Capitalism and Its Critics

Capitalism and Its Critics is everything we’ve come to expect from John Cassidy. He weaves an engaging and trenchant discussion of key critics of capitalism over its more than two hundred years into a history of capitalism itself. The battle is not only about economic ideas, but also about the VERY nature of our society. Especially now, when some see the failures of capitalism as more than a little responsible for the Trumpian oligarchy while others see its successes as ushering in a new era of AI-led prosperity, this is an illuminating and essential read – Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and author of The Road to FreedomA marvellously lucid overview of capitalism’s critics, written in good old-fashioned expository prose – Pratinav Anil * Guardian *Fascinating and informative. The history of capitalism is told through the eyes and legitimate concerns of its most articulate critics. This is intellectual history at its best. Essential reading for anyone who wonders how the modern world wandered off course – Simon Johnson, winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Economics and co-author of Power and ProgressAn intriguing account of how some of the most consequential ideas in economics developed, and how they forged the modern world…Several enjoyable evenings might be spent with Netflix off and Mr Cassidy’s new book open * Economist *Cassidy’s range is impressive … [he] makes the history of capitalism digestible by weaving together, in each chapter, the biography of each of his subjects with their key critique of capitalism, thus humanising otherwise dry debates about economic theory – Yuan Yi Zhu * The Times *Each chapter is a substantial essay on an economist, activist or policymaker and their work … astonishing … – Alan Ryan * Literary Review *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 – Jennifer Szalai * The New York Times *Capitalism and its Critics [is an] unexpectedly lively romp through the two-and-a-half-century history of capitalism … a zombie tale in which the mystery is why capitalism, having so many ill-wishers and so many chronic health problems, keeps rising anew from each crisis – be it the 1930s Great Depression or 2008 financial crisis – even stronger and more resilient. Cassidy … offers gripping analyses of socialist communes, slavery, imperialism and monetarism; he takes us to the heart of such topical questions as whether tariffs are folly, as laissez-faire orthodoxy suggests, or essential to making America great again, as Donald Trump insists … I predict it’ll become the intelligent beach read of the summer – Stuart Jeffries * Telegraph *John Cassidy’s Capitalism and Its Critics is an impressive history of arguments about capitalism, from the industrial age to our time. Clear and accessible, it is an invaluable touchstone for current debates about economic renewal in our post-globalization moment – Michael J. Sandel, author of The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?[A] magisterial new study … Is the primary problem with free markets moral, economic or both? Is technology intrinsically bad, or can it be harnessed for progressive ends? Do markets rely on imperialistic expansion, or can domestic consumers sustain them? Is capitalism destined to tear itself apart, or can it weather the downturns it invariably induces? … Cassidy does not answer these questions, but his rewarding book provides an impressively lucid guide to a fascinating array of attempts to do so – Becca Rothfeld * Washington Post *

John Cassidy is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Dot.con- The Greatest Story Ever Sold and How Markets Fail, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction.

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