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A few days back, a close friend of mine suggested writing a book. It was to be titled ‘Good Capitalism:Bad Capitalism’. Reluctantly, I applauded the idea and was gung-ho about expressing my 2 cents. My last few months of glossing over the Wall Street Journal, discussing with my fellow MBA students, and an enthusiastic spirit gave me the confidence that I can discuss and write about Capitalism. When I came back home later that evening, I started going through (in my mind) what I understood about this unique all pervasive concept that is the foundation of the current world economy. My brain froze!

Then there was a program on CNBC – “Meeting of the minds: The Future of Capitalism” that I enjoyed watching. The program featured an impressive array of panelists (go here for details) and the discussion surrounded the current economic misery, and the role of business and government in its bailout. But I was still unclear of the frameworks surrounding capitalism to make an informed assessment of their comments. I could just rely on my common sense and my own knowledge.

Then I picked up this book by James Fulcher – Capitalism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) – to brush up my basics. And it delivered.

The book traces the origins of capitalism right from the trading days of East India Company. It discusses the presence of feudalism, its slow transformation into socialism, and finally its metamorphosis into capitalism. Once there, James does a great job of dissecting the facets of capitalism and the various forces that defines its nature – politics, business, labor unions, markets, currency, and others. He does this by comparing three distinct forms of capitalism – Swedish, British, and Japanese. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle start falling together.

In the last chapter, he discusses the various crises that have fallen upon/by capitalism. Per him, crisis is a by-product of this system and cannot be avoided. Thanks to the ever volatile consumer demand, never ending profit increasing, and the human nature in general. Economics 101 – Every person will act in order to maximize his/her profit.

This book is very lucidly written and I would suggest all to give this book a try and keep it in your book shelf, if possible. I cannot say that I am a master of this subject, but it has nevertheless built a foundation for me to develop my knowledge and make informed opinions about the events happening around me.