Wales's leading national newspaper, the Western Mail, carried an article to coincide with the publication of the book by their Chief Reporter Martin Shipton. The full text can be found here, but a summary follows:
Lamenting the quality of underwear available on the high street in the 21st century, Molly Scott Cato believes it shows profit is being put before quality in our international retail industry. The economics speaker for the UK Green Party, has written a book called Market, Schmarket: Building the Post-Capitalist Economy, outlining what she sees as the severe drawbacks of globalisation and offering an alternative future. Dr Cato, a senior lecturer in social policy at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, illustrates one of her main arguments against globalisation by talking of her experience buying knickers.
"There was a time when Marks & Spencer just made good knickers and you could always buy them there. They may have been a little bit more expensive than other people's, but the extra was worth paying because the knickers were comfortable and lasted. In the underwear department, these are important considerations. But I challenge you to find a decent pair of underwear in today's high street. If we consumers rule, why can't we find a pair of quality knickers?
She adds, "On a more serious note, this is an inevitable consequence of the concentration on shareholder value. M&S has come under pressure from shareholders, in part because it was one of the companies which tried to show commitment to an indigenous workforce in the UK. Shareholder value forces managers to squeeze the last penny out of the production cycle, sacrificing quality to profits.
The following is an extract from a review by Brian Leslie published in Sustainable Economics.
Market Schmarket covers a huge range of facts and issues, relating to the past, pre-Capitalist, and the present, to show that TINA – ‘There Is No Alternative’ – is a manipulative lie. Molly demonstrates that not only were there successful economies before Capitalism, but that we urgently need to end this system, to save society and give us a chance to avoid a catastrophic level of global warming/climate change. We need to return to ‘Localisation’ and self-reliance, not as a matter of insularity and xenophobia, but for survival and genuine international mutual support.
Writing in plain English for a popular readership, she shows that the assertions of neo-liberal economists are consistently false, special pleading in defence of an indefensible system. ‘Free markets’ are far from ‘free’; they are designed to extract wealth from poor people and countries to benefit the wealthy at the expense of society, of natural resources and of the ability of the environment to absorb the resulting pollution. They depend on political support and manipulation.
An Amazon reviewer said:
Yes this book is so
utterly green that it takes a while for the truth of its message to sink in. But
this is because Molly Scott Cato is none other than the Green Party's speaker on
Economics. I was at a course she gave recently at the Centre for Alternative
Technology in Wales when she challenged people to realise the enormity of the
revelations in this book. It was no surprise to watch some of their reactions as
the truth dawned on them in complete amazement at the con-trick which is the
modern economic system.
Here you will at last find a complete account of the startling facts which are
carefully hidden from the modern consumer. The uncomfortable truth that we are
being massively conned by the politicians and bankers alike. From the way that
money is fraudulently created to the system which administers it in the guise of
a respectable market theory, it is all here.
But she is not satisfied to criticise the modern world without offering an
alternative. Indeed it is the very assumption of an alternative value system
which leads her to such clarity in her criticism. While giving an exhaustive
account of the history of capitalism and its opponents she goes on to give a
visionary appeal to the heart as well as the pocket. The reader is left with a
priceless compendium of alternatives and case studies of radical change. Read
this and be transformed.
And a rather different perspective from Gerry Gold of A World to Win:
Unlike many that call for various forms of regulation of corporate activity, Cato draws together a collection of ideas for solutions to some of the myriad of problems which contribute to contemporary ills. Even more unusually she (re)introduces some ideas for a society based on premises quite different from the shareholder-value, profit-driven growth which underpins capitalist social relations. She is highly critical of the campaigns to end poverty without replacing the system of exploitation at the heart of capitalism, stating: 'Unless we establish an economic system that does not rely on expropriation and exploitation, no amount of aid or trade is going to end world poverty. It is worse than naďve; it is a deception to argue that it might.' . . . Cato’s book is important because we as readers are challenged to consider other options, to learn lessons from history, and to begin to think about how we might organise society differently.