I once mentioned being anti-capitalist to my liberal aunt and she was shocked at the concept of someone not being pro-capitalist. I do not know a lot about economics, I just know the system as it is currently does not work and is actively hurting the majority of people, so I wanted to give it a read to have a bit more behind my anti-capitalist arguments than just, "It's not fair!" This book is dense, and a bit of a tough read. This is not narrative non-fiction (think Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe) and will take quite a bit of brain power to get through. However, as someone who has not taken an economics course since AP Macroeconomics in 9th grade (for which I was NOT YET READY), I was able to generally follow the critiques being conveyed to me.

Capitalism and Its Critics is a chonky book of 28 chapters, each of which follows a different theorist or theory in chronological order. While it is technically global in scope, with chapters on theorists in India and South America, it mostly focuses on Britain and the United States. You will also be treated to the delights of Reagan and Thatcher, because you can't critique capitalism without critiquing them. While I mostly read this book straight through, often with 2 or 3 chapters in one sitting, I think this book could easily be used for a college or graduate-level course, with each chapter supplemented with material by the theorists discussed. These chapters are a great introduction to the basics of these theorists/theories, and I think it would generally make the material easier to understand (I say having read almost none of these theorists myself).

One thing I appreciated about this book was that the author confronted the aspects of the theorists that go against their own theories, such as their open bigotry. It is easy to fall for the trap of idolizing someone for something great they did, but we need to remember that people generally suck and while they can do great things, they can also do great harm.

This is not a book I would recommend lightly, but if you're interested in this deep dive, I'd say take the plunge.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus, & Giroux and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is an interestin take on a history of capitalism. A scholar would probably enjoy this. It is written in more of a skimmable than engagingly readable fashion for someone who is not a usual reader of similar books.