancient history and ends with a politically biased mess which cherry picks facts.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating topic with poor delivery

Disappointingly shallow analysis. The book brings the reader to the scene of today's global challenges with a very good (although necessarily broad) overview of the evolution for humanity's capacity to cooperate and coordinate and its implications for phenomena such as productivity, population growth and density, war, political power, scientific advancements, inequality, etc.

But once we get to today's world, the discussion is a rather obvious survey of our current challenges and the author's preferred policy positions with incredibly little mention of the tradeoffs, execution challenges, and general nuance of those policies. A particularly glaring omission is an examination of inclusive decision making within nation-states (i.e. forms of democracy vs. authoritarianism) and the impact this has on their ability to effectively cooperate with other nation-states. Also curiously missing was an examination of the ability of culture to rapidly diffuse across borders in today's interconnected and digital world (ideas, awareness, echo-chambers) and how this is affecting politics and policies. Surprisingly, there wasn't even a discussion about how today's modern tools can help - and sometimes hinder - cooperation...for example verification of conditions of treaties and trade policies (satellite images and IoT enabled traceability) breaching artificially imposed communication barriers (satellite internet, VPNs, Google Translate), or enforcing compliance with state-mandated rules (facial recognition, big data, AI screening of online behavior).

Perhaps most disappointingly, there was zero investigation into some of the arguments against ever increasing global cooperation (for the current world; there's plenty of discussion of the negative impacts of globalisation historically). For just one simple example...should countries encourage/allow international scientific collaboration if there's a chance the results of the work will lead to military gains of a potential rival? Could increased global cooperation decrease the likelihood of conflict and thereby reduce the impact of this negative outcome? Of course. How can we ensure we capture the upsides without exposing ourselves to the risks? How do we mentally frame and attempt to quantify the uncertainty of these issues? How are different countries tackling this decision and what have been the results? What are the risks when one party acts in good faith towards increased integration while the other party uses the guise of cooperation to cynically advance self interest? What are the strategic and tactical ways we can increase trust? I would love to know the author's opinion.

I'm generally in favor of increased global cooperation and integration. It is urgently required for some of humanity's most serious problems. But the omission of any tradeoffs and complexities in the modern context feels myopic and shallow.