Greed. Inequality. Environmental harm. These are the charges often leveled against capitalism. But what do the facts actually say? For more than two centuries, capitalism has raised living standards, increased life expectancy, and expanded personal freedom on a global scale
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The Stanford Emerging Tech Review 2025
Dear Friend,
Greed. Inequality. Environmental harm. These are the charges often leveled against capitalism.
But what do the facts actually say?
For more than two centuries, capitalism has raised living standards, increased life expectancy, and expanded personal freedom on a global scale. It has powered innovation and lifted billions out of poverty. Yet those achievements are often overshadowed by persistent myths that tell a very different story.
When such myths go unchallenged, they do more than distort debate. They influence policy—sometimes in ways that slow growth, limit opportunity, and undermine liberty.
The newest ebook from the Hoover Institution, Nine Myths about Capitalism, addresses these misconceptions directly. It explains why these myths endure, what the evidence actually shows, and how a clearer understanding of capitalism points to growth, opportunity, and freedom.
Greg Stamps | Online Development
Hoover Institution | Stanford University
With its eminent scholars and world-renowned Library and Archives, the Hoover Institution is a non-partisan, data-driven policy research organization that seeks to improve the human condition by advancing ideas that promote economic prosperity, national security, and democratic governance. Over more than one hundred years, Hoover’s work has directly led to policies that have produced greater freedom, democracy, and opportunity in the United States and around the world.
Hoover Institution, 434 Galvez Mall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
