Is Capitalism Obsolete?: A Journey through Alternative Economic Systems

Giacomo Corneo

Published by Harvard University Press 2017

Is Capitalism Obsolete?

A Journey through Alternative Economic Systems

Giacomo Corneo
Translated by: Daniel Steuer

https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674982550

Overview
Contents

About this book

Giacomo Corneo presents a refreshingly antidogmatic review of economic systems, in the form of a fictional argument between a daughter indignant about economic injustice and her father, an economics professor. They tour tried and proposed systems in which production and consumption obey noncapitalistic rules and test their economic feasibility.

Author / Editor information

Corneo Giacomo :

Giacomo Corneo is Professor of Social Policy and Public Finance at the Free University of Berlin.

Reviews

Simone Paci:
An engaging volume that is well-balanced, often thought-provoking, and always accessible. More importantly, Corneo’s effort breathes new life into a conversation that is vital to the well-functioning of our democracy and to the sustainability of our economic system.

M. Morgan-Davie:
Corneo takes us on a tour of a variety of alternative economic systems, from Plato’s Republic and More’s Utopia through anarchy, central planning, worker management, market socialism, shareholder socialism, and guaranteed basic income, to the market economy balanced by the welfare state. In each case, he explains the principles of the system, then considers how it would work in practice. More often than not, what appears on the surface to be an improvement over capitalism turns out to have fatal flaws when market and private property are removed from the equation…Both rigorous and entertaining.

Richard N. Cooper:
Corneo takes seriously the many criticisms of capitalism as it is practiced today but insists that detractors must confront the question of which alternative systems could realistically meet contemporary society’s economic needs. In this sweeping and informative discussion of the role of economy in society, he explores alternative systems, both hypothetical and real, and finds them all inferior to capitalism. The book then addresses how the modern welfare state has tempered capitalism’s worst features but has eroded since the late twentieth century—a development that is responsible for much of today’s public disillusionment with the free-market system. Corneo considers how the welfare state might be revived under current conditions, which would require new incentives for politicians and civil servants to construct a sturdier safety net.

John Roemer, Yale University:
Is Capitalism Obsolete? is an important book, containing a sober, economically sophisticated analysis of the socialist alternatives to advanced capitalism. Timely, smart, and written in a popular vein, Corneo’s work will attract an audience as wide as the questions it seeks to answer.

Joseph Gepp:
A fascinating portrait of our economic system—and possible alternatives. Corneo[’s] is not an angry critique of capitalism… Nevertheless, [he] says quite soberly that something is wrong in our system… Are there other, better ways? …Could other systems produce enough resources to create general prosperity? …Such questions are asked by the economist in a refreshingly undogmatic way.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Prologue: A Father and Daughter Debate Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Philosophers and Failures of the State Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
2. Utopia and Common Ownership Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
3. Cooperation , Rationality, Values Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	56
4. Luxury and Anarchism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
5. Planning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
6. Self - Management Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
7. Markets and Socialism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152
8. Shareholder Socialism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	168
9. Universal Basic Income and Basic Capital Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	198
10. Market Economy Plus Welfare State Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
Epilogue: A Father and Daugher Come to Terms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Appendix A: Two -Step Proposal to Enhance the Role of Public Capital in Market Economies Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	295

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Pages
- Main content: 312

eBook

Published: November 5, 2018
ISBN: 9780674982550