Book Review - Winner Take All

I just finished Winner Take All by Dambisa Moyo published in 2012. Amazon here.

I was over at Indigo the other day and I saw the book in the investment section. I generally don't go for this kind of book but I figured what the hell. The book is focused on the China effect on the global commodity markets. The book is relatively easy read at just over 200 pages.

To be blunt this book is a decent read but nothing more. The first 200 pages or so concentrate on the many issues around global commodity markets. The emphasis is on the China influence. Many facts and figures are quoted to back up the author's point of view. The author also covers basic workings of the commodity markets including the futures markets. One issue the author does not cover is the leverage employed in the commodity markets. This is an important economic factor. There are huge amounts of borrowed money at work. Trying to figure out how this factor plays out over the coming decades is very difficult (BTW, that is the main reason I generally stay away from commodities).

The problem with economics books is that eventually you will hear the ideological view of the author. This becomes clear in last chapter(s) of the book. If I understand correctly he would like to see a massive collectivist type of action on a global scale to deal with the commodity "imbalances". To quote the author "This fight is about life or death".

Give me a break. This book reminds me of the doomster books that came out at the end of the late 1970's. I lived through that commodity boom and the world turned out just fine. As far as I remember there was never any collectivist action to "correct" commodity markets. The market was essentially left to its own.

While I have sympathy for many of the views of the author I am skeptical of many of his suggestions. Global collectivist actions is like herding cats - in theory it might be done but very difficult to achieve.