The essays comprising this collection analyze the deep flaws in the methodological foundation of mainstream economic theory, and explain how these flaws make mainstream economics more ideology than sound social science. James Crotty develops alternative theories built on realistic assumptions that can explain most of the disastrous economic and financial developments of the past four decades. His work contributes to the collective creation of a solid theoretical foundation on which to build an understanding of the ‘laws of motion’ of capitalism in the post WWII era.
Addresses the revolution in macroeconomic policy of the last quarter of the 20th century and the movement away from concerns with employment and growth in favor of financial variables such as inflation and exchange rates. Argues that this financial reaction in macroeconomic policy is the result of a shift in political power in favor of financial interests and away from labor and manufacturing, and that it results in a high rate of return but poor economic performance. Paper edition (745-7) $20.00. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
'The rise to dominance of finance in the past three decades has had many profound effects on economic performance. In this book Eckhard Hein provides us with detailed, well-grounded and highly insightful analyses of the macroeconomic impacts on investment, employment, global imbalances, income distribution and much more. This is "must read" for those wanting to comprehend the macroeconomics of the era of financialization, and for those seeking macro-economic policies to address the financial crisis and bring economic prosperity.' – Malcolm Sawyer, University of Leeds, UK 'Eckhard Hein examines the causes and consequences of financialisation. His book is economics as it should always be: it combines reflections, data gathering, empirical analysis, theoretical formalization, and policy recommendations. Hein goes beyond the exuberant behaviour of the banking industry to analyse the global financial crisis and the eurozone crisis, showing, through various variants of a Kaleckian growth model, the macroeconomic consequences of the rising dominance of finance over modern capitalism during the last three decades.' – Marc Lavoie, University of Ottawa, Canada In this timely and thought-provoking book, Eckhard Hein illustrates that the Great Recession, which hit the world economy in 2008/09, is rooted in the contradictions of finance-dominated capitalism. the author provides an in-depth exploration of the macroeconomics of finance-dominated capitalism, its problems and its crisis, and presents economic policy lessons and alternatives. In particular, he shows that since the early 1980s, finance-dominated capitalism has affected long-run economic developments via three distinct channels: • the re-distribution of income at the expense of low labour incomes, • the dampening of investment in real capital stock, • and an increasing potential for wealth-based and debt-financed consumption. the author concludes that against the background of these basic macroeconomic tendencies, increasing instability potentials at the national economy levels and rising current account imbalances at both global and European levels have developed and have contributed to the severity of the Great Recession. This systematic study of finance-dominated capitalism presented from a macroeconomic perspective will prove a thought-provoking read for academics, researchers, graduate students and economic policy consultants with an interest in macroeconomics, financial economics, economic policies, and distribution and growth.
A lively, accessible, and timely guide to Marxist economics for those who want to understand and dismantle the world of the 1%. Economists regularly promote Capitalism as the greatest system ever to grace the planet. With the same breath, they implore us to leave the job of understanding the magical powers of the market to the “experts.” Despite the efforts of these mainstream commentators to convince us otherwise, many of us have begun to question why this system has produced such vast inequality and wanton disregard for its own environmental destruction. This book offers answers to exactly these questions on their own terms: in the form of a radical economic theory. “Thier’s urgently needed book strips away jargon to make Marx’s essential work accessible to today’s diverse mass movements.” —Sarah Leonard, contributing editor to The Nation “A great book for proletarian chain-breaking.” —Rob Larson, author of Bit Tyrants: The Political Economy of Silicon Valley “Thier unpacks the mystery of capitalist inequality with lucid and accessible prose . . . . We will need books like A People’s Guide to help us make sense of the root causes of the financial crises that shape so many of our struggles today.” —Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership “Ranging from exploitation at work to the operations of modern finance, this book takes the reader through a fine-tuned introduction to Marx’s analysis of the modern economy . . . . Thier combines theoretical explanation with contemporary examples to illuminate the inner workings of capitalism . . . . Reminds us of the urgent need for alternatives to a crisis-ridden system.” —David McNally, author of Blood and Money
The author offers an intensely insightful discourse on the crisis of capitalist economy desperately struggling to find an escape route in the maze of neo-imperialism and globalization.
In Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism is the Solution and Not the Problem, Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute Jay W. Richards and bestselling author of Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom Before It's Too Late and Infiltrated: How to Stop the Insiders and Activists Who Are Exploiting the Financial Crisis to Control Our Lives and Our Fortunes, defends capitalism within the context of the Christian faith, revealing how entrepreneurial enterprise, based on hard work, honesty, and trust, actually fosters creativity and growth. In doing so, Money, Greed, and God exposes eight myths about capitalism, and demonstrates that a good Christian can be a good capitalist.
"One of the most comprehensive histories of modern capitalism yet written." —Michael Hirsh, New York Times An authoritative, insightful, and highly readable history of the twentieth-century global economy, updated with a new chapter on the early decades of the new century. Global Capitalism guides the reader from the globalization of the early twentieth century and its swift collapse in the crises of 1914–45, to the return to global integration at the end of the century, and the subsequent retreat in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008.
Keynes is one of the most important and influential economists who ever lived. It is almost universally believed that Keynes wrote his magnum opus, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, to save capitalism from the socialist, communist, and fascist forces that were rising up during the Great Depression era. This book argues that this was not the case with respect to socialism. Tracing the evolution of Keynes’s views on policy from WWI until his death in 1946, Crotty argues that virtually all post-WWII "Keynesian" economists misinterpreted crucial parts of Keynes’s economic theory, misunderstood many of his policy views, and failed to realize that his overarching political objective was not to save British capitalism, but rather to replace it with Liberal Socialism. This book shows how Keynes’s Liberal Socialism began to take shape in his mind in the mid-1920s, evolved into a more concrete institutional form over the next decade or so, and was laid out in detail in his work on postwar economic planning at Britain’s Treasury during WWII. Finally, it explains how The General Theory provided the rigorous economic theoretical foundation needed to support his case against capitalism in support of Liberal Socialism. Offering an original and highly informative exposition of Keynes’s work, this book should be of great interest to teachers and students of economics. It should also appeal to a general audience interested in the role the most important economist of the 20th century played in developing the case against capitalism and in support of Liberal Socialism. Keynes Against Capitalism is especially relevant in the context of today’s global economic and political crises.
