"The Enigma of Capital" breaks down the causes of the economic recession which began in 2008. However, unlike many writers and academics, David Harvey argues that it was not necessarily sub-prime mortgages and the securitization of debt that caused the crash.
Rather, he states that the crisis has been an inevitable outcome of the new capitalist system that has arisen since the 1970s. Harvey argues that, in order to fuel our increasingly consumerist society, a new financial system was created which revolved largely around the credit - we were buying things we didn't need with money that we didn't have.
This credit-system led to the recent housing bubble because people who couldn't afford houses were buying them. When the bubble burst, so too did the financial credit system upon which our society depended.
In terms of socio-economics, I'm more right-wing. I believe the market, when used properly, will provide for its users better than any regulatory, or state-run organization could. However, I'm always open to new ideas, and its hard to argue with the evidence raised by Harvey, an intelligent and famous socio-economist, professor and author.
If you're looking for some insight into the recent crisis, and how we can prevent it from happening again, "The Enigma of Capital" will be a rewarding read.
17 comments:
"people that could not afford houses were buying them."
Well there's your problem.
AH, if only all of life's problems were that easy to simplify.
I'll wait for your Cliff Notes on the matter.
That guy has too much money to be Santa. Santa works in my hometown as a parks and rec employee.
The book sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it.
i'm not much of a reader, but this sounds interesting. i'm not a socialist
Makes sense. If only 25% of the population did it, it would be sustainable by the other 75%. But since everybody did it, nobody was there to serve as the safety net. Except of course the fed...and the wealthy...and foreign investors...
Looks more like Santa but i guess he's old and wise
sounds like a hard reading subject
santa claus!
cool blog, ill follow!
It sounds like an interesting book. Btw I lol'd at your last line of text :P
"and what economic system do YOU want for christmas?"
I love how it takes genius authors/professors to analysis the recession that has ruined millions of lives for society to realize that perhaps its better to look before you leap and attempt to live more humbly/within our means. I'd love to read this book then shove the sparknotes version down peoples throats after
It sounds like a good read, but I'm from the school of economics that says "there was more than just one factor that lead to this."
interesting post ;)
nice, ive heard of it. let us know how it is
Artificially cheap money (in part due to an "expensive oil" policy), the "democratization of credit", an utterly corrupt Congress (Dodds & Frank in particular),... the market mechanism never stood a chance.
Very interesting, keep posting things that make people think.
He does look like Santa :P
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