Summary of Alan Greenspan & Adrian Wooldridge's Capitalism in America

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview:

#1 The term colony evokes images of exploitation and marginalization. However, America was extremely fortunate in that it was blessed with rich resources and a relatively liberal regime.

#2 The Constitution created America’s unique democratic society, in which the majority could not trample on people’s rights to own private property, engage in trade, and keep the fruits of their labor.

#3 America was born in the American Revolution, but was still a subsistence economy. The country’s financial system was primitive compared with the mother country’s. Americans grew their own food, spun their own cloth, made their own clothes, and most tiresomely, made their own soap and candles from vats of boiled animal fat.

#4 Americans were prisoners of climate and ignorance. They did not have up-to-date information about what was happening in the world, and it took weeks for news to travel from one region to another.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Jul 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822547506

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Insights on Alan Greenspan & Adrian Wooldridge's Capitalism in America

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The term colony evokes images of exploitation and marginalization. However, America was extremely fortunate in that it was blessed with rich resources and a relatively liberal regime.

#2

The Constitution created America’s unique democratic society, in which the majority could not trample on people’s rights to own private property, engage in trade, and keep the fruits of their labor.

#3

America was born in the American Revolution, but was still a subsistence economy. The country’s financial system was primitive compared with the mother country’s. Americans grew their own food, spun their own cloth, made their own clothes, and most tiresomely, made their own soap and candles from vats of boiled animal fat.

#4

Americans were prisoners of climate and ignorance. They did not have up-to-date information about what was happening in the world, and it took weeks for news to travel from one region to another.

#5

During the American Revolution, the government did not have the basic information about the country that it needed to make decisions. The government started collecting data on the population in 1840, and on manufacturing and agriculture in 1840.

#6

America was rich in trees, and English settlers commented on how many more trees there were than in deforested England. They saw the lineaments of civilized life in America’s mass of trees: furniture for their houses, fuel for their hearths and smithies, masts and hulls for their boats, parts for their machines.

#7

The American economy was severely damaged during the War of Independence, and it took decades to recover. The war devastated America’s fragile economy. Rival armies destroyed towns and homesteads, and British warships disrupted trade.

#8

After the war, America struggled to find its place in a changed world. The country experienced its greatest economic income slump ever, and the government lacked the ability to raise revenue in the form of taxes. Nonetheless, the American treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, put the nation’s public finances in order.

#9

America’s real GDP grew by an average of 3. 7 percent a year from 1800 to 1850. Income per head increased by 40 percent.

#10

The panic of 1819 was America’s first experience of a financial crisis in peacetime. The pattern of boom and bust cycles was set in 1837, 1857, 1873, 1884, 1893, 1896, and 1907.

#11

The American culture was extremely open and dynamic. It was reinforced by two powerful influences: Protestants valued hard work as a proof of virtue, and the Enlightenment questioned the value of hierarchy and authority.

#12

The American Dream was to have a job that allowed you to work anywhere, any time, and any day of the week. The need for labor was so great that it changed the balance of power: Americans had the option of saying Take this job and shove it.

#13

Many entrepreneurs were combined technical and commercial savvy. Deere created a national network of travelers to sell his plows, and satisfied demand by creating a national network