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Did computer technology seriously contribute
to Black Monday, October 1, 1987... the biggest stock market
crash in history?
Is the new technology creating a major
societal transformation as significant as the Industrial
Revolution?
Maurice Estabrooks, Senior Economist with
the Federal Government of Canada, believes the answer is
"yes" to both questions. In this leading-edge
book, he precisely delineates the causes, effects, and pervasive
power of this emerging economic and political system.
He traces the transformation of our world
from a comfortably-paced, paper-based society to one that
is lightning-fast and computer-driven. He follows the turbulent
decade of the eighties with its computerization of financial
markets; the heavy population of ATMs and computerized retail
checkout systems; the proliferation of smart cards and debit
cards; the creation of the financial supermarkets such as
American Express, Sears Roebuck, Citicorp, and Merrill Lynch;
the merging of territories formerly held separately by commercial
banks and by the securities and brokerage business; and
the consequent obsolescense of regulatory institutions.
He describes the competition between global
money centers for domination of its evolving computer-mediated
financial marketplace and examines the resulting 24-hour
global trading with its increasing volatility, speculation,
and computerization... forces that synchronized ultimately
on October 19, 1987, threatening the stability of our whole
economy.
In addition, the author discusses how the
manufacturing, resource, and services sectors are also being
pulled into this vortex of transformation where they, too,
are becoming computer-mediated.
His prognosis -- a new global political
order best described as Programmed Capitalism. His vision
-- new national and global institutions to ensure a programmed
democratic society at the global level.
A senior economist with the Federal Government
of Canada, Maurice F. Estabrooks has held positions as a
systems analyst, engineer, planner, and manager. He studied
at Mount Allison University, the University of Alberta,
Carleton University, and holds degrees in physics, applied
mathematics, and economics.
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