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The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties
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Bill Gates's Five Books for Summer Reading 2019
From world-renowned economist Paul Collier, a candid diagnosis of the failures of capitalism and a pragmatic and realistic vision for how we can repair it.
Deep new rifts are tearing apart the fabric of the United States and other Western societies: thriving cities versus rural counties, the highly skilled elite versus the less ...more
From world-renowned economist Paul Collier, a candid diagnosis of the failures of capitalism and a pragmatic and realistic vision for how we can repair it.
Deep new rifts are tearing apart the fabric of the United States and other Western societies: thriving cities versus rural counties, the highly skilled elite versus the less ...more
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I’m a big fan of Paul Collier. A highly respected Oxford economist (and a knight!), he has spent his career trying to understand and alleviate global poverty. His book The Bottom Billion is still on the short list of books that I recommend to people, even though a lot has changed since it was published 12 years ago.
So I was a little surprised when I learned that Collier’s latest book isn’t about poverty at all. But when I saw that it was about something I’m also keenly interested in—the polariza ...more
So I was a little surprised when I learned that Collier’s latest book isn’t about poverty at all. But when I saw that it was about something I’m also keenly interested in—the polariza ...more
I found this to be a pretty terrible book. It has the kernel of some good -- or at least interesting -- ideas but it does such a poor job of putting forward arguments in favor of its suggestions that I end up feeling like I wasted my time reading this. It doesn't help that few of his suggestions seem practical and the few times he addresses practicality he throws up his hands.
It also veers off into tangents that seem totally unrelated to "The Future of Capitalism". When you discover that the gen ...more
It also veers off into tangents that seem totally unrelated to "The Future of Capitalism". When you discover that the gen ...more
Collier's pragmatic approach to social and economic issues facing western capitalism today is a refreshing read. This book focuses on how to renew our sense of reciprocal obligation towards one another. Collier constantly refers to the golden years of capitalism, 1945-1970, and compares that to this situation today.
The flaws of populism are pretty evident, but Collier goes deeper than simply attacking it. He explains where this populist movement came from, and how to get rid of it. Here he focu ...more
The flaws of populism are pretty evident, but Collier goes deeper than simply attacking it. He explains where this populist movement came from, and how to get rid of it. Here he focu ...more
Collier makes some excellent books in here, but the idea needed some time to mature and become clear. The book offers a hodgepodge of problems and a few hodgepodge solutions. Problems go from feminism and the decline of marriage to offshore tax havens. Basically, lack of morality infuses the market and the family and it must be recovered. How? Through communities. I enjoyed a few sections here and there, but that story just doesn't work as an indictment or even a description of capitalism. He do
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This is a wonderful book, even better than I expected. The author is a respected and well published Oxford economist. The intent of the book is to provide a thoughtful overview of the problems facing global capitalism and even offer some possible fixes, perhaps in conjunction with his retirement thoughts. The result is a complex and well done integration of economics, politics, history, philosophy, ethics, and culture that spans continents and crosses multiple levels of analysis with ease. All o
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Reading a centrist's point of view on politics, sociology and economy is always a challenge for me, but I accepted this one with interest because of the good reviews and credentials of the author. I was, however, disappointed and at times enraged by the superficiality of this book. I have seen past readers give a bad review to the book because it was supposedly "too academic", but I think its worst quality was exactly lack of academic methodology when discussing different ideological approaches.
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What Oxford professor Paul Collier has written here is not only a very involved work of economics but also a deeply felt expression of ethics surrounding the current socio-political climate and how that has tainted and marginalized rational discussion of purely economic issues. He frames the idea of confronting the new anxieties surrounding capitalism and within the world's most successful capitalist countries as:
Restoring Ethics - operating at the State, Firm, Family, and World
Restoring the Inc ...more
Restoring Ethics - operating at the State, Firm, Family, and World
Restoring the Inc ...more
Too academic, dense and basically has nothing to do with its title or the subjects listed in the blurb. I was expecting a cogent analysis of the current state of capitalism and the way forward. What I got is an incoherent collection of essays on ethics, society, and nothing on capitalism in the first half of the book. Skip this one, and leave it to social science grad students.
I haven't made this many notes from a book since The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Collier has a very engaging style: he raises up tough questions, boldly declares how both the right and the left are incapable of answering them, then gives his own suggestions for answers.
And the thing is, Collier's proposals feel at the same time common-sensical and surprising. This seemingly paradoxical feat may be due to the fact I'm very used to the standard political ...more
And the thing is, Collier's proposals feel at the same time common-sensical and surprising. This seemingly paradoxical feat may be due to the fact I'm very used to the standard political ...more
Collier is an Economics Professor at Oxford. He pointed out that the current problems of capitalism stem from assuming the existence of the unreal Economic Man and promotes Utilitarianism. As a result, profits are maximised, manufacturing and back end jobs are moved overseas, machines are substituted for human labour, the cities get richer, leaving behind the provinces. The educated pulls ahead from the uneducated. The elite starts to base their self esteem on their skills and not their national
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In The Future of Capitalism, Paul Collier, a development economist most known for his work The Bottom Billion, tackles the rise of poverty and the "grim rifts" that have begun to define the politics of his own country, the United Kingdom.
Economists who study developing countries have particularly interesting insights into how policies can work or not work at alleviating poverty and creating inclusive growth. Collier is interested in a new pragmatic politics that rejects both ideology and populi ...more
Economists who study developing countries have particularly interesting insights into how policies can work or not work at alleviating poverty and creating inclusive growth. Collier is interested in a new pragmatic politics that rejects both ideology and populi ...more
Overall, I’d recommend this as a necessary view from an economist on the deeper reasons why some Western first-world societies are experiencing shifts toward nativism and populism, and what is causing the widening gap between rich and poor. Collier does this by cogently explaining how excesses in both liberal and conservative thought have led us here.
The corrective policy recommendations, though good in theory, are so far out of the political norms of the past three-plus decades as to feel hopel ...more
The corrective policy recommendations, though good in theory, are so far out of the political norms of the past three-plus decades as to feel hopel ...more
This is an important book which outlines a format for capitalism that, if practiced, likely would relieve any number of conflicts and dysfunctions that worldwide societies and economies face. It's a longshot but a longshot worth debating and, with some fine tuning, implementing.
Although the author, Paul Collier is a Nobel Laureate from Oxford University, this is not a scholarly work. It is, rather, the effort of a scholar tasked with global duties and advisory functions to her Majesty's governme ...more
Although the author, Paul Collier is a Nobel Laureate from Oxford University, this is not a scholarly work. It is, rather, the effort of a scholar tasked with global duties and advisory functions to her Majesty's governme ...more
I recently did a quiz to ascertain my political leanings and found out that I was definitely more libertarian than the average person. This led me quickly to wonder about the differences between right and left libertarians and the distinctions in their points of view to solving for the failures of capitalism.
Paul Collier does a wonderful job of expressing the shortfalls of an individualistic society and the dilemmas that face capitalistic communities. It is ironic that the society, community an ...more
Paul Collier does a wonderful job of expressing the shortfalls of an individualistic society and the dilemmas that face capitalistic communities. It is ironic that the society, community an ...more
A book about how utilitarianism has guided our societies to become more individual and more explorative of each other acting to exclusively benefit themselves that leave us as a whole with many issues to tackle.
This isn't about the end of capitalism but reforming capitalism to the likes of the same being practiced in the 40s to 70s, the author divides the critic between three essential pillars that any society leaves upon, family, corporations, and state. He explains how we have changed across ...more
This isn't about the end of capitalism but reforming capitalism to the likes of the same being practiced in the 40s to 70s, the author divides the critic between three essential pillars that any society leaves upon, family, corporations, and state. He explains how we have changed across ...more
Really interesting read that interweaves sociology, economics, and politics. First half is more sociological, analyzing the factors that lead to the rise and fall of key pillars of societies - countries, companies, and families. Second half looks at how economic theories/practices and public policy can be used to benefit the aforementioned pillars. Collier is driven by data and case studies, and provides a lot of practical solutions. I appreciate his pragmatism, his impartiality to what he belie
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Rating: 6.5/10
The Future of Capitalism is an important book. Paul Collier outlines some genuinely interesting thinking and proposes new ideas, both of which are increasingly difficult to come by these days. I personally don't agree with many of his conclusions or policy proposals, but putting new ideas out into the public discourse is important. As is impassioned engagement with those ideas.
A Philosophical Divide
The overarching theme of the book is this: capitalism in its current form is broken ...more
The Future of Capitalism is an important book. Paul Collier outlines some genuinely interesting thinking and proposes new ideas, both of which are increasingly difficult to come by these days. I personally don't agree with many of his conclusions or policy proposals, but putting new ideas out into the public discourse is important. As is impassioned engagement with those ideas.
A Philosophical Divide
The overarching theme of the book is this: capitalism in its current form is broken ...more
First of all, I would like to state at the beginning that this is not an entry-level book for beginners in the school of economic thought. I am somewhat of a beginner, however, and so initially I felt was not for me. I generally consider myself fairly educated, and fairly good at understanding complex issues, but i have to admit that this one really pushed me. That being said, I am giving this book 5 start, not necessarily because I necessarily agreed with or even understood all of the opinions
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Would love it if more "Capitalists" (as in those who have disproportionately benefited from their labor in the form of capital) read this book.
I enjoyed this book, it's not directed towards economists or people in academia, so it's digestible for most people. My big qualm is that Collier shows us a lot of issues, but his solutions don't seem realistic in today's mega-polarized world. His solution of bringing us all together and caring for each other is at odds with the ideals of a huge group of ...more
I enjoyed this book, it's not directed towards economists or people in academia, so it's digestible for most people. My big qualm is that Collier shows us a lot of issues, but his solutions don't seem realistic in today's mega-polarized world. His solution of bringing us all together and caring for each other is at odds with the ideals of a huge group of ...more
Hey mister rich-white-guy!
Before you went on writing a whole book, that you will sell in the free market, thanks to CAPITALISM, and make some extra money out of it, maybe you should have read the basics, so you wouldn't sound like a failed economics professor that bought his degree back in the days.
"Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Characteristics central to capitalism include private property, capital acc ...more
Before you went on writing a whole book, that you will sell in the free market, thanks to CAPITALISM, and make some extra money out of it, maybe you should have read the basics, so you wouldn't sound like a failed economics professor that bought his degree back in the days.
"Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Characteristics central to capitalism include private property, capital acc ...more
Mar 01, 2019
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The diagnosis is better than the prescription
The Oxford economist, Paul Collier, has felt the need to revitalise the revisionist cause with a book that takes its cue from Ricard Crosland’s opus But where the old Labourite had envisioned a future for socialism, his acolyte admits that what he is really looking forward to is a future for capitalism.
His new book asks us to accept that capitalism has done a remarkable job in creating wealth and raising the living standards of those lucky enough to live in its heartland countries. But it has go ...more
His new book asks us to accept that capitalism has done a remarkable job in creating wealth and raising the living standards of those lucky enough to live in its heartland countries. But it has go ...more
This book, based on recognizing our basic drive beyond greed such as belonging and esteem, is a refreshing antithesis of "The Wealth of Nations".
Collier analyzes the recent takeover of social democracy, founded on mutual trust and shared identities, by populism and ideology across the globe, and the further divide of the left and the right from pragmatism. (view spoiler) ...more
Collier analyzes the recent takeover of social democracy, founded on mutual trust and shared identities, by populism and ideology across the globe, and the further divide of the left and the right from pragmatism. (view spoiler) ...more
Followers of Big Bang Theory will be familiar with theoretical physicist, Sheldon's, dismissive attitude towards Howard, the MIT engineer, and virtually all others who are not physicists. In one episode he says to Howard something to the effect of "I never said you weren't good at what you do. I said what you do isn't worth doing." One of the intriguing suggestions that Paul Collier makes in this book has a Sheldonesque tinge to it. Collier suggests that people making lots of money doing things
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When I studied the degree in administration at ITAM I remember that they said that the objective of the company was to generate value for the "stakeholders" of the company, but everything focused on shareholders ...
Also in economics everything was based on Milton Friedman and utilitarianism ... on selfishness and success as a rule to be a good administrator and human being. And when a student questions this it is like for a religious to question the basis of their religion.
To think a bit about t ...more
Also in economics everything was based on Milton Friedman and utilitarianism ... on selfishness and success as a rule to be a good administrator and human being. And when a student questions this it is like for a religious to question the basis of their religion.
To think a bit about t ...more
This is an interesting and thoughtful book. Paul's comments about belonging resonate with me. But I remain uncertain about the duty of rescue, especially in the context of his other comments. He essentially attacks victimhood, the notion that victims somehow deserve certain treatment and rights, yet he ascribes duties for us to rescue people under certain circumstances too. Rescue seems to be related to saving people's lives, while victimhood involves more "optional" assistance, I suppose. Given
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A great presentation of a balanced, pragmatists and centrist view of the current dilemmas brought upon by modern capitalism. The book is aimed at laypeople and tries to broaden the spectrum of possible policy choice we might consider backing as we try to elect those representatives that are best suited for dealing with this problems.
What I found very appealing is that Collier first goes about underlying what leaving a good life presupposes and explaining who the current form of capitalism has o ...more
What I found very appealing is that Collier first goes about underlying what leaving a good life presupposes and explaining who the current form of capitalism has o ...more
Paul covered every asepect of life including marriage, family, children rearing, education, work, and retirement under current capitalism. He called for the reciprocal obligation of family, firms and societies as a whole and gave insight into how to leverage the power of firms, taxation, migration and public policies to ease the polarisation between metropolis and provincial cities. He brought ethics, the overlooked but the very foundamental element for modern capitalism and humanity back into f
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Sharp observations on the pitfalls of western socities and the underlying capitalist model. The social democratic system that worked great in the post WW2 world, fueled by patriotism and a sense of togetherness, started to fail when our identities began regressing from the national to the individual level.
Really interesting stuff knitting together urbanization, evolutionary psychology (the death of homo economicus), ethics, and the rise of populism with globalisation. While some of the proposed ...more
Really interesting stuff knitting together urbanization, evolutionary psychology (the death of homo economicus), ethics, and the rise of populism with globalisation. While some of the proposed ...more
A book about anxiety.
Collier points out that our world is very much divided based on class, or the haves versus have nots, skilled versus unskilled workers. This divide exists throughout the world, not just in the US. This divide hurts national unity, and it leads to extreme political movements like President Trump's victory.
Collier does a very nice job summarizing economic changes that have led to the place where we are at. Although he promises solutions to the current divide/malaise, I felt l ...more
Collier points out that our world is very much divided based on class, or the haves versus have nots, skilled versus unskilled workers. This divide exists throughout the world, not just in the US. This divide hurts national unity, and it leads to extreme political movements like President Trump's victory.
Collier does a very nice job summarizing economic changes that have led to the place where we are at. Although he promises solutions to the current divide/malaise, I felt l ...more
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Paul Collier, CBE is a Professor of Economics, Director for the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford and Fellow of St Antony's College. He is the author of The Plundered Planet; Wars, Guns, and Votes; and The Bottom Billion, winner of Estoril Distinguished Book Prize, the Arthur Ross Book Award, and the Lionel Gelber Prize.
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“An identity of being ‘on the left’ has become a lazy way of feeling morally superior; an identity of being ‘on the right’ has become a lazy way of feeling ‘realistic’.”
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“Encouraging your firm to have a decent sense of purpose is your contribution to society, but continuing to work for one which lacks purpose is personally soul-destroying.”
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