Beyond Marx and the Market: Outcomes of a Century of Economic Experimentation

This book presents an unbiased assessment of the respective merits and demerits of the variety of capitalist and socialist economic systems as they have existed in the 20th century. In non-technical language, the author provides a lucid overview of capitalism, social democracy, Marxism-Leninism and their different variations, placing each into its historical context. The author does not inundate the reader with facts, but rather helps the reader explore contrasting arguments at the more fundamental level of philosophical issues and ideology. The books aims to clarify thinking about appropriate economic institutions at a time when the Soviet socialist model has been discredited and yet the capitalist model has failed to overcome poverty, economic marginalization, resource depletion and ecological deterioration.