The New Era of Global Competition: State Policy and Market Power

Pradip Sarbadhikari is a political science professor at Lakehead
University in Thunder Bay.

This book is an eloquent expression of Canadian nationalism and
Canada’s place in the evolving world order at a time of unprecedented
political and economic changes. Drache and Gertler begin with a
brilliant overview, followed by contributions from some of Canada’s
leading contemporary scholars. They discuss strategies of state action
in the face of the globalization of the world economy, analyzing these
strategies mostly in the context of the Paris-based Regulation School of
political economy.

The book is divided into six parts. Part 1 is a critical evaluation of
the Canadian political economy in the 1980s. Part 2 addresses free trade
and the consequences of integration, including articles by Marjorie
Cohen, Stephen Clarkson, Bruce Wilkinson, and Michael Mandel. Part 3
deals with industrial restructuring, focusing on the automotive
industries (John Holmes), steel (Masi), the impact of Japan (Jonathan
Moris), and sustainable development (Paul Philips). Part 4 analyzes the
problems of structural adjustment and its social costs, with pieces by
Drache, Isabell Bakker, Jean Laux, and Rianne Mahon. Part 5 sets out new
policy through directions by Robert Cox, John Myles, and Gertler. In the
last section, the “Global Crisis in Resource Development” is
examined by Frank Tester; a “Secondary Economy” by Abraham Rotstein;
and “Beyond Market and State” by Duncan Cameron.

Throughout the individual studies there is a common thread stretching
from concern to alarm about the encroachment of the market and the need
for the state to respond to globalization, economic integration, and
structural adjustment. The arguments are compelling and at times even
passionate. The book is an important addition at a crucial moment in
Canada’s history. It is essential reading for the student of
contemporary Canadian political economy.