On Capitalism and Inequality

Professor Ayres holds a PhD in Mathematical Physics from Kings College, University of London, a MSc in Physics from the University of Maryland and a BA, BSc from the University of Chicago. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Economics and Political Science and of Technology and Operations Management at INSEAD, the international graduate business school.He joined INSEAD in 1992, becoming the first Novartis Chair of Management and the Environment, as well as the founder of CMER, Center for the Management of Environmental Resources. He directed CMER from 1992-2000. Since retirement he has been a visiting professor at Chalmers Institute of Technology in Sweden (where he was also a King's Professor) and Institute Scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, He remains active, producing publications on topics ranging from Industrial Metabolisms and Industrial Ecology, through Environmental Policy and Environmental Economics, to Energy. Professor Ayres is the author or coauthor of 21 books, most recently including The Economic Growth Engine (2009, with Benjamin Warr), Crossing the Energy Divide (2009, with Edward Ayres) and The Bubble Economy (2014).

• Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Before Capitalism.- Chapter 3. The Protestant Reformation and the Rise of “Economic Man”.- Chapter 4. The Age of Enlightenment: 1585-1789.- Chapter 5. Money as Wealth.- Chapter 6. Money as a Medium of Exchange.- Chapter 7. Credit and Banking.- Chapter 8. Money as Gold.- Chapter 9. Money as Printed Paper.- Chapter 10. Capitalism vs. Socialism: A Conflict of Ideas.- Chapter 11. A Conflict of Ideas—continued.- Chapter 12. The Rise of Corporate Capitalism and its Champions.- Chapter 13. A Brief History of Financial Booms and Bubbles.- Chapter 14. The rise and fall of bill-broking and the central bank as Lender of Last Resort (LLR).- Chapter 15. Bubbles and Panics since 1920.- Chapter 16. Economic Cycles, in Principle.- Chapter 17. Globalization and the Decline of the Labor Movement.- Chapter 18. Mechanisms for Privatizing Profits and Socializing Losses.- Chapter 19. Leverage: How the Rich Keep getting Richer.- Chapter 20. Is capitalism per se Responsible for Lifting Billions of People out of Poverty? Or is it Responsible for Increasing Inequality?.- Chapter 21. Fixing Capitalism: Is it Time for UBI?.