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

23 Things They Don't Tell You about Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang, economics, 286 pages.

Chang, an Economics professor at Oxford, explains many things about capitalism (it seems like more than 23, but there it is). He explains that no market is truly free, and those arguing for market freedoms are usually protecting advantages that they have already. Also, contrary to somewhat popular belief, that government controls of industry can turn out very well for everyone, and that giving the rich more money doesn't usually help anyone but the rich. He points out that when manufacturing brings in half of the GDP it used to, that this doesn't necessarily mean your production has halved. For example, if you can make computers for one-quarter the cost and now sell twice as many, you are bringing in only half as much. It's hard to do a more efficient hair cut though, so for hair-cutting and other services, as the price goes up, that sector's percentage of GDP may grow, even if you are still performing relatively the same number of services.
He makes a lot of cogent, points, and he writes well, but I still struggle to remember what he says.

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