About the Book

What is capitalism? Most people would describe it as a free-market economy. But this description falls short. And it prevents us from tackling one of the most important questions of our time: What is wrong with capitalism, and how can we fix it?

In this trailblazing book, Jonathan McMillan provides a corrective to certain deeply held but misguided economic beliefs. Offering a novel perspective on capitalism, he exposes a fundamental flaw in our financial architecture. It becomes clear: Neither more regulation nor better technology will relieve our economic woes.

McMillan then provides what is so missing from current debates. He puts the troubles with banking into a bigger context to develop a radical yet thoughtful reform proposal. Our economic order must change, and Capitalism and the Market Economy provides the playbook to do so.

 

Tell me more about it

Capitalism is not about markets. It is about corporations. Over the past 300 years, corporations have transformed the economic order. They have not only shaped the real economy, but also changed finance.

It all began in early modern England. By combining the technique of banking with the corporate form, the Bank of England sparked a financial revolution. Corporate banking became the cornerstone of a new financial architecture—one that supported unprecedented economic growth but was also inherently fragile.

To stabilize capitalism, governments had to rescue failing banking corporations from the very start. These interventions have become increasingly heavy-handed in the digital age: Capitalism and the market economy are disintegrating. If this continues, our economic order will fall apart, and the social order will follow suit.

So what should be done? Jonathan McMillan calls for adapting the corporate form and redesigning monetary policy. He embeds the necessary changes in a tangible transition plan that aims at an all-important goal: restoring the economic foundations for a free, open, and democratic society.

 

What is the story behind?

Capitalism and the Market Economy is the second book by Jonathan McMillan, which is a collective pseudonym. You can find more about the authors here.

The first book by McMillan, The End of Banking, was published in 2014 and has been translated into eight languages. For more information, please visit www.endofbanking.org.

 

Table of Contents

Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations
Introduction

Part I: The Making of Today’s Economic Order
1. Setting the Stage
2. The Age of Corporate Banking
3. The Central Bank that Shouldn’t Be

Part II: Toward a Better Economic Order
4. The Old Ways Are No Longer Working
5. Transitioning to a Better Financial Architecture
6. The Case against Corporate Banking
7. New Monetary Policy for a New Economic Order
8. Restoring a Liberal International Order

Concluding Remarks
References
Index
About the Authors