SUPPLEMENT /

*** FRANK TRENTMANN: Free Trade Nation. Oxford University Press (Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK - Tel: [phone] - Fax: 556646 - Internet: http://www.oup.org ). 2008, 450 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-920920-0.

The United Kingdom is known as the country where parliamentary democracy developed, and it is another movement that arose in the UK which changed and is still changing the face of the world today - free trade. Criticised by increasing numbers of people today, this idea underlies the globlaisation process but was once far more popular among the masses. The idea emerged in the nineteenth century, and back then it was associated with the ideas of peace, demoracy and justice. It is this epoch to which Frank Trentmann returns in this fine book. Professor of history at London University, he rediscovers the history of the birth of the free trade idea in England, its heyday and its decline between the two World Wars. The author divides his study of the history of free trade into four periods: the ethical vision in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the freeing up of trade (1815 to 1870), the return to protectionism (1870 to the First World War, except in England) and the period when Free Trade started to be written in small case because the grand concept had been reduced to its economic theory aspects bereft of any popular appeal.

The book focuses on the third phase of free trade, beginning in 1903. Frank Trentmann explains that in 1903, England had experienced nearly sixty years of "a golden age of globalisation, an era marked by the gold standard and expanding transnational networks of cultural and commercial exchange". One year later, in a speech to an audience comprising people from all walks of life in English society, the future prime minister announced that on that day, they would have to choose between protectionism and the consolidation of freedom and fairness. Free trade was put into practice with the 1846 Corn Laws, and became a veritable national, democratic culture, affecting and mobilising everyone, over and above political and ideological divides. England became "an isolated island in a rising sea of tariffs" where it was "difficult not to be sensationalist about the outburst of energy and the level of political communication mobilised by free trade".

With undeniable clarity and historical interest, the book describes the ins and outs of the free trade spirit that prevailed at the time, explaining how deeply rooted it was in English society. In passing, he turns on its head the widely believed cliché that free trade has materialist aims. His aim is to develop reflection on the choice back then, which is so of the moment today also, between protectionism and opening up to the world. The book therefore moves beyond pure analysis of history to tackle a timeless debate, aware of the differences between modern globalisation and globalisation back then. The author also provides interesting reflection on the declining popularity of free trade, a phenomenon which he says is not solely due to the Wall Street Crash and economic crisis of 1929 but also has its roots in a process that started at the outset of the First World War, a time which saw the rebirth of the state's role in the economy. What has happened to this popularity in our time? The author argues that the people who used to defend free trade tooth and nail have now started to see it as upsetting international stability and domestic well-being "on the altar of low prices"... The British have therefore turned away from free trade in favour of fair trade.

The author justifies the theme of his book through the unique nature of the direction taken by England over this period. He looks at the evolution over time of the notions of free trade and fair trade and, not wanting to choose between them, he sheds light on the conditions under which trade, consumption

and civil society can be combined, bringing back to the foreground important factors that have been lost in the current debate. The book therefore aims above all at providing food for thought. Frank Trentmann explains that the coming years will demonstrate whether a popular basis for free trade can be rebuilt.

Thomas Bauwens

*** STEFAN THOMAS: Aktivitäten der Energiewirtschaft zur Förderung der Energieeffizienz auf der Nachfrageseite in liberalisierten Strom- und Gasmärkten europäischer Staaten: Kriteriengestützter Vergleich der politischen Rahmenbedingungen. Peter Lang (1 Moostrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen, Switzerland. Tel.: [phone] - Fax: [phone] - email: [e-mail] - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Kommunalwirtschaftliche Forschung und Praxis" series, No. 13. 2007, 415 pp, €64. ISBN 978-3-631-56367-0.

Physician and political scientist heading the energy policy, climate and transport research group at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Energy and the Environment in Germany, Stefan Thomas looks in this book at the energy market and how it encourages energy efficiency, comparing and contrasting the political choices of a handful of European countries to this end. Focussing on the gas market, he compares the situation in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, answering a series of questions along the way - Why should energy producing companies help their customers save energy using efficient techniques? How can countries establish conditions that encourage energy savings? This balanced, detailed study tries to define the energy efficiency expectations generated after the liberalisation of the gas market, and the prospects for differentiation of energy products by incorporating value-added services. With the right policy, 1.5% of energy could be saved year on year, he argues. The comparison also sets out forty-four suggested key points for success which can be used as a database for energy policy in Germany.

(EPi)

*** FRANZ JÜRGEN SÄCKER (Ed.): Deutsch-russisches Energie und Bergrecht im Vergleich. Ergebnisse einer Arbeitstagung vom 31.März/1.April 2006. Peter Lang (see above). "Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für deutsches und europäisches Wirtschafts-, Wettbewerbs- und Regulierungsrecht der Freien Universität Berlin" series, No. 1. 2007, 144 pp, € 31-80.ISBN 978-3-631-56077-8.

Edited by a specialist in European law who is a member of the European Energy Institute in Louvain (Belgium), this book publishes the proceedings of an international conference organised in Berlin in 2006 by Berlin University's institute for German and European business law, competition and regulation. German and Russian experts spoke at the conference, where they compared mining and energy law in the Russian Federation with EU and German legislation. This was the very first scientific conference of its kind. Stressing the need for mutual understanding of the two legal systems in order to facilitate reciprocal opening of markets, the authors address topics like electricity, gas, access to electricity and gas and a comparison between Russian and Ukrainian energy laws. A priceless contribution to energy dialogue between Russia and Germany and Russia and Europe as a whole.

(EPi)

*** LUIS RUBALCABA: The New Service Economy. Challenges and Policy Implications for Europe. Edward Elgar Publishing (William Pratt House, 9 Dewey Court, Northampton, MA 01060, USA. Tel.: [phone] - Fax: [phone] - email: [e-mail] - Internet: http://www.e-elgar.com ). "Services, Economy and Innovation". 2007, 343 pp. ISBN 978-1-84542-585-2.

In the most developed countries, the service sector has evolved and now accounts for about 70% of trade. The service sector is where the greatest number of jobs are found, and it provides considerable value-added. It has been a full component of the Lisbon Strategy since 2004 and has started to enter the historical stage. Given all this, how come it is the least understand and least studied section of the global economy? The author argues that this lack of analysis is essentially due to the materialist philosophy so deeply rooted in the minds of economists (who focus on goods and merchandise) and it is time for it to be filled. Focussing on a study of Europe but making regular comparisons with the situation in the United States, Luis Rubalcaba proceeds step by step. He starts by explaining the role of services in advanced economies, then analyses challenges and opportunities (employment, productivity, innovation and competitiveness), making a broad, critical analysis of the policies implemented or being considered by the European Commission and ends by testing out several research hypotheses. The author explains that "the main objective is to contribute to the understanding of the new service economy by means of its key dimensions and available empirical evidence'. Marrying analytical, empirical and political economy approaches, the book clearly makes a huge step forward in terms of ensuring accurate understanding of the service sector although, as the author himself explains, readers seeking a more detailed sectoral approach will not find their path.

(TBa)

*** JEAN-FREDERIC MORIN: Le bilatéralisme américain: la nouvelle frontière du droit international des brevets. Editions De Boeck / Larcier (39 rue des Minimes, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: [phone] - Fax: [phone] - Internet: http://www.larcier.com ). "Droit/Economie international" series. 2007, 577 pp. ISBN 978-2-8044-2695-8.

In the European knowledge-based society, the control of intangible wealth has become a key issue in international relations, and this impressive book shows that the United States is able to ensure its dominance by means of bilateralism. A law graduate from Montpellier University and a political science graduate from Quebec University, Jean-Frédéric Morin makes a detailed, innovative analysis in the book of the way the international patent system has evolved since the TRIPS international agreement on intellectual property rights in trade was adopted. Washington is not satisfied with its initial victory, particularly because the legitimacy of strong patent protection was soon challenged in developing countries, notably through the debate on access to medicines and the protection of biodiversity. In order to maintain its hegemony, the 'American machine' (to use the term coined by Prof. Michel Vivant of the 'Institut d'Etudes Politiques' in Paris) dreamed up new ways of taking action, as Prof. Vivant explains in the preface, in the form of the signing of a dozen or more bilateral treaties under which the United States export rules which "shape patent law in signatory countries based on the US model, while preserving for the United States the flexibility it desires". Jean-Frédéric Morin compares the negotiation process and the provisions of these bilateral treaties with the TRIPS agreement, showing that this new bilateralism enables the United States to return to coercion and socialisation strategies to ensure compliance, strategies which the US could no longer successfully use at multilateral level. In this book, Jean-Frédéric Morin, a researcher and project leader at the intellectual property policy centre of McGill University, makes a brilliant demonstration on the theoretical level of the resilience of hegemonic standards and, on the empirical level, he paints a new picture of international patent law.

(PBo)

*** MICHAEL BURNETT: Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) - A Decision Maker's Guide. European Institute of Public Administration (P.O. Box 1229, 6201 BE Maastricht, The Netherlands. Tel: [phone] - Fax: [phone] - email: [e-mail] - Internet: http://www.eipa.eu ) . 2007,186 pp , €60. ISBN 978-90-6779-204-2.

The funding gap between the budget to ensure the proper functioning of public programmes and the actual public monies available to this end is getting wider in Europe and for this reason, the number of public-private partnerships (PPP) is continuing to grow. There is an unfortunate dearth of books looking at PPP and they tend to focus on the content of the partnerships, explains Michael Burnet, being written either by people who have a financial interest in the development of PPPs or by people strongly opposed to the beast. The author therefore decided to fill a gap in the literature on PPPs by providing "an independent guide for those facing these challenges at all levels in Europe," written from a public perspective. The guide has three broad aims. Firstly, it explains what PPPs are and how they arose, providing analysis of their legal, operational, business, trade and political aspects and, last but not least in the list from the author's perspective, the management of human resources. Secondly, he looks at the best way of setting up PPPs in order to meet all the various criteria. Finally, the author makes a series of recommendations on how to improve the framework for establishing and putting PPPs into practice, arguing that the sector needs to be reformed. The recommendations all move in the direction of a "transfer of powers upwards between the local, regional, national and European tiers of government," in order to maintain a balance of powers between the public and private sectors. The book makes an important contribution to an approach that "needs to be implemented to secure the future of PPP as an option available to policy makers responsible for delivering public services".

(TBa)