Joel Spring investigates the role of educational policy in the evolving global economy, and the consequences of school systems around the world adapting to meet the needs of international corporations. The new global model for education addresses problems of technological change, the quick exchange of capital, and free markets; policies to resolve these problems include "lifelong learning," "learning societies," international and national accreditation of work skills; international and national standards and tests; school choice; multiculturalism; and economic nationalism.

The distinctive contribution Spring makes is to offer an original interpretive framework for examining and understanding the interconnections among education, imperialism and colonialism, and the rise of the global economy. He offers a unique comparison of the educational policies of the World Bank, the United Nations, the European Union, and the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation.

Additionally, he provides and weaves together important historical and current information on education in the context of the expansion of international capitalism; much of this information, gathered from many diverse sources, is otherwise not easily available to readers of this book. In the concluding chapters of the volume, Spring presents a thoughtful analysis and a powerful argument emphasizing the importance of human rights education in a global economy.

This volume is a sequel to Spring's earlier book, Education and the Rise of the Corporate State (1972), continuing the work he has been engaged in since the 1970s to describe and analyze the relationship between political, economic, and historical forces and educational policy.