Includes bibliographical references and index.

Before there was economics, there was political economy, an interdisciplinary adventure boldly and critically seeking to understand capitalism. Over time, the social sciences evolved into specific disciplines-economics, sociology, political science-that less often questioned capitalist perspectives and the state. This accessible and hopeful book is a call to everyone-citizen, student, public intellectual-to revive the critical edge and ask if capitalism provides a society that promotes the well-being, indeed the survival, of humanity. It contrasts three traditions-neoclassicism, Keynesianism, and neo-Marxism-tracing the historical development of each and evaluating whether it views capitalism as the root cause of or the solution to the pressing problems now facing humanity, including war, poverty, racial and sexual inequality, and environmental crisis.