What Capitalism Needs
Forgotten Lessons of Great Economists

There is no inevitable logic of capitalism. Capitalism's stability depends on how well nation-states manage it and on social cohesion.

John L. Campbell (Author), John A. Hall (Author)

9781108487825, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 September 2021

1 pages
22.2 x 14.6 x 2.2 cm, 0.51 kg

'Graduate and undergraduate students will benefit from reading this book. It forces the (particularly younger) reader to think deeply about where we came from and how we go there … excellent research.' Matthew C. Mahutga, Social Forces

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. Sociology from economics
2. Phoenix from the ashes
3. Storm clouds
4. Nationalism and social cohesion
5. State failure
6. What next?

Subject Areas: International business [KJK], Economic history [KCZ], Political economy [KCP], Economic theory & philosophy [KCA], Economics [KC], International relations [JPS], Social theory [JHBA], Sociology [JHB]