具体描述
We are all capitalists now. For the first time in human history, the globe is dominated by one economic system. In Capitalism, Alone, leading economist Branko Milanovic explains the reasons for this decisive historical shift since the days of feudalism and, later, communism. Surveying the varieties of capitalism, he asks: What are the prospects for a fairer world now that capitalism is the only game in town? His conclusions are sobering, but not fatalistic. Capitalism gets much wrong, but also much right—and it is not going anywhere. Our task is to improve it.
Milanovic argues that capitalism has triumphed because it works. It delivers prosperity and gratifies human desires for autonomy. But it comes with a moral price, pushing us to treat material success as the ultimate goal. And it offers no guarantee of stability. In the West, liberal capitalism creaks under the strains of inequality and capitalist excess. That model now fights for hearts and minds with political capitalism, exemplified by China, which many claim is more efficient, but which is more vulnerable to corruption and, when growth is slow, social unrest. As for the economic problems of the Global South, Milanovic offers a creative, if controversial, plan for large-scale migration. Looking to the future, he dismisses prophets who proclaim some single outcome to be inevitable, whether worldwide prosperity or robot-driven mass unemployment. Capitalism is a risky system. But it is a human system. Our choices, and how clearly we see them, will determine how it serves us.
作者简介
Branko Milanovic is Visiting Presidential Professor and Core Faculty at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He was formerly Lead Economist in the World Bank’s research department. His books include Global Inequality (Harvard) and The Haves and the Have-Nots: A Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality.
目录信息
读后感
用户评价
这本书最让我印象深刻的，是它对于“历史惯性”的刻画。它没有过多地去纠缠于宏大的历史事件，而是聚焦于那些已经内化为集体无意识的习惯和规则是如何一代代传递下去的。读起来就像是在翻阅一份跨越数十年的内部备忘录，里面充满了只有“圈内人”才懂的行话和心照不宣的默契。作者的语言充满了专业术语，但却巧妙地通过生活化的例子来解释，使得即便是外行也能窥见一斑。我尤其喜欢它对权力运作机制的那些微妙描绘——权力不是那种高高在上的命令，而是一种弥散在日常互动中的“默认设置”。比如，某个流程的固定化、某个决策的延迟，这些看似琐碎的摩擦，实则构成了维持现状最坚固的屏障。读完后，我感觉自己对周围世界的运转规律有了一种新的“语法”，能够辨识出那些原本被视为理所当然的现象背后的逻辑链条。
阅读体验无疑是充满挑战的，因为它要求读者具备极高的耐心和对语境的敏感度。作者的行文风格像是一位老练的辩论家，他不断地设置陷阱，引诱你做出快速判断，但总是在你即将抵达结论时，用一个出乎意料的转折将你拉回原点。我发现自己好几次因为对某个论点的解读过于草率而被作者“打脸”。这本书的结构仿佛是一张复杂的网，每个章节都是一个节点，它们之间既有张力也有互补。更令人玩味的是，作者似乎对“进步”这个概念持有一种近乎怀疑的态度，他似乎在暗示，我们习以为常的“优化”和“效率提升”，其代价往往被巧妙地隐藏在了那些不易被察觉的角落。这迫使我反思，我们评价一个社会系统的好坏时，所依赖的衡量标准是否本身就是这个系统内部塑造出来的工具。那种冷静到近乎冷酷的分析，让人在心底升起一股寒意。
坦白说，这本书的篇幅和密度让我有些喘不过气来。它不是那种可以轻松消遣的读物，更像是需要全神贯注去解密的档案。作者的论证过程极其严谨，每一个前提都似乎经过了无数次的交叉验证，让人很难找到可以轻易攻击的薄弱环节。但这种严谨带来的副作用是，有时候读起来会感觉略微有些晦涩和沉重。它更像是写给那些已经对某个领域有一定背景知识的读者看的深度报告，而不是面向大众的科普读物。尽管如此，它所展现出的对现有体系的深刻洞察力是毋庸置疑的。它成功地剥离了那些华丽的辞藻和自我赞美，直指核心的运作机制，让我们看到光鲜外表下那些难以言说的灰色地带。这是一种痛并快乐着的阅读体验：痛苦在于发现世界的复杂性远超想象，快乐则在于思想被以前所未有的方式激活和拉伸。
这本书的叙事节奏实在是让人捉摸不透，它似乎在刻意地回避主流的经济学话语，转而深入到一些非常微观的、几乎像是田野调查式的观察中去。我尤其欣赏作者那种近乎偏执的细节捕捉能力，比如对某个特定行业供应链上游的工人午餐习惯的描述，这种细节并非为了炫技，而是搭建起一个理解更宏大结构的基础。它不像那些教科书那样给你一个清晰的理论框架，反而像一幅拼图，让你自己去努力拼凑出那个“系统”究竟是如何运作的。在阅读过程中，我常常需要停下来，反复咀嚼那些看似无关紧要的场景，然后突然间，某一个画面就与其他零散的信息点连接起来，产生一种“啊哈”的顿悟感。这本书的厉害之处在于，它不是告诉你“应该”是什么样，而是让你看到“正在”发生什么，这种去道德化、纯粹描述性的笔触，反而让人感到一种更深层次的震撼。它没有提供简单的答案或廉价的安慰，留给读者的更多是需要独自消化的复杂性和挥之不去的疑问。
这本书最成功的地方，或许在于它成功地将抽象的经济理论“实体化”了。它没有停留在数据和图表的层面，而是将理论的后果投射到了具体的空间和人物身上。我感觉自己仿佛跟随作者穿梭在不同的地理位置和时间节点之间，亲眼见证了那些决策如何从董事会的会议室扩散到工厂的车间，最终影响到普通人的生活选择。作者的叙事视角非常灵活，时而宏观如卫星俯瞰，时而微观如显微镜观察，这种切换非常流畅，反而增强了整体说服力。我被书中那种对“必然性”的探讨深深吸引，即所谓的“历史的必然性”是否真的无法逃脱，还是仅仅因为我们没有找到那个打破循环的支点？这本书没有直接给出答案，但它提供的分析工具和思考的深度，足以让任何一个试图理解当代社会动力学的人获益匪浅。
First 3 chapters are excellent demonstrating authors expertise in cross country comparisons and international political economy. The remaining two chapters are just tepid and a convolution of armchair sociologist and economist. True, forecasting into the future is difficult, but the author demonstrates weak grasp on the within country inequality
After writing the definitive book on global inequality, Branko returned with a master narrative on the triumph of capitalism, in its dual manifestation -- roughly liberal meritocratic capitalism in the West, and political capitalism in the East. There is much in there that will provoke both progressives and marxists. The last chapter disappoints.
本来是为了经济学部分去看的，没想到讲中国的部分让我学到最多。历史没有改变，是理解变了。推荐。
After writing the definitive book on global inequality, Branko returned with a master narrative on the triumph of capitalism, in its dual manifestation -- roughly liberal meritocratic capitalism in the West, and political capitalism in the East. There is much in there that will provoke both progressives and marxists. The last chapter disappoints.
After writing the definitive book on global inequality, Branko returned with a master narrative on the triumph of capitalism, in its dual manifestation -- roughly liberal meritocratic capitalism in the West, and political capitalism in the East. There is much in there that will provoke both progressives and marxists. The last chapter disappoints.
