SIGMUND DIAMOND. The Reputation of the American Businessman. Pp. 209. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1955. $4.00
| DOI | 10.1177/000271625530000139 |
| Published date | 01 July 1955 |
| Author | Harold F. Williamson |
| Date | 01 July 1955 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
146
The
reviewer
intends
to
make
considerable
use
of
this
work
and
believes
others
will
find
its
study
equally
rewarding.
W.
W. HEWETT
University
of
Cincinnati
SAMUEL
LUBELL.
The
Revolution
in
World
Trade
and
American
Economic
Policy.
Pp.
xvi,
143.
New
York:
Harper
and
Brothers,
1955.
$2.50.
The
Revolution
in
World
Trade
and
American
Economic
Policy
is
written
in
protest
against
the
deceptive
illusion,
&dquo;over-
sold&dquo;
to
the
American
public,
&dquo;that
the
world’s
economic
problems
can
be
remedied
simply
by
lowering
United
States
tariff
s
and
lifting
the
trade
restrictions
of
other
nations.&dquo;
With
vigorous
and
lucid
analy-
sis
the
author
reviews
the
major
forces
be-
hind
the
economic
revolution
currently
re-
shaping
the
world,
urges
the
substitution
of
leadership
through
mutual
understand-
ing
among
the
allied
free
nations
for
lead-
ership
by
example,
and
outlines
a
series
of
proposals
designed
to
assure
an
integrated
foreign
economic
program.
A
series
of
four
chapters,
based
on
both
firsthand
observation
and
careful
study,
deal
with
the
nature
of
the
economic
forces
at
work
in
the
major
world
areas
and
de-
serve
a
wide
reader
audience.
Here
the
author
analyzes:
(1)
Asia’s
dollar
problem
which
stems
less
from
an
inability
to
sell
what
she
produces
than
from
a
desire
to
import
so
much
more
than
ever
before;
(2)
Britain’s
real
battle,
the
difficulties
of
which
involve
not
her
economic
relation-
ship
to
the
United
States
or
the,
dollar
area,
but
rather
her
concentration
of
ex-
porting
and
investment
energies
for
the
achievement
of
a
favored
position
within
the
sterling
trade
bloc;
(3)
Western
Eu-
rope’s
diversion
of
resources
not
for
re-
integration
into
the
world
economy,
but
for
the
integration
of
the
resources
and
mar-
kets
of
dependent
areas
with
those
of
the
home
countries;
and
(4)
the
pressing
by
the
Soviets
of
a
deceptive
trade
policy
de-
signed
to
split
the
free-world
allies
by
ex-
ploiting
the
tensions
and
rivalries
among
them.
Thus
we
see
emerging
a
world
trade
pattern
consisting
of
a
number
of
trade
blocs
each
in
partial
conflict
with
the
other.
In
the
sections
of
the
book
dealing
with
solutions,
the
author
is
more
certain
in
the
statement
of
objectives
than
in
the
out-
line
of
methods.
Having
been
declared
an
illusory
means
for
closing
the
&dquo;dollar
gap,&dquo;
the
lowering
of
United
States
tariffs
ap-
pears
to
be
ruled
out
entirely.
Included
in
the
aims
are
many
which
are
implicit
in
existing
foreign
policy.
The
difficulty
of
freeing
&dquo;major
currencies&dquo;
appears
in
bold
relief
throughout
the
author’s
own
analysis
and
the
desirability
of
convertibility
can
hardly
be
dissociated
from
the
whole
com-
plex
of
other
proposed
measures.
On
the
proposed
expanded
program
of
foreign
in-
vestment
to
stimulate
the
growth
of
un-
derdeveloped
countries,
one
might
also
wish
that
the
author
had
been
more
ex-
plicit
and
detailed.
The
suggested
plan
of
understanding
among
the
allied
free
na-
tions
for
limiting
trade
with
the
Iron
Cur-
tain
countries
runs
counter
to
a
well
rea-
soned
opinion
which
permits
no
simple
solution.
These unanswered
questions,
how-
ever,
simply
add
to
the
unique
significance
of
a
book
which
deserves
the
attention
of
student
and
policy
maker
alike.
AMOS
E.
TAYLOR
Washington,
D. C.
SIGMUND
DIAMOND.
The
Reputation
of
the
American
Businessman.
Pp.
209.
Cambridge,
Mass.:
Harvard
University
Press,
1955.
$4.00.
The
author
of
this
book
set
himself
a
two-fold
task.
One
was
to
analyze
the
conceptions
held
by
various
groups
in
the
United
States
at
particular
times
regarding
the
significance
of
the
entrepreneur
and
the
ingredients
of
entrepreneurial
success.
The
other
was
to
examine
the
changing
conception
of
the
entrepreneur’s
signifi-
cance
in
America
over
time.
Subject
to
the
limitations
of
determining
the
exact
nature
of
public
opinion,
a
problem
ex-
plicitly
recognized
by
the
author,
the
book
succeeds
admirably
in
meeting
these
ob-
jectives.
No one
will
quarrel
with
the
choice
of
Stephen
Girard,
John
Jacob
Astor,
Cor-
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