What Capitalism Needs: Forgotten Lessons of Great Economists

by John L. Campbell, John A. Hall

From unemployment to Brexit to climate change, capitalism is in trouble and ill-prepared to cope with the challenges of the coming decades. How did we get here? While contemporary economists and policymakers tend to ignore the political and social dimensions of capitalism, some of the great economists of the past - Adam Smith, Friedrich List, John Maynard Keynes, Joseph Schumpeter, Karl Polanyi and Albert Hirschman - did not make the same mistake. Leveraging their insights, sociologists John L. Campbell and John A. Hall trace the historical development of capitalism as a social, political, and economic system throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. They draw comparisons across eras and around the globe to show that there is no inevitable logic of capitalism. Rather, capitalism's performance depends on the strength of nation-states, the social cohesion of capitalist societies, and the stability of the international system - three things that are in short supply today.

1 pages, Hardcover

Published September 2, 2021

Reviews

[John L. Campbell]

Ietrio has left a comment on this book but restricted others from commenting on their comment. So, my comment is a response to their comment about my book. They claim that the book is "pure socialism." This couldn't be farther from the truth. Why? First, nowhere in the book do we advocate socialism. Second, socialism is a system of state ownership and control of the means of production. Ietrio seems to think that more state involvement, such as regulation, is the same thing as socialism. It isn't. There are lots of advanced capitalist countries with lots of state intervention into their economies--and they aren't socialist. The list is long and includes all those in North America, Western Europe, Japan and more. Third, Ietrio fails to mention that in addition to arguing that capitalism requires competent states in order to do well, the book also argues that capitalism requires democratic forms of voice and inclusion to do well--not something normally associated with socialism. In sum, advocating socialism is a time-worn trope of uninformed, conservatives who simply don't like to admit that state intervention is sometimes appropriate and necessary for capitalism to prosper. Anyone who reads this book with an open mind will see that this is what we have argued. It was never a call for socialism.

[Fred Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be a well balanced analysis of the risks and benefits that government processes have on capitalism. There is an emphasis on the need of a consistent rule of law to allow individuals to risk investing and that is lost in autocratic regimes. Human greed will come out when a monopoly dominates an area, and without governmental intervention the monopoly will crush potential competition. Governments can also stabilize markets when world events such as pandemics and wars would otherwise lead to instability.

The authors are able to cite Adam Smith and many other economists to support their conclusions. I found the book thought provoking, logical, and an excellent addition to my collection.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Capitalism in this book is plain Socialism. And apparently, like with all priests of the Total State, all it needs is more control. But people seem to dislike Total Government Control. So this text, like many others before it, is crafted to mesmerize the readership: look there, and there, and there, how about here, and there? And each time, the State spiked club is the optimal solution.

[Ronak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Main takeaway from reading: I don’t hate the theory that social cohesion could lead to a more prosperous society, but IMO the authors fall short of explaining how we can achieve this.

[Robert Putka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping read that makes use of ingenious critical framework steeped in sociology. Heretofore neglected by mainstream economists, the inextricable integration of economics and sociology must be seriously considered moving forward, lest we foil provident policy-making and, by extension, capitalism itself.