Research Catalog

Title

The enigma of capital : and the crises of capitalism / David Harvey.

Author

Harvey, David, 1935-

Publication

New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

viii, 296 p. : ill.; 25 cm.

Summary

""Elegant...Harvey's analysis is interesting not only for the breadth of his scholarship but his recognition of the system's strengths... It is also entertainingly swashbuckling in its dismissal of all Wall Street's claims to be adding to general prosperity."---Financial Times" ""Harvey excels at a revealing and constructive analysis of global capitalism... The narrative delineates with admirable clarity the arcane details of the current financial crisis, while rehearsing the rise of capitalism as a historically specific p̀rocess' plagued by fundamental dilemmas."---Publishers Weekly" ""A welcome addition to the literature on the crisis. It provides a lucid and penetrating account of how the power of capital shapes our world."---Andrew Gamble, The Independent" ""Brisk and persuasive...Looking at the United States, it is hard to see anything as benign as the New Deal coming out of the present situation. If it does, it will probably owe a good deal to David Harvey's students."---Alan Ryan, The Literary Review" "Ever Since the Financial crisis erupted in September 2008, a crisis of confidence has gripped the economic mind. Experts of all stripes, from Alan Greenspan on down, were at a loss to explain what had happened." "A legendary scholar and critic of capitalism, David Harvey has been warning of such problems for decades. Now, in The Enigma of Capital, he provides a sweeping and brilliantly clear explanation of how the disaster happened and how we might avoid another like it. Unlike other commentators, Harvey does not focus on subprime loans or mortgage securitization as the root cause of the calamity. Instead, he concentrates on the basic workings of capitalism itself, a system that has shaped Western society for three centuries. And it is the heart of capitalism---the flow of money through society---that is primarily responsible for the current crisis." "Harvey shows how falling profit margins in the 1970s generated a deep transformation. With government assistance, capital was freed to flow across borders. Production moved to cheaper labor markets, depressing workers' incomes in the West. But this created a new problem---how could workers afford to buy the goods which fueled the now-global economy? To solve this problem, a new kind of finance capitalism arose, pouring rivers of credit to increasingly strapped consumers. The credit fueled a historic real estate boom, but when the bubble burst, so did this financial edifice---an edifice that had come to dominate our economy." "We cannot afford to simply shore up this financial system, Harvey writes; we need to undertake a radical overhaul that takes our economy in a new direction---one that is fairer, more just, and truly sustainable."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

• Capitalism
• Capitalism > Philosophy

Note

• "Published in the United Kingdom in 2010 by Profile Books Ltd."--T.p. verso.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-267) and index.

Contents

1. The Disruption -- 2. Capital Assembled -- 3. Capital Goes to Work -- 4. Capital Goes to Market -- 5. Capital Evolves -- 6. The Geography of It All -- 7. Creative Destruction on the Land -- 8. What is to be Done? And Who is Going to Do It?

ISBN

• 9780199758715 (hbk.)
• 0199758719 (hbk.)

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries