23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism

I spent a few happy and productive hours in the Library of the RSA in London yesterday before staying over to listen to development economics expert Ha-Joon Chang from the University of Cambridge. He was speaking about his new book “23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism” in a presentation presided over by Larry Elliott from the Guardian. The book is definitely on my must read list for September - in it Chang tries to destory some of the myths and prejudices that have come to dominate our understanding of how the world works.

It was an interesting talk and follow up discussion and it has encouraged me to ask my students to explore the different genres of capitalism in an early assignment at the start of our new school year. One of Chang’s “myths” is that there is no such thing as a free market. He argues that, rather like beauty, the freedom of the market is in the eyes of the beholder and the definition of what a free market is and where the boundaries of the market can lie must be political in nature.

He had some challenging things to say about concepts of justice, corporate governance and the significance of a new generation of “floating” shareholders in the world economy - these are shareholders with more or less unlimited freedom to move their money where they want and who seek maximum short term returns rather than supporting investment, training and research and development - a short-termism which often risks the long term future of businesses. Ford makes more money from its financing arm than from making cars.

I will blog about his book when I have had time to read it.

A lovely footnote. The RSA opened again yesterday for the start of a wonderful series of talks in a great building, it promises to be an autumn programme rich in interest and value. And on the first day of a new term, I was delighted to chat to two sixth form students fresh from their own first day back at their respective schools (Heathlands School in Hounslow and Langley Grammar School). Both students are deeply interested in development economics - one is bidding for a place to read PPE , his companion is aiming high too - for Economics and Management at Oxford. It was a delight to see two students sufficiently committed to make the journey into central London last night, a perfect way to add depth and variety to their UCAS personal statements in a few weeks time.