The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism - Hardcover

by Martin Wolf (Author)From the chief economics commentator of the Financial Times, a magnificent reckoning with how and why the marriage between democracy and capitalism is coming undone, and what can be done to reverse this terrifying dynamic “Martin Wolf is our wisest, most acute, and most experienced commentator. He has long been an optimist, but no more. He believes that today’s market economy is no longer compatible with a stable liberal democracy. As Plato long ago warned, insecurity and fear can be the gateways to tyranny. Wolf’s recommendations are smart and sensible and perhaps not too late. A must read for both optimists and pessimists.” - Sir Angus Deaton, winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences “Martin Wolf is one of the deepest thinkers of our times and his latest book is a must read! He brilliantly analyzes the causes of the current crisis of democratic capitalism and presents the reforms needed to successfully rejuvenate it. He rightly calls for a new alliance of reformed democratic capitalist states to protect global peace, inclusive prosperity, and the planet against plutocratic populism and tyranny. Hopefully, his words will be carefully read and heeded.” - Nouriel Roubini, professor, New York University “Among business and financial journalists, there has never been a doubt that Martin Wolf is at the top of our heap. Over a career that now spans 35 years, there is nobody better read, better sourced or more insightful than the longtime economic commentator for the Financial Times. Wolf is the first person you turn to during a financial crisis, a thoughtful and generous colleague and the gold standard against which the rest of us are judged . . . Unlike many progressives, Wolf’s battle cry is not to tear down institutions and topple those who run them. Rather, it is to demand that his fellow elitists make good on the responsibility that goes with their privilege.” – The Washington Post Martin Wolf has long been one of the wisest voices on global economic issues. He has rarely been called an optimist, yet he has never been as worried as he is today. Liberal democracy is in recession, and authoritarianism is on the rise. The ties that ought to bind open markets to free and fair elections are threatened, even in democracy's heartlands, the United States and England. Around the world, powerful voices argue that capitalism is better without democracy; others argue that democracy is better without capitalism. This book is a forceful rejoinder to both views. Even as it offers a deep, lucid assessment of why this marriage has grown so strained, it makes clear why a divorce of capitalism from democracy would be a calamity for the world. They need each other even if they find it hard to life together. For all its flaws, argues Wolf, democratic capitalism remains far and away the best system for human flourishing. But something has gone seriously awry: the growth of prosperity has slowed, and the division of its fruits between the hypersuccessful few and the rest has become more unequal. The plutocrats have retreated to their bastions, where they pour scorn on government's ability to invest in the public goods needed to foster opportunity and sustainability. But the incoming flood of autocracy will rise to overwhelm them, too, in the end. Citizenship is not just a slogan or a romantic idea; it's the only idea that can save us, Wolf argues. Nothing has ever harmonized political and economic freedom better than a shared faith in the common good. This wise and rigorously fact-based exploration of the epic story of the dynamic between democracy and capitalism concludes with the lesson that our ideals and our interests not only should align, but must do so, for everyone's sake. Democracy itself is now at stake. Author Biography MARTIN WOLF is associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, London. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2000 for services to financial journalism. Wolf won the Overseas Press Club of America's prize for Best Commentary in 2013 and the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gerald Loeb Awards. He was a member of the UK's Independent Commission on Banking in 2010-11. Wolf is the author of The Shifts and the Shocks What We've Learned--and Have Still to Learn--from the Financial Crisis.