23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

More about the book

Thing 1: There is no such thing as a free market. Thing 4: The washing machine has changed the world more than the Internet. Thing 5: Assume the worst about people, and you get the worst. Thing 13: Making rich people richer doesn't benefit the rest of us. If you've ever wondered why the economic collapse caught us off guard, Ha-Joon Chang provides insight: we failed to question what was hidden about capitalism. This engaging book aims to challenge the assumptions behind the dogma and hype propagated by neoliberal economists since the Reagan era. Chang, a respected economist and author of the bestseller Bad Samaritans, brings sanity and humor reminiscent of John Kenneth Galbraith and Joseph Stiglitz. He offers readers a clear understanding of how global capitalism operates—and fails to operate. In the final chapter, "How to Rebuild the World," Chang presents a vision for reshaping capitalism to serve humane purposes rather than making us subservient to the market. Chang teaches at the University of Cambridge and has received accolades for his contributions to economic thought, including the Myrdal Prize and the Leontief Prize.