Cowen's Capitalist Manifesto

Abstract

In 1848, two obscure German philosophers, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, published a revolutionary pamphlet called “The Manifesto of the Communist Party.” The Communist Manifesto, destined to become one of the most influential works of political philosophy of all time, began with these famous words: “A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism….” Now, almost two centuries later, someone has finally chased down this seductive spectre and attempted to bottle her up for good. That someone is Tyler Cowen. In brief, Cowen has just published a kind of “Capitalist Manifesto,” one that is even more intoxicating and liberating than Marx and Engel’s original screed. Far from the source of all things evil, Cowen explains why privately-owned business firms should be praised.

Keywords: big business, corporations, corruption, CSR, ethics, theory, transaction costs

JEL Classification: B14, B31, D21, K22