Capitalism / Paul Bowles.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bowles, Paul.

Series:

Seminar studies in history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capitalism.

Capitalism--History.

History.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 160 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Harlow : Pearson, 2012.

Summary:

Capitalism stands unrivalled as the most enduring economic system of our-times. Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc the world has become a new stage for capitalism, and yet despite this dominance, it is still not widely understood. It remains a subject of enduring interest that is discovered and rediscovered over time by each successive generation of students.

Exploring the life of this world-shaping system and the writings of leading thinkers, this study also now takes into account recent developments, including the impact of the global financial crisis and the complexities of China's political economy. Paul Bowles addresses these key questions:

What are the central unchanging features of capitalism?

How does capitalism vary from place to place and over time?

Does capitalism improve our lives?

Is capitalism a system which is natural and free? Or is it unjust and unstable?

What about today's global capitalism?

Will capitalism destroy or liberate us?

This updated edition of a classic text is now supported by a comprehensive documents section, chronology and who's who, as well as a new colour plate section. It offers a concise, lucid and thought-provoking introduction for undergraduate students or anyone with an interest in this most pervasive, long lasting and adaptable yet crisis-ridden of economic systems. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 Analysis and Assessment 1

1 How to Think About Capitalism 3

Introduction 3

Outline of the book 6

The capitalist system: a simple definition and some not-so-simple issues arising from it 8

Identifying changes in the capitalist system over time 12

2 Capitalism as a System: 'Natural' and 'Free' 17

Introduction 17

Adam Smith: markets are natural for humans...but not for dogs 18

Milton Friedman on markets, freedom and Alka Seltzer 20

More from Adam Smith: markets feed us because of self-interest 21

Is private property 'natural' as well? 23

The State as impartial rule enforcer 24

Some states are better rule enforcers than others - and so sometimes capitalism fails 25

Capitalism is also the most economically productive system 25

Capitalism - the most economically productive system and therefore the 'end of history' 27

Does capitalism lead to democracy? 30

Capitalism as equal and just 34

Capitalism as a friend of the environment 35

3 Capitalism as a System: 'Unjust and 'Unstable' 38

Introduction 38

Unjust and unstable: Keynes and reformist critics 38

Unjust and unstable: Marx and radical critics 42

The importance of labour - or why workers are alienated but apes aren't 45

Capitalism's contradiction: poverty amidst plenty 47

Capitalism and crises 49

Capitalism as anti-Nature 49

Capitalism and gender inequality 51

The capitalist state: to be captured or replaced? 54

The capitalist state and education: enforcing the rules of American football or those of the treadmill? 57

4 Empire and Crises 1870-1945 59

Capitalism unfolds 59

The curse of capitalism: late nineteenth-century crises 60

Overseas expansion as the response to crises 60

The curse of capitalism: The Great Depression of the 1930s 65

The human cost: riding the rails, searching for work and the crime of vagrancy 66

National responses to the Depression: Swedish social democracy, the 'New Deal' in the US and the spread of fascism in Europe 67

5 Post-1945 Capitalism: Variations Across Countries 71

National capitalisms 71

How capitalisms differ: state-capital-labour relations 73

The Anglo-American model: decentralized wage bargaining and stock markets 75

The northern European or corporatist model: consensus decision-making and a large welfare state 76

Japanese (or East Asian) developmental capitalism: guiding the market and controlling labour 77

National varieties of capitalism as rivals 79

Varieties of capitalism: a matter of choice or history? 80

Varieties of capitalism: Asia, China, Russia and Latin America 82

6 Post-1945 Capitalism: Variations Over Time 86

Introduction 86

1945-70: the 'golden age'... hot economies, warm capital-labour relations, and the Cold War 87

The 'golden age' in the South: postcolonial capitalist states seek modernity and industrialization 90

The 1970s: oil shocks the system...and Keynesian policy responses 92

A new international division of labour: the lure of cheap labour in the South 93

The 1980s and 1990s: the rise of neoliberalism...capital strikes back 93

Neoliberalism in the South: open those doors, be 'market friendly'! 100

Global turbulence: financial crises in the 1990s 102

'Crony capitalism' blamed for the Asian crises 103

Lessons not learned: The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 104

7 Global Capitalism 106

All the world's a stage... 106

Are nation states still important actors? 108

I The 'globalization weakness the nation state' view 108

II The 'globaloney' or 'states are still powerful' view 114

III The 'some states are still powerful' or 'new imperialism' view 115

IV The 'regionalism is more important' view 117

As the curtain falls: what drama is unfolding on the capitalist world stage? 119

Part 2 Documents 121

1 Adam Smith and the invisible hand 122

2 Friedman on economic freedom and political freedom 122

3 Marx and Engels on capitalism and class conflict 126

4 Capitalism and class conflict in China today 128

5 Keynes on Casino capitalism 131

6 The formation of the Bretton Woods institutions 135

7 The Washington Concensus 137

8 Wolf's cry for more globalization not less 138

9 World Social Forum Charter of Principles 139.

Notes:

Originally published: Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2006.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781408269220

1408269228

OCLC:

794272828