*A Financial Times and Wall Street Journal Book of the Year* 'My book of the year' Alex
Bastani Novara Media Tom Keene Bloomberg 'Brilliant ... deeply arresting' Lewis Goodall
The News Agents Podcast A radical examination by a leading financial analyst commentator and
investor of the ills of capitalism and how they can be fixed What went wrong with capitalism?
Ruchir Sharma's explanation is unlike any you have heard before. Progressives are partly right
when they mock modern capitalism as "socialism for the rich " but what really happened in
recent decades is that government in developed nations expanded in just about every measurable
dimension from spending and regulation to the sheer scale of its rescues each time the economy
wobbled. The result Sharma says is "socialized risk " expensive government guarantees for
everyone-welfare for the poor entitlements for the middle class and bailouts for the rich.
Voters say they are disillusioned with capitalism but a system so distorted by government
interventions is a dysfunctional version of free market ideals. As a result productivity and
economic growth have slowed sharply shrinking the pie for everyone and stoking popular anger.
Since these flaws developed as the government expanded building an even bigger state will only
double down on what's gone wrong. The answer Sharma offers is a series of seven fixes to
restore the balance between state support and free markets and lay the path to a more
prosperous and happier future.
