An Introduction to Capitalism

by Swanson; Paul

• ISBN13: 9780415550925
• ISBN10: 0415550920
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-10-16
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

As we enter the second decade of the twenty first century, a new set of pressures are being brought to bear on the American economy and these are spreading in influence to affect the entire international economy itself. The boom of the Clinton and Bush years has been followed by a severe downturn, marked by sub prime loans, corporate and private debt, a low rate of savings and plummeting house prices. This book introduces the contemporary US economy in the light of these changing events and analyzes the historical factors that have led to the current state of affairs. Still a relatively youthful nation, the modern United States has largely provided an astounding economic success story. This book charts the major events of American economic history from a political economy perspective including close discussion of: The antebellum era Slavery and the impact of the Civil War Mass Industrialization The Great Depression The Post War Boom An Introduction to the US Economy will be the ideal textbook for a number of courses, including introduction to the US Economy, political economy and United States Economic History. In addition, it provides a superb overview for the intelligent layman of an ever changing topic.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. xi
List of tables	p. xv
Preface	p. xvii
Acknowledgments	p. xix
The development of the capitalist system	p. 1
Economic systems	p. 3
Capitalism	p. 4
Other economic systems	p. 10
The importance of economic systems - the Russian transition to capitalism	p. 14
The triumph of capitalism	p. 15
The rise of capitalism in the United States	p. 17
Labor in the US before 1860	p. 18
Expansion of markets before 1860	p. 24
Accumulation and the rise of capitalists	p. 26
Growth in the US economy, 1865-1914	p. 29
The industrial revolution	p. 29
The rise of big business	p. 31
Labor under monopoly capitalism	p. 34
Crises and business cycles	p. 40
Growth in the US economy	p. 42
Imperialism	p. 44
Early US expansion	p. 44
Imperialism	p. 46
Capitalism and the underdeveloped world	p. 50
The US becomes dominant	p. 54
The socialist challenge	p. 56
Socialist thought prior to Marx	p. 57
Marx on socialism	p. 61
Russia and the advent of the centrally planned economy	p. 65
Markets in a capitalist economy	p. 71
Markets	p. 73
Economic coordination	p. 74
Supply and demand	p. 77
The nature of markets	p. 87
Labor markets	p. 91
Free labor	p. 92
Labor markets	p. 94
Labor markets in capitalism	p. 109
Labor	p. 110
Markets and the existence of firms	p. 111
The organization of work	p. 112
Unions	p. 117
Labor in the United States	p. 126
Income distribution	p. 128
Profits and exploitation	p. 128
The functional distribution of income	p. 131
Personal income and wealth distribution	p. 137
Standards of living	p. 139
Income distribution	p. 140
The distribution of wealth	p. 146
Poverty	p. 151
Dimensions of poverty	p. 151
Why poverty?	p. 155
Anti-poverty policies	p. 157
Poverty in capitalism	p. 162
Public policy: Issues and institutions	p. 165
Market failure and government regulation	p. 167
The market/government relationship	p. 167
Public goods	p. 170
Externalities	p. 171
Government regulation	p. 172
Deregulation	p. 174
The economy and the environment	p. 177
Environmental degradation	p. 178
Environmental policy	p. 185
Sustainable development	p. 189
The environment under capitalism	p. 193
Measuring the economy	p. 195
Gross domestic product	p. 195
Inflation	p. 204
Real GDP	p. 207
Measures of economic welfare	p. 209
Business cycles and unemployment	p. 215
Unemployment	p. 215
Business cycles	p. 220
The theory of output and employment	p. 224
The principle of effective demand	p. 226
Say's Law	p. 228
Unemployment equilibrium	p. 229
The possibility of long-term unemployment	p. 233
Accumulation and macroeconomic instability	p. 235
Capitalist accumulation	p. 236
Macroeconomic instability	p. 239
Financial markets and speculation	p. 245
The federal government budget: Instrument of fiscal policy	p. 249
Taxation	p. 249
Government spending	p. 253
Fiscal policy	p. 254
The debt and the deficit	p. 259
Fiscal policy in times of crisis	p. 262
Money, banking, and the Federal Reserve	p. 264
Money	p. 264
The money supply in the US	p. 267
The commercial banking system	p. 268
The Federal Reserve	p. 271
Monetary policy	p. 274
International trade	p. 281
The position of the US in international trade	p. 281
Comparative advantage and free trade	p. 283
"Why free trade does not work"	p. 288
Protectionism	p. 291
Free trade in the world today	p. 294
Recent history and beyond	p. 295
The Great Depression: Time of economic crisis	p. 297
The "roaring" Twenties	p. 298
The Great Depression	p. 300
World War II and the vindication of Keynes	p. 308
The post-war economic boom	p. 311
The golden age	p. 312
The dominance of the United States	p. 315
The growth of government	p. 316
The environment	p. 319
After the golden age: The rise of free market ideology	p. 321
After the golden age	p. 322
The welfare state	p. 322
Increasing inequality	p. 324
The decline of Keynesian economics	p. 328
Deregulation	p. 330
The great recession of the twenty-first century	p. 330
Appendix	p. 337
Notes	p. 344
Bibliography	p. 354
Index	p. 362
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