03-01-2018, 09:33 PM
I will today be letting you know about my thoughts on a recent read of mine - Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction. Capitalism is something which is mentioned in many of the modules I have taken at University, but I have never learnt about it on its own and therefore do not know it in-depth. I thought reading this book would help fill in the blanks.
What is the book?
Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction, is a brief introduction to the subject area of capitalism. The author, James Fulcher, looks at the history and development of capitalism, the forms capitalism has taken, its tendency towards crisis, whether capitalism has gone global and whether capitalism has a future.
What did I think?
Having seen capitalism mentioned briefly in many topics I have studied over the years, as well as in political debate, I was extremely interested to learn a bit more about the topic. The book taught me many new things, how capitalism developed, and the forms it has taken across the world were the most interesting parts. It was a shorter read, even by the Very Short Introduction series standards, but it did enough to convey the important information of capitalism - and as always the book has further reading links if you wish to delve deeper.
Another more interesting bit was the final section, titled 'Crisis? What crisis?' - which looked at the tendency of capitalism towards crisis through overproduction, as well as touching on whether there is any other forms of planning that seem likely to overtake capitalism.
History takes a major role in this book, and therefore can be seen to be boring to some people. I personally like knowing the history of things, as I believe it helps provide context to a greater degree and therefore didn't mind it. But it is something to consider if you aren't a fan of history yourself.
The main takeaway is that a second year Economics student found this book to provide new and interesting content that I personally didn't know, therefore it should be worthwhile reading for those with and without prior knowledge of surrounding subject areas.
Some reviews I have seen suggest the author is biased against capitalism, which I personally don't see. I think the book is relatively well-balanced and the conclusion advocates a development of capitalism rather than replacing it with a new method, which I think leads to suggest a balanced view in this instance.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about capitalism. It was a very interesting read and one of the better Very Short Introductions I have read to date.
What is the book?
Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction, is a brief introduction to the subject area of capitalism. The author, James Fulcher, looks at the history and development of capitalism, the forms capitalism has taken, its tendency towards crisis, whether capitalism has gone global and whether capitalism has a future.
What did I think?
Having seen capitalism mentioned briefly in many topics I have studied over the years, as well as in political debate, I was extremely interested to learn a bit more about the topic. The book taught me many new things, how capitalism developed, and the forms it has taken across the world were the most interesting parts. It was a shorter read, even by the Very Short Introduction series standards, but it did enough to convey the important information of capitalism - and as always the book has further reading links if you wish to delve deeper.
Another more interesting bit was the final section, titled 'Crisis? What crisis?' - which looked at the tendency of capitalism towards crisis through overproduction, as well as touching on whether there is any other forms of planning that seem likely to overtake capitalism.
History takes a major role in this book, and therefore can be seen to be boring to some people. I personally like knowing the history of things, as I believe it helps provide context to a greater degree and therefore didn't mind it. But it is something to consider if you aren't a fan of history yourself.
The main takeaway is that a second year Economics student found this book to provide new and interesting content that I personally didn't know, therefore it should be worthwhile reading for those with and without prior knowledge of surrounding subject areas.
Some reviews I have seen suggest the author is biased against capitalism, which I personally don't see. I think the book is relatively well-balanced and the conclusion advocates a development of capitalism rather than replacing it with a new method, which I think leads to suggest a balanced view in this instance.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about capitalism. It was a very interesting read and one of the better Very Short Introductions I have read to date.
DiscussPF Founder & Owner Emeritus 
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