Capitalism — I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 11 “Poverty Cannot Be Overcome from the Left by Overthrowing ‘Capitalism’”
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5 min readOct 8, 2021
I will admit, I struggled with this chapter, not because I think she is wrong but because there is a lot of nuance to the matter.
Her basic argument is the word, “capitalism,” is problematic. It does not properly characterize the Great Enrichment. Guess I need to change the title to my chapter 3 review…
So what is wrong with the term?
McCloskey says it misleads people.
…the very word “capitalism” (is) supposing that its mainspring is the accumulation of capital. The mainspring is rather new ideas for progress, which make some new, targeted accumulation profitable. (p. 95)
The word is too focused on capital accumulation rather than the mechanism that leads to the Great Enrichment.
