Understanding Capitalism, Third Edition is an economics textbook offering an introduction to political economy, with extensive attention to the exercise of power in society and the historical evolution of economic institutions.

Understanding Capitalism, Third Edition is an economics textbook offering an introduction to political economy, with extensive attention to the exercise of power in society and the historical evolution of economic institutions.

The third edition of understanding Capitalism: Competition, Command, and Change is an introduction to economics that explains how capitalism works, why it sometimes does not work as well as we would like it to, and how over time it not only changes but also revolutionizes the world around us. The "three-dimensional approach" of the text focuses on competition in markets; command in firms, governments, and international relations; and change as a permanent feature of a capitalist economy driven by technical innovation and conflict over the distribution of income.

How our capitalist food system came to be -- Food, a special commodity -- Land and property -- Capitalism, food, and agriculture -- Power and privilege in the food system: gender, race and class -- Food, capitalism, crises and solutions

A lively, accessible, and timely guide to Marxist economics for those who want to understand and dismantle the world of the 1%. Economists regularly promote Capitalism as the greatest system ever to grace the planet. With the same breath, they implore us to leave the job of understanding the magical powers of the market to the “experts.” Despite the efforts of these mainstream commentators to convince us otherwise, many of us have begun to question why this system has produced such vast inequality and wanton disregard for its own environmental destruction. This book offers answers to exactly these questions on their own terms: in the form of a radical economic theory. “Thier’s urgently needed book strips away jargon to make Marx’s essential work accessible to today’s diverse mass movements.” —Sarah Leonard, contributing editor to The Nation “A great book for proletarian chain-breaking.” —Rob Larson, author of Bit Tyrants: The Political Economy of Silicon Valley “Thier unpacks the mystery of capitalist inequality with lucid and accessible prose . . . . We will need books like A People’s Guide to help us make sense of the root causes of the financial crises that shape so many of our struggles today.” —Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership “Ranging from exploitation at work to the operations of modern finance, this book takes the reader through a fine-tuned introduction to Marx’s analysis of the modern economy . . . . Thier combines theoretical explanation with contemporary examples to illuminate the inner workings of capitalism . . . . Reminds us of the urgent need for alternatives to a crisis-ridden system.” —David McNally, author of Blood and Money

Holding that mainstream economics serves to obscure actual understanding of the economy, retired economist Dowd presents seven essays that attempt to explain for a lay audience the contributions of some of strands of critical economics. Essays discuss Karl Marx, Thorstein Veblen, Gramsci, critical institutionalism, post Keynesian economics, Paul Sweezy, and Amartya Sen. Distributed by Stylus. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Why should we pay attention to the great social critics like Marx? Americans, especially now, confront serious questions and evidences that our capitalist system is in trouble. It clearly serves the 1% far, far better than what it is doing to the vast mass of the people. Marx was a social critic for whom capitalism was not the end of human history. It was just the latest phase and badly needed the transition to something better. We offer this essay now because of the power and usefulness today of Marx's criticism of the capitalist economic system. eBook: https: //bit.ly/2K6iI8v