John Cassidy, a seasoned economics writer for The New Yorker, discusses the tumultuous evolution of capitalism influenced by Donald Trump's protectionist policies. Cassidy highlights the departure from traditional free-trade ideologies and the chaos caused by chaotic tariffs. He sheds light on the generational shift in views toward capitalism, especially among young people prioritizing environmentalism and accountability. Cassidy's insights from his book, 'Capitalism and Its Critics,' provide a historical backdrop to today's economic dilemmas, advocating for informed discussions on capitalism's future.
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insights INSIGHT
Historical Free-Trade Consensus
For decades, U.S. economic debate focused on taxes and spending, with broad bipartisan support for free trade.
This free-trade consensus framed globalization as necessary for growth despite worker dislocations.
insights INSIGHT
Capitalism's Historical Roots
Industrial capitalism began around 1770 in England with factory inventions on mercantile capitalism’s foundations.
Mercantile capitalism featured intertwined government and economy dominated by protectionism and colonial trade wars.
insights INSIGHT
Adam Smith's Critique of Capitalism
Adam Smith critiqued mercantile capitalism and defended free trade as a cure for corruption.
He opposed government-backed monopolies like the British East India Company, warning protectionism breeds corruption.
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John Cassidy's sweeping narrative examines capitalism's evolution through the lens of its detractors, spanning from 19th-century Luddites to contemporary degrowth advocates. The book highlights both famous critics like Marx and Keynes, and lesser-known figures such as Trinidadian economist Eric Williams and Indian Gandhian economist J.C. Kumarappa, while addressing modern concerns about AI, inequality, and climate change.
The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith
Published in 1776, 'The Wealth of Nations' is Adam Smith's magnum opus that laid the groundwork for modern economics. The book critiques mercantilist economic theories and introduces the concept of the 'invisible hand,' which describes how individual self-interest leads to societal benefit. It emphasizes the division of labor, the accumulation of capital, and the importance of free markets. Smith argues that a nation's wealth is not measured by its gold and silver reserves but by the stream of goods and services it produces. The book also outlines the core functions of government, such as maintaining defense, enforcing civil law, and promoting education, while advocating for limited government intervention in market activities.
The Communist Manifesto
Friedrich Engels
Karl Marx
For a long time, Republicans and many Democrats espoused some version of free-trade economics that would have been familiar to Adam Smith. But Donald Trump breaks radically with that tradition, embracing a form of protectionism that resulted in his extremely broad and chaotic tariff proposals, which tanked markets and deepened the fear of a global recession. John Cassidy writes The New Yorker’sThe Financial Page column, and he’s been covering economics for the magazine since 1995. His new book, “Capitalism and Its Critics: A History,” takes a long view of these debates, and breaks down some of the arguments that have shaped the U.S.’s current economic reality. “Capitalism itself has put its worst face forward in the last twenty or thirty years through the growth of huge monopolies which seem completely beyond any public control or accountability,” Cassidy tells David Remnick. “And young people—they look at capitalism and the economy through the prism of environmentalism now in a way that they didn’t in our generation.”
The Political Scene | The New Yorker 
