From the chief economics commentator of the Financial Times, a magnificent reckoning with how and why the marriage between democracy and capitalism is coming undone, and what can be done to reverse this terrifying dynamic

Martin Wolf has long been one of the wisest voices on global economic issues. He has rarely been called an optimist, yet he has never been as worried as he is today. Liberal democracy is in recession, and authoritarianism is on the rise. The ties that ought to bind open markets to free and fair elections are threatened, even in democracy's heartlands, the United States and England.
Around the world, powerful voices argue that capitalism is better without democracy; others argue that democracy is better without capitalism. This book is a forceful rejoinder to both views. Even as it offers a deep, lucid assessment of why this marriage has grown so strained, it makes clear why a divorce of capitalism from democracy would be a calamity for the world. They need each other even if they find it hard to life together.
For all its flaws, argues Wolf, democratic capitalism remains far and away the best system for human flourishing. But something has gone seriously awry: the growth of prosperity has slowed, and the division of its fruits between the hypersuccessful few and the rest has become more unequal. The plutocrats have retreated to their bastions, where they pour scorn on government's ability to invest in the public goods needed to foster opportunity and sustainability. But the incoming flood of autocracy will rise to overwhelm them, too, in the end.
Citizenship is not just a slogan or a romantic idea; it's the only idea that can save us, Wolf argues. Nothing has ever harmonized political and economic freedom better than a shared faith in the common good.
This wise and rigorously fact-based exploration of the epic story of the dynamic between democracy and capitalism concludes with the lesson that our ideals and our interests not only should align, but must do so, for everyone's sake. Democracy itself is now at stake.

• We started tracking this book on August 29, 2022.
• This book was $15.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 10 times in the past 1,092 days.
• The current price of this book is $4.99 last checked 16 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past 90 days.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $2.99.
• The lowest price to date was $2.99 last reached on March 24, 2025.
• This book has been $2.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $15.99 last reached on August 29, 2022.
• This book has been $15.99 one time since we started tracking it.

• Business & MoneyEconomicsEconomic Policy & Development
• Business & MoneyEconomicsEconomic Conditions

• Publication Date: February 7, 2023
• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 496 Pages
• File Size: 197 KB