The Future of Capitalism

Facing the New Anxieties

By: Paul Collier

Narrated by: Peter Noble

From world-renowned economist Paul Collier, a candid diagnosis of the failures of capitalism and a pragmatic and realistic vision for how we can repair it.

Deep new rifts are tearing apart the fabric of the United States and other Western societies: thriving cities versus rural counties, the highly skilled elite versus the less educated, wealthy versus developing countries. As these divides deepen, we have lost the sense of ethical obligation to others that was crucial to the rise of post-war social democracy. So far these rifts have been answered only by the revivalist ideologies of populism and socialism, leading to the seismic upheavals of Trump, Brexit, and the return of the far-right in Germany. We have heard many critiques of capitalism but no one has laid out a realistic way to fix it, until now.

In a passionate and polemical book, celebrated economist Paul Collier outlines brilliantly original and ethical ways of healing these rifts—economic, social and cultural—with the cool head of pragmatism, rather than the fervor of ideological revivalism. He reveals how he has personally lived across these three divides, moving from working-class Sheffield to hyper-competitive Oxford, and working between Britain and Africa, and acknowledges some of the failings of his profession.

Drawing on his own solutions as well as ideas from some of the world’s most distinguished social scientists, he shows us how to save capitalism from itself—and free ourselves from the intellectual baggage of the twentieth century.

Perfect

This is seriously crystalized, evidence based, and falsifiable knowledge from an economist who's really clued-in to present day world, wants everyone to prosper, with fair policies.

Must read book for every person who makes decisions.

A central theme is "reciprocal obligations" aka Dharma, which also might entice people to read the book. And they must - this will probably be the first book I buy and gift to people. Probably going to buy a few dozen copies and just hand them out.

recommended

I'm glad that I decided to purchase this. I learned the issue of laissez-faire government which can destroy economies. Where are the new responsible leaders?

Best Book I've Read/Heard in Years

Constant (good) discomfort from seeing how my own ideology prevented logical and rational thought. 10/10

great read

relevant to current financial climate, this book does a complete break down of how we got to where we are and some solutions and mindset shifts that will move us past these dark times

Stream of consciousness

The author is obviously quite knowledgeable and astute. However, his "stream of consciousness" writing style was disorganized and failed to lucidly convey his points, which came across in an oblique way. Moreover, too much time was repeatedly taken with prefatory remarks about what the author intended to present in later chapters.

Finally, at least for my taste, the author's constant use of almost every possible "ism" word throughout the book presents more of a philosophical statement/argument than a concrete, explicit discussion of what is occurring in the world today and possible remedies available.