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The People's Republic of Walmart

How the World's Biggest Corporations are Laying the Foundation for Socialism

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The People's Republic of Walmart

By: Leigh Phillips, Michal Rozworski
Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
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About this listen

Since the demise of the USSR, the mantle of the largest planned economies in the world has been taken up by the likes of Walmart, Amazon, and other multinational corporations.

For the left and the right, major multinational companies are held up as the ultimate expressions of free-market capitalism. Their remarkable success appears to vindicate the old idea that modern society is too complex to be subjected to a plan. And yet, as Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski argue, much of the economy of the West is centrally planned at present. Not only is planning on vast scales possible, we already have it and it works. The real question is whether planning can be democratic. Can it be transformed to work for us?

An engaging, polemical romp through economic theory, computational complexity, and the history of planning, The People's Republic of Walmart revives the conversation about how society can extend democratic decision-making to all economic matters. With the advances in information technology in recent decades and the emergence of globe-straddling collective enterprises, democratic planning in the interest of all humanity is more important and closer to attainment than ever before.

©2019 Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski (P)2019 Tantor Political Science Politics & Government Social Classes & Economic Disparity Social Sciences Sociology Capitalism Technology Socialism Soviet Union Economic disparity Russia Economic inequality Taxation Liberalism

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This is an excellent insight into the nature and history of economic planning and into why it is superior to market allocation and how we could hope to replace markets with planning in the future. A very useful book for any socialist.

Very Informative

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book, wrong structured arguments for imagining a socialism that can meet the needs of planning and I always appreciate the dispelling of capitalist myths. I’ll. recommend to friends.

A fascinating argument for Socialist planning

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I would've added some reasons for USSR's authoritarianism tho like sabotage etc, since it's the main vehicle for asserting that planning doesn't work it's important to explain not only that planning was compromised but also why - otherwise it will be said that communists inherent evil stops them from using planning for good and it should be kept to the capitalists.

But otherwise book demonstrated superiority of planning over markets beautifully.

A comprehensive destruction of anti-planning

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I enjoyed this book as it had some interesting ideas I had not heard expressed elsewhere. However, even as someone well to the left of the average person, I could certainly have done without the clear left wing tone. Tribalism has no place in academic idea exploration- it probably serves to put off half the audience before they consider the broad point that planning is more effective than generally considered.

Some interesting points hidden in the partisan nonsense

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Interesting book written on a decent premise. But the narrator seems to think the material isn’t engaging enough and that it’s up to him to exaggerate his performance in a order to make up for it.
Will buy the book instead.

Narrator sounds like comic book guy from the Simpsons

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