What Went Wrong With Capitalism

A radical examination by a leading financial analyst, commentator and investor of the ills of capitalism and how they can be fixed

What went wrong with capitalism? Ruchir Sharma’s explanation is unlike any you have heard before. Progressives are partly right when they mock modern capitalism as “socialism for the rich,” but what really happened in recent decades is that government in developed nations expanded in just about every measurable dimension, from spending and regulation to the sheer scale of its rescues each time the economy wobbled. The result, Sharma says, is “socialized risk,” expensive government guarantees, for everyone―welfare for the poor, entitlements for the middle class, and bailouts for the rich.

Voters say they are disillusioned with capitalism, but a system so distorted by government interventions is a dysfunctional version of free market ideals. As a result, productivity and economic growth have slowed sharply, shrinking the pie for everyone and stoking popular anger. Since these flaws developed as the government expanded, building an even bigger state will only double down on what’s gone wrong. The answer Sharma offers is a series of seven fixes to restore the balance between state support and free markets and lay the path to a more prosperous and happier future.

About the Author

Ruchir Sharma is a global investor and a writer. He is currently a contributing opinion writer with The New York Times. His most recent book, The Rise and Fall of Nations: Forces of Change in the Post-Crisis World, was released in June 2016 and instantly became a New York Times bestseller. His 2012 book, Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles, debuted as the Number One bestseller in India, and earned Sharma the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award for 2012. Breakout Nations also made it to the Wall Street Journal hardcover business bestseller list, and was chosen by Foreign Policy as one of its "21 Books to Read in 2012".

Reviews

"Sharma stands apart because he is not ideologically driven in presenting a valuable analysis of the issues confronting capitalism. The result is a fresh and accessible contribution to the debates about our economic system that should be read and considered by all sides." —Robert Rubin, former US Secretary of the Treasury and chairman of Citigroup

"Sharma’s new book offers an important perspective on capitalism from a global strategist. This book will reshape how you think about the world and is bound to provoke people on both the left and the right." —Lawrence H. Summers, former US Secretary of the Treasury

"In his timely and consequential book, Ruchir Sharma chronicles the government bailouts, interventions, and machinations that have brought the West to this hinge point in history. His message to policymakers: Try capitalism, the real kind." —Kevin Warsh, former US Federal Reserve Board Governor

"What Went Wrong With Capitalism is a plea for government sanity, for true competition, and against crony capitalism, it is exactly the message our world needs to hear. I am not sure there will be a more correct book this year." —Tyler Cowen, the Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University and co-author of the Marginal Revolution blog

"A blunt broadside against the welfare state of finance. It will make the right kind of enemies." —James Grant, founder and editor – Grant’s Interest Rate Observer

"At a moment at which democracy and free markets are under intense challenge all over the world, we are lucky that the brilliant and incomparable Ruchir Sharma has brought us a characteristically original and provocative book that tells us how to understand the ways that capitalism is falling badly short. Everyone should read, absorb and debate Sharma’s wise arguments." —Michael Beschloss

Dimensions: 16.3 x 3.5 x 24.2 cm