Review

The Commanding Heights

Around the world in the first two-thirds of this century, governments were taking over what Lenin called the "commanding heights" of the Economy – socializing key industries and redistributing wealth The triumph of socialism seemed inevitable.

Yet the past twenty years have seen the free market lay claim to the "commanding heights"'of both the economy and the intellectual world. Privatization has replaced socialization. "Welfare reform" has replaced the New Deal. Keynesianism is outdated. What has happened?

This book is an extremely detailed chronicle of the worldwide rise and fall of socialism. It demonstrates the intellectual roots and the extent of the change. And it indicates the future prospects of the swing to the right.

Although they welcome the demise of social.ism, the authors are far from principled pro-capitalists. However, their opinion does not undermine the value of the book; this is a work of history, not of advocacy. Indeed, in many ways, the authors' lack of ideological commitment to capitalism is an asset, in that they reflect the intellectual trends of this century, both anti-freedom and pro-freedom.

Given the intellectual climate against which it arose, the anti-socialist trend has been awesome. The Commanding Heights will impress the reader with how much has been done, how much remains to be done – and how much is possible.

(457 pages)

This review is courtesy of and copyright © by the Ayn Rand Bookstore.

Books

• The Commanding Heights, Battle Between Government and the Marketplace That Is Remaking the Modern World by Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw. The history of the global rise and fall of socialism