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The Power of Capitalism: A Journey through Recent History across Five Continents
Rainer Zitelmann
4.16
202 ratings17 reviews
“ The market has failed, we need more government intervention” – that’ s the mantra politicians, the media and intellectuals have been reiterating constantly ever since the outbreak of the 2008 financial crisis. By taking the reader on a journey across continents and through recent history, Rainer Zitelmann disproves this call for greater government intervention, and demonstrates that capitalism matters more than ever. The author provides compelling evidence from across the world that capitalism has been the solution to a number of massive problems. He compares developments in West and East Germany, North and South Korea, capitalist Chile v. Socialist Venezuela, and analyses the extraordinary economic rise of China. For many people, “ capitalism” is a dirty word. This book provides a timely reminder of capitalism’ s power is enabling growth and prosperity, and is alleviating poverty.
GenresEconomicsPoliticsNonfictionBusinessSocietyHistory
256 pages, Hardcover
Published November 15, 2018
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4.16
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New Diamond
452 reviews11 followers
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ReadJuly 21, 2021
I didn't find the book worth reading at all in its current form:
The author seems so stubborn in his basic belief that "the market is great and the state is of the devil" that in his fiery speech he completely ignores and ignores the fundamental role of the state in channeling and regulating the satisfaction of interests in order to ensure peaceful coexistence. One almost suspects that the author was denied state support in his youth and has been angry ever since.
The result is a strained praise of the market economy that doesn't have much to do with coexistence in a Western society and I was almost pleasantly surprised not to find a chapter on "How the market economy will self-motivately solve the climate crisis"...
Individual chapters also seemed to me to be formulated in a relatively arrogant and ignorant manner, such as the one on the financial crisis. Various cornerstones of the market-based financial system are not explained there, such as the role of the state as regulator of banks and financial market stability. Instead, any state intervention is maliciously criticized and commented on, which seems neither effective nor differentiated. A completely deregulated financial system, for example, would protect savings deposits much worse than the status quo, which cannot be in the interests of depositors.
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Francis
7 reviews
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April 16, 2023
Same old neoliberal dogma, pretty much nothing interesting here maybe besides the provocative chapter on why intellectuals in particular don’t like capitalism. But otherwise, it completely omits any criticism related to capitalism’s inherent relationship with climate change. Very deliberately refuses to discuss problems of income as well as wealth inequality. Nothing on the natural tendency towards oligo-/monopolies, externalities, short-term profits over long-term sustainability, job displacement or wage erosion due to globalization,… Simply, it just argues that all the rich countries are capitalist and all the socialist experiments have completely failed. And the chapters on Thatcher/Reagan, Pinochet and Sweden seem just completely guided by ideology rather than by quest for objectivity.
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Nils
59 reviews6 followers
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February 3, 2021
Lots of historical background information, well-founded historical comparisons, references to current economic topics and all of this presented in a very understandable way. A really good and interesting book that every critic of capitalism should read.
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George
4 reviews
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October 31, 2021
Overall, a very good (audio) book. It does have its weaknesses, but its strengths far outweigh them. This book is particularly topical and relevant in today's world, when academics have a much more left-wing orientation, coalition negotiations are underway, and we seem to be confronted with the question of state intervention in one matter or another every two weeks. The narrator is very fitting, by the way, hence my clear recommendation of the audio book.
Pro :
The book offers a well-structured and interesting series of examples of failed socialism. Some of the cases are certainly familiar, but there were also a few unknown ones, such as pre-Thatcher Britain with a 98% top tax rate.
Cons :
The author neglects the role of the state in market economy systems, such as monopoly and antitrust laws, capital market regulation, etc.
His focus is more on the poor portrayal of socialism, whereby he hardly deals with the controversies of the market economy or does so in a particularly conciliatory manner.
General :
In some parts, in my opinion, he does not distinguish enough between a planned economy as an economic system and socialism as an ideology. After all, there can also be a planned economy without socialism (as in some regions of Africa, for example). Many people may believe that he completely rejects social benefits because he wrote this book. In fact, it is not clear from his descriptions that he rejects not supporting people at all who are in a difficult situation.
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Joshua
260 reviews56 followers
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June 28, 2022
Zitelmann's book is an excellent economic history examining the effect of liberal market policies across the globe. The author essentially relies on international and cross-temporal, intranational comparisons to show the superiority of free markets in improving standards of living and reducing social ills such as poverty, war, and crime. Examples range from post-Mao China to the pseudo-socialist Nordic countries.
Shameless plug: I made a similar analysis of post-war Vietnam earlier this year: https://mises.org/wire/vietnam-should....
Zitelmann has compiled a formidable and persuasive body of evidence for his analysis. This is one strongest defenses of liberal market policies that I have ever read. My only complaint is the author's dubious and uncited claim that central banking stabilizes currency - the Austrian business cycle theory posits that central banking is largely responsible for economic instability and rampant inflation. But the author did not dwell on this claim, and he went on to criticize the Fed's involvement in the 2008 financial crisis. Good book!
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Thomas Buhl
93 reviews8 followers
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January 25, 2021
I love the title of the book, "Capitalism is not the problem, but the solution."
My expectations were accordingly high!
2/3 of the book was quite a tough read (too many key data, numbers, etc.). Perhaps that's because "economic history" is an area that I didn't find particularly interesting.
The last third, however, was much better and summarized the key statements well. I found the section on "Why intellectuals don't like capitalism" particularly exciting.
In my opinion, the book is particularly suitable for "critics of capitalism" to gain a different perspective.
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Dr. Tobias Christian Fischer
701 reviews38 followers
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December 6, 2020
A nice new perspective on capitalism. A historical look at things up to the present day. Worth reading, especially in times of Corona and St. Nicholas, because we are consuming more than ever - and online.
Happy Santa Claus / Happy Nikolaus 🎅
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Owlseyes
1,763 reviews291 followers
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Want to readJuly 21, 2020
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op...
europe-s-case-under-covid europe-s-socialism-cases the-case-for-reform
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Sebastian
1 review
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August 2, 2021
An interesting historical summary of the economies of various countries. However, the analysis is superficial and purely qualitative. I miss a discussion of the current problems catalyzed by capitalism and proposed solutions to them. I would not recommend the book - what a pity!
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Sarah
317 reviews55 followers
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February 11, 2020
3.5 ⭐
Well researched, sensibly structured and with convincing arguments. But for me, the author was on the one hand too convinced of himself and his theses and thus almost too one-sided.
On the other hand, reading this book really depressed me.
read-2020
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