The Soul of Capitalism

In his previous bestsellers, "Who Will Tell the People" and "Secrets of the Temple," William Greider laid bare the inner workings of American politics and the Federal Reserve, revealing how they often work against the interests of the majority. Now, in "The Soul of Capitalism," Greider examines how the greatest wealth-creation engine in the history of the world is failing most of us, why it must be changed, and how intrepid pioneers are beginning to transform it.

Public outrage over crooked corporate officers, the looting of pension funds, the defrauding of stockholders, and the wholesale firing of hardworking employees has reached a new high. But Greider argues that our anger has deeper roots, as he analyzes how our relentless pursuit of unprecedented affluence has eroded family life, eaten away at our sense of personal and professional security, corroded our communities, impoverished our spiritual lives, and devastated our natural environment. The solution, he contends, will come not from activist government, the politics of the past, or more government regulation (the usual response of liberals), but from a fundamental realignment of power that, he promises, is already under way on many fronts.

"The Soul of Capitalism" shows us where to find the leverage for changing the system. Reformers appear in surprising variety, from conservative business managers to small-town civic leaders, social agitators and ecologists, labor leaders and farmers. Greider offers many up-and-running examples -- of workers becoming owners, of pension funds withdrawing their capital from polluters, of small companies learning how to operate profitably while caring for employees and the environment, of governments reforming their public works.

Brilliantly perceptive and sweeping in its ambition, "The Soul of Capitalism" is also hardheaded and practical as one of our most eloquent populist spokesmen assures us why we are not powerless. Greider illustrates how American capitalism can be aligned more faithfully and obediently with what people want and need in their lives, with what American society needs for a healthy, balanced, and humane future. He proves that it is within our power to reinvent capitalism to make it work for us.

"The Soul of Capitalism" -- solid, pragmatic, visionary, optimistic -- addresses the nation's most urgent needs.