Robert Reich Saving Capitalism Summary

In Robert Reich’s Saving Capitalism, Reich discusses and conveys his thoughts on the United States of America’s current economic condition, as well as the steps Americans must take to save the system of capitalism. Divided into three distinct sections, this book effectively takes the reader through the foundation of the United States’ economy and the problems it faces. Reich himself was the Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton and a well-known economic expert, as he shows his prowess and understanding throughout each section with vivid examples and numerous factual evidence. To effectively convey the organization of this book, each section must be discussed to the fullest in their own respect. The first part of this book, titled “The Free Market,” leads with a bold statement from Reich: there exists a meaningless debate of whether the government should be more involved or less involved in the “free market.” He explains that liberals generally want an activist or larger government while conservatives want a less involved or smaller government. However, he stresses that there can be no “free market” without government. Civilization is defined by rules; rules create markets, and the government makes those rules. He elaborates that the rules for how the free market functions have far greater impact on an economy and society than the sheer size …show more content…
He exclaims, “No customer has ever washed a rental car.” Reich explains that after industrialization, concern of physical property ownership shifted to ownership of a new type of property: shares of a corporation, specifically income. Since most important property is intellectual nowadays, the responsibility comes down to how government defines property rights and what the process of getting them entails (especially the drawn out way of receiving a