Tuesday, December 16, 2025 | 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Capitalism has long been understood as a driving force behind the biggest political, economic and social dislocations of our time. But in this sweeping, kaleidoscopic history of the economic system that has shaped our world, the Pulitzer Prize finalist John Cassidy adopts a bold new approach: he examines global capitalism through the eyes of its critics.
From the English Luddites, who rebelled against early factory automation, to communists in Germany and Russia in the early 20th century, Latin American dependistas, the international Wages for Housework campaign of the 1970s and the modern degrowth movement, Capitalism and Its Critics traverses the globe. It visits with familiar names―Smith, Carlyle, Marx, Luxemburg, Keynes, Polanyi―but also focuses on many lesser-known figures, including William Thompson, the Irish proto-socialist whose work influenced Marx; Flora Tristan, the French proponent of a universal labor union; John Hobson, the original theorist of imperialism; J.C. Kumarappa, the Indian exponent of Gandhian economics; Eric Williams, the Trinidadian author of a famous thesis on slavery and capitalism; and Joan Robinson, the Cambridge economist and critic of the Cold War.
Blending rich biography, panoramic history and lively exploration of economic theories, Capitalism and Its Critics tells an expansive story that illuminates the deep roots of many of the most urgent issues we face today, from widening inequality and the ecological crisis to technological transformation and resurgent authoritarian politics.
About the Speaker
John Cassidy is a journalist at The New Yorker and a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. In addition to Capitalism and Its Critics, he is the author of How Markets Fail and Dot.con: How America Lost Its Mind and Money in the Internet Era and lives in New York City.
This program is free, but advance registration is required. Registered guests will receive the link prior to the program. The first 100 guests will receive a FREE electronic copy of the book, courtesy of the Fordham Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis.
