Ha-Joon Chang. 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

Penguin Books, 2010. — 729 p. — ISBN: 978-0-141-95786-9.Author's purpose in this book is to question the assumptions behind the dogma and sheer hype that the dominant school of neoliberal economists have spun since the Age of Reagan. 23 Things They Don't Tell You about Capitalism uses twenty-three short essays (a few great examples: "There Is No Such Thing as a Free Market," "The Washing Machine Has Changed the World More than the Internet Has") to equip readers with an understanding of how global capitalism works, and doesn't, while offering a vision of how we can shape capitalism to humane ends, instead of becoming slaves of the market.There is no such thing as a free market.
Companies should not be run in the interest of their owners.
Most people in rich countries are paid more than they should be.
The washing machine has changed the world more than the internet has.
Assume the worst about people and you get the worst.
Greater macroeconomic stability has no made the world economy more stable.
Free-market policies rarely make poor countries rich.
Capital has a nationality.
We do not live in a post-industrial age.
The US does not have the highest living standard in the world.
Africa is not destined for underdevelopment.
Governments can pick winners.
Making rich people richer doesn’t make the rest of us richer.
US managers are over-priced.
People in poor countries are more entrepreneurial than people in rich countries.
We are not smart enough to leave things to the market.
More education in itself is not going to make a country richer.
What is good for General Motors is not necessarily good for the United States.
Despite the fall of communism, we are still living in planned economies.
Equality of opportunity may not be fair.
Big government makes people more open to change.
Financial markets need to become less, not more, efficient.
Good economic policy does not require good economists.
Conclusion: How to rebuild the world economy.