Capitalism: A six-part series
6 Episodes
Capitalism has been the engine of unprecedented economic growth and social transformation. With the fall of the communist states and the triumph of "neo- liberalism," capitalism is by far the world's dominant ideology. But how much do we understand about how it originated, and what makes it work?
CAPITALISM is an ambitious and accessible six-part documentary series that looks at both the history of ideas and the social forces that have shaped the capitalist world.
Blending interviews with some of the world's great historians, economists, anthropologists, and social critics (view the complete list of participants), with on-the-ground footage shot in twenty-two countries, CAPITALISM questions the myth of the unfettered free market, explores the nature of debt and commodities, and retraces some of the great economic debates of the last 200 years.
"I'm both captivated and persuaded by the discourse... Demystifies both key economic theories and their selective evolutions and perversions into marketing slogans and other deceptive catchphrases, each chapter has a cleansing and clarifying effect." —Cinema Scope
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Adam Smith, The Birth of the Free Market
Episode 1
Directed by Ilan Ziv • Documentary • 2014 • 53 minutes
'The magical circle of investment and conquest... begins with the discovery of the Americas. This is the engine of two wheels: the wheel of scientific discoveries and the wheel of capitalist economy. Credit, investment, profits. More credit,...
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53:31Episode 2The Wealth of Nations: A New Gospel?
Episode 2
Directed by Ilan Ziv • Documentary • 2014 • 53 minutes
Adam Smith published two books in his life. The Wealth of Nations is a global bestseller that has never been out of print, while The Theory of Moral Sentiments is largely forgotten.
This episode of CAPITALISM argues that disconnecting Smit...
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Ricardo and Malthus: Did You Say Freedom?
Episode 3
Directed by Ilan Ziv • Documentary • 2014 • 53 minutes
'To see weeds grow where we used to build things that were in every General Motors vehicle is just terrible.' - Art Reyes, electrician and former GM employee, Flint, Michigan
In Flint, Michigan, a weed-strewn lot is all that's left of a fa...
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53:30Episode 4What If Marx Was Right?
Episode 4
Directed by Ilan Ziv • Documentary • 2014 • 53 minutes
'Paradoxically, we can't really learn that much about socialism or communism or the future from Marx. We can learn a great deal about how capital works.' - Marx historian David Harvey
When the communist systems of the 20th century crumbled...
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53:30Episode 5Keynes vs Hayek: A Fake Debate?
Episode 5
Directed by Ilan Ziv • Documentary • 2014 • 53 minutes
KEYNES VS HAYEK: A FAKE DEBATE? delves deeply into the origins of both schools of thought, and how they were shaped by post-WWI German reparations, the Depression, and the need to rebuild industrial economies after World War II.
Keynesians...
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53:30Episode 6Karl Polanyi, The Human Factor
Episode 6
Directed by Ilan Ziv • Documentary • 2014 • 53 minutes
Taking us on a journey from ancient Sumeria to the towers of Frankfurt, this episode of CAPITALISM argues that commercial transactions have always been embedded in social norms, and that a self-regulating market economy is in no way a natura...
