The Future of Capitalism

December 1, 2018

Responding to recent electorate revolts in developed countries against paternalistic democratic policies, Collier (economics & public policy, Blavatnik Sch. of Government, Oxford; The Bottom Billion) explores the reasons for these events and suggests pragmatic remedies employing education, taxation, social services, and political reform. The catalyst for such revolts, he maintains, has been the prospering of central metropolises and educated elite while peripheral cities have suffered. Globalization has also added the twin stresses of imports and migration. Collier proclaims competitive marketplace capitalism to be the best means of producing mass prosperity, but he also suggests that employees must have meaningful work and that individual self-interest needs to be moderated by mutual obligation, trust, and shared identity. He calls for regaining the moral values of care, liberty, loyalty, sanctity, fairness, and hierarchy at the levels of states, families, and companies. VERDICT Collier's wide-ranging work presents challenging concepts from a British viewpoint, providing a meaningful perspective that will reward thoughtful readers. A noteworthy addition to works such as Douglas McWilliams's The Inequality Paradox and Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century.--Lawrence Maxted, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

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Starred review from October 1, 2018
A potent argument for "ethical capitalism," driven not only by greed, but by "moral purpose," to overcome deep societal rifts.In this masterful blend of personal experience and the best thinking of diverse social scientists, economist Collier (Economics and Public Policy/Oxford Univ.; Exodus: How Migration Is Changing Our World, 2013, etc.) analyzes the current breakup of the "cornerstones of belonging"--family, workplace, and nation--and the ensuing frustrations that have opened the way for populists and ideologues. He urges pragmatic policies to manage capitalism (which is "not working" for many), rebuild the "beleaguered center" of the political spectrum and restore the "ethics of community" to contemporary life. He centers on three major societywide divides: between metropolitan centers and the provinces; between successful and poor families; and between prosperous nations (the United States, Britain, and France), where he has lived, and the developing world, where he has worked. "There is a widening regional divide between the booming metropolis and decaying provincial cities; there is a widening class divide between those in prestigious and fulfilling jobs and those in dead-end jobs, or none at all," he writes. Only "practical new thinking" can heal such "damaging cleavages." Collier's benchmark for the "ethical state" is the postwar period (1945-1970) of his childhood, when each nation became a "gigantic community" based on "a strong sense of shared identity, obligation, and reciprocity" and harnessed capitalism for the benefit of all. The author is especially good on the forces unraveling shared identities, from the rise of smartphones and social media to declining home ownership among the young and my-country-first nationalism as opposed to patriotism. Many of Collier's recommendations stress the need to strengthen failing families by "curtailing self-aggrandizing strategies of those who are well educated and highly skilled." Great firms need a sense of purpose beyond making money, he writes.A powerful, bracing call for a return to New Deal ethics in the age of Trump and Brexit.

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This audiobook explores how the U.S. can address the ethical questions surrounding the inequalities that have created economic fissures in our society. It should come as no surprise to anyone living in a capitalist country that this economic system creates winners and losers. Narrator Peter Noble uses his English accent as a sword, slicing through the words in a sharp, ominous tone. He's terrific with his pronunciations and world accents, and he certainly knows how to pause for emphasis. The storm cloud he creates with his voice does become difficult to escape after a while. Most of this has to do with the author's words, but Noble could ease up on his tendency to be the doomsayer. R.I.G. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine