The People's Republic of Walmart

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

By: Leigh Phillips, Michal Rozworski

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

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

This book is important

This book is lovely, concise, and too the point. The only complaint is that someone could rightly accuse it of being anecdotal - however, the author does a good job at weaving his points onto broader self-evident trends.

A worthy read, regardless of one’s economic or political leanings

"great book, an important tool in your arsenal "

Simple ideas expressed in a way we can use to argue with sociopaths about socialism

Insightful from start to finish

I hated supply chain classes in college but the history behind it is quite fascinating.

Thought provoking

He makes many interesting points under the premise that firms do not operate internally like markets. They are “islands of tyranny”, a phrase that will live rent free in my mind. He provides a lot of history, and some humor and wit. I think he successfully argues that democratically organized economic planning is not only feasible, but already in practice in companies like Walmart and these tools could be in the hands of the people rather than the corporate despots.

great content ideology lacking

good look at the apologist view for socialism being technically achievable through the planned market system. The twilight zone narrator voice is annoying and condescending though.

Interesting & thought provoking

Raises a lot of interesting questions while drawing on the history of the subject and practical implementation.

Great exploration of economic planning

A well-informed look at the economic planning controversy that looks at various historical examples.

Great explanation of an at surface utopian theory

Simplified the history and theory behind a socialist economy very well, so well my dumbass was able to understand it.

A pragmatic view of planning

This book was an excellent and pragmatic approach to economic planning, how it serves us now, and how it may serve us in the future. The arguments were well set up with a brief review of past socialist experiments and the strengths and weaknesses of each system. Each point was backed up with both sound political theory and empirical data from modern economics. I enjoyed the writting and the vision of the authors. This book should absolutely be incuded in entery level courses to economics as a primer on planned economies.

compelling but not convincing

I feel like the author made several good points in favor of economic planning in particular that economic planning is done by capitalist firms and businesses. However, to say that government planning could work since private sector planning works seems like a false equivalence. Also I do not think that the author made a very compelling argument in defense of the Soviet model. I don't think the authors reasons successfully explain away why the Soviet system failed. This is a compelling attempt to rehabilitate economic planning in the wake of the failures of Soviet socialism. Compelling but not convincing. Nonetheless, I would recommend anybody interested in economic theory especially someone open to hearing opposing views read this book.