The Mystery of Capital [antikvár]

CHAPTER ONE The Five Mysteries of Capital The key problem is tofind out why that sector of society of the past, which I would not hesitate to call capitalist, should have lived as if in a bell jar, cut off from the rest; why was it not able to expand and conquer the whole of society? [Why was it that] a significant rate of capital formation was possible only in certain sectors and not in the whole market economy of the time? —Fernand Braudel, The fVheels of Commerce The hour of capitalismi greatest triumph is its hour of crisis. The fall of the Berlin Wall ended more than a Century of politicai compétition between capitalism and communism. Capitalism stands alone as the only feasible way to rationally organize a modern economy. At this moment in history, no responsible nation has a choice. As a resuit, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, Third World and former communist nations have balanced their budgets, cut subsidies, welcomed foreign investment, and dropped their tar-iff barriers. Their efforts have been repaid with bitter disappointment. From Russia to Venezuela, the past half-decade has been a time of economic suffering, tumbling incomes, anxiety, and resentment; of "starving, rioting, and looting," in the stinging words of