Home › Books › Capitalism and Its Critics: A History: From the I…
Capitalism and Its Critics: A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AI
by
86/99
Critics' Rating Index
65/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
89/99
Volume of Reviews
65/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.
About This Book
A sweeping, dramatic history of capitalism as seen through the eyes of its fiercest critics. At a time when artificial intelligence, climate change, and inequality are raising fundamental questions about the economic system, Capitalism and Its Critics provides a kaleidoscopic history of global capitalism, from the East India Company to Apple. But here John Cassidy, a staff writer at The New Yorker and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, adopts a bold new he tells the story through the eyes of the system's critics. From the Haitian rebels who overthrew French colonial capitalism and the English Luddites who rebelled against early factory automation, to the Latin American dependistas , the international Wages for Housework campaign of the 1970s, and the modern degrowth movement, the absorbing narrative traverses the globe. It visits with familiar names―Smith, Marx, Luxemburg, Keynes, Polyani―but also focuses on many less familiar figures, including William Thompson, the Irish proto-socialist whose work influenced Marx; Flora Tristan, the French proponent of a universal labor union; John Hobson, the original theorist of imperialism; J. C. Kumarappa, the Indian exponent of Ghandian economics; Eric Williams, the Trinidadian author of a famous thesis on slavery and capitalism; Joan Robinson, the Cambridge economist and critic of the Cold War; and Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, the founding father of degrowth. Blending rich biography, panoramic history, and lively exploration of economic theories, Capitalism and Its Critics is true big history that illuminates the deep roots of many of the most urgent issues of our time.
Reviews
"A marvellously lucid overview of capitalism's critics, written in good old-fashioned expository prose—if at times a touch workmanlike compared with some of his subjects, such as exhilarating stylists Marx and Carlyle ..."
"Subtle and sensitive."
"An expansive history of capitalism that places less emphasis on economic abstractions like perfectly competitive markets and draws attention instead to how often capitalist systems have fallen short ..."
"If you are, then they will seem like common sense and most importantly, at this time, essential."
"But Cassidy ultimately sees Marx's work as no more than a 'mixed bag.'"
"Dense with information, free of jargon, and a powerful argument against an increasingly unsustainable economic system ..."
"To normal people, economic theory is soul-crushing at the best of times."
"Over 28 punchy, rigorous yet engagingly peopled chapters, Cassidy not only explains the economic theories of Marx, Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Milton Friedman...but introduces us to a fabulous cast of lesser-known characters ..."
"The result is a unique and invigorating view of capitalism's history."
Preview
Reader Reviews
0 reviewsSign in to write a review.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first!