Capitalism and its economics : a critical history / Douglas Dowd.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dowd, Douglas F. (Douglas Fitzgerald), 1919-2017.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capitalism--History.

Capitalism.

History.

Economics--History.

Economics.

Physical Description:

xv, 324 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

New edition.

Place of Publication:

London ; Ann Arbor : Pluto, 2004.

Summary:

This classic book is an ideal introduction to economic thought and the dominance of capitalism, ideal for students of economic theory and history. Now thoroughly revised and updated, this new edition includes a new preface and an additional chapter by the author. Analysing the relationship between economic thought and capitalism from 1750 to the present, Douglas Dowd examines the dynamic interaction of two processes: the historical realities of capitalism and the evolution of economic theory. He demonstrates that the study of economics celebrates capitalism in ways that make it necessary to classify economic science as pure ideology. A thoroughly modern history, this book shows how economics has become ideology. A radical critic of capitalism, Dowd surveys its detrimental impact across the globe and throughout history. The book includes biographical sketches and brief analyses of the major proponents and critics of capitalism throughout history, including Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, Thorstein Veblen, Rosa Luxemburg, John Maynard Keynes, Paul Samuelson, Milton Friedman, and Eric Hobsbawm.

Contents:

What Has Capitalism Done For Us? To Us? 1

The Dynamics of Capitalist Development 3

Capitalism's nature and nurture 4

The heart of the matter: expansion and exploitation 5

Oligarchic rule? 6

What exploitation? 8

"Trade and the flag": Which follows which? 9

The Sociology of Economic Theory 12

"The economy" 13

Objectivity and neutrality 13

What should economists be expected to do? 15

Part I 1750-1945

1 Birth: The Industrial Revolution and Classical Political Economy, 1750-1850

The Start of Something Big 19

Why Britain took the lead 19

Commodification as revolution 20

The State: Now You See It, Now You Don't 21

Emperor Cotton 23

Hell on earth 24

Industrialism in the Saddle 25

The Brains Trust 28

Adam Smith 28

"Invisible hand" or "invisible fist"? 30

David Ricardo 31

The gospel of free trade 32

Abstract theory versus earthy realities 33

Jean-Baptiste Say 34

Depression is impossible 34

Thomas Robert Malthus 35

Jeremy Bentham 38

John Stuart Mill 40

And Karl Marx 42

2 Maturation: Global Capitalism and Neoclassical Economics, 1850-1914

And British Industry Shall Rule the World: For a While 45

Politics, the accumulation of capital, and the industrial revolution 46

The Second Industrial Revolution 48

Industrialization at the gallop 49

The Pandora's box of imperialism 49

The United States 51

The importance of being lucky 53

Big, bigger, biggest 54

Germany 57

Prussian political economy 58

German science and technology 59

The nation with two faces 60

A Digression on the Casting of Stones 62

Japan 64

Arise, Ye Prisoners of Starvation! 69

"Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize" 70

Socialist movements in Europe 72

And the United States? 72

Japan and Germany (again) 74

A Place in the Sun 76

The rat race begins 77

... And speeds up 78

... Then explodes 79

Economists in Wonderland 81

"Let us now assume..." 81

Recipes for absurdities 83

Counter-attack: Karl Marx 86

The social process 86

The dynamics of nineteenth-century capitalist development 87

And Thorstein Veblen 90

Human beings versus the system 91

3 Death Throes: Chaos, War, Depression, War Again; Economics in Disarray, 1914-45

The War to End All Wars - But That Didn't 94

Messy world, neat economics 95

As You Sow, So Shall You Reap 96

War's unwholesome economic fruits 97

The United States 97

Germany 98

Japan 98

The Soviet Union 99

The premature revolution 100

Forced industrialization 101

Fascist Italy 103

The first working class? 103

Antonio Gramsci 105

The future casts its shadow 106

The Big One 108

The bitter with the better 109

The bumpy road down 110

Global contagion 112

A tragedy of errors 113

New brooms don't always sweep clean 114

New Deal 115

Better late than never 116

Unions 117

Housing 117

Social security 117

Nazi Germany 118

Through a glass darkly 119

Waste Land 122

Apocalypse now 122

Economics: Almost Out With the Old, Almost In With the New 124

The old stamping grounds 124

John Bates Clark 126

Irving Fisher 126

Joan Robinson I 126

Turning the earth 127

John Maynard Keynes 127

Alvin Hansen 132

Joan Robinson II 133

Joseph A. Schumpeter 135

Part II 1945-2000

4 Resurrection: Global Economy II and its Crisis; Hopeful Stirrings in Economics: 1945-75

The Best of Times - For Some, For a While 141

The Big Six 142

Behemoth Capitalism Unbound 143

From the Ashes Arising... 144

Rescue 146

Rebuilding 146

Modernization...and the Cold War 147

"Cry Havoc! And let slip the dogs of war" 149

"Excessive vigilance in the defense of freedom is no crime" 150

BIG Business 151

The giants feed 152

As a matter of fact 152

Superstates 154

All Together Now: Shop! And Borrow! 156

The consciousness industry 156

Consumerism as a social disease 158

The family and politics 158

Stagflation: The Monster with Two Heads 159

Toward the new world order 161

Economics on a Seesaw 162

Post-Keynesian economics 162

Radical political economy 164

Up with the old 165

5 New World Order: Globalization and Financialization; and Decadent Economics, 1975-2000

Introduction and Retrospect 167

Monopoly Capitalism II 168

Giants Roaming the Earth 170

The waltz of the toreadors 172

TNCs of the world, unite! 172

Media/telecommunications 174

Petroleum 175

"The new economy" - Who benefits, and who pays? 174

Wall Street 175

Wages and hours 175

Lean and mean 176

Fat and mean 178

The Superstate's New Masters 180

The World as Capital's Oyster 182

The Triumph of Spectronic Finance 183

The little old lady of Threadneedle Street and her offspring 186

"Is the United States Building a Debt Bomb?" 188

The addicted consumer 190

And so? 191

The Media: Amusing Ourselves to Death 192

For Shame! 195

6 The Unfolding Crisis of the Twenty-first Century

Global Economies: Easy Come, Easy Go 201

There Is No Failure Like Success 204

Altogether Now: Quarrel! 210

Introduction: Economic Growth as Icon 213

The Case for Growth 214

The Tossicodipendente Global Economy 215

The theater of the absurd and the obscene 216

Honk, if you need a gas mask 217

Global Economy III: Today, the World 218

Democracy: the challenge met 218

Orwell revisited 220

The political economy of corruption 221

From Bad to Worse 222

Hong Kong 222

Singapore 222

South Korea 223

Taiwan 223

The eleventh commandment: export! 224

Needs and Possibilities and New Directions 225

Politics and understanding 226

Structural changes 227.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0745322808

0745322794

OCLC:

56540682