Understanding Capitalism provides an introduction to economics with extensive attention to the global economy, inequality, the information revolution, the exercise of power and the historical evolution of economic institutions and individual preferences. Its three dimensional approach focuses on competition in markets, command in firms, governments and international relations, and change as a permanent feature of a capitalist economy promoted by technical innovation and conflict over the distribution of income.

Table of Contents:
Preface List of Figures Sources of Economic Information PART ONE: POLITICAL ECONOMY 1. Capitalism Shakes the World The Permanent Technological Revolution The Enrichment of Material Life Growing Inequality The Population Explosion and the Growth of Cities The Changing Nature of Work The Transformation of the Family Threats to the Ecosystem New Roles for Government Globalization Conclusion 2. People, Preferences, and Society Constraints, Preferences, and Beliefs 'Economic Man' Reconsidered Human Nature and Cultural Differences The Economy Produces People Conclusion: The Cooperative Species 3. A Three-Dimensional Approach to Economics Economic Systems and Capitalism Three-Dimensional Economics Neoclassical Economics Values in Political Economy 4. Political Economy, Past and Present Adam Smith Karl Marx Joseph Schumpeter John Maynard Keynes Ronald Coase Amartya Sen 5. The Surplus Product: Conflict and Change Economic Interdependence, Production, and Reproduction The Surplus Product A Grain Model of Production and Reproduction International Exchange and the Surplus Product The Surplus Product and Conflict The Surplus Product and Change 6. Capitalism as an Economic System Class and Class Relationships Classes and Economic Systems Capitalism Capitalism, the Surplus Product, and Profits Conclusion 7. American Capitalism: Accumulation and Change Accumulation as a Source of Change Capitalism Becomes the Dominant Economic System in the United States Social Structures of Accumulation The Stages of American Capitalism American Capitalism Today: Economic Dualism American Capitalism Today: Globalism PART TWO: MICROECONOMICS 8. Supply and Demand: How Markets Work The Nature of Markets Supply and Demand Supply and Demand Interacting Shifts in Demand or Supply Conclusion 9. Competition and Coordination: The Invisible Hand Coordination Coordination by Rules and by Command The Invisible Hand The Invisible Hand in Action Problems with the Invisible Hand 10. Capitalist Production and Profits What Are Profits? Calculating the Rate of Profit The Determinants of the Profit Rate The Rate of Profit per Worker Hour The Labor Determinants of the Profit Rate Materials and Capital Goods as Profit Rate Determinants The Role of Capital Goods (Again) Conclusion: Understanding the Profit Rate 11. Competition and Concentration Competition for Profits The Forms of Competition Investing to Compete The Dynamics of Competition Toward Equal Profit Rates? Toward Economic Concentration? 12. Wages and Work Work, Sloth, and Social Organization The Capitalist Firm As a Command Economy The Conflict Between Workers and Employers Labor Discipline: Carrots and Sticks The Labor Market, the Wage, and the Intensity of Labor 13. Technology, Control, and Conflict in the Workplace The Social Organization of the Workplace Technology and the Labor Process Conflict in the Workplace Profitability Versus Efficiency Markets and Hierarchies Democratic Firms PART THREE: MACROECONOMICS 14. The Mosaic of Inequality Measuring Well-Being and Inequality Growing Inequality Wealth Inequality Unequal Chances Race and Inequality Women's Work, Women's Wages Conclusion: Explaining the Mosaic of Inequality 15. Progress and Poverty on a World Scale Poverty and Progress Productivity and Income Productivity, Incentives, and the Surplus Product Capitalism and Uneven Development Government and the Development Process Investment and Production on a World Scale Conclusion 16. Aggregate Demand, Employment, and Unemployment Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand Unemployment and Government Fiscal Policy The Business Cycle and the Built-in Stabilizers Investment, Aggregate Demand, and Monetary Policy Wages, Aggregate Demand, and Unemployment Conclusion 17. The Dilemmas of Macroeconomic Policy The High-Employment Profit Squeeze Exports, Imports and Aggregate Demand International Trade and Macroeconomic Policy Monetary and Fiscal Policy at Odds Institutions for Achieving Full Employment Conclusion 18. Inflation Two Types of Inflation Why Worry About Inflation? Conclusion 19. Government and the Economy The Rules of Government Organization The Economic Activities of the Government The Expansion of Government Economic Activity Government and the Profit Rate The Limits of Democratic Control of the Capitalist Economy PART FOUR: CONCLUSION 20. The Future of Capitalism The Limits to Growth The Weightless Economy: From Grain and Steel to Information and Ideas The New Economy Can the Invisible Hand Tame Fugitive Resources? Conclusion List of Variables Glossary Index