The Wealth of Choices

May 29, 2000
Over the past two decades, globalization, deregulation and digitization have produced sweeping changes in the way companies are organized and do business. For those wondering what the new economy offers the average consumer, Murray, the Washington bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal and coauthor of Showdown at Gucci Gulch, provides a lively and accessible primer that will orient readers confused by rapid changes and those trying to make the new economic conditions work for them. According to Murray, pervasive free-market competitive pressures force companies to court consumers as never before, offering more variety in their products and responding to consumer needs. In addition, easy-to-use methods of comparison shopping on the Internet have given consumers previously unavailable knowledge of prices and a level of bargaining power that approaches that described by classical economist Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations in 1776. If the good news is that consumers are now in charge, the less good news is that to wield their power they must first do their homework. To make the most of that bargaining advantage, Murray has developed a series of handy outlines of the opportunities he sees for personal empowerment in the workplace, education, investing, health care and retirement planning. And although much of what Murray says boils down to common sense ("you should be in a job that makes you feel like you are contributing"), his optimism about consumers' increased choice and bargaining power is infectious. Agent, Bob Barnett. First serial rights sold to the Wall St. Journal and Smart Money; 6-city author tour.