Culture and Prosperity: The Truth About Markets

Опубликовано 6 сентября 2016, 5:01

Why does one economy succeed and another fail? Can one nationΓÇÖs secret to success be exported to another? What causes markets to fuel prosperity in one country, and wreak disaster in another? Does America provide an economic model for the world, based on assertive materialism and market fundamentalism? Kay argues that this is not only not a universal prescription, but a false analysis of the US economyΓÇÖs own success. Markets work because, and only because, they are embedded in social, political and cultural institutions. Questions to ask: Why productivity is twenty times higher in Sweden than in India. And why productivity is higher in France than in America despite far longer vacations and far shorter work days. Why unrestrained greed and opportunism leads to poor countries, not rich ones. Why higher productivity doesnΓÇÖt necessarily lead to higher living standards. Why American consumption is 40 higher than the next highest country. Why the industrial revolution happened in Britain, but not in China. And why capitalism works wonderfully in America but not yet in Russia.