The manual Understanding Capitalism – Competition, Command, Change is an introduction to economics that explains how capitalism works, why it sometimes does not function as well as we would like, and how, over time, it not only changes its operation but also brings revolutionary changes to our world.
The book does not assume prior knowledge of economics. The pursuit of profit unites the three dimensions of competition, command, and change. With this central idea, competition among businesses, the quest for profit as the driving force of investments and technical change, as well as the pursuit of profit as a source of conflicts among owners, workers, governments, employers, and consumers is analyzed.
The book covers topics of supply and demand, market competition, imperfect competition, aggregate demand, and unemployment. It also deals with both the conventional economic model and the role of power in economic transactions.
It helps students develop a critical perspective of the economic and social world that surrounds them, through an interdisciplinary approach that uses many examples from history, anthropology, and other behavioral sciences as well as from economics.
