Podcast!
A conversation with Sven Beckert, author of a masterpiece.
Every so often, an epic work of history lands on your desk. In my case, Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert arrived via FedEx, sent by the publicity department at Penguin Random House. The accompanying press release featured this “blurb” from Harvard Professor Amartya Sen, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics:
In this magnificent history of capitalism, Sven Beckert presents an exceptionally illuminating account of the thousand years of what he calls (correctly, I think) ‘the most impactful revolution the world has ever seen.’ Beginning with the rapid expansion of trade and capital around the port of Aden in the twelfth century, the gripping history comes all the way to our time, telling us about commerce, technology and innovations, but also about people’s lives, worries and questions. One of the striking features of this splendid book is the avoidance of Eurocentrism in telling the story of capitalism. The global history, in this case, is truly global.
Professor Sen’s assessment seems to me entirely appropriate. Mr. Beckert has indeed produced “a magnificent history of capitalism”.
In this episode of the News Items Podcast, he walks us through the four stages of capitalism, the last of which is in its late innings, to be followed by….we don’t really know. What we can be certain of, he asserts, is that capitalism will adapt and carry on.
By way of background, Sven Beckert is the Laird Bell Professor of History at Harvard University. Previous works include Empire of Cotton: A Global History, the first global history of the nineteenth century’s most important commodity. The book won the Bancroft Award, The Philip Taft Award, the Cundill Recognition for Excellence and was a finalist for (and should have won) the Pulitzer Prize.
Capitalism, A Global History was released today and is available on Amazon and all the other platforms that sell books. It’s expensive ($49) and worth every penny.
(A conversation with Sven Beckert, recorded 20 November 2025)