Capitalism and economic globalization have no shortage of critics

Cassidy’s cast includes Adam Smith, who found fault with colonialism and the slave trade, John Maynard Keynes, who highlighted the market system’s instability and lack of self-correcting mechanisms, the Hungarian scholar Karl Polanyi, who warned of the incompatibility of capitalism and democracy, and the economists Joseph Stiglitz and Dani Rodrik, who have pointed to the dangers of excessive financialization and hyperglobalization.

Some of these critics went beyond identifying flaws in the capitalist system to offering remedies. But reforms can be difficult to pull off. Fixing the capitalist system, Cassidy observes, requires not only political will but also the ability to act at the right time. This often means mobilizing a political movement in the midst of a crisis, a task that is easier said than done.