Capitalism
Competition, Conflict, Crises
Competition and conflict are intrinsic features of modern societies, inequality is persistent, and booms and busts are recurrent outcomes throughout capitalist history. State intervention modifies modified these patterns but does not abolish them. My book is an attempt to show that one can explain these and many other observed patterns as results of intrinsic forces that shape and channel outcomes. Social and institutional factors play an important role, but at the same time, the factors are themselves limited by the dominant forces arising from "gain-seeking" behavior, of which the profit motive is the most important.
BUY HERE | For discount use codes ASFLYQ6 (US) / AAFLY7 (ROW)
There are also translations available in Chinese, Turkish, and Spanish.
A considerably abridged version of Capitalism: Competition, Conflict, Crises (Oxford University Press 2016) is currently in progress.
A disclaimer: this book is not meant to be cherry picked from "like a salad bar," it is intended to be a work of systematic theory. Please appraise this work as a whole, and not by evaluating a single chapter outside of the general framework of the full book.
WINNER OF THE 2021 YICAI-JPMORGAN FINANCIAL BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE
REVIEWS AND COMMENTARY
"An amazing feat. Anwar Shaikh's Capitalism covers exchange, production, costs, competition, money, macro-dynamics, profit, wages and trade, with theory, history and evidence complete. Deeply erudite and beautifully written, it is at once a stunning renovation of classical and Keynesian economics and a relentless demolition of sophistries. A book to savor and to teach; there hasn't one like it for 150 years."
-- James K. Galbraith
Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin,
Author of The End of Normal and of Inequality: What Everyone Needs to Know
"Anwar Shaikh has always been an independent, free spirit. He has great economic intuition and technical skills. He has absorbed the literature of classical political economy, Marx's writings, modern economic theory, and applied work. He also is well versed in philosophy and in historical writings. His mentors include Smith, Ricardo, Marx, Keynes, Sraffa, Joan Robinson, Kalecki, Goodwin, Godley, Pasinetti and Taylor. All these influences and more come together in Capitalism: Competition, Conflict, Crises, his magnum opus.
In an extraordinary blend of original theory and careful empirical work, we have possibly the most comprehensive structure since Marx's Capital, within which to understand and analyse the many inter-related processes that constitute modern advanced capitalism. His book provides both deep understanding, and a platform on which to erect appropriate policies, with which to tackle the revealed malfunctionings and undesirable social outcomes. It would not be Shaikh's fault if others do not take up the challenge."
-- G. C. Harcourt
Widely published Post-Keynesian Economist and winner of the Veblen-Commons Award,
Reader in the History of Economic Theory, Emeritus, University of Cambridge and Visiting Professorial Fellow, School of Economics, UNSW Australia
"Anwar Shaikh's magnum opus is one of the most important works of political economy to have come out in a generation. In a time when economics is becoming ever more recondite and otherworldly, Shaikh shows that an economic theory based on real abstractions is not only necessary, but also possible. This is a work of lasting importance, not just for economists, but for anyone interested in how capitalism works."
--Vivek Chibber
Professor of Sociology, New York University, author of Confronting Capital and The Class Matrix
"This book is a remarkable achievement, and there is a great deal to be learned from it."
--John E. King in The Economic and Labour Relations Review
Professor Emeritus at La Trobe University, Australia, author of The Alternative Austrian Economics: A Brief History and A History of Marxian Economics Vol. I & II, Editor of the History of Economics Review,
"Anwar Shaikh's Capitalism offers the prospect of an intellectual renewal more comprehensive than any so far attempted. Both the range and the depth of his book, covering in detail mainstream and heterodox, micro- and macroeconomics, are without parallel in contemporary literature."
--New Left Review
"Capitalism is a book for economists and brave activists who want to get a bigger grip on the underlying processes of capitalism...those readers who stick to the task will be rewarded with new insights into the capitalist process and insightful critiques of mainstream and heterodox arguments."
--International Socialism
"[Capitalism] is different, it's not political, it's written for economics scholars and explores the fundamental categories on which neoclassical economics is built, that is; 'rational' consumers, U-shaped supply curves, flat demand functions and the fiction of an equilibrium at which marginal-utility equals marginal-cost. The author's scalpel eviscerates every one of these categories from the inside that is from within economic discourse and using empirical economic data. This book will resonate for a long time."
--Kumar David
Colombo Telegraph
"This new book by Anwar Shaikh is a veritable tour de force from a unique economist who skillfully links deep insights from classical economic theory with cutting edge ideas in econophysics and economic complexity to penetratingly deal with issues from microeconomic competition through macroeconomic dynamics and turbulence."
--J. Barkley Rosser, Jr., Professor of Economics and Kirby L. Cramer, Jr. Professor of Business Administration, James Madison University
Capitalism
Competition, Conflict, Crises
Competition and conflict are intrinsic features of modern societies, inequality is persistent, and booms and busts are recurrent outcomes throughout capitalist history. State intervention modifies modified these patterns but does not abolish them. My book is an attempt to show that one can explain these and many other observed patterns as results of intrinsic forces that shape and channel outcomes. Social and institutional factors play an important role, but at the same time, the factors are themselves limited by the dominant forces arising from "gain-seeking" behavior, of which the profit motive is the most important.
BUY HERE | For discount use codes ASFLYQ6 (US) / AAFLY7 (ROW)
There are also translations available in Chinese, Turkish, and Spanish.
A disclaimer: this book is not meant to be cherry picked from "like a salad bar," it is intended to be a work of systematic theory. Please appraise this work as a whole, and not by evaluating a single chapter outside of the general framework of the full book.
A considerably abridged version of Capitalism: Competition, Conflict, Crises (Oxford University Press 2016) is currently in progress.
A disclaimer: this book is not meant to be cherry picked from "like a salad bar," it is intended to be a work of systematic theory. Please appraise this work as a whole, and not by evaluating a single chapter outside of the general framework of the full book.
WINNER OF THE 2021 YICAI-JPMORGAN FINANCIAL BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE
REVIEWS AND COMMENTARY
"An amazing feat. Anwar Shaikh's Capitalism covers exchange, production, costs, competition, money, macro-dynamics, profit, wages and trade, with theory, history and evidence complete. Deeply erudite and beautifully written, it is at once a stunning renovation of classical and Keynesian economics and a relentless demolition of sophistries. A book to savor and to teach; there hasn't one like it for 150 years."
-- James K. Galbraith
Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin,
Author of The End of Normal and of Inequality: What Everyone Needs to Know
"Anwar Shaikh has always been an independent, free spirit. He has great economic intuition and technical skills. He has absorbed the literature of classical political economy, Marx's writings, modern economic theory, and applied work. He also is well versed in philosophy and in historical writings. His mentors include Smith, Ricardo, Marx, Keynes, Sraffa, Joan Robinson, Kalecki, Goodwin, Godley, Pasinetti and Taylor. All these influences and more come together in Capitalism: Competition, Conflict, Crises, his magnum opus.
In an extraordinary blend of original theory and careful empirical work, we have possibly the most comprehensive structure since Marx's Capital, within which to understand and analyse the many inter-related processes that constitute modern advanced capitalism. His book provides both deep understanding, and a platform on which to erect appropriate policies, with which to tackle the revealed malfunctionings and undesirable social outcomes. It would not be Shaikh's fault if others do not take up the challenge."
-- G. C. Harcourt
Widely published Post-Keynesian Economist and winner of the Veblen-Commons Award,
Reader in the History of Economic Theory, Emeritus, University of Cambridge and Visiting Professorial Fellow, School of Economics, UNSW Australia
"Anwar Shaikh's magnum opus is one of the most important works of political economy to have come out in a generation. In a time when economics is becoming ever more recondite and otherworldly, Shaikh shows that an economic theory based on real abstractions is not only necessary, but also possible. This is a work of lasting importance, not just for economists, but for anyone interested in how capitalism works."
--Vivek Chibber
Professor of Sociology, New York University, author of Confronting Capital and The Class Matrix
"This book is a remarkable achievement, and there is a great deal to be learned from it."
--John E. King in The Economic and Labour Relations Review
Professor Emeritus at La Trobe University, Australia, author of The Alternative Austrian Economics: A Brief History and A History of Marxian Economics Vol. I & II, Editor of the History of Economics Review,
"Anwar Shaikh's Capitalism offers the prospect of an intellectual renewal more comprehensive than any so far attempted. Both the range and the depth of his book, covering in detail mainstream and heterodox, micro- and macroeconomics, are without parallel in contemporary literature."
--New Left Review
"Capitalism is a book for economists and brave activists who want to get a bigger grip on the underlying processes of capitalism...those readers who stick to the task will be rewarded with new insights into the capitalist process and insightful critiques of mainstream and heterodox arguments."
--International Socialism
"[Capitalism] is different, it's not political, it's written for economics scholars and explores the fundamental categories on which neoclassical economics is built, that is; 'rational' consumers, U-shaped supply curves, flat demand functions and the fiction of an equilibrium at which marginal-utility equals marginal-cost. The author's scalpel eviscerates every one of these categories from the inside that is from within economic discourse and using empirical economic data. This book will resonate for a long time."
--Kumar David
Colombo Telegraph
"This new book by Anwar Shaikh is a veritable tour de force from a unique economist who skillfully links deep insights from classical economic theory with cutting edge ideas in econophysics and economic complexity to penetratingly deal with issues from microeconomic competition through macroeconomic dynamics and turbulence."
--J. Barkley Rosser, Jr., Professor of Economics and Kirby L. Cramer, Jr. Professor of Business Administration, James Madison University