The Capital Order cover art

The Capital Order

How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism

Preview

Free with 30-day trial
Prime logo New to Audible Prime Member exclusive:
2 credits with free trial
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks
Download titles to your library and listen offline
₹199 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

The Capital Order

Written by: Clara E. Mattei
Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
Free with 30-day trial

₹199 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for ₹703.00

Buy Now for ₹703.00

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

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
Economic History

What listeners say about The Capital Order

Average Customer Ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.