The Insatiable Machine: How Capitalism Conquered the World

A concise, colorful, and convincing account of capitalism’s rise to global dominance.

Today, a vast majority of us live under the economic system called capitalism—it touches almost every aspect of our lives, and most people alive have never known another. Yet, a cursory look at the world around us reveals that things can’t stay this way forever: an economy built on infinite amassing and consumption of resources is at odds with a finite planet. How did this happen? As the economic historian ...