Book Review - In Defence of Capitalism
“One of the most important books in decades defending capitalism… Adam Smith would have been impressed - and proud.” - Steve Forbes
A second recession within 20 years, rampant inflation, increasing dependency on food banks. You can understand why Anti-Capitalist ideas are making a resurgence into the mainstream. But is capitalism to blame for all these problems? Would outcomes be better under communism, or other non-capitalist systems Dr Rainer Zitelmann thinks not.
The outcomes due to capitalism have consistently been better than those of opposing economic ideologies and in his new book ‘In Defence of Capitalism,’ Dr Rainer Zitelmann explains how common misconceptions provide people with a misconstrued view of Capitalism.
Zitelmann works through these arguments explaining where the beliefs have originated from. Before then explaining how this is not the case, or at the least not a fault of capitalism. He starts with the idea that capitalism is responsible for hunger and poverty. While poverty and hunger do exist in capitalist societies, the idea that it is capitalism's fault, or that it would be better under different systems is incorrect. As the World Bank just pointed out, China’s free market reforms helped raise 800 million people out of poverty.
Carrying on from this he examines one of the most egregious examples, the practice of comparing the current economic systems to purely theoretical utopias, whether pro free market or anti-capitalist this is simply ridiculous. Surely it makes sense to compare apples to apples? Even then, comparing ideological hypotheticals serves little purpose due to the pure number of different variations, and the nature of them being, well, hypothetical.
The reality, which the author goes to great lengths to demonstrate, is that no matter the variation of communism or socialism, nations driven by ideologies dedicated to abolishing private property have and will continue to fail.
The important distinction Zitelmann claims is that ‘Capitalism is not a system devised by intellectuals, it is an economic order that has evolved organically’. That is not to say the current system is perfect, but it is no accident we are where we are now. And the journey is not over, capitalism will continue to evolve and adapt.
To end, the book shares and analyses the most comprehensive survey about people's perceptions of capitalism across both developed and developing nations. Confirming that the beliefs addressed throughout the book are not fringe ideas, but have altered the perception of capitalism on a mainstream level, to the point where only 14% of people in the UK believe that ‘Capitalism has improved conditions for ordinary people.
This book is, as the title suggests, a comprehensive defence of capitalism. And no matter what side of the isle one finds themselves on, it provides useful insight into historical facts on issues which many have assumed to be foregone conclusions. Making it an important and interesting book well worth the read.
