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Why Not Capitalism? First Edition

by Jason Brennan (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 112 ratings

Most economists believe capitalism is a compromise with selfish human nature. As Adam Smith put it, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." Capitalism works better than socialism, according to this thinking, only because we are not kind and generous enough to make socialism work. If we were saints, we would be socialists.

In Why Not Capitalism?, Jason Brennan attacks this widely held belief, arguing that capitalism would remain the best system even if we were morally perfect. Even in an ideal world, private property and free markets would be the best way to promote mutual cooperation, social justice, harmony, and prosperity. Socialists seek to capture the moral high ground by showing that ideal socialism is morally superior to realistic capitalism. But, Brennan responds, ideal capitalism is superior to ideal socialism, and so capitalism beats socialism at every level.

Clearly, engagingly, and at times provocatively written, Why Not Capitalism? will cause readers of all political persuasions to re-evaluate where they stand vis-à-vis economic priorities and systems―as they exist now and as they might be improved in the future.

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  1. ISBN-10
    9780415732970
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0415732970
  3. Edition
    First Edition
  4. Publication date
    July 10, 2014
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    5.08 x 0.28 x 7.8 inches
  7. Print length
    120 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Are you interested in capitalism as a path to your personal utopia? This stirring moral defense of a free society is the place to start."

―Tyler Cowen, George Mason University

"In forceful strokes, Jason Brennan attacks the work of the late G.A. Cohen's defense of socialism and neatly shows why and how it is not the best of all systems even in the best of all possible worlds, let alone the highly imperfect world in which we live. His combination of accessible prose with technical precision is a model of good writing on political theory that should enable this book to reach the wider audience it deserves."

―Richard Epstein, New York University School of Law



"Are you interested in capitalism as a path to your personal utopia? This stirring moral defense of a free society is the place to start."

―Tyler Cowen, George Mason University

"In forceful strokes, Jason Brennan attacks the work of the late G.A. Cohen's defense of socialism and neatly shows why and how it is not the best of all systems even in the best of all possible worlds, let alone the highly imperfect world in which we live. His combination of accessible prose with technical precision is a model of good writing on political theory that should enable this book to reach the wider audience it deserves."

―Richard Epstein, New York University School of Law

"Gone is the false triumphalism of the 1990s. The question of how to organize society, and the ideological conflict between market systems and socialist systems, is live. Brennan offers in this brief volume a fully realized and compelling answer to Jerry Cohen's rightly celebrated book Why Not Socialism? Many of the responses to socialist advocacy dismiss command economies as impractical or impossible. But Brennan grants Cohen his premises, and carries out the argument in a way that faithfully mirrors the logic that Cohen tried to marshall in his defense of socialism. Brennan offers an unflinching defense of capitalism, and does it with style and humor. His writing is at once accessible to the first-time philosopher and yet persuasive to the denizens of the ivory towers. This book will be on the reading list for every class I teach."

―Michael Munger, Director of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Duke University

About the Author

Jason Brennan is Assistant Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at Georgetown University. He is the author of Compulsory Voting: For and Against, with Lisa Hill, Libertarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know, The Ethics of Voting, and A Brief History of Liberty, with David Schmidtz.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0415732972
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 10, 2014
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 120 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780415732970
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0415732970
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 0.28 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 112 ratings

About the author

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Jason Brennan

Jason Brennan

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Jason Brennan (Ph.D., 2007) is Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at the McDonough School of Business, and by courtesy, Professor of Philosophy, at Georgetown University. He specializes in issues at the intersection of politics, philosophy, and economics.

He is the author of ten books, including Cracks in the Ivory Tower: The Bad Business of Higher Ed (Oxford 2019), with Phil Magness; When All Else Fails: The Ethics of Resistance to State Injustice (Princeton 2018); In Defense of Openness: Why Global Freedom is the Humane Solution to Global Poverty (Oxford 2018), with Bas van der Vossen; Against Democracy (Princeton 2016); and Markets without Limits (Routledge 2016). He is currently writing, with Chris Surprenant, Injustice for All: How Financial Incentives Created America's Dysfunctional Criminal Justice System and How to Fix It, for Routledge Press.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
112 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book thought-provoking and easy to understand. They agree that capitalism is the best system and argue that it is more moral than socialism.

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Thought provokingClarityCapitalism
11 customers mention "Thought provoking"11 positive0 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking and amazing, with one customer noting its clear and well-written content.

"...This is both an informative and entertaining read." Read more

"...This book has given me ammo to combat those who do not. Concise and to the point, I enjoyed it immensely...." Read more

"This is an exceptional book. Its clear, precise,easy to undertanad and overall thought provoking book about the moral superiority of capitalism." Read more

"...This particular book has good first and last chapters that basically summarize the now standard arguments for capitalism and provides standard..." Read more

6 customers mention "Clarity"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to understand and concise.

"...This book has given me ammo to combat those who do not. Concise and to the point, I enjoyed it immensely...." Read more

"This is an exceptional book. Its clear, precise,easy to undertanad and overall thought provoking book about the moral superiority of capitalism." Read more

"...he took a famous book written by a communist and followed the same tactic and written style. He shows a huge logical flaw in the Communist work too...." Read more

"I wish more people read this. It is concise and clear." Read more

4 customers mention "Capitalism"4 positive0 negative

Customers have a positive view of capitalism in the book, with several noting that it is the best system and more moral than socialism.

"...; this is one of the few books to make the case that capitalism is more moral than socialism. This is both an informative and entertaining read." Read more

"Capitalism is the best system-- I already believed it. This book has given me ammo to combat those who do not...." Read more

"...for those of us that know capitalism is morally and consequentially superior to socialism." Read more

"Great moral argument for capitalism" Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Frank J. Lhota
    5.0 out of 5 stars The Moral Case for Free Markets
    Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Many have made the practical case for capitalism; this is one of the few books to make the case that capitalism is more moral than socialism. This is both an informative and entertaining read.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Trent Goldsmith
    4.0 out of 5 stars Capitalism Rocks!
    Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Capitalism is the best system-- I already believed it. This book has given me ammo to combat those who do not. Concise and to the point, I enjoyed it immensely. The only complaint is that it is priced a bit high for the amount of information. But that information is wonderfully written.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars easy to undertanad and overall thought provoking book about the ...
    Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2018
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This is an exceptional book. Its clear, precise,easy to undertanad and overall thought provoking book about the moral superiority of capitalism.
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  • Vladimir Antimonov
    3.0 out of 5 stars Classical arguments for capitalism in a concise form, but attacks a straw man
    Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I love short books. If it keeps you interested for at least the first few dozen pages before becoming less engaging, you can still finish it rather quickly, praise yourself for reading another full book and not feel guilty about wasting too much time on parts that you found less impressive.

    This particular book has good first and last chapters that basically summarize the now standard arguments for capitalism and provides standard rebuttals against standard socialist critiques of capitalism. However, the two middle chapters of the book, which address one particular argument for socialism advanced by G.A. Cohen in his book “Why not socialism?”, goes a bit haywire.

    Cohen knew and admitted that no real socialist economy had been superior to capitalism in terms of the average plight of the masses. In his book, for which the current Brennan’s book purports to be a rebuttal, he asks a reasonable question: given that we clearly prefer to have a socialist type of the division of labor when we picnic with other people, is there something in principle impossible in organizing the whole economy around the same collective principles that we on occasion enjoy so much, or we have simply not figured out how to do it the right way?

    Cohen gives us reasons why we should conclude that it is the latter. I think there are clearly more persuasive reasons to conclude the former, with some of the punchier reasons coming from evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology. But instead of addressing this Cohen’s real question - how can we be so sure that socialist economy is doomed in principle given how well it works on smaller scale and shorter time - Brennan first creates a straw man and then surely slays it with one easy blow.

    The straw man that Brennan makes he calls “Cohen’s fallacy: comparing ideal to real”. This exact wording was used half a century before by Milton Friedman in the conclusion of his book “Capitalism and freedom”, where he showed that what American socialists at that time were doing was just that. However, Cohen is clearly not comparing the real to the ideal. He asks us whether what really, actually works on a small scale during a short period of time must invariably fail on a larger scale and timeframe. This is a very different question.

    Brennan then understandably proceeds with attacking his straw man by comparing idyllic capitalist society with the worst socialism that has ever existed, to illustrate how unfair and inconclusive it is to compare the real with the ideal. But he does not answer Cohen’s real question, despite the fact that since Cohen wrote his book there are so even more reasons to accept that, save for future brain surgery techniques, socialism is in principle not the ideal arrangement for our species. “Great theory, wrong species”, as biologist/myrmecologist E.O.Wilson once concluded.

    Cohen’s question and thinking is actually in line with Karl Popper’s approach to getting new knowledge, and with a more recent world view that we are still in the very beginning of the infinite progress (advocated by David Deutsch in his book “The beginning of infinity”) and thus certain things that have not worked with previous technologies may very well be achieved with more advanced ones.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Shirley
    5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful
    Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2014
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This book is amazing. It made me think about what has value in life. Best line, "If Cohen [Why Not Socialism?] has given us a portrait of utopia, Nozick [capitalist utopia] has given us an art gallery." Brennan makes this debate--over a serious, heady topic--clear and accessible to a general audience.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Paul Wood
    5.0 out of 5 stars Capitalists have an argument against communism and perfect world.
    Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2014
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Jason Brennan has a great start to the rebuttal of Communism is better than Capitalism in a perfect society. I really want a longer book at some point and it is a great start. All Capitalists anywhere can use this book to help their own arguments. I also really liked that he took a famous book written by a communist and followed the same tactic and written style. He shows a huge logical flaw in the Communist work too. I can't wait for another book or longer book expanding on his idea.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • James T. Humphrey II
    4.0 out of 5 stars Capitalism is the moral high ground
    Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    This short book tips over the common idea that socialism is the utopian ideal. Indeed, the author convincingly shows that capitalism is actually the utopian ideal-- and why we should prefer it over socialism, even in an ideal world where there exists no injustice.

    Unfortunately many critics (and even proponents!) of capitalism assume it is less than an ideal system, but that is only because they compare an ideal socialist society to the imperfections of capitalism as fleshed out in the real world. Thus, critics of capitalism aren't comparing like with like, they are comparing apples to oranges.

    The author ultimately does this by drilling down to the essence of what capitalism and socialism ultimately is: an issue of who should own what.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Nkw
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
    Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I just read Brennan's "Why Not Capitalism?" for my class at Harvard. He does a great job explaining the common fallacy of comparing ideal socialism with real-world capitalism. He highlights that we should instead compare ideal socialism with ideal capitalism and real-world socialism with real-world capitalism. Capitalism wins in both cases, per Brennen.
    5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Richard D.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on March 23, 2017
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Social justice warriors beware.
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  • Harry Dowling
    5.0 out of 5 stars If only socialists would read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 7, 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    A step by step demolition of socialism's arguments and its claim to moral superiority, and a convincing case why capitalism is the sole viable candidate for a human utopia.
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  • Marc GOETZMANN
    3.0 out of 5 stars A nice read, but limited
    Reviewed in France on January 16, 2018
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I enjoyed reading that book to prepare a course I am teaching in political philosophy and liberalism. The criticism of Cohen is interesting, though sometimes too ironical (even though I guess this is deliberate, and that the book is not meant to be a serious treatise). More funny and analytical examples (in the way Sandel does it for instance) would have been of a very good use for teachers like me, to support capitalism and liberalism. More references to other works could have been good too.
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  • Matt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on November 17, 2014
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    A great read, regardless of whether or not you favour capitalism.
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  • Frederik Handberg
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    The best book I have read so far! I really enjoyed it.
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    Frederik Handberg
    5.0 out of 5 stars
    Amazing book!

    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2020
    The best book I have read so far! I really enjoyed it.
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