The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism

Martin Wolf has been an incisive commentator on economics and politics for a long time. This book is an excellent and thought-provoking synthesis of his views on democratic capitalism and how to fix it. – Ben Bernanke, former chair of the Federal ReserveMartin Wolf is one of the deepest thinkers of our times and his latest book is a must-read! He brilliantly analyzes the causes of current crisis of democratic capitalism and presents the reforms needed to successfully rejuvenate it. He rightly calls for a new alliance of reformed democratic capitalist states to protect global peace, inclusive prosperity and the planet against plutocratic populism and tyranny. Hopefully, his words will be carefully read and heeded. – Nouriel Roubini, Professor, New York UniversityMartin Wolf is a great humanist and a sharp analytical mind. He unfurls here a bracing indictment of democratic capitalism and an inspiring defense of it. To defend the values of freedom and dignity, democracy and capitalism must both be reformed. A necessary book- and a guide – for our times – Daniel Ziblatt, Professsor, Harvard University and co-author of HOW DEMOCRACIES DIEMartin Wolf brings together many decades’ worth of thought and analysis into this superb synthesis. An important guide for anyone seeking answers to the most difficult questions of our time. – Anne Applebaum, Atlantic staff writer and author of TWILIGHT OF DEMOCRACYMartin Wolf is our wisest, most acute, and most experienced commentator. He has long been an optimist, but no more. He believes that today’s market economy is no longer compatible with a stable liberal democracy. As Plato long ago warned, insecurity and fear can be the gateways to tyranny. Wolf’s recommendations are smart and sensible and perhaps not too late. A must read for both optimists and pessimists. – Sir Angus Deaton, Nobel Prize in Economics 2015Martin Wolf has written the definitive account of what ails capitalism and democracy. This staggeringly erudite and beautifully written book is sure to become required reading for anybody who wants to understand how democratic capitalism slid into a deep crisis, why it is worth rescuing, and how to do so. – Yascha Mounk, Professor, Johns Hopkins University and author of THE GREAT EXPERIMENTThe arrival of this book could not be timelier as the global economy darkens further. Who better than Martin Wolf, with his masterful knowledge of history and understanding of economics, to identify the twin threats of predatory capitalism and demagogic politics and to plot a narrow corridor to escape? It takes someone with a knowledge of the entire forest to isolate the rot at the base of the trees. – Carmen M. Reinhart, Professor of Economics, Harvard UniversityPassionate, alarmed, wise: Martin Wolf has poured his soul into the book that may be recognized as his masterpiece. In it, he confronts the disturbing truths dismissed by his own complacent generation, and their consequences, with which the young will contend. – Sir Paul Collier, author of THE FUTURE OF CAPITALISMThe Crisis of Democratic Capitalism will reach a wide and powerful audience. It will be read by world leaders and CEOs. If it convinces some of them to change tack, away from the plutocratic path that national and international economies are currently on, then we should all be grateful. – William Davies * New Statesman *a cri de coeur … This book, impressively researched, is … a mine of information for anybody wanting to know about the forces driving the global economy in recent decades … Democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others, as Churchill once said. And the same is true of capitalism relative to other forms of economic organisation. Fixing both is the task. – David Smith * Sunday Times *

Martin Wolf is Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times. He was a member of the UK’s Vickers Commission on Banking, which reported in 2011. He holds an honorary doctorate at the London School of Economics and is an honorary Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. He is a member of the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum. In 2000, he was awarded the CBE for services to financial journalism and in 2019 won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gerald Loeb Awards. His books include The Shifts and the Shocks, Fixing Global Finance and Why Globalization Works.