Escape from Capitalism

“Capitalism seems invincible and inevitable. It is neither. Clara Mattei’s new book illustrates brilliantly its fragility and, in so doing, restores hope that everything could be different.” –Yanis Varoufakis, author of Technofeudalism“As people struggle with the volatility and inequities of capitalism, this relevant book will spark conversation.” –Library Journal (starred review)“A brilliant and lucid exposé of how capitalism actually works, and the myths that economists have spun to hide that reality.” –William Davies, author of The Happiness Industry“One of the brightest voices of a coming generation, Clara Mattei here offers an impassioned plea for new and wider economic and political horizons.” –James K. Galbraith, Professor of Government, The University of Texas at Austin“Mattei concisely and elegantly runs through common claims in capitalism’s favor… Readers will come away ready for change.” –Publishers Weekly“The increasingly dysfunctional capital order we live in is neither inevitable nor permanent. Clara Mattei brilliantly shows this order was built by design and provocatively challenges us to imagine new, genuinely democratic ones in its place.” –Daniela Gabor, Professor of Economics, SOAS University of London“A book for the times. Mattei takes aim at the notion that the forces which regulate market and social outcomes are socially neutral.” –Anwar Shaikh, author of Capitalism“A brilliantly illuminating book that reveals how political power is encoded within the very structure of economic theory.” – Adam Tooze, author of Crashed and Shutdown“A compelling and insightful book on austerity that, through meticulous research and historical documentation, unveils the deep political forces behind economic decisions and offers essential tools for understanding today’s world.” –Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century“Clara Mattei has written a powerful plaidoyer for the return of economics to what it was, and should be: an art and science for the improvement of lives of ordinary people not a seemingly non-political and technocratic instrument for the enrichment of the few.” –Branko Milanovic, author of Capitalism, Alone

Clara E. Mattei is a professor of economics at The University of Tulsa. She is the Founding President of FREE—the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation—and the author of The Capital Order. The Capital Order was praised by The Financial Times as one of the ten best economics books of 2022 and has been translated into over a dozen languages.