For those of you who read German readily, there is a new book:
Siegele, Ludwig, & Joseph Zepelin. Matrix der Welt. SAP und der neue globale Kapitalizmus. Frankfurt und New York: Campus-Verlag, 2009. available that describes---publicly and in very much greater detail than I have seen anywhere else---the uses that some multinationals are making of SAP, chiefly and crucially on mainframes, to integrate and "optimize" their operations across national boundaries. Some of these new uses are, I think, problematic. Tax avoidance and displacement are not of course new or even unethical; but their optimization means that some multinationals are or will shortly be in a position to decide where to pay taxes. The book is not, however, chiefly a muckraking one. The information it provides about these new uses of SAP and how they are being implemented is of great technical interest. John Gilmore Ashland, MA 01721-1817 USA _________________________________________________________________ Rediscover Hotmail®: Get quick friend updates right in your inbox. http://windowslive.com/RediscoverHotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Rediscover_Updates1_042009 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
