Book Reviewed: Americana: A 400-Year History of American Capitalism, by Bhu Srinivasan

The American capitalism in Global Economy

Adam Smith’s masterpiece of economic analysis, The Wealth of Nations, was symbolic in that its publication date of 1776 coincided with the Declaration of American Independence. Smith examined simple economic concepts in which that individuals are capable of setting and regulating prices for their own goods and services. He summarized capitalism in terms of common sense; as how markets move, why they move, and how variables affect the outcomes. He supported free trade and small businesses and his book provided the first integrated description of the workings of a market economy. The spirit of his work still lives on and it revolutionized the way governments and individuals view the creation and dispersion of wealth.

The author of this book does not discuss economics, but simply documents the American success from a historical perspective. Topics includes very diverse subjects like; venture, taxes, tobacco, cotton, gold, slavery, war, oil, steel unions, trusts, food, automobiles, radio, and TV to computing, startups and internet. The book takes a very simple approach at the history without discussing the economics or politics or sociological ramifications that impacted these economic factors. The book is very arbitrarily classified into four sections and various topics are jumbled together in 35 chapters. Each chapter in a section has no bearing on each other. The book does not flow smoothly as a reader would expect.

The author could have considered expanding on factors that helped capitalism to grow. For example, slavery is long regarded as an error in American history but its impact on the American economy is long forgotten. The expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American independence led to the modernization of the United States. The South grew from a narrow coastal strip of tobacco plantations to a mighty cotton producer, and then grew into a modern, industrial, and capitalist economy. Another factor that could have a made difference is the unions and workforce. The Silicon Valley Technology and Wall Street greed is thrusting upon American lives. The "sharing economy” concept of companies like Uber, Airbnb and TaskRabbit has encouraged workers to become "independent" and their own CEOs. Hiring themselves out for ever-smaller jobs and wages while the corporations benefit enormously. Increased subcontracting and consulting services by corporations also has economic consequences in the long run. Social justice is not reaching out for the average American worker. I sense hearing Elton John’s hit song, “Don't let the sun go down on me.” Let us not allow sun to go down on American capitalism.