CAPITALISM IN AMERICA A History

Ray Porter is an outstanding choice to narrate this economic history. His voice lends authority, and his energetic delivery suits the subject well. For this is an audiobook with a most singular idea of what and who have shaped our economic history. The authors' admiring portraits of the giants of industry--Rockefeller, Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan, a trio more often denigrated as robber barons--informs the story. The principle that structures the action here is "creative destruction," the ever forward movement that pushes capitalism. Part paean to rugged individualism, part scold of the previous era of stagnation, this audiobook, while slanted, delivers a primer on how American capitalism prevailed. The authors are evenhanded, dismissing both the tariff-loving Trump and the redistribution notions of Bernie Sanders. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2018]