THE REVIEW
REVIEW OF THE CRISI OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM: OPEN SOCIETY ENDANGERED
By Muhammad Arif Zakaullah.

Dr Arif begins the review of the book by giving the author's motivation for writing the book. According to him was "... was the realization that the real threat to global capitalism was within". The idea originally conceived in the post cold war "...was being done in a leisurely manner ..." but the Asian financial crisis made him to realize the urgency of the book, hence the publication in November 1998.

According to Arif, the idea that forms the basis of Soros' argument is that we live in Global Capitalist Economy. In his word, “The development of global economy has not being matched by the development of global society". But the key player - the nation state is not well equipped to deal with the system; as a result of which global financial system are beyond the control of national or international authorities. This concerns, however faces the challenge of economic theory "...that market is self correcting and global economy can flourish without any need for global society". Soros observes that this market fundamentalism is a serious threat to global capitalism as it seek to impose "... the supremacy of market value over political and social values". The success of capitalism, to him, is in combining the two forces. Soros then proposes the establishment of international central bank to regulate the activities of borrowing nations and the use of reflexivity in economic analysis to curb the onslaught of market fundamentalism on global capitalism.

In his review, Arif the morality approach to capitalism by someone who, himself, was a key player and stresses how an individual may thorn between social value and individual interest. This, in Arif’s word “... uncovers the deep and wide crack in the philosophical foundation of capitalism which, everybody believed to have been firmly and permanently patched by Adam Smith". The idea of international central bank by Soros did not go without receiving a knock from the reviewer when he says that apart from the fact that the author himself acknowledges the political infeasibility of the idea, the proposed supervisory body , IMF, is seen my many nation as an agent of financial oppression of few from the north. Finally the reviewer noted that despite the fact that the book focused on supervisory role of national banking and financial system of borrowing nation, it provides little insight to the strategies and speculative activities to know what will be the consequences on their financial system.

The reviewer is not however, just to criticize the book as seen in his agreement with the author on the issue of democracy "...that government lacks the political will to change the rule of the game due to influence of the pressure group". He then notes that the book should be seen as a reinforcement to "The future of capitalism: how Today's Economics Forces Shape Tomorrow" by Lester Throw. Arif then concludes his review by suggesting area of further discourse.


METHODOLOGY OF THE REVIEWER
The reviewer commenced the review of the book by showing he has really read the book by bringing out the authors goal of writing the book and the points he brought to justify his claims, making reference to deferent pages as situation demands. After establishing his understanding of the book in author's perspective, he then raises some areas he does not agree with, sighting other authorities to buttress his position. He also shows that he is not out just to criticize the book by pointing out areas he agree with the author and even shows the readers another book that will enhance better understanding of the book. He round-off his work by suggesting area of further intellectual research.
The reviewer, however, failed to show whether the writer has really achieved his targeted goal at the end of his review. This not withstanding, Arif has really done a great job on the book.