The Books Briefing: Money, Money, Money
Capitalism, the German sociologist Jens Beckert argues, is based on fantasy: People (and institutions) spend, save, and earn money in hopes of achieving an imagined life. But the future of capitalism and the financial market—and the ability to achieve that fantasy—is shrouded in uncertainty. So how does one understand it? Through literature, as Beckert suggests.
Sally Rooney’s sophomore novel, embeds politics into a love story about two people of different socioeconomic statuses, demonstrating “how relationships can function like miniature states,” as the critic Annalisa Quinn writes. In Marie Kondo’s best-selling which has been adapted into , the physical and emotional effects of consumer culture are revealed for KonMari converts—but, as one writer notes,
