The Power of Capitalism: China’s growth is a case study in market forces February 22, 2024 Dr Rainer Zitelmann is a German historian, sociologist and author. His latest book is The Power of Capitalism. In our exclusive series, Zitelmann reveals a compelling body of evidence that capitalism and market economies have lifted billions out of poverty. Today he writes on China. For millennia, China suffered famine after famine. As recently as [...]
Why Argentine president Javier Milei’s Davos speech was such a tonic January 19, 2024 Javier Milei delivered a ringing defence of capitalism in his Davos speech this week
More billionaires, less poverty – this isn’t a zero sum game, no matter what Oxfam claim January 16, 2024 German historian, sociologist and author Rainer Zitelmann argues billionaires and poverty are not involved in a zero-sum battle
New year new me? Here’s how to set goals you’ll actually achieve December 31, 2023 New year new me? If you're looking back at those 2023 goals with trepidation, Rainer Zitelmann's here to tell you how you can actually achieve your goals
Why Britain is no friend of capitalism September 29, 2023 Britain has been a home to free marketeers for centuries. Yet the public don’t seem to want them, writes Dr Rainer Zitelmann in this guest essay for CityAM You might have thought that the home of Adam Smith, a raft of prominent economists and indeed Margaret Thatcher would have a rose-tinted view of capitalism – or [...]
Adam Smith 300: Adam Smith Institute founder Dr Eamonn Butler on how morality guided the father of economics June 19, 2023 Nobody changed the dismal science of economics quite like Adam Smith, the Scottish philosopher, author of The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and father of market economics. June marks the 300th anniversary of Smith’s baptism – nobody quite knows his actual birthday – and to mark the occasion, German historian and [...]
Adam Smith 300: Was the king of free market economics left-wing? June 16, 2023 Was Adam Smith left wing? Adam Smith is generally regarded as the father of modern capitalism. His works are cited by Milton Friedman, Friedrich August von Hayek and many other liberal and libertarian thinkers. Adam Smith, Friedman explained, “who but for the accident of having been born in the wrong century … undoubtedly have been [...]
Adam Smith 300: Nine global economists have their say on the pioneer’s importance June 16, 2023 Friday, 16 June 2023 marks the 300th anniversary of Adam Smith’s baptism. The German economic historian and sociologist Rainer Zitelmann, author of the book In Defence of Capitalism , asked free-market economists from nine countries to assess the historical significance of Adam Smith. Professor Stefan Kooths, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, IfW, Germany “What [...]
In Defence of Capitalism: Consumption is good for you and me April 19, 2023 In his 2015 encyclical “Laudato si”, a blazing indictment of capitalism, Pope Francis proclaimed: “Since the market tends to promote extreme consumerism in an effort to sell its products, people can easily get caught up in a whirlwind of needless buying and spending. Compulsive consumerism is one example of how the techno-economic paradigm affects individuals”. [...]
In defence of capitalism: Why greed can be good for consumers April 12, 2023 In the seventh of an eight-part series, sociologist and author Dr Rainer Zitelmann pulls apart the arguments against free markets. This week, he takes on the idea that capitalism uniquely creates greed and selfishness The British economist Paul Collier has put together a series of proposals on how capitalism should be ‘reformed.’ He criticizes the [...]
