Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy (2002– )

The people, ideas, and events that created our current world economy.

Stars:

David Ogden Stiers, Tony Benn, Stephen G. Breyer

Cast

Series cast summary:
David Ogden Stiers	...	Himself - Narrator (3 episodes, 2002)

Storyline

The people, ideas, and events that created our current world economy.

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Plot Keywords:

economy | india | 1900s | world war two | unemployment | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Details

Official Sites:

PBS [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kampen om verdensøkonomien

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

360 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Nothing More than Propaganda

As one can easily tell from the beginning of this film with its sponsors, the ones talking to you are the individuals who run corporations and third-world sweatshops. The documentary covers the debate between Liberal and Conservative (neo-liberal/capitalist) economics, claiming that this is the centralized economic battle that results in protests, riots, and social unrest. On the contrary, this social unrest has little to do with either of these establishmentary positions. The narrator calls it "a century-long battle over the economy." Sorry to burst your bubble, but the arguments over economy were MUCH HOTTER in the 1800's at the dawn of the industrial age than they are now. "How will we best organize our economy?" the narrator asks. He does not discuss Libertarian Socialism (George Orwell), social democracy (August Bebel), cooperatives and syndicates (Rocker, Bakunin, Goldman), etc., etc.. The only two options for world economy organization are the two that most closely resemble each other on the key principles: the value and necessity of an authoritarian regime, an enormous division of the two classes into a small elite with complete power and a vast, poverty-stricken majority, and the idea that the economy must be directed by the private interest of corporations. On the contrary, this isn't so much a documentary about what economic organization best suits human needs -- it's a documentary about what economic organization best suits THEIR NEEDS.