Review Questions for Andrew Bernstein’s Capitalism Unbound

This set of review questions is part of the Liberty In the Books program, a monthly discussion group. These questions cover Andrew Bernstein’sCapitalism Unbound.

Reading I: Through Page 60

1. How does Bernstein distinguish today’s American economy from laissez-faire capitalism? (Page x)

2. How did American colonists oppose British economic controls prior to the revolution? (Pages 2-5)

3. In what ways did the U.S. Constitution protect individual rights? (Pages 6-8)

4. In what ways does capitalism protect economic liberty? (Pages 9-10)

5. What is statism, and what are some key historical examples? (Pages 10-14)

6. What is the relationship of “human rights” and “civil rights” to individual rights? (Pages 14-15)

7. What fantasy have enemies of capitalism promoted regarding living conditions before the Industrial Revolution? (Pages 19-20)

8. What were the actual economic conditions of pre-industrial Europe? (Pages 20-22)

9. What were the special problems regarding sanitation and house fires in pre-industrial Europe? (Pages 22-24)

10. What was Thomas Malthus’s theory of population? Under what conditions is he right, and when is he wrong? (Pages 24-26)

11. What is the relationship between intellectual freedom and material prosperity? (Pages 26-28)

12. Who are some of the heroes of the Scottish Enlightenment, and what were their accomplishments? (Pages 29-34)

13. What was the impact of the work of James Watt and Matthew Boulton in the clothing industry? (Pages 34-35)

14. What were the major industrial advances in the fields of metals, agriculture, and transportation during the early industrial era? (Pages 35-37)

15. How do people improve their material conditions, and how did the industrial revolution illustrate this? (Pages 38-41)

16. What is the connection between free minds and free markets? (Pages 41-42)

17. What were the economic impacts of the Northern Securities Company, what was the response by the federal government, and how did this response mark a turning point in American history? (Page 41)

18. What were the advances in communications, construction, technology, and transportation in 19th Century America? (Pages 44-49)

19. What were Andrew Carnegie’s achievements in transportation and steel production? (Pages 49-51)

20. What were John Rockefeller’s achievements in oil production? (Pages 51-52)

21. Were American industrialists “Robber Barons?” Why have they been described as such? (Pages 53-57)

22. Why does Bernstein write, “freedom is fundamentally freedom of the mind?” (Pages 57-59)

23. Why, in Bernstein’s view, has capitalism so often been denounced despite its profound benefits? (Pages 59-60)

Reading II: Pages 63 to 131

1. Why do so many intellectuals denounce capitalism? (Pages 63-66)

2. What is the connection between altruism and collectivism? (Pages 64-68)

3. Why does a welfare-state mixed economy dominate Europe and America? (Pages 68-70)

4. What does selfishness mean? (Pages 71-72)

5. What is a value? What is a sacrifice? (Pages 72-74)

6. How can values be objective? (Pages 74-77)

7. What is the relationship between reason and survival? (Pages 78-80)

8. Why is productiveness a virtue? (Pages 80-82)

9. Why is “cynical exploitativeness” not in one’s rational self-interests? (Pages 82-84)

10. How is rational self-interest necessary for benevolent goodwill? How does self-sacrifice undercut goodwill? (Pages 85-90)

11. How does capitalism protect one’s right to life? (Pages 91-93)

12. What is socialism? (Pages 97-98)

13. How did the West prop up socialist systems in the 20th Century? (Pages 99-100)

14. What were the results of 20th Century socialism? (Pages 98-102)

15. Does socialism allow a rationally planned economy? (Pages 103-106)

16. What is a coercive monopoly, and how do such monopolies violate individual rights? (Pages 107-110)

17. Can unions exist under capitalism? On a free market, what are unions prohibited from doing? (Pages 110-115)

18. What is the relationship between unions and employment? (Pages 110-115)

19. What are the harms of inflation? (Pages 115-116)

20. What caused and prolonged the Great Depression? (Pages 117-123)

21. What caused the modern housing bust? (Pages 123-130)