In a neglected passage in his famous December 12, 1991, memo, in which he argued that Africa was "vastly under-polluted," Lawrence Summers also said this, commenting on a passage from a draft of that year's World Development Report (the opening quote): <quote> "Closer integration has...demonstrated the benefits of exploiting economies of scale in technological development, production, and trade." Alfred Chandler has a book (Scale and Scope) on the development of modern industrial capitalism from (roughly) 1880-1920 in which he argues the most important factors for firms' success were capturing economies of scale (in R&D and production) and scope (marketing). What's new? Throughout the outline I struggle with the evidence showing *what* exactly the proclaimed revolution has revolutionized. FDI has always existed and many of the world's largest firms have been transnational from birth. The "globalization" of production has happened sure, but has the telecommunications revolution really had a major impact? I would guess the invention of relatively simple things, like steamship transport, did more for world trade than digitalized data transmission through fiber optic cables. How exactly has the nature of manufacturing been "fundamentally altered"? Aren't people just incrementally better at doing things they've always done, like locate production in the lowest cost location for delivery to markets (now "globalization of production"), like manage inventories in a least cost way (now "just-in-time inventory management"), like choose the appropriate level of vertical integration depending on the production process (now "critical buyer-seller links"), like match production to demand (now "short product cycles"). Is a "revolution really the appropriate metaphor for these changes? I think the detailed evidence from the US about the very small impact on productivity from the large investment in information technology should convince us to hold off on the breathless tone about technology. <endquote> I think Summers may have an important point here; both capital's publicists and its enemies (such as they are) seem to fall prey to the breathlessness tone he describes. Doug -- Doug Henwood Left Business Observer 250 W 85 St New York NY 10024-3217 USA +1-212-874-4020 voice +1-212-874-3137 fax email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> web: <http://www.panix.com/~dhenwood/LBO_home.html>