This book offers the first systematic exposition and critique of the major approaches to
periodizing capitalism bringing to bear both deep rooted theoretical questions and meticulous
empirical analysis to grapple with the seismic economic changes capitalism has experienced over
the past 150 years. Westra asks why ¿ despite the anarchic and crises tendencies captured in
radical analyses ¿ capitalism manages to reload in a structured stage that realizes a period of
relatively stable accumulation. He further evaluates arguments over the economic forces
bringing stages of capitalist development to a crashing end.Particular attention in the
periodization literature is devoted to examining the economy of the post World War II golden
age and what followed its unceremonious demise. The final chapters assess whether what is
variously dubbed neoliberalism globalization or financialization can be understood as a stage
of capitalism or rather an era of capitalist disintegration and extinction.
