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)