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The Washington Post
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Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Historical Blindspots and Political Bias,
By "tmirrlees" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Commanding Heights (DVD)
This film provides a generally good historical overview of the dominant LIBERAL political-economic philosophies of the 20th Century.Soviet state socialism is unfortunately (and incorrectly) lumped together with the Keynesian welfare state social democracy, thus glossing over differences between these two forms of political-economic organization. Socialism is identified is any tendency to regulate the economy, thus radically glossing over socialism's utopian committments to equality, social justice, and the redistribution of wealth. Throughout the film, the right-wing policies and practices of Hayek, Friedman, Sachs, Thatcher, and Reagan, along with the World Bank and IMF, are repeatedly celebrated and legitimized by the narrator. Neo-liberals and the CEOs of corporations are depicted as political revolutionaries and radicals while the anti-globalization movement and other social movements are portrayed as naive, sloppy, and ill-informed. By the end of this documentary, the evolutionary history of capitalism, the end of viable 'alternatives' to free-markets, and the continued dominance of mainly American and Western firms seem inevitable; moreover, the movement of history towards contemporary 'globalization' is (falsely) portrayed as a natural phenomenon rather than a political one. The narrative argues that globalization has everything to do with nation-states and economic policy makers managining inflation and deficit crisis: there is no account of the role that the American imperium played constructing, militarily defending, and ideologically universalizing global capitalism; there very little discussion about of the downside of global capitalism including world terrorism, inter-imperial rivalries and war, environmental catatsrophe and destruction, the increasing division of rich and poor between and within first and third world countries, overproduction/underconsumption, the erasure of indigenous culture, etc. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching this film: it introduced me to the dominant belief systems of and rhetorical strategies used by the world's most powerful people.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Economic comparison in historical terms,
By henry clark (chicago, il United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy (VHS Tape)
This documentary is meant to put the major economic doctrines and ideologies of the 20th century within their historic contexts. In this it succeeds beautifully.The Keynsian revolution in the West and the rise of Socialism in the East followed by the rise of the Austrian school and the Friedmanite refutation of Keynesian thought and finally a reappraisal of Post-Keynesian doctrine. This was the reality of the 20th century and this documentary gives a good overview. This documentary is not a critique of those doctrines, merely an analysis. If you have even a cursory interest in economics and how theory moves into the real world, this is definitely for you. If, however, you have an axe to grind (left or right) this will not satisfy your needs as it only gives the facts as they presented themselves within their times. I state again, if you want a philosophical dissection and/or a critical theoretical analysis of Capitalism or Socialism (and the theoretical underpinnings of each) then this is NOT the place to look. This is an analysis of 20th century Capitalism and to a lesser degree Socialism that works from an acceptance that both doctrines were an historical reality. From this standpoint the documentary does a very good job of laying out the historical data as it happened.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Economic Education in only six hours!,
By
This review is from: Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy (VHS Tape)
What a fantastically informative video series. For those who are hard core economists, this is probably baby stuff for you, but I think there is enough footage of current events around the world, (in Chile, Mexico, etc) that you might find it of interest. I think that this series is aimed at people like my husband and me - hardcore PBS and History Channel watchers who like to learn and are interested in economics, but don't have a deep economics background. This series is fresh and interesting with footage from current newsreels, interviews with world leaders and other area experts. The series also delves into the historical background of many ideas from 20th century economics (Von Hayek versus Keynes anyone?) in a fascinating, informative way. This is an educational video series, and I think that it is more beneficial for people such as myself, with a limited background in economics, but it is delivered in such an interesting and insightful fashion, linking current and recent events (and those from recent decades) of the political world with those of the economic world that it is a pleasure to watch. This will be a series that I will watch numerous times.
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