Includes index.

Preliminaries. The economy and economics -- Capitalism -- Economic history -- The politics of economics. The basics of capitalism : work, tools, and profit. Work, production, and value -- Working with tools -- Companies, owners, and profit -- Workers and bosses -- Reproduction (for economists!) -- Closing the little circle. Capitalism as a system. Competition -- Investment and growth -- Employment and unemployment -- Dividing the pie -- Capitalism and the environment. The complexity of capitalism. Money and banking -- Inflation, central banks, and monetary policy -- Paper chase : stock markets, financialization, and pensions -- the conflicting personalities of government -- Spending and taxing -- Globalization -- Development (and otherwise) -- Closing the big circle -- The ups and downs of capitalism. Challenging capitalism. Evaluating capitalism -- Improving capitalism -- Replacing capitalism.