Capitalism Health

Early in the 21st century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, R&D, or software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers. For all sorts of businesses, from tech firms and pharma companies to coffee shops and gyms, the ability to deploy assets that one can neither see nor touch is increasingly the main source of long-term success.

Deep new rifts are tearing apart the fabric of Britain and other Western societies: thriving cities versus the provinces, 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.

The word capitalism is one that is heard and used frequently, but what is capitalism really all about, and what does it mean? This Very Short Introduction audiobook addresses questions such as, "what is capital?" before discussing the history and development of capitalism through several detailed case studies, ranging from the tulipomania of 17th-century Holland, the Great Depression of the 1930s, and, in this new edition, the impact of the global financial crisis that started in 2007-08.

There is no such thing as value-free economics. All economic theories prescribe a unique meaning in life. What meanings are hidden in economic theories? How can we live a meaningful life, despite the meanings that economists and politicians promote? Many aspects of the economy are transforming, from personal job motivation to organization structures, human resource management, and production. This is the first book to integrate systematic empirical studies on meaning in life with economic theory, written by a leading researcher on meaning.

This book investigates the thesis that despite America lacking a world-leading welfare state, America and its cultural desire for individual immortality may give Americans more psychological benefits than Europeans get in their welfare states.

This book examines how the human mind, in particular that of the American working class, navigates the various cultural factors that have composed the American economy.