Where does innovation come from, and how does it spread through a society? And why do some eras see the fruits of innovation spread more democratically, and others, including our own, see the opposite? In Capitalism in America, Alan Greenspan distils a lifetime of grappling with these questions into a master reckoning with the decisive drivers of the US economy over the course of its history. In partnership with the journalist and historian Adrian Wooldridge, he unfolds a tale spanning vast landscapes, titanic figures, triumphant breakthroughs, enlightenment ideals as well as profound moral failings. Every crucial debate is addressed - from the role of slavery in the antebellum Southern economy to the real impact of Roosevelt's New Deal and America's violent mood swings in its openness to global trade. At heart, the authors argue, America's genius has been its tolerance for the effects of creative destruction, the ceaseless churn of the old giving way to the new, driven by new people and new ideas. At a time when productivity growth has again stalled, stirring up the populist furies, and the continuation of American pre-eminence seems increasing uncertain, Capitalism in America makes for urgent reading.

Author Biography

Alan Greenspan worked as a Juilliard-trained professional musician before studying Economics at New York University, where he earned his PhD. From 1974 to 1977, he served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Gerard Ford. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed him chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, a position he held until his retirement in 2006. He is the author of the bestselling The Age of Turbulence and ofThe Map and the Territory 2.0. Adrian Wooldridge is The Economist's political editor and writes the Bagehot column. With John Micklethwait he is the author of The Fourth Revolution, The Right Nation, and God is Back.