53 minutes / Color
Release: 2015
Copyright: 2014
The CAPITALISM series consists of six (6) episodes on three (3) DVDs that are packaged and sold together as one unit.
Adam Smith published two books in his life. The Wealth of Nations is a global bestseller that has never been out of print, while The Theory of Moral Sentiments is largely forgotten.
This episode of CAPITALISM argues that disconnecting Smith the economist from Smith the moral philosopher has led to tragic distortions that have profoundly shaped our global economic system.
Divided into easy-to-use sections on the division of labor, self-interest, and the tyranny of control, THE WEALTH OF NATIONS: A NEW GOSPEL lays bare the moral dilemma at the heart of The Wealth of Nations: the human cost of achieving a purely efficient free market system.
This episode convincingly argues that the intellectual foundations of current market economics are largely based on a misinterpretation of Smith's words. It argues that Smith did not favour a completely unregulated free market - in fact, he thought it would be disastrous - and that the underpinnings of contemporary capitalism lie instead in an ideology born in the 19th century, that privileges greed over other equally deep-seated human drives.
Featuring interviews with Noam Chomsky, economist Ha-Joon Chang, and Smith biographer Nicholas Phillipson, among others - as well as archival footage of free market luminaries such as Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman. View the complete list of storytellers.
Six-part series. How much do we understand about how capitalism originated, and what makes it work?
Ilan Ziv | 2015 | 318 minutes | Color | English | Closed Captioned
Capitalism is much more complex than the vision Adam Smith laid out in The Wealth of Nations. Indeed, it predates Smith by centuries and took root in the practices of colonialism and the slave trade.
Ilan Ziv | 2015 | 53 minutes | Color | English
The roots of today's global trade agreements lie in the work of stockbroker David Ricardo and demographer Thomas Malthus. Together, they would restructure society in the image of the market.
Ilan Ziv | 2015 | 53 minutes | Color | English
Have we gotten Marx wrong by focusing on the Communist Manifesto instead of on his critique of how capitalism works - a critique that is relevant and as penetrating as ever?
Ilan Ziv | 2015 | 53 minutes | Color | English
The ideological divide between the philosophies of John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek has dominated economics for nearly a century. Is it time for the pendulum to swing back to Keynes? Or do we need a whole new approach that goes beyond this dualism?
Ilan Ziv | 2015 | 53 minutes | Color | English
An exploration of the life and work of Karl Polanyi, who sought to reintegrate society and economy. Could the commodification of labour and money ultimately be as disastrous as floods, drought and earthquakes?
Ilan Ziv | 2015 | 53 minutes | Color | English
Information on all the main speakers, academic consultants, and additional interviewees featured in Capitalism.
Ilan Ziv | 2015 | 320 minutes | Color | English
