The Super-Rich

In The Super-Rich, Stephen Haseler describes the growing tensions caused throughout the West by the triumphant new global capitalism. Drawing on the latest research, he reveals the extraordinary wealth of a new global super-rich class, and how this class, through the process of globalization, is literally remaking the world in its image. He suggests that when the world's three richest people can possess assets worth more than the combined economies of all the least-developed countries, and when the wealthiest 500 can own as much wealth as half the population of the globe, then 'we certainly have a severe problem, if not exactly a social nightmare on our hands'. Professor Haseler argues that today's new global capitalism, unlike cold-war capitalism, is unconstrained by nation, community or even minimal social obligation. In this new economic system, global corporations are the great winners. They are now free to bid down costs (wages and taxes) by playing even the largest governments off one another. As they reap burgeoning profits for the super-rich whilst eroding the stability and security of the income of the traditional western middle classes, they are ushering in an era of acute social division. Stephen Haseler shows how this dangerous new global capitalism can be tamed. He argues that the idea of the 'Third Way' is far too friendly to global capitalism and that what is needed is a dose of real social democracy which reasserts the political community and public service. He suggests that now that the nation-state is increasingly irrelevant, only regional super powers - like the European Union - have the power to protect us from global capitalism and restore a more socially just society