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| capitalism's achilles heel: Capitalism's Achilles Heel Raymond W. Baker, 2005-08-05 For over forty years in more than sixty countries, Raymond Baker has witnessed the free-market system operating illicitly and corruptly, with devastating consequences. In Capitalism’s Achilles Heel, Baker takes readers on a fascinating journey through the global free-market system and reveals how dirty money, poverty, and inequality are inextricably intertwined. Readers will discover how small illicit transactions lead to massive illegalities and how staggering global income disparities are worsened by the illegalities that permeate international capitalism. Drawing on his experiences, Baker shows how Western banks and businesses use secret transactions and ignore laws while handling some $1 trillion in illicit proceeds each year. He also illustrates how businesspeople, criminals, and kleptocrats perfect the same techniques to shift funds and how these tactics negatively affect individuals, institutions, and countries. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity William J. Baumol, Robert E. Litan, Carl J. Schramm, 2007-01-01 In this important book, William J. Baumol, Robert E. Litan, and Carl J. Schramm contend that the answers to these questions lie within capitalist economies, though many observers make the mistake of believing that capitalism is of a single kind. Writing in an accessible style, the authors dispel that myth, documenting four different varieties of capitalism, some Good and some Bad for growth. The authors identify the conditions that characterize Good Capitalism--the right blend of entrepreneurial and established firms, which can vary among countries--as well as the features of Bad Capitalism. They examine how countries catching up to the United States can move faster toward the economic frontier, while laying out the need for the United States itself to stick to and reinforce the recipe for growth that has enabled it to be the leading economic force in the world. This pathbreaking book is a must read for anyone who cares about global growth and how to ensure America's economic future. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Capitalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century Gavin Kitching, 2019-10-17 This short book makes a connection between recent ‘tectonic shifts’ in the world economy and the political problems currently confronted by western democracies. The shift of manufacturing away from the West, allied to the pressure to keep costs down in an increasingly competitive global economy, has led to economic inequality, reliance on service industry employment and public sector austerity. All this has in turn produced large numbers of desperate citizens attracted to a populist economic nationalism accompanied by xenophobia. However, the originality of this text lies not in the above argument, but in the philosophical reflections which drive and derive from it. These include reflections on history as a supposed causal process; on the need to make ethical judgements of economic activities and the difficulties of doing so; and on the problems confronting modern citizens in understanding complex economic processes and their political implications. Capitalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century endorses Wittgenstein’s ‘praxis’ approach to human social life and its study. Accordingly, it not only analyses economic and political problems but suggests ways of solving or mitigating them. In doing so it relies on Marx’s conviction that our capacity to see certain phenomena as problems is at least a priori evidence that they can be solved. This book will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students of politics, comparative politics, political economy and international relations. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Invisible Hand of Peace Patrick J. McDonald, 2009-03-02 The Invisible Hand of Peace shows that the domestic institutions associated with capitalism, namely private property and competitive market structures, have promoted peace between states over the past two centuries. It employs a wide range of historical and statistical evidence to illustrate both the broad applicability of these claims and their capacity to generate new explanations of critical historical events, such as the emergence of the Anglo-American friendship at the end of the nineteenth century, the outbreak of World War I, and the evolution of the recent conflict across the Taiwan Strait. By showing that this capitalist peace has historically been stronger than the peace among democratic states, these findings also suggest that contemporary American foreign policy should be geared toward promoting economic liberalization rather than democracy in the post-9/11 world. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Song of Achilles Madeline Miller, 2012-04-12 WINNER OF THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION 2012 Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Freaks of Fortune Jonathan Levy, 2012-10-29 Until the early nineteenth century, risk was a specialized term: it was the commodity exchanged in a marine insurance contract. Freaks of Fortune tells the story of how the modern concept of risk emerged in the United States. Born on the high seas, risk migrated inland and became essential to the financial management of an inherently uncertain capitalist future. Focusing on the hopes and anxieties of ordinary people, Jonathan Levy shows how risk developed through the extraordinary growth of new financial institutions-insurance corporations, savings banks, mortgage-backed securities markets, commodities futures markets, and securities markets-while posing inescapable moral questions. For at the heart of risk's rise was a new vision of freedom. To be a free individual, whether an emancipated slave, a plains farmer, or a Wall Street financier, was to take, assume, and manage one's own personal risk. Yet this often meant offloading that same risk onto a series of new financial institutions, which together have only recently acquired the name financial services industry. Levy traces the fate of a new vision of personal freedom, as it unfolded in the new economic reality created by the American financial system. Amid the nineteenth-century's waning faith in God's providence, Americans increasingly confronted unanticipated challenges to their independence and security in the boom and bust chance-world of capitalism. Freaks of Fortuneis one of the first books to excavate the historical origins of our own financialized times and risk-defined lives. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Life After Capitalism George Gilder, 2023-05-30 For more than two hundred years, capitalism spread wealth around the globe, bringing unprecedented prosperity and progress, liberating human potential. But something has gone terribly wrong in the world economy. The bestselling futurist and venture capitalist George Gilder explains why economics is not an incentive system to be manipulated but an information system to be freed. Material resources are essentially as plentiful as the atoms of the universe. What drives economic growth in a free market is our limitless human ingenuity and creativity. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Falling Rate of Learning and the Neoliberal Endgame David J. Blacker, 2013 Our education system is chained to the hold of a sinking capitalist ship. Is there any escape? |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Myth of Chinese Capitalism Dexter Roberts, 2024-05-01 The “vivid, provocative” untold story of how restrictive policies are preventing China from becoming the world’s largest economy (Evan Osnos). Dexter Roberts lived in Beijing for two decades working as a reporter on economics, business and politics for Bloomberg Businessweek. In The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Roberts explores the reality behind today’s financially-ascendant China and pulls the curtain back on how the Chinese manufacturing machine is actually powered. He focuses on two places: the village of Binghuacun in the province of Guizhou, one of China’s poorest regions that sends the highest proportion of its youth away to become migrants; and Dongguan, China’s most infamous factory town located in Guangdong, home to both the largest number of migrant workers and the country’s biggest manufacturing base. Within these two towns and the people that move between them, Roberts focuses on the story of the Mo family, former farmers-turned-migrant-workers who are struggling to make a living in a fast-changing country that relegates one-half of its people to second-class status via household registration, land tenure policies and inequality in education and health care systems. In The Myth of Chinese Capitalism, Dexter Roberts brings to life the problems that China and its people face today as they attempt to overcome a divisive system that poses a serious challenge to the country’s future development. In so doing, Roberts paints a boots-on-the-ground cautionary picture of China for a world now held in its financial thrall. Praise for The Myth of Chinese Capitalism “A gimlet-eyed look at an economic miracle that may not be so miraculous after all.” —Kirkus Reviews “A clearheaded and persuasive counter-narrative to the notion that the Chinese economic model is set to take over the world. Readers looking for an informed and nuanced perspective on modern China will find it here.” —Publishers Weekly “A sophisticated and readable take of China’s triumphs and crises. . . . A first-hand witness to China’s transformation over the past quarter century, Roberts credibly challenges the myth of China’s inevitable rise and global dominance.” —Ian Johnson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author and Beijing-based correspondent “A potent mix of personal stories and deft analysis, The Myth of Chinese Capitalism takes a hard look at China’s migrants and rural people.” —Mei Fong, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author of One Child: The Story of China’s Most RadicalExperiment |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism Shoshana Zuboff, 2019-01-15 The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called surveillance capitalism, and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior. The heady optimism of the Internet’s early days has turned dark. Surveillance capitalism has deepened inequality, sown societal chaos, and undermined democracy. The fight for a human future has never been more urgent. Shoshana Zuboff argues that we still have the power to decide what kind of world we want to live in: Will we allow surveillance capitalism to wrap us in its iron cage as it enriches the few and subjugates the many? Or will we demand the rights and laws that place this rogue power under the democratic rule of law? Only democracy can ensure that the vast new capabilities of the digital era are harnessed to the advancement of humanity. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a deeply original, exquisitely reasoned, and spell binding examination of our emerging information civilization and the life and death choices we face. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Start Something That Matters Blake Mycoskie, 2011-09-06 The incredible story of the man behind TOMS Shoes and One for One, the revolutionary business model that marries fun, profit, and social good. “A creative and open-hearted business model for our times.”—The Wall Street Journal Why this book is for you: • You’re ready to make a difference in the world—through your own start-up business, a nonprofit organization, or a new project that you create within your current job. • You want to love your work, work for what you love, and have a positive impact on the world—all at the same time. • You’re inspired by charity: water, method, and FEED Projects and want to learn how these organizations got their start. • You’re curious about how someone who never made a pair of shoes, attended fashion school, or worked in retail created one of the fastest-growing footwear companies in the world by giving shoes away. • You’re looking for a new model of success to share with your children, students, co-workers, and members of your community. You’re ready to start something that matters. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Capitalism from Below Victor Nee, Sonja Opper, 2012-06-19 Over 630 million Chinese escaped poverty since the 1980s, the largest decrease in poverty in history. Studying 700 manufacturing firms in the Yangzi region, the authors argue that the engine of China’s economic miracle—private enterprise—did not originate at the top but bubbled up from below, overcoming initial obstacles set up by the government. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Babysitting George Celia Walden, 2012-05-10 August, 2003. Celia Walden, a young reporter, receives an unusual phone call from her editor. She is to drop everything and fly to Malta in an attempt to track down a legendary footballer and keep him from the press. George Best, an alcoholic with his personal life in chaos, isn't, however, the easiest man to find. But the unlikely friendship that develops between George and Celia reveals an intelligent and complex human being. Babysitting George is a tender account of a unique relationship between a young woman and a dying star, which questions the exploitative nature of fame and tabloid journalism, the horrors of addiction and the humane, implausible friendships that can change one's life forever. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Writings on War Carl Schmitt, 2015-02-03 Writings on War collects three of Carl Schmitt's most important and controversial texts, here appearing in English for the first time: The Turn to the Discriminating Concept of War, The Großraum Order of International Law, and The International Crime of the War of Aggression and the Principle Nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege. Written between 1937 and 1945, these works articulate Schmitt's concerns throughout this period of war and crisis, addressing the major failings of the League of Nations, and presenting Schmitt's own conceptual history of these years of disaster for international jurisprudence. For Schmitt, the jurisprudence of Versailles and Nuremberg both fail to provide for a stable international system, insofar as they attempt to impose universal standards of 'humanity' on a heterogeneous world, and treat efforts to revise the status quo as 'criminal' acts of war. In place of these flawed systems, Schmitt argues for a new planetary order in which neither collective security organizations nor 19th century empires, but Schmittian 'Reichs' will be the leading subject of international law. Writings on War will be essential reading for those seeking to understand the work of Carl Schmitt, the history of international law and the international system, and interwar European history. Not only do these writings offer an erudite point of entry into the dynamic and charged world of interwar European jurisprudence; they also speak with prescience to a 21st century world struggling with similar issues of global governance and international law. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: 23 Things They Don't Tell You about Capitalism Ha-Joon Chang, 2011 One of the world's most respected economists and author of the international bestseller Bad Samaritans equips readers with an understanding of how global capitalism works--and doesn't. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Financial Crisis Howard Davies, 2014-02-25 There is still no consensus on who or what caused the financial crisis which engulfed the world, beginning in the summer of 2007. A huge number of suspects have been identified, from greedy investment bankers, through feckless borrowers, dilatory regulators and myopic central bankers to violent video games and high levels of testosterone among the denizens of trading floors. There is not even agreement on whether the crisis shows a need for more government intervention in markets, or less: some maintain that government encouragement of home ownership lay at the heart of the problem in the US, in particular. In The Financial Crisis Howard Davies charts a course through these arguments, and the evidence advanced for each of them. The reader can thereby assess the weight to be attached to each, and the likely effectiveness of the remedies under development. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: This Is All I Got Lauren Sandler, 2021-05-25 A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • From an award-winning journalist, a poignant and gripping immersion in the life of a young, homeless single mother amid her quest to find stability and shelter in the richest city in America LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD • “Riveting . . . a remarkable feat of reporting.”—The New York Times Camila is twenty-two years old and a new mother. She has no family to rely on, no partner, and no home. Despite her intelligence and determination, the odds are firmly stacked against her. In this extraordinary work of literary reportage, Lauren Sandler chronicles a year in Camila’s life—from the birth of her son to his first birthday—as she navigates the labyrinth of poverty and homelessness in New York City. In her attempts to secure a safe place to raise her son and find a measure of freedom in her life, Camila copes with dashed dreams, failed relationships, the desolation of abandonment, and miles of red tape with grit, humor, and uncanny resilience. Every day, more than forty-five million Americans attempt to survive below the poverty line. Every night, nearly sixty thousand people sleep in New York City-run shelters, 40 percent of them children. In This Is All I Got, Sandler brings this deeply personal issue to life, vividly depicting one woman's hope and despair and her steadfast determination to change her life despite the myriad setbacks she encounters. This Is All I Got is a rare feat of reporting and a dramatic story of survival. Sandler’s candid and revealing account also exposes the murky boundaries between a journalist and her subject when it becomes impossible to remain a dispassionate observer. She has written a powerful and unforgettable indictment of a system that is often indifferent to the needs of those it serves, and that sometimes seems designed to fail. Praise for This Is All I Got “A rich, sociologically valuable work that’s more gripping, and more devastating, than fiction.”—Booklist “Vivid, heartbreaking. . . . Readers will be moved by this harrowing and impassioned call for change.”—Publishers Weekly “A closely observed chronicle . . . Sandler displays her journalistic talent by unerringly presenting this dire situation. . . . An impressive blend of dispassionate reporting, pungent condemnation of public welfare, and gritty humanity.” —Kirkus Reviews |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Urban Warfare Raquel Rolnik, 2019-03-26 How finance and politics have caused the global housing crisis The most comprehensive survey of the current crisis, Urban Warfare charts how the financial crisis and wider urban politics have left millions homeless and in financial desperation across the world. The financialization of housing has become a global catastrophe, leaving millions desperate and homeless. Since the 2008 financial collapse, models of home ownership, originating in the US and UK, are being exported around the world. Using examples from across the globe, Rolnik shows how our cities have been sold to construction companies and banks, while supported by government-facilitated schemes, such as “the right to buy” subsidies and micro-financing. Our homes and neighbourhoods have become the “last subprime frontiers of capitalism,” organised by those who benefit the most. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Marx's Concept of the Alternative to Capitalism Peter Hudis, 2012-07-25 In contrast to the traditional view that Marx's work is restricted to a critique of capitalism and does not contain a detailed or coherent conception of its alternative, this book shows, through an analysis of his published and unpublished writings, that Marx was committed to a specific concept of a post-capitalist society that informed his critique of value production, alienated labor and capitalist accumulation. Instead of focusing on the present with only a passing reference to the future, Marx's emphasis on capitalism's tendency towards dissolution is rooted in a specific conception of what should replace it. In critically re-examining that conception, this book addresses the quest for an alternative to capitalism that has taken on increased importance today. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Historical Capitalism Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein, 1983 Analyzes the workings of the system of capitalism and examines the impact of capitalism on economic, social and political conditions. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Achilles Heel of Democracy Rachel E. Bowen, 2017-06-26 Machine generated contents note: 1. Societally penetrated judiciaries and the democratic rule of law; 2. The evolution of judicial regimes; 3. Costa Rica: a liberal judicial regime; 4. Government control regimes in Central America versus the rule of law; 5. Clandestine control in Guatemala; 6. Partisan systems; Conclusion |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Blowing the Roof Off the Twenty-First Century Robert W. McChesney, 2014-10-22 In the United States and much of the world there is a palpable depression about the prospect of overcoming the downward spiral created by the tyranny of wealth and privilege and establishing a truly democratic and sustainable society. It threatens to become self-fulfilling. In this trailblazing new book, award-winning author Robert W. McChesney argues that the weight of the present is blinding people to the changing nature and the tremendous possibilities of the historical moment we inhabit. In Blowing the Roof off the Twenty-First Century, he uses a sophisticated political economic analysis to delineate the recent trajectory of capitalism and its ongoing degeneration. In exciting new research McChesney reveals how notions of democratic media are becoming central to activists around the world seeking to establish post-capitalist democracies. Blowing the Roof off the Twenty-First Century also takes a fresh look at recent progressive political campaigns in the United States. While conveying complex ideas in a lively and accessible manner, McChesney demonstrates a very different and far superior world is not only necessary, but possible. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The End of Alchemy: Money, Banking, and the Future of the Global Economy Mervyn King, 2016-03-21 “Mervyn King may well have written the most important book to come out of the financial crisis. Agree or disagree, King’s visionary ideas deserve the attention of everyone from economics students to heads of state.” —Lawrence H. Summers Something is wrong with our banking system. We all sense that, but Mervyn King knows it firsthand; his ten years at the helm of the Bank of England, including at the height of the financial crisis, revealed profound truths about the mechanisms of our capitalist society. In The End of Alchemy he offers us an essential work about the history and future of money and banking, the keys to modern finance. The Industrial Revolution built the foundation of our modern capitalist age. Yet the flowering of technological innovations during that dynamic period relied on the widespread adoption of two much older ideas: the creation of paper money and the invention of banks that issued credit. We take these systems for granted today, yet at their core both ideas were revolutionary and almost magical. Common paper became as precious as gold, and risky long-term loans were transformed into safe short-term bank deposits. As King argues, this is financial alchemy—the creation of extraordinary financial powers that defy reality and common sense. Faith in these powers has led to huge benefits; the liquidity they create has fueled economic growth for two centuries now. However, they have also produced an unending string of economic disasters, from hyperinflations to banking collapses to the recent global recession and current stagnation. How do we reconcile the potent strengths of these ideas with their inherent weaknesses? King draws on his unique experience to present fresh interpretations of these economic forces and to point the way forward for the global economy. His bold solutions cut through current overstuffed and needlessly complex legislation to provide a clear path to durable prosperity and the end of overreliance on the alchemy of our financial ancestors. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Prize Daniel Yergin, 2012-09-11 The Prize recounts the panoramic history of oil -- and the struggle for wealth power that has always surrounded oil. This struggle has shaken the world economy, dictated the outcome of wars, and transformed the destiny of men and nations. The Prize is as much a history of the twentieth century as of the oil industry itself. The canvas of this history is enormous -- from the drilling of the first well in Pennsylvania through two great world wars to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm. The cast extends from wildcatters and rogues to oil tycoons, and from Winston Churchill and Ibn Saud to George Bush and Saddam Hussein. The definitive work on the subject of oil and a major contribution to understanding our century, The Prize is a book of extraordinary breadth, riveting excitement -- and great importance. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Russia: From Revolution To Counter-Revolution Ted Grant, |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Getting Past Capitalism Cynthia Kaufman, 2012-08-25 Getting Past Capitalism begins with a critique of the impacts of capitalism on human society and the environment. It looks in new ways at what capitalism is and at how it is reproduced. That investigation opens the door to fresh ways of looking at how to challenge it. Cynthia Kaufman looks at some fundamental questions about how capitalism comes to look like a system that is unbeatable, and how people come to have desires that work to reinforce capitalism. Kaufman uses this analysis to develop ideas about how to challenge capitalism. She argues that rather than looking for the fulcrum point in a system that will make it able to be overthrown, we should try to understand what kinds of practices open more spaces for stopping the reproduction of capitalist processes, and what kinds of structures need to be developed to make capitalism a less important part of our world. Getting Past Capitalism includes a critique of capitalism and presentation of alternatives to capitalism, many of which already exist. It explores strategies for developing and strengthening those alternatives. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Introduction to Electronics (with CD) Gates, 1949 |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Capitalism, Hegemony and Violence in the Age of Drones Norman Pollack, 2017-12-12 This book offers a critical analysis of the rise of the US to global hegemony against a background of increased erosion of democracy and rule of law, and a rising linear pattern of near-absolute capitalist development. The author argues that the significant shrinkage of the ideological spectrum globally, as a result of worrisome levels of business and government interpenetration, has created a dangerous 'prefascist configuration' whereby unthinkable levels of violence have been normalized through the use of technologies such as drones, increasingly condoned even by 'liberal' groups and the so-called political left. Using the example of the Obama administration and its increased reliance on drone assassinations, the volume makes a case for the dangers that lie in today's unique convergence of lack of transparency in government, business-government interpenetration, informal social regimentation, and militarization of capitalism. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Challenge of Global Capitalism Robert Gilpin, 2002 Arguing that global markets must rest on secure political institutions, the author examines the global economy and the forces that shape it and hinder it in the world. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Postcapitalism Paul Mason, 2016-02-09 “A fascinating set of ideas . . . Politicians of all stripes should take note. And so should the people who vote for them.” —Financial Times We know that our world is undergoing seismic change—but how can we emerge from the crisis as a better society? Over the past two centuries or so, capitalism has undergone profound changes—economic cycles that veer from boom to bust—from which it has always emerged transformed and strengthened. Surveying this turbulent history, Paul Mason’s Postcapitalism argues that we are on the brink of a change so big and so profound that this time capitalism itself, the immensely complex system within which entire societies function, will mutate into something wholly new. At the heart of this change is information technology, a revolution that is driven by capitalism but, with its tendency to push the value of much of what we make toward zero, has the potential to destroy an economy based on markets, wages, and private ownership. Almost unnoticed, in the niches and hollows of the market system, swaths of economic life are beginning to move to a different rhythm. Vast numbers of people are changing how they behave and live, in ways contrary to the current system of state-backed corporate capitalism. And as the terrain changes, new paths open. In this bold and prophetic book, Mason shows how, from the ashes of the crisis, we have the chance to create a more just and sustainable economy. Although the dangers ahead are profound, he argues that there is cause for hope. This is the first time in human history in which, equipped with an understanding of what is happening around us, we can predict and shape the future. “Absorbing and provocative.” —Publishers Weekly “An original, engaging, and bracingly articulated vision of real alternatives. It is sure to spark many vigorous debates, and they are precisely the ones we should be having.” —Naomi Klein, New York Times–bestselling author of Doppelganger |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Capitalism 4.0 Anatole Kaletsky, 2010-07 In early 2009, many economists, financiers, and media pundits were confidently predicting the end of the American-led capitalism that has shaped history and economics for the past 100 years. Yet the U.S. economic model, far from being discredited, may be strengthened by the financial crisis. In this provocative book, Anatole Kaletsky re-interprets the financial crisis as part of an evolutionary process inherent to the nature of democratic capitalism. Capitalism, he argues, is resilient. Its first form, Capitalism 1.0, was the classical laissez-faire capitalism that lasted from 1776 until 1930. Next was Capitalism 2.0, New Deal Keynesian social capitalism created in the 1930s and extinguished in the 1970s. Its last mutation, Reagan-Thatcher market fundamentalism, culminated in the financially-dominated globalization of the past decade and triggered the recession of 2009-10. The self-destruction of Capitalism 3.0 leaves the field open for the next phase of capitalisms evolution. Capitalism is likely to transform in the coming decades into something different both from the totally deregulated market fundamentalism of Reagan/Thatcher and from the Roosevelt-Kennedy era. This is Capitalism 4.0. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Einstein Walter Isaacson, 2008-09-04 NOW A MAJOR SERIES 'GENIUS' ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, PRODUCED BY RON HOWARD AND STARRING GEOFFREY RUSH Einstein is the great icon of our age: the kindly refugee from oppression whose wild halo of hair, twinkling eyes, engaging humanity and extraordinary brilliance made his face a symbol and his name a synonym for genius. He was a rebel and nonconformist from boyhood days. His character, creativity and imagination were related, and they drove both his life and his science. In this marvellously clear and accessible narrative, Walter Isaacson explains how his mind worked and the mysteries of the universe that he discovered. Einstein's success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marvelling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a worldview based on respect for free spirits and free individuals. All of which helped make Einstein into a rebel but with a reverence for the harmony of nature, one with just the right blend of imagination and wisdom to transform our understanding of the universe. This new biography, the first since all of Einstein's papers have become available, is the fullest picture yet of one of the key figures of the twentieth century. This is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available -- a fully realised portrait of this extraordinary human being, and great genius. Praise for EINSTEIN by Walter Isaacson:- 'YOU REALLY MUST READ THIS.' Sunday Times 'As pithy as Einstein himself.’ New Scientist ‘[A] brilliant biography, rich with newly available archival material.’ Literary Review ‘Beautifully written, it renders the physics understandable.’ Sunday Telegraph ‘Isaacson is excellent at explaining the science. ' Daily Express |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Rescuing Socrates Roosevelt Montás, 2021-11-16 A Dominican-born academic tells the story of how the Great Books transformed his life—and why they have the power to speak to people of all backgrounds What is the value of a liberal education? Traditionally characterized by a rigorous engagement with the classics of Western thought and literature, this approach to education is all but extinct in American universities, replaced by flexible distribution requirements and ever-narrower academic specialization. Many academics attack the very idea of a Western canon as chauvinistic, while the general public increasingly doubts the value of the humanities. In Rescuing Socrates, Dominican-born American academic Roosevelt Montás tells the story of how a liberal education transformed his life, and offers an intimate account of the relevance of the Great Books today, especially to members of historically marginalized communities. Montás emigrated from the Dominican Republic to Queens, New York, when he was twelve and encountered the Western classics as an undergraduate in Columbia University’s renowned Core Curriculum, one of America’s last remaining Great Books programs. The experience changed his life and determined his career—he went on to earn a PhD in English and comparative literature, serve as director of Columbia’s Center for the Core Curriculum, and start a Great Books program for low-income high school students who aspire to be the first in their families to attend college. Weaving together memoir and literary reflection, Rescuing Socrates describes how four authors—Plato, Augustine, Freud, and Gandhi—had a profound impact on Montás’s life. In doing so, the book drives home what it’s like to experience a liberal education—and why it can still remake lives. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Varieties of Capitalism in Post-Communist Countries D. Lane, M. Myant, 2016-01-23 This book sets the experiences of former communist countries as they head towards capitalism against the 'varieties of capitalism' paradigm, and provides a framework for comparing transformation processes, demonstrating how differing heritages of communist and pre-communist pasts are leading to different kinds of capitalist economies. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: David Harvey Noel Castree, Derek Gregory, 2006-03-10 This book critically interrogates the work of David Harvey, one of the world's most influential geographers, and one of its best known Marxists. Considers the entire range of Harvey's oeuvre, from the nature of urbanism to environmental issues. Written by contributors from across the human sciences, operating with a range of critical theories. Focuses on key themes in Harvey's work. Contains a consolidated bibliography of Harvey's writings. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: New York Graphics Arts Books, 2006 Take a whirlwind tour through the city that never sleeps with NEW YORK: PORTRAIT OF A CITY. Dazzling full-color photography transports you through the five historic boroughs of the Big Apple. Climb to the top of the Empire State Building, relax in the lush greenery of Central Park, enjoy a world-famous hot dog at Coney Island, and then spend the evening among the bright lights of Times Square. From the celebrated Bronx Zoo to glamorous Radio City Music Hall to the warm beaches of Staten Island, NEW YORK will take your breath away. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Endless Crisis John Bellamy Foster, Robert W. McChesney, 2017-05-01 The days of boom and bubble are over, and the time has come to understand the long-term economic reality. Although the Great Recession officially ended in June 2009, hopes for a new phase of rapid economic expansion were quickly dashed. Instead, growth has been slow, unemployment has remained high, wages and benefits have seen little improvement, poverty has increased, and the trend toward more inequality of incomes and wealth has continued. It appears that the Great Recession has given way to a period of long-term anemic growth, which Foster and McChesney aptly term the Great Stagnation. This incisive and timely book traces the origins of economic stagnation and explains what it means for a clear understanding of our current situation. The authors point out that increasing monopolization of the economy—when a handful of large firms dominate one or several industries—leads to an over-abundance of capital and too few profitable investment opportunities, with economic stagnation as the result. Absent powerful stimuli to investment, such as historic innovations like the automobile or major government spending, modern capitalist economies have become increasingly dependent on the financial sector to realize profits. And while financialization may have provided a temporary respite from stagnation, it is a solution that cannot last indefinitely, as instability in financial markets over the last half-decade has made clear. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: How to Blow Up a Pipeline Andreas Malm, 2021-01-05 Property will cost us the earth The science on climate change has been clear for a very long time now. Yet despite decades of appeals, mass street protests, petition campaigns, and peaceful demonstrations, we are still facing a booming fossil fuel industry, rising seas, rising emission levels, and a rising temperature. With the stakes so high, why haven't we moved beyond peaceful protest? In this lyrical manifesto, noted climate scholar (and saboteur of SUV tires and coal mines) Andreas Malm makes an impassioned call for the climate movement to escalate its tactics in the face of ecological collapse. We need, he argues, to force fossil fuel extraction to stop--with our actions, with our bodies, and by defusing and destroying its tools. We need, in short, to start blowing up some oil pipelines. Offering a counter-history of how mass popular change has occurred, from the democratic revolutions overthrowing dictators to the movement against apartheid and for women's suffrage, Malm argues that the strategic acceptance of property destruction and violence has been the only route for revolutionary change. In a braided narrative that moves from the forests of Germany and the streets of London to the deserts of Iraq, Malm offers us an incisive discussion of the politics and ethics of pacifism and violence, democracy and social change, strategy and tactics, and a movement compelled by both the heart and the mind. Here is how we fight in a world on fire. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: Politics and the English Language George Orwell, 2025 In Politics and the English Language, George Orwell dissects the decay of language and its insidious link to political manipulation. With sharp analysis and clear examples, he exposes how vague, pretentious, and misleading language is used to obscure truth and control thought. More than a critique, this essay is a call to clarity, urging writers to resist jargon and dishonesty in favor of precision and honesty. A timeless and essential read, Orwell’s insights remain as relevant today as when they were first written. GEORGE ORWELL was born in India in 1903 and passed away in London in 1950. As a journalist, critic, and author, he was a sharp commentator on his era and its political conditions and consequences. |
| capitalism's achilles heel: The Rise and Fall of Neoliberal Rentier Capitalism Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira, 2025-03-06 The Rise and Fall of Neoliberal Rentier Capitalism is an account of the political economy of capitalism in the 20th and 21st centuries. Capitalism is an unjust form of economic organisation; it is a culture of exacerbated individualism justified by the glorification of individual competition. Today, after 40 years of neoliberalism, capitalism faces again a legitimation crisis. The book discusses capitalism after two revolutions - the Organisational Revolution and the Democratic Revolution. It views capitalism since the New Deal in the US and the post-war as a progressive and developmental era and the Neoliberal Turn as the change from social democracy to radical and regressive global neoliberalism, which was a regressive time for almost forty years. In the Neoliberal Years, rentiers replaced entrepreneurs in the command of the economy and called on the financiers to manage their wealth and serve as organic intellectuals, and both mounted an attack to the state, which is the main capitalist institution. The global crisis and, in 2020, the Covid pandemic showed that the state remains the nations' resource of last instance. The transition of China from statism to an active developmentalism resulted in an extraordinary growth. Given such realities, in 2021 we saw the collapse of neoliberalism, and in the United States, a Developmental Turn - the state is back in the economy. The transition phase we live in is characterised by three main forces - economic liberalism, managerialism, and democracy. Economic liberalism is the great defeated, managerialism became powerful and is developmental, and democracy is the stronger force. It was attacked by neoliberalism and is now being attacked by right-wing populism, but resisted and resists brilliantly, proving that it was a conquest of the popular classes that became a universal value counting on the support of all social classes. |
Capitalism - Research and data from Pew Research Center
May 3, 2017 · Add faith in the work ethic and in capitalism to the lengthening list of casualties from the Great Recession. Four years after the Lehman Brothers’ fiasco and the ensuing …
Americans’ Views of ‘Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’ In Their Own …
Oct 7, 2019 · To find out, we asked people to describe – in their own words – why they had positive or negative impressions of socialism and capitalism. Some who view socialism …
How Republicans, Democrats view socialism and capitalism | Pew …
Jun 25, 2019 · Among older age groups, views of capitalism are more positive than opinions of socialism. Women are more likely than men to view socialism positively (46% vs. 38%), while …
Modest Declines in Positive Views of ‘Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’ in …
Sep 19, 2022 · Americans see capitalism as giving people more opportunity and more freedom than socialism, while they see socialism as more likely to meet people’s basic needs, though …
Little Change in Public’s Response to ’Capitalism,’ ’Socialism’
Dec 28, 2011 · ‘Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’ The term capitalism elicits more positive (50%) than negative (40%) reactions from the American public, but not by much. And while Americans of …
Black Americans view capitalism more negatively than positively …
Mar 8, 2023 · Views of capitalism also grew more negative among other racial and ethnic groups during this period, but the movement was particularly pronounced among Black Americans. In …
China’s government may be communist, but its people embrace …
Oct 10, 2014 · While China’s government may be officially communist, the Chinese people express widespread support for capitalism. Roughly three-quarters of the Chinese (76%) …
Confidence in Democracy and Capitalism Wanes in Former Soviet …
Dec 5, 2011 · Just as views about democracy have soured over the past two decades, so have attitudes toward capitalism. In 1991, 76% of Lithuanians approved of switching to a market …
“Socialism” Not So Negative, “Capitalism” Not So Positive
May 4, 2010 · “capitalism” (43% each), while about half react negatively to each. Among older age groups, majorities view “socialism” negatively and “capitalism” positively. People 65 and …
Socialism - Research and data from Pew Research Center
Jan 10, 2012 · Americans see capitalism as giving people more opportunity and more freedom than socialism, while they see socialism as more likely to meet people’s basic needs, though …
Capitalism - Research and data from Pew Research Center
May 3, 2017 · Add faith in the work ethic and in capitalism to the lengthening list of casualties from the Great Recession. Four years after the Lehman Brothers’ fiasco and the ensuing global …
Americans’ Views of ‘Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’ In Their Own …
Oct 7, 2019 · To find out, we asked people to describe – in their own words – why they had positive or negative impressions of socialism and capitalism. Some who view socialism …
How Republicans, Democrats view socialism and capitalism | Pew …
Jun 25, 2019 · Among older age groups, views of capitalism are more positive than opinions of socialism. Women are more likely than men to view socialism positively (46% vs. 38%), while a …
Modest Declines in Positive Views of ‘Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’ in …
Sep 19, 2022 · Americans see capitalism as giving people more opportunity and more freedom than socialism, while they see socialism as more likely to meet people’s basic needs, though …
Little Change in Public’s Response to ’Capitalism,’ ’Socialism’
Dec 28, 2011 · ‘Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’ The term capitalism elicits more positive (50%) than negative (40%) reactions from the American public, but not by much. And while Americans of …
Black Americans view capitalism more negatively than positively …
Mar 8, 2023 · Views of capitalism also grew more negative among other racial and ethnic groups during this period, but the movement was particularly pronounced among Black Americans. In …
China’s government may be communist, but its people embrace …
Oct 10, 2014 · While China’s government may be officially communist, the Chinese people express widespread support for capitalism. Roughly three-quarters of the Chinese (76%) agree …
Confidence in Democracy and Capitalism Wanes in Former Soviet …
Dec 5, 2011 · Just as views about democracy have soured over the past two decades, so have attitudes toward capitalism. In 1991, 76% of Lithuanians approved of switching to a market …
“Socialism” Not So Negative, “Capitalism” Not So Positive
May 4, 2010 · “capitalism” (43% each), while about half react negatively to each. Among older age groups, majorities view “socialism” negatively and “capitalism” positively. People 65 and older …
Socialism - Research and data from Pew Research Center
Jan 10, 2012 · Americans see capitalism as giving people more opportunity and more freedom than socialism, while they see socialism as more likely to meet people’s basic needs, though …
