The Capital Order

How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism

By: Clara E. Mattei

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

For more than a century, governments facing financial crisis have resorted to the economic policies of austerity—cuts to wages, fiscal spending, and public benefits—as a path to solvency. Today, an important question remains: What if solvency was never the goal?

In The Capital Order, political economist Clara E. Mattei explores the intellectual origins of austerity to uncover its originating motives: the protection of capital—and indeed capitalism—in times of social upheaval from below.

Mattei traces modern austerity to its origins in interwar Britain and Italy, revealing how the threat of working-class power in the years after World War I animated a set of top-down economic policies. Where these policies "succeeded," relatively speaking, was in their enrichment of certain parties who accumulated power and capital at the expense of labor. Here, Mattei argues, is where the true value of austerity can be observed: its insulation of entrenched privilege and its elimination of all alternatives to capitalism.

Drawing on newly uncovered archival material, The Capital Order offers a damning account of the rise of austerity—and of modern economics—at the levers of contemporary political power.

©2022 The University of Chicago (P)2023 Tantor

Must listen to. Essential.

Possibly the most important book on Economics written in the last 116 years. Historical facts described in a new paradigm from a PHD in economics whose primary sources came from the Central Banks and National Libraries of England and Italy, and that reveal that austerity is a fundamental and intrinsic part of Capitalism.

Depth of research

I found the work to be an excellent listen for those interested in a deep, scholarly study of economic history and policy.

Insightful

A great listen with plenty of detail. Almost too much detail. Performance is great. Content is eye opening

Boring natation, dry content

While this isn't a particularly exciting topic, for me, this book is dull dull dull. Hardcopies economists only.