Capitalism

So you think you know what makes the world go round? Read about the ideas that revolutionized the 20th century. The twentieth century was a period of seismic change on a global scale, witnessing two world wars, the rise and fall of communism, the establishment of a global economy, the beginnings of global warming and a complete reversal in the status of women in large parts of the world. Many of these changes were brought about thanks to powerful ideologies - "big ideas" that irrevocably altered the way humans viewed their world. "Short Histories of Big Ideas" are brief, easy to understand introductions to the ideologies that shaped the twentieth century. Each volume explains the key aspects of an idea and provides a concise history of its growth and influence on our world perspective. Will capitalism destroy us or liberate us? Capitalism stands unrivalled as the economic system of our times. Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the world has become a stage for capital, and yet despite this dominance, capitalism is still not well-understood. This is a guide to thinking about capitalism, both as an ideology and as an economic system. It asks: what are the central, unchanging features of capitalism? How does capitalism vary from place to place and over time? Does capitalism improve our lives? Is capitalism a system which is 'natural' and 'free'? Or is it unjust and unstable? And what about today's global capitalism? Answers to these questions and many more are sought through an analysis the life of this world-shaping idea and of the writings of leading thinkers such as Adam Smith, Milton Friedman, Francis Fukuyama, John Maynard Keynes and Karl Marx. The book concludes by arguing that the advocates of global capitalism have erred and that, without change, we are heading for an impoverished future. About the author: Paul Bowles is a graduate of the London School of Economics and teaches at a university in Canada. He is also affiliated with universities in China and Mexico. He has had a long-standing interest in capitalism and its evolution, recently doing research on the issue of "globalisation". He has published widely on both globalisation and East Asian development and has also been involved in projects looking at economic reform in China.