23 things they don't tell you about capitalism

What Hacker News says

1. DraikenDec 2025
   A bad system is still bad even if something else is worse.

   > That system allocated resources to various monopolies who were too big to fail.

   Like our banks today? Like OpenAI is trying to sell themselves as so the US government bails them out when they inevitably can't pay off their debts? Like all the other monopolies that are too big to fail?

   I can't see the difference.

   > turns out allocating capital based on who can make things that people want/need to buy, and do it with a profit, multiplies said capital way faster.

   That assumes the stock market does that. It simply doesn't and history is proof. It's also a fact that free market capitalism has consistently done worse than before based on actual numbers.

   I highly suggest you read 23 things they don't tell you about capitalism. It goes into a lot more detail and helps you understand things in a broader perspective.

   If we want to improve our world we need to move past the faults of the current capitalist system and the soviet union. We need better incentives. Profit has proven to be too disconnected from actual value.

   [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/23_Things_They_Don%27t_Tell_Yo...

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2. cambalacheMar 2021
   Same as mine operators employing kids in 19th century England, or current Chinese companies with their fucked 9-9-6 system.

   Ha-Joon Chang's 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism should be mandatory reading for any person commenting online about the modern economic system.

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3. cambalacheFeb 2021
   Buy a cheap, used macro/micro book (Krugman or similar)

   Buy and read,23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism, by Ha-Joon Chang. All his books are recommended for a reasonable criticism of mainstream economics.

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4. ClumsyPilotMay 2020
   Most of what common people hear of economics is just partisan political talking points. May i reccomend "23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism" - its written by a real economist.
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5. sideshowbApr 2020
   For a longer term read I'd recommend Hill & Myatt, the Economics Anti Textbook. It's a fair introduction to Economics 101 but at the same time provides more in depth critique than an introductory book usually would, of where Economics 101 fails, and how it tends to get over-applied in policy.

   Ha Joon Chang, Economics: the Users Guide and 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism (don't dismiss it as an anti-capitalist treatise, it's not) are also good, lighter weight (unlike Hill & Myatt no maths) but give an overview of the different schools of economics and what can be drawn from each.

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6. frgtpsswrdlameMay 2017
   >But a systemic problem demands a systemic explanation. Austrians give us monetary policy. Keynesians give us greed.

   Keynesians give regulation. If you're unwilling to consider the ideas of someone who believes that capitalism is reckless, that greed does cause financial crises and that regulation is an answer, then why are you asking for a book recommendation? You should also note that I believe in regulated markets not socialism or communism. There are a million shades of gray here.

   >I need a better explanation than hand wringing and worship of Piketty.

   Have you read Piketty?

   I'm going to recommend two books which should be a gentle introduction to my viewpoint:

   23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang

   Economism: Bad Economics and the Rise of Inequality by James Kwak

   EDIT: I'd also note that one of the things that frustrates me most is to see the politicization of economics. The misuse of economic terminology to advocate a specific political viewpoint is exactly what mises and similar institutions engage in and it leads to a group of the public who believes that they're educated in economics when they're actually just inculcated to a political worldview. If you read those books and still disagree, that's fine but just think about whether it's an intelligent disagreement. I've run into so many individuals who know Friedman, Hayek, Mises, Rothbard, maybe Hoppe and no one else. People who explain to me all about how supply and demand lead to market clearing but don't know a single model other than "the free market model" (actually the perfectly competitive model) and definitely don't know its assumptions. People who have never read an empirical/econometric study of economics that did not come with an easy synopsis from a blog they read(and agree with). These people do not know economics, they know politics.

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