Ocean State Libraries

John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) was an eminent economist, the author of thirty-one books, and a member of four U.S. presidential administrations. He served as U.S. ambassador to India and president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. At the time of his death, he was Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics Emeritus at Harvard University. With searing wit and incisive commentary, John Kenneth Galbraith redefined America's perception of...

Hilaire Belloc lived a remarkably accomplished life, serving as President of the Oxford Union and as a Member of the British Parliament. The author of over 150 works, Belloc wrote numerous essays, travelogues, and volumes on history, politics, and economics. Among the best-known of his non-fiction works is "The Servile State". First published in 1912, this work is an economic history of Europe, starting in ancient times, through the Middle Ages, to...

In Made in the USA, Vaclav Smil powerfully rebuts the notion that manufacturing is a relic of predigital history, and that the loss of American manufacturing is a desirable evolutionary step toward a pure service economy. Smil argues that no advanced economy can prosper without a strong, innovative manufacturing sector and the jobs it creates. Smil explains how manufacturing became a fundamental force behind America's economic, strategic, and social...

Traces the rise of private power while explaining that thousands of companies have greater power than all but a handful of states, predicting struggles between major capitalist interests that are introducing new visions about how the world should work.