Cultures of Capitalism in the United States

Harvard FAS

Capitalism is an inheritance of the United States. Its promises—resource abundance, private ownership, economic autonomy—are at the heart of what is now called the American Dream. Celebrants and detractors alike have viewed both capitalism and the US as dynamic, always oriented toward the promise of a better future. But Americans of all sorts have long sought to tame capitalism: to shelter themselves from its risks, to limit the power of its titans, to fight its manifest inequities. This…