Prosperity without Greed

Translator's ForewordSahra Wagenknecht is a prominent figure on Germany's political stage. Since 2009 she has been a member of the federal parliament and the party leadership of Die Linke. She appears regularly on public affairs talk shows and is frequently in the news. She is one of Germany's intellectually strongest and economically most knowledgeable politicians. While these are not the only, or even main, characteristics of a successful politician, they are all too rare in the country's political class.Like Chancellor Angela Merkel, Wagenknecht grew up in the former GDR (East Germany). She became politically active just prior to the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. She is in the leadership of Die Linke, currently an opposition party in the German Bundestag with a feminist and socialist orientation. Wagenknecht may well earn a place in the German government, if not after the next elections in the fall of 2017, then at some future time.Prosperity without Greed is in equal parts political analysis and reform program. It explains in clear and jargon-free terms how today's capitalist economy really works, demonstrating how it runs afoul not only of basic ideas of social justice, but of the principles of a free market economy itself. She shows how today's dominant financial sector functions and how "the one percent" end up with most of society's wealth, for which they do not have to work.Most importantly, Wagenknecht sketches a vision of an alternative economy, a more genuine market economy without the dominance of private capitalists. While private wealth can still be earned in firms in which the owner remains personally liable, the ownership system of private shareholding, which she characterizes as "neo-feudalism", will be largely replaced by enterprises that are "self-owned"-employee-owned and common-good companies. Wagenknecht's brand of socialism has significant elements of "market radicalism", though clearly not of the neoliberal type which uses market ideology

ContentsTranslator's Foreword 7Preface 9Part IPerformance, individual responsibility and competition: the grand illusions of capitalism1. The Rogue Economy: Is Greed a Virtue? 292. Rise and Decline: How Innovative is our Economy? 373. Dishwasher Legends, Feudal Dynasties, and the Disappearing Middle 513.1 Top incomes without work 513.2 On the futility of saving as a method of accumulating capital 593.3 Inherited privilege: Capital feudalism 643.4 Upward mobility was yesterday: the "new middle class" moves to the bottom 724. Robber Barons and Tycoons-Power Instead of Competition 794.1 Industrial oligarchs: no chances for newcomers 794.2 Controlled markets: market power kills innovation and quality 884.3 Data monsters: monopoly on the Internet 934.4 The visible hand of the state 1065. Why Genuine Entrepreneurs do not need Capitalism 1195.1 Entrepreneurs without profit 1205.2 "Competition and capitalism are a contradiction in terms" 123Part IIMarket Economy instead of Economic Feudalism: Sketch of a Modern Economic Order6. What Makes Us Rich? 1316.1 The social order is of our own making 1316.2 How do ideas emerge? 1417. How Do We Want to Live? 1497.1 Tricky measure 1497.2 A self-reinforcing process 1588. Another Way is Possible: Cooperative Banks 1678.1 Master or servant: What kind of financial industry do we need? 1678.2 Where does money come from? 1778.3 Money is a public good 1969. Rethinking Property 2199.1 Property theories since Aristotle 2199.2 Ownership without liability: the genius of capitalism 2309.3 Profits as a "public good" 2439.4 Entrepreneurial freedom without neo-feudalism 247Acknowledgements 261Endnotes 263

Sahra Wagenknecht holds a Ph.D. in Economics and is a journalist and politician. Since October 2015 she has been the parliamentary leader of the party Die Linke in the German Bundestag. From 2010 to 2014 she was deputy secretary of her party, from 2004-2009 she was a Member of the European Parliament.