Escape from Capitalism - by Clara E Mattei (Paperback)

About the Book

"Capitalism isn't inevitable, isn't scientific, and isn't natural-it's a relatively young system that can be replaced. In this radical rethinking of economics, Clara Mattei argues that enduring problems such as poverty, unemployment, and inflation are not bugs in the economy but core features. They are justified with pseudoscientific models, fabrications built to support a capitalist economy that unfairly rewards people with the most resources. The tools of economic experts-budget cuts, interest rate hikes, and regressive taxes-never work as promised. Central bankers raise interest rates knowing this will cause a recession. The government slashes IRS jobs, which ends up costing trillions. Textbooks teach that unemployment must rise to fix inflation. But this model creates conditions that force people to accept crummy jobs and low pay. In the wake of World War I, when the world's economy was in turmoil, economics was elevated to a scientific discipline, legitimized through mathematical formulas and new economic institutions considered too sophisticated for the average person to understand. Today's economic institutions, from the Fed to the IMF, wield immense power over monetary policy yet are shielded from democratic scrutiny. Why should we accept a system that delegates important decisions to institutions in which we have no say? All the major problems that ail us-from a healthcare system that prioritizes profits over wellbeing to the rise of ultranationalism-are rooted in an economic system that fails to serve the common good. In this revelatory manifesto, Mattei sets out a revolutionary vision that may one day allow us to achieve true economic freedom . . . and escape from capitalism"--

Book Synopsis

Capitalism isn't inevitable, scientific, or natural--it's a relatively young system that can be replaced.

We live in a world where cuts to social programs are deemed necessary, unemployment is considered natural, and rising living costs are accepted as normal. We're told that change isn't possible--the markets know best and there's no alternative to capitalism. But what if mainstream economics itself is the problem?

In this groundbreaking manifesto, economist Clara E. Mattei shows us how the dogma that rules our economies is not only delusional but also detrimental to our societies and livelihoods and fundamentally hostile to working people. Pseudoscientific models are used to justify enduring problems such as poverty and inequality in order to support a system that unfairly rewards people who already have the most resources.

Today's economic institutions, from the Federal Reserve to the International Monetary Fund, wield immense power over monetary policy yet are shielded from democratic scrutiny. All the major problems we face--from a health care system that prioritizes profits over well-being to the rise of ultranationalism--are rooted in an economic system that fails to serve the common good.

Why should we accept this? In this urgent intervention against capitalism, Mattei shows how escaping this system begins with understanding the economy from a fundamentally different perspective. The time has come to challenge the broken economics of our modern age--to achieve true economic freedom and finally escape from capitalism.

Review Quotes

"A book for the times. Mattei takes aim at the notion that the forces which regulate market and social outcomes are socially neutral."
--Anwar Shaikh, author of Capitalism

"A brilliant and lucid exposé of how capitalism actually works, and the myths that economists have spun to hide that reality."
--William Davies, author of The Happiness Industry

"A brilliantly illuminating book that reveals how political power is encoded within the very structure of economic theory."
-- Adam Tooze, author of Crashed and Shutdown

"A compelling and insightful book on austerity that, through meticulous research and historical documentation, unveils the deep political forces behind economic decisions and offers essential tools for understanding today's world."
--Thomas Piketty, author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century

"As people struggle with the volatility and inequities of capitalism, this relevant book will spark conversation."
--Library Journal (starred review)

"Capitalism seems invincible and inevitable. It is neither. Clara Mattei's new book illustrates brilliantly its fragility and, in so doing, restores hope that everything could be different."
--Yanis Varoufakis, author of Technofeudalism

"Clara Mattei has written a powerful plaidoyer for the return of economics to what it was, and should be: an art and science for the improvement of lives of ordinary people not a seemingly non-political and technocratic instrument for the enrichment of the few."
--Branko Milanovic, author of Capitalism, Alone

"Mattei concisely and elegantly runs through common claims in capitalism's favor... Readers will come away ready for change."
--Publishers Weekly

"One of the brightest voices of a coming generation, Clara Mattei here offers an impassioned plea for new and wider economic and political horizons."
--James K. Galbraith, Professor of Government, The University of Texas at Austin

"The increasingly dysfunctional capital order we live in is neither inevitable nor permanent. Clara Mattei brilliantly shows this order was built by design and provocatively challenges us to imagine new, genuinely democratic ones in its place."
--Daniela Gabor, Professor of Economics, SOAS University of London

About the Author

Clara E. Mattei is a professor of economics at The University of Tulsa. She is the Founding President of FREE--the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation--and the author of The Capital Order, which was praised by the Financial Times as one of the ten best economics books of 2022 and has been translated into over a dozen languages.