A People’s Guide to Capitalism

Summer introductory sessions on the political economy of capitalism

In ten weekly sessions starting June 8, we will read and discuss Hadas Thier’s A People’s Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics. This work offers a lively, accessible, and timely guide for those who want to understand, dismantle, and replace the world of the 1%. Economists regularly promote capitalism as the greatest and most efficient economic and political system ever to grace the planet. Despite the efforts of mainstream commentators to convince us otherwise, growing numbers have begun to question why this system has produced vast inequality, recurring war, and wanton disregard for the destruction of our planet. Hadas Thier’s book develops answers to these questions, grounded in  key concepts from Marx’s Capital and related works.

“A People’s Guide to Capitalism is a breath of fresh air on the left. Avoiding the obscure jargon of economics, Hadas Thier provides a rich, accessible introduction to how capitalism works. Ranging from exploitation at work to the operations of modern finance, this book takes the reader through a fine-tuned introduction to Marx’s analysis of the modern economy. Along the way, Thier combines theoretical explanation with contemporary examples to illuminate the inner workings of capitalism. In addition, A People’s Guide to Capitalism reminds us of the urgent need for alternatives to a crisis-ridden system.” —David McNally

Facilitated by Fred Murphy. Fred has led numerous MEP study groups on Marx’s Capital, political economy, ecosocialism, science and technology, history, and Latin American politics. He studied and taught historical sociology at the New School for Social Research.