What Went Wrong with Capitalism, Ruchir Sharma
What Went Wrong with Capitalism, Ruchir Sharma
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What Went Wrong with Capitalism

Author: Ruchir Sharma

Narrator: Fajer Al-Kaisi

Unabridged: 9 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/11/2024


Synopsis

Named a Best Book of 2024 by The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times

An “eye-opening” (The New York Times), “absolutely fascinating” (Fareed Zakaria, CNN host and commentator) look at a how a century of expanding government has distorted financial markets, stoked massive inequality, and soaked America in debt.

Capitalism didn’t fail, it was ruined…

What went wrong with capitalism? Ruchir Sharma’s account is not like any you will have heard before. He says progressives are right, in part, when they mock modern capitalism as “socialism for the rich.” For a century, governments have expanded in just about every measurable dimension, from spending to regulation and the scale of financial rescues when the economy wobbles. The result is expensive state guarantees for everyone—bailouts for the rich, entitlements for the middle class, welfare for the poor.

Taking you back to the 19th century, Sharma shows how completely the reflexes of government have changed: from hands-off to hands-on, from doing too little to help anyone in hard times to today trying to prevent anyone suffering any economic pain, ever. Trading sins of omission and indifference for excesses of spending and meddling, governments from the United States to Europe and Japan have pumped so much money into their economies that financial markets can no longer invest all that capital efficiently.

Inadvertently, they have fueled the rise of monopolies, “zombie” firms, and billionaires. They have made capitalism less fair and less efficient, which is slowing economic growth and fueling popular anger. The first step to a cure is a correct diagnosis of the problem. Capitalism has been badly distorted by constant government intervention and the relentless spread of a bailout culture. Building an even bigger state will only double down on what ruined capitalism in the first place.

What Went Wrong with Capitalism is a “superbly written” (The Wall Street Journal), “fresh and accessible” (Robert Rubin, former Secretary of the Treasury and chairman of Citigroup) look at the issues confronting our capitalistic society and will ultimately reshape how you think about world.

About Ruchir Sharma

Ruchir Sharma is chairman of Rockefeller International and founder and chief investment officer of Breakout Capital, an investment firm focused on emerging markets. He moved to Rockefeller in 2022 after a twenty-five-year career at Morgan Stanley, where he was head of emerging markets and chief global strategist. Based in New York, he is a contributing editor at the Financial Times and a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times. His work has also appeared in The Wall Street JournalForeign AffairsThe AtlanticThe Guardian, and Foreign Policy. He is the author of four books, the international bestseller Breakout Nations, the New York Times bestseller The Rise and Fall of NationsDemocracy on the Road, and The 10 Rules of Successful Nations.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Gauri on July 26, 2024

Thought provoking and scary - all that is wrong with our world today . Governments and debt . For anyone who has grown up in socialist India , a truly scary spectacle is unfolding as the world deals with growing government control of economies . Highlights of the book - 1. India and China has similar......more

Goodreads review by Jeff on January 26, 2025

This reviewer expected a bit of a left wing polemical rant, but instead was surprised to find a centrist, balanced, very insightful book about the condition of US/Western economics. The economic era since 1980 has witnessed the systemic expansion of government at all levels, much of it promulgated b......more

Goodreads review by Luciano on December 04, 2024

Sharma is much better at spotting opportunities in emerging markets than at ranting against crony capitalism. Zingales & Rajan are much more eloquent about that.......more

Goodreads review by Kate on April 17, 2025

This was a very well written book and I learned from it. It was easy to read and made sense even to someone who doesn't know a lot about finance. It was an interesting book and I'm glad I read it. However I really disagreed with Sharma's thesis. You should read it yourself but he basically says that......more

Goodreads review by Venky on December 10, 2024

nightmare and a lawyer’s absolute paradise! This sorry state spans both sides of the Atlantic. The European Union is grappling with its own maze of convoluted regulatory regimes which undergo inexplicable iterations at a speed that is absolutely impossible to keep pace with, let alone comply. An obse......more