Description
Book SynopsisStevens tells the untold story of the search for a moral foundation for capitalism through its leading characters. His historical account reveals the rich moral critique provided by these characters and describes how that moral critique was lost through the influence of the Chicago School and its emphasis on self-interest.
Trade Review'If you want a perspective on an enlightened version, possibly the originally envisioned version, of capitalism not fully reduced to its characteristic, though commonly overemphasized and misrepresented, rationale of self-interest, then read this book. By unpacking and reexamining the moral foundations of capitalism, this book will make you reflect on how capitalist societies can serve mutual benefit and achieve social welfare when liberated from its misconceived, fundamentalist clichés of naked self-interest and free markets.' Wim A. Van der Stede, Dean and Professor at London School of Economics
'In this excellent description of the development of intellectual ideas on the nature and determinants of our capitalist system, Douglas Stevens provides a wide-ranging, insightful, and accessible account of how we have arrived at the current dilemmas that confront us. His book provides a valuable basis for understanding how the history of economic thought can help guide the formulation of future policy.' Colin Mayer, Emeritus Professor of Management Studies at the Said Business School, and Visiting Professor at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford
Table of Contents1. Introduction: the continuing demand for a moral foundation; 2. The moral economist: Adam Smith; 3. Religion as a moral foundation: Max Weber and R. H. Tawney; 4. Humanism as a moral foundation: Karl Polanyi and John Maynard Keynes; 5. Self-interest as a moral foundation: the Chicago school and Ayn Rand; 6. Neoclassical economists join the search: Vernon Smith and Michael Jensen; 7. Rescuing capitalism from the capitalists: Amartya Sen; 8. The promise of capitalism: joining the search.
