Buy this book if you can find it. It is a great book that I have referred to often (since it was published in 1975).

Lots of practical advice for anticipating changes (up or down) in the inflation rate.

John D. Houston

The authors have got their premise correct, but in my opinion miss the point in their conclusion. Many of the chapters (especially the one on Bangalore) do not really come to grips with the point of the argument. The title is about the triumph of "Capital" and the betrayal of "Work", a tantalizing title and a true statement in this age. They failed to expand their argument and prove their point.

This book takes economics out of abstract textbook equations and applies it to government, culture,etc.The book makes good use of statistics,for things like concentration of wealth among different income levels and the average wage increases through the years of all kinds of education levels.It is explained why cultural differences can make one country more competitive in one area than another, and other ways in which culture impacts economics and vice versa.For example, Indians are credited with drawing corporations with their close family ties:there's usually someone to watch over the kids while Mommy or Daddy takes another shift, and there's no day-care expenses or parents taking time off to be with a sick child. Finally,it's not too technical and it's a whole lot more interesting than some economic material I've digested.

A great primer on the post-coldwar economy where the balance of power has shifted dramatically in favor of capital over labor. Wolman and Colamosca contend that the mobility of capital (in contrast to labor), has lead to a shifting of the balance of power between capital and labor. The "average worker", including many of our best and brightest, will continue to see their plight worsen as the nation as a whole prospers. A very readable if not distressing account of the consequences of our world view where the market-gods reign supreme.

"The Great 401(k) Hoax" offers an accurate, well-researched analysis of what has become an fallacious bit of common wisdom in the United States: that the Stock Market is a means by which average Americans can amass wealth. It is a lie, perpetrated by the US financial industry to divert funds that would have gone into traditional, safer long-term investment options like bonds, start-up businesses or real estate into mutual funds and small-investor portfolios.

A part of this transfer is the 401(k) plan, where the weight of a pension plan is supposed to rest on stock investment rather than defined benefits (pensions where retirees receive fixed payments). The authors do an excellent job of explaining why companies in America switched from defined benefit pensions, and why using the Stock Market as a basis for them is a terrible idea. Readers of "One Market Under God" will find this information and argument very familiar, but the specific focus on the 401(k) plan and it's impact on the future retirement of millions of Americans is enlightening.

The major failure of the book is in its writing style. I've edited MA Theses and Dissertations that were vastly superior in terms of diction and command of the language than this book. Frankly, whoever edited this book should be fired. Also, I have to seriously wonder if the authors did not enjoy reading "The Starr Report" a little too much. Clearly they have a bone to pick with Bill Clinton, which is fine with me. However, by the middle of the book, I wanted to strangle them both if I had to read that Clinton blew another opportunity to do great things because he had "Monica's thong wrapped around his head." Their efforts at sarcastic humor detract from what is a very serious subject - the future retirement of millions of Americans - and their every sarcastic effort comes across as the work of a witless junior high schooler obsessed with potty jokes.

From the title of this book, one might conclude that he or she shouldn't contribute to a 401(k). However, with few companies offering pension plans, and the precarious state of the Social Security system, what alternatives does the average investor have to try to obtain a comfortable retirement? What Wolman is really saying with his sensational title is that the average investor should be careful when investing in the stock market. He then gives some simplistic advice on why the bond market is the place for retirement dollars. Taken alone, this chapter on bonds does balance the other advice in popular investing magazines, which focus mostly on using the stock market for retirement planning. Wolman also rehashes the post-Enron 401(k) legislation floating through Congress and presents these ideas as his own. All in all, "The Great 401(k) Hoax" has a few germs of good advice, but be careful about taking everything at face value.

This book, written by a senior contributing editor and former staff writer for Business Week magazine, makes a powerful showing that the 401(k) and other defined contribution retirement plans exist for the benefit of corporations, not for the individual investor. For me, the most impressive argument was the mathematical proof the authors offer showing that it is simply impossible for a large number of Americans to retire on their stock market earnings. In 1999, they claim, the entire after-tax profits of the whole corporate sector of the United States economy came to $455.7 billion. Distributed evenly among all Americans 65 years of age or older, this comes to only $1,117 per month. And we know darn well it is not and never will be distributed evenly. Other statistics they cite show that the average amount held in a 401(k) plan is ludicrously low compared to projected retirement needs. No doubt, this average has dropped precipitously even since the time their book was published, owing to the worsening of the recent economic downturn.

Other books, such as "Retirement Myth," have explored the difficulties inherent in the idea of mass retirement. The problem is stunningly simple, if you think about it: stocks represent a right to a share of future corporate production. In other words, to a share of the value of the work put in by other people, from the CEO to the guy who sweeps the floor. Never, in the history of the world, has a large proportion of a population been able to live solely off of the work of others. Even slavery supports only a privileged minority.

The solution the authors offer is to invest in bonds of various types, including U.S. savings bonds. This rankles a bit, too, because savings bonds depend on future taxes paid by other people. The same is true of social security. Given the choice between corporate profits and an obligation backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government, however, it's not too difficult to see which is more reliable. I think most of us should just resign ourselves to working at least part time as long as we are able to do so.