Capitalism XXL

Why the Global Economy Became Gigantic and How to Fix It

Geert Noels

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780228016908
• eBook ISBN:
  9780228018551
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Economics

Our world is suffering from economic gigantism. Under the current capitalist system huge companies and organizations are becoming even larger and more powerful, creating a Champions League effect that kills healthy competition, doesn't consider sustainable growth, and leaves workers feeling pressured and susceptible to burnout.

Capitalism XXL makes it clear that current rules of capitalism favour bigness in an unfair way, and that a general unease with the capitalist system is growing. The trend for bigness goes beyond businesses: schools, hospitals, libraries, and all kinds of organizations, misled by economies of scale, have consolidated. A larger entity can seem attractive for its short-term financial gains, but the results produce enormous social costs. Rather than dismantling the capitalist system in favour of neo-Marxism, Geert Noels argues, we have to instead go back to the roots of capitalism and embrace its traditional principles as written by Adam Smith in the eighteenth century.

Capitalism XXL makes the case for changing the rules in order to tame the giants and restore the individual to the world economy. Guided by history, Noels proposes an approach to capitalism that considers all human dimensions – social, ecological, and economic – and describes a sustainable future economy that will not burden the generations to come with debt, social inequality, and a natural environment that is damaged beyond repair.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 The World Economy and Capitalism Adrift: Adam Smith versus John Maynard Keynes
• 2 Gigantism?
• 3 Growth Hormones That Promote Gigantism
• 4 The Champions League Effect
• 5 Gigantism Disrupts Society
• 6 From Growth Obsession to Sustainable Growth
• 7 Smaller, Slower, and More Human
• 8 Ten Steps towards Post-Gigantism
• Conclusions
• Epilogue
• Notes
• Bibliography