ECON 330 WORKERS AND THE ECONOMY ASSIGNMRNT 4 BOOK REVIEW ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY.
BookReview of Capitalism by Paul
Bowles
In his book Capitalism the author Paul Bowles provides the reader with a comprehensive
analysis and view point of Capitalism from two different perspectives, one staunchly for and one
against.
Bowles starts by stating how capitalism, even after being the most dominant and enduring
economic system, is still not widely understood. To provide the reader with greater clarity on
what capitalism is he urges and guides the reader to view capitalism from three different
perspectives: abstractly, normatively and historically. Earlier on in the book Bowles also dispels
what can be viewed as a common misconception, that capitalism has always been the same
through out its history as we see it today.
The first portion of the book is devoted to explaining what capitalism is. One of the main points
that Bowles discusses in dept, which is asserted by the proponents of capitalism as being
fundamental characteristics of capitalism, is that it is natural and gives rise to freedom. Bowles
uses the viewpoint of Adam Smith in the narrative and explains how capitalism through the free
market system conforms to the natural inclination of human beings to wanting to enter an
exchange. Any system that tries to control or purge this natural and spontaneous human
characteristic common to all individuals can only than be oppressive, authoritative and bound
to fail. If our natural inclination is supressed than it is a violation of our human freedom.
Bowles also elaborates on the how capitalism has changed in a very short span of time. He does
so by walking the reader through the transformative changes in the early days of capitalism