Post One: Capitalism as an Emergent System

Goetzmann, William N. Money Changes Everything. Princeton University Press, 2016.

Summary: This book talks about how economic systems emerge from first principles, showing that similar economic ideas, such as capital, loans, and even stock markets, were independently invented in many different societies over history. He discusses how most economies throughout history have been fairly similar, tending towards globalism and advanced financial instruments. However, there is also mention of more deliberate and planned economies, such as Marxism and Leninism, and how those differ from the more natural and emergent system present in most countries today.

Analysis: I am researching the differences between different schools of economic thought, such as Neoclassical, Austrian, and Neokeynesian. This book does not have comparisons between different economic schools as its focus, however, I think it will be very useful anyway, as it provides a strong background in economic theories. There are many terms used in other articles I do not yet understand, and I think this economics-from-first-principles book will help me to understand.

Additionally, I think this book has a very interesting viewpoint. By positing that the current economy is, at a high level, very similar to past economic systems, Goetzmann seems to suggest that the current way of doing things is natural, emergent, and somewhat inevitable. This seems to be a very strongly neoliberal idea, but I have not gotten very far in the book yet, so my initial impression may well be incorrect. I especially haven’t read his sections on communist and collectivist economies, so its still possible Goetzmann is a full blown anarcho-primitivist. But my initial impression of the book is very neoliberal capitalist.

I am not yet sure if I will talk about collectivist economies in my paper. I am mainly interested in the differences between the capitalist schools of thought, because they are nuanced and mathematical and subtle. Capitalism vs Collectivism is a more philosophical debate. So I will probably not need Goetzmann’s chapters on communist China and Russia.