Prosperity without Greed

It is time to leave capitalism behind. We live in a system of economic feudalism that has nothing to do with a free market economy. The innovations we need for the solution of our truly important problems are not forthcoming. How can it be that technological developments financed by the taxpayer end up enriching private companies even if their activities violate public interests? We should reward talent and real performance and promote start-ups with good ideas. Based on a clear analysis and concrete proposals, Sahra Wagenknecht launches a discussion on new forms of ownership and sketches the outlines of an innovative and just economy.

Sahra Wagenknecht holds a Ph.D. in Economics and is a journalist and politician. Since October 2015 she has been the parliamentary leader of the party Die Linke in the German Bundestag. From 2010 to 2014 she was deputy secretary of her party, from 2004-2009 she was a Member of the European Parliament.

Contents Translator's Foreword 7 Preface 9 Part I Performance, individual responsibility and competition: the grand illusions of capitalism 1. The Rogue Economy: Is Greed a Virtue? 29 2. Rise and Decline: How Innovative is our Economy? 37 3. Dishwasher Legends, Feudal Dynasties, and the Disappearing Middle 51 3.1 Top incomes without work 51 3.2 On the futility of saving as a method of accumulating capital 59 3.3 Inherited privilege: Capital feudalism 64 3.4 Upward mobility was yesterday: the "new middle class" moves to the bottom 72 4. Robber Barons and Tycoons-Power Instead of Competition 79 4.1 Industrial oligarchs: no chances for newcomers 79 4.2 Controlled markets: market power kills innovation and quality 88 4.3 Data monsters: monopoly on the Internet 93 4.4 The visible hand of the state 106 5. Why Genuine Entrepreneurs do not need Capitalism 119 5.1 Entrepreneurs without profit 120 5.2 "Competition and capitalism are a contradiction in terms" 123 Part II Market Economy instead of Economic Feudalism: Sketch of a Modern Economic Order 6. What Makes Us Rich? 131 6.1 The social order is of our own making 131 6.2 How do ideas emerge? 141 7. How Do We Want to Live? 149 7.1 Tricky measure 149 7.2 A self-reinforcing process 158 8. Another Way is Possible: Cooperative Banks 167 8.1 Master or servant: What kind of financial industry do we need? 167 8.2 Where does money come from? 177 8.3 Money is a public good 196 9. Rethinking Property 219 9.1 Property theories since Aristotle 219 9.2 Ownership without liability: the genius of capitalism 230 9.3 Profits as a "public good" 243 9.4 Entrepreneurial freedom without neo-feudalism 247 Acknowledgements 261 Endnotes 263