Overview

Embark on a sweeping narrative that traces the evolution of the most powerful and pervasive economic system in human history. This comprehensive history charts the course of capitalism from its earliest precursors in the marketplaces of the ancient world to the complex, interconnected global economy of the twenty-first century. It explores the foundational elements of the system-private property, market exchange, and wage labor-and examines how they developed through the merchant capitalism of the Middle Ages, the state-sponsored mercantilism of the Age of Discovery, and the agricultural revolution that reshaped the European countryside. The heart of the story delves into the dramatic upheavals of the modern era, beginning with the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, a period of unprecedented technological change that gave birth to the factory system and a new industrial working class. The narrative brings to life the great thinkers who defined and contested the new order, from Adam Smith, who articulated the logic of the ""invisible hand,"" to Karl Marx, who forged its most powerful critique. It chronicles the spread of industrialization across Europe and America, exploring the excesses of the Gilded Age, the rise of the modern corporation, and the aggressive expansion of empire that characterized capitalism's first global age. This history navigates the turbulent twentieth century, a period of violent shocks and profound transformations. From the boom and bust of the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression to the post-war ""Golden Age"" of welfare capitalism, the book examines how the system adapted to crisis. It details the rise of the ""mixed economy,"" the intellectual and political battles that led to the neoliberal turn of the 1980s, and the final, apparent triumph of global capitalism with the fall of the Berlin Wall. The narrative then follows the rise of a new ""casino economy,"" driven by financialization and the technological revolution of the internet age. Standing in the early decades of the twenty-first century, the book confronts the profound challenges now facing the system. It offers a clear-eyed analysis of the 2008 financial crisis, the spectacular rise of China's state-led capitalist model, the deepening crisis of inequality, and the existential threats posed by climate change and artificial intelligence. By placing today's most urgent debates in a rich historical context, this work provides an indispensable guide for understanding the origins of our current economic world and the contested future of capitalism itself.

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