Capitalism: Success, Crisis, and Reform

In this Yale College course (PLSC 270), students interpret capitalism using ideas from biological evolution, treating firms and their varied strategies as analogous to organisms struggling for survival. The course focuses less on passing ultimate judgment on capitalism and more on how capitalist systems can be shaped to serve specific objectives such as environmental protection, public health, poverty alleviation, and the development of human potential. Through classic and contemporary texts and case studies, students examine the good and bad consequences of capitalism, the rise of modern corporations, financial crises, global inequality, and policy options for capitalist development.