Capitalist Critics

Capitalism and Its Critics: A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AI 

by John Cassidy

"An extra hundred pounds is worth a lot more to a poor person than to a rich one because the poor person’s need is far greater. This idea, which economists today refer to as the diminishing marginal utility of income,”

― John Cassidy, Capitalism and Its Critics: From the East India Company to AI


As a staff writer for The New Yorker, Cassidy profiles dozens of the most vocal and powerful critics of capitalism, documenting its history from the East India Company to the era of artificial intelligence. The fundamental criticisms of capitalism, according to Cassidy, have not changed much over the centuries: it is "soulless, exploitative, inequitable, unstable, and destructive," but it is also "all-conquering and overwhelming."

In addition to well-known figures like Thomas Piketty, John Maynard Keynes, Rosa Luxemburg, and Karl Marx, the story also discusses lesser-known but equally important critics like the Luddites, Irish proto-socialist William Thompson, French unionist Flora Tristan, conservative Thomas Carlyle, and Indian economist J. C. Kumarappa.

Capitalism's "remarkable knack for reinventing itself" and its astounding "powers of self-regeneration and survivability," which have enabled it to weather multiple crises and evade the ultimate collapse that some of its detractors had predicted, are fundamental themes.

Since growing inequality, climate change, and artificial intelligence raise serious concerns about the viability and ethics of the current economic system, the book is positioned as a work that is relevant to the times. According to Cassidy, the prevailing ideologies of free-market neoliberalism and Keynesian social democracy are "running aground," so it is critical to find alternatives.
According to reviews, the book humanizes what is sometimes a dry subject matter by combining a lively examination of economic theories, a comprehensive history, and a rich biography.

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The Afterlife of a Monster

Marx's Das Kapital: A Biography 
by Francis Wheen

"It is deeply fitting that Marx never finished his masterpiece.  The first volume was the only one to appear in his lifetime, and the subsequent volumes were assembled by others after his death, based on notes and drafts found in his study.  Marx's work is as open-ended -- and thus as resilient -- as the capitalist system itself.  He was indeed one of the great tormented giants." (p 6)


Having read Das Kapital in college as part of my studies in Economic History I was intrigued when I came upon this title. What in this very short book could Mr. Wheen say about Karl Marx's massive tome? Surprisingly, he can and does say a lot about the genesis of Marx's work as well as its meaning and, most importantly, its impact. I remember my economic studies as having focused on the economic theories propounded by Marx and having been impressed that he shared with Adam Smith the subsequently debunked "labor theory of value". While this is mentioned in the section discussing Marx's views of "Industrial Capitalism" there is much more in Wheen's short book. There are three sections including "Gestation" and "Birth" where the background and publication of the work are discussed.  But the final chapter, "Afterlife", is of the most interest because it narrates the way Marx's thought has permeated into our culture; a way not unlike the thought of Darwin, Freud, or even Einstein has. In Marx's case many people are unaware of their debt to him and while his economic ideas regarding Socialism have been dismissed by economists his thought still shapes much of the narrative about globalism and the world.
I always thought that Marx was heavily influenced by the thought of the philosopher Hegel. While that is certainly true, the author of this book provides evidence that as an writer and an artist he was also influenced by other writers like Balzac and Mary Shelley. Perhaps that is a better way to think about Marx; as an artist who creates a monster that turns against his master and refuses to be controlled. Unfortunately, the afterlife of the monster he unleashed lives with us still today.

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Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal 

by Ayn Rand

"A rational mind does not work under compulsion; it does not subordinate its grasp of reality to any one's orders, directives, or controls; it does not sacrifice its knowledge, its view of the truth, to any one's opinions, threats, wishes, plans, or "welfare."  Such a mind may be hampered by others, it may be silenced, proscribed, imprisoned, or destroyed; it cannot be forced; a gun is not an argument. (An example and symbol of this attitude is Galileo.)
 It is from the work and the inviolate integrity of such minds -- from the intransigent innovators -- that all of mankind's knowledge and achievements have come." (Ayn Rand, "What is Capitalism?", p 9)


-  In 1967 I began undergraduate studies in the College of Letters and Science at the University of Wisconsin. Within a year I had chosen Economics as my major and embarked on a path to fulfill the requirements of that degree. Shortly before, I had discovered the works of Ayn Rand and this volume, which was first published in 1966, joined with volumes of Hayek, Friedman and Mises as part of my auxiliary reading in the economics of capitalism. I say auxiliary because, except in the history of economics course, none of these authors were on the syllabuses of the Economics Department at UW-Madison.
-  For students of economics, both young and old, the most valuable feature of the book is the Recommended Bibliography. While less than two pages long, it contains the best of the classic works needed for a foundation in understanding economics. The essays included in the book range from philosophy to history and commentary on current (circa 1960s) policies. The good thing about economic principles is that they do not change with the political currents and are not based on the whims of individuals, but are grounded in objective reality. That is what gives Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal its continuing value for all who desire to understand the nature of capitalism.


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Reading Steinbeck


Thoughts on The Grapes of Wrath

As long ago as 1920, in his book The Acquisitive Society, the English social critic R. H. Tawney wrote about capitalism:

The concentration of authority is too deeply rooted in the very essence of Capitalism for differences in the degree of arbitrariness with which it is exercised to be other than trivial.(p 129)

Without dwelling on the inaccuracies or inadequacies of that statement (or of Tawney's approach to property) it seems like a good starting point for a discussion of the views expressed by John Steinbeck in his early novels, particularly in The Grapes of Wrath. I was merely disappointed when I read Tortilla Flat, an earlier novel of Steinbeck from 1935. In it he depicted a group of paisanos who, soft-hearted, unquestioningly loyal to one another, and in complete disregard of social conventions and expectations, cheerfully resided in a world of idyllic poverty. By 1939 Steinbeck had written The Grapes of Wrath in which, for the most part, the idyllic side of poverty has been blown away along with the dust that covers the fields of the Oklahoma that the Joad family leaves behind as they move to California in search of an Eden. While they do not believe that their journey is doomed, at least at the beginning, they seem to exist in a world where Nature is strong and often dark and where god is a bit player. Ayn Rand would call this a "malevolent universe".

The picture of Oklahoma we see on the opening page of the novel is filled with color, but even in the first paragraph the dark side of nature is seen as, "The weeds grew darker green to protect themselves, and they did not spread anymore." Followed in the next paragraph by, "The weeds frayed and edged back toward their roots." they seem to be waiting for better days. The corn and the flowers fare even worse.(p 1) Just as nature is dark, there are other dark presences on the horizon.

One of these presences is a view of capitalism portrayed as dark and foreboding in the images presented to the reader. This presentation is not direct, but one can infer from the people and actions presented the worldview behind it. The first member of the Joad family we meet is young Tom Joad as he is released from a prison and approaches a truck with a windshield displaying the welcoming "No Riders" sign. This is the face of capitalism, ameliorated slightly by the trucker who takes a chance on losing his job to give Tom a ride. In Chapter 5 we see the "owners of the land", all of whom were "caught in something larger than themselves."(p 31) Namely, the mathematics of the capitalist system, a system that breeds monsters:

"The tractors came over the fields and into the fields, great crawlers moving like insects, having the incredible strength of insects. . . Snub-nosed monsters, raising the dust and sticking their snouts into it, straight down the country, across the country, through fences, through dooryards, in and out of gullies in straight lines." (p 35)

So much for the world of idyllic poverty. The Joads were on the road west, forced there not by nature alone but also by a capitalism that had no room for the poor outcast sharecroppers. For better or worse, they headed toward California and the promise of a warmer, more vibrant community. What can we make of such a world that is turned upside down? Materialism vs. idealism first comes to mind; but perhaps thoughts on this reading will reveal further clues as to the meaning of such a stark beginning.



The Acquisitive Society by R. H. Tawney. Harvest Books, New York. 1967 (1920)
Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck. Penguin Books, New York. 1976 (1935)
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Penguin Books, New York. 2002 (1939)

Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement

by Brian Doherty

We must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage.

- Friedrich A. Hayek, Nobel Laureate

Brian Doherty's Radicals for Capitalism is a riveting and brilliant narrative of the evolution of American libertarianism. He both captures the lives and the ideas of a movement with its roots in the enlightenment and its greatest heroes in twentieth-century America. I was impressed with the detail, breadth, and compelling style of this history of the ideas and people of the libertarian 'movement'. Along the way he uncovers many facts that should be interesting for all but the most knowledgable among libertarian cognoscenti. You may find more information about certain individuals, especially those who are better known, in their respective biographies but the best overview is to be found in Brian Doherty's magnum opus.


Radicals for Capitalism by Brian Doherty. Public Affairs Books, New York. 2007.

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