The South African Civil Society Information Service

23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

8 Apr 2011

Part One

The clip above is part one of a multi-part interview by Paul Jay of The Real News Network with Ha-Joon Chang, Cambridge economist and author of the book, "23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism."

The debate about "capitalism" being at the core of the economic meltdown seems to have died down. But what about the future of the capitalist system? Is the world facing another meltdown? And, is there a more rational way to have a capitalist system?

Chang tries to answer these questions while elaborating on the "23 things" listed in his book. In this particular segment of the interview, he talks about:

Thing #1: "There is no such thing as a free market."
 

Part Two

Find part two of the interview here, which covers:

Thing #2: "Companies should not be run in the interests of their owners."

Part Three

Find part three of the interview here, which covers:

Thing #3: "Most people in rich countries are paid more than they should be."

Thing #4: "The washing machine has changed the world more than the Internet has."

Part Four

Find part four of the interview here, which covers:

Thing #6: "Greater macroeconomic stability has not made the world economy more stable."

Thing #7: "Free market policies rarely make poor countries richer."

Thing #8: "Capital has a nationality."

Thing #9: "We do not live in the post-industrial age."

Part Five

Find part five of the interview here, which covers:

Thing #10: "The US does not have the highest standard of living in the world."

Thing #11: "Africa is not destined for underdevelopment."

Thing #12: "Governments can pick winners."

Part Six

Find part six of the interview here, which covers:

Thing #13: "Making rich people richer, doesn't make the rest of us richer."

Thing #14: "US managers are over-priced."

Thing #15: "People in poor countries are more entrepreneurial than people in rich countries."

Part Seven

Find part seven of the interview here, which covers:

Thing #19: Despite the fall of communism, we are in fact living in planned economies.

Thing #20: Equality of opportunity may not be fair.

Thing #21: Big government makes people more open to change.
 

Part Eight

Find part eight of the interview here, which covers:

Thing #22: Financial markets need to become less, not more efficient.

Thing #23: Good economic policy does not require good economists.

 

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Read more articles tagged with: capitalism, global financial crisis, inequality, Ha-Joon Chang.

You can find this page online at http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/355.19.