Capitalism

Capitalism explores this globally dominant system of wealth creation and discusses the issues of globalization and social welfare that it raises.

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Well-written, concise, and balanced summaries of two major economic systems. Both books begin with dramatic episodes and provide some historical background, but concentrate on how the systems work today in terms of their impact on individuals and on societies. Capitalism uses a slightly oversimplified account of Adam Smith's views as its definition of "free market." It doesn't shrink from presenting rising inequality and environmental damage as the free market's inevitable effects, and accurately describes the general political trends of the 20th century as capitalism affected them. The text includes plenty of comparisons with communism and presents "welfare capitalism" as an alternative to coping with capitalism's problems. The second book reveals how communist parties around the world chose economic development over spreading their ideologies, but devotes more space to political topics (e.g., the one-party state) than to economic ones. Many useful insights are found in boxed quotations, like one from Isaac Deutscher on how the communists needed idealism to gain power, then found that the requirements of holding power eroded their idealism. The writing style in both books is clear and literate, and there are plenty of color illustrations to attract interest. Bruno Leone's Capitalism (Greenhaven, 1986; o.p.) presents more detail on specific controversial questions but lacks the current information on globalization. R. G. Grant's Capitalism and Nigel Ritchie's Communism (both RSVP, 2001) are attractively packaged and compellingly written but not as up to date as Downing's books.-Jonathan Betz-Zall, City University Library, Everett, WA