The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties | Paul Collier

Bill Gates's Five Books for Summer Reading 2019

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A powerful, bracing call for a return to New Deal ethics in the age of Trump and Brexit.

-- "Kirkus Reviews"
 

About the Author

Paul Collier is a professor of economics at St. Antony's College, Oxford. His book The Bottom Billion has won the Lionel Gelber Prize, the Arthur Ross Prize awarded by the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Corine Prize.

Review

A powerful, bracing call for a return to New Deal ethics in the age of Trump and Brexit.

-- "Kirkus Reviews"
 

A leading economist...takes a hard look at today's economic and social inequalities and suggests ways to fix them by addressing flaws in capitalism itself. For both left-wing and right-wing readers.

- "Library Journal" -

From the Back Cover

From world-renowned economist Paul Collier, a candid diagnosis of the many failures of the greatest economic system in history, and a pragmatic and realistic vision for how we can repair it

Western society, once thriving, is being torn apart by deep new rifts in its social and economic fabric. It’s now populous cities versus rural counties; the highly skilled elite versus the less educated; wealthy versus developing countries. As these breaks have deepened, we’ve lost the sense of obligation to others so crucial to the rise of postwar social democracy in the first place.

These divisions are currently being addressed solely by revivalist ideologies and populist megafigures — we’re in the age of Brexit, President Donald Trump, and the return of the far right in Germany. And unless we do something now, the gap between the promises of prosperity for all that capitalism once offered and the crisis of contempt we find ourselves in will only grow wider, faster.

The Future of Capitalism is a passionate and polemical treatise that presents brilliantly original solutions for healing this economic, social, and cultural discord, with the cool head of pragmatism and policy rather than the fervor of rhetoric. Paul Collier’s workable solution is in the center: we have no time for moral or intellectual superiority on either side of the political spectrum, he argues, and no shiny new economic theory is going to save us this time.

Drawing on the wisdom of some of the world’s most distinguished social scientists, Collier charts an agenda of empowerment to show us how to save capitalism from itself — eschewing the ideological baggage of the twentieth century and instead crafting practical policy grounded in communitarian ethics to address the rapid rise in inequality that will either end us or propel us into an entirely new economic age.

From the Inside Flap

From world-renowned economist Paul Collier, a candid diagnosis of the many failures of the greatest economic system in history, and a pragmatic and realistic vision for how we can repair it

Western society, once thriving, is being torn apart by deep new rifts in its social and economic fabric. It's now populous cities versus rural counties; the highly skilled elite versus the less educated; wealthy versus developing countries. As these breaks have deepened, we've lost the sense of obligation to others so crucial to the rise of postwar social democracy in the first place.

These divisions are currently being addressed solely by revivalist ideologies and populist megafigures -- we're in the age of Brexit, President Donald Trump, and the return of the far right in Germany. And unless we do something now, the gap between the promises of prosperity for all that capitalism once offered and the crisis of contempt we find ourselves in will only grow wider, faster.

The Future of Capitalism is a passionate and polemical treatise that presents brilliantly original solutions for healing this economic, social, and cultural discord, with the cool head of pragmatism and policy rather than the fervor of rhetoric. Paul Collier's workable solution is in the center: we have no time for moral or intellectual superiority on either side of the political spectrum, he argues, and no shiny new economic theory is going to save us this time.

Drawing on the wisdom of some of the world's most distinguished social scientists, Collier charts an agenda of empowerment to show us how to save capitalism from itself -- eschewing the ideological baggage of the twentieth century and instead crafting practical policy grounded in communitarian ethics to address the rapid rise in inequality that will either end us or propel us into an entirely new economic age.

-Michael J. Sandel, author of What Money Can't Buy and Justice -