170. The 23 Things They Don't Tell you About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang. A Book Review

This week let’s chat about a great book by Ha-Joon Chang, it’s called 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism. The book is easy to read, even if you don’t have a background in economics, or even if you’re a little suspicious of the field.

ICYMI another episode you might enjoy:

Episode#118 Maybe banks don’t have to suck: an intro to CDFIs

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Transcript

Welcome to Progressive Pockets! I go by GG, that’s short for Genet Gimja. This is a show about our money and the power that it might have to create the type of world we want to live in. A question I get from listeners of this show from time to time is “what should I be reading?” And so I’m back today with another book recommendation.

I want to share a fascinating book called 23 Things They Don't Tell you About Capitalism which was written by an economist Ha-Joon Chang. I’ll have a link to it in the show notes for this episode.

If I had to sum up the premise of this book in one sentence it would be:

The way we’re doing capitalism is causing more pain than it has to, and that’s because we’re being fed some lies about capitalism.

What I like most about this book is that he goes through some assumptions that you hear all the time, or maybe assumptions isn’t the right word. The things about our economy that we accept as being natural or the way that capitalism has to work. The awful aspects of capitalism that a lot of us are resigned to, as being just the way that things are.

Ha-Joon Chang goes through a lot of these aspects of capitalism and questions them. Do things really have to be the way they are? Are there some adjustments that we could decide to make as a society that would improve things for all?

He wrote this book in 2010 and you won’t be surprised that he talks about how the 2008 financial crisis was an example of the problems with the way we’re doing capitalism now. This book is encouraging us to take a more balanced approach to economic growth. 

I’m not going to go through the 23 points that he makes in the book, but I’ll give you a sampling (confirm these with the actual text).

Here’s a favorite one from the text:

Making the Rich Richer Does Not Make the Rest of Us Richer: This challenges the trickle-down economics theory, suggesting that wealth does not necessarily trickle down to benefit everyone

Free-Market Policies Rarely Make Poor Countries Rich: This point critiques the idea that free-market policies are universally beneficial for economic development

The US Does Not Have the Highest Living Standard in the World: This point questions common perceptions about economic success and living standards.

What Is Good for General Motors Is Not Necessarily Good for the United States: This point questions the alignment of corporate interests with national interests

Equality of Opportunity May Not Be Fair: This suggests that equal opportunities do not necessarily lead to fair outcomes due to existing inequalities

Those are just a sampling, but there are so many other great, thought provoking chapters. Like the one on how managers are overpaid in America. 

About a year after this book came out he wrote a new postscript for the book and he’s lamenting that we really didn’t change the policies that caused the 2008 market crash and there’s a paragraph that felt like it could have been written today. He says:

“Puzzlingly, many of the people who suffer most under free-market policies support these approaches, because they have come to believe that small governments, fiscal rectitude, business freedom, and self help are the foundations of a dynamic economy and a decent society. Such is the power of free market ideology that people vote for politicians who do things to hurt them, often electing leaders who are even more committed to free market ideology than those that ruled before the crisis.”

Overall, I would say this is a surprisingly readable book. I personally find economics as a field to be boring and I think a part of that is because I always get caught up with the assumptions the whole field is based on. But this book is readable. He doesn’t use a lot of academic terminology. He relates everything to real life examples that allow us to use our common sense to understand his ideas. 

There’s a fun thing at the beginning of the book. He lists 7 ways to read the book. For example, if you aren’t even sure what capitalism is, read these certain chapters. If you think politics is a waste of time, read these other chapters. Here’s my favorite, if you think some people are richer than others because they are more capable, better educated and more enterprising, read these other chapters. If you think the world is an unfair place, but there is nothing much you can do about it, read these other chapters.

This is the professor I wish I had in school. His ideas are grounded in data and a concern about the wellbeing of people. His ideas are serious but he seems to still bring a light touch, is that what I want to say? He takes his work seriously but it’s not heavy. It’s accessible. You won’t feel depressed after reading a chapter. If you’ve already read this book, I’d love to hear from you, you can email any time at progressive pockets at gmail dot com. I really enjoyed this book and I think I will be rereading and rereading it because the ideas are big and interesting and I think I read it too fast the first time. I think I want to read it again but let some of the unlearning really sink in.

I have set up a shelf at bookshop dot org. If you aren’t familiar with Bookshop.org it is an alternative to Amazon, books are usually the same price as you’ll find on Amazon, but your purchase supports an independent bookstore. It is incredibly easy to order from their website. And I know that book recommendations are always popular on this show, so I have been working on building out a shelf where you can read books that you might like if you like this show. There is an affiliate program so I will get pennies when you buy from this link. It will be in the show notes.

Anyway, this book had been on my list for years and I’m sorry it took me so long to read it. If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

So to recap, here’s what we covered today: we talked about a book by Ha-Joon Chang called 23 Things They Don’t Tell you about Capitalism. It is so good, I highly recommend it. The book is about free market capitalism- the type of capitalism we’re doing now- and some of the lies we’ve been fed about it. This is a book you can read in pieces, over time, pick up a chapter here and there, they’re not long, and the ideas are fascinating. This is the kind of book that you’ll find yourself asking people you know if they’ve read it too. It’s just so interesting.

If you have more time today, here’s another episode to check out, that’s episode 118 Maybe banks don’t have to suck: an intro to CDFIs. 

Before you head out, please leave a review for the show. It helps people decide if they’re going to listen to the show. The more that people listen to the show, the more resources free up for the show, which keeps it going.

Let’s end with a quote…

You can't talk your way out of a problem you behaved your way into Stephen Covey

Let’s talk again soon!