23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism

Ha-Joon Chang sets out a 23-point rebuttal of parts of neoliberal capitalism, written after the 2008 financial crisis, which Chang argues illustrates his criticism of free trade and globalisation. Each point is a short essay that questions a common economic assumption. Some are familiar arguments, such as the claim that companies should not be run in their owners' interests; others are less expected, such as the argument that the washing machine changed the world more than the internet. Another essay holds that a truly free market does not exist. After the 23 essays, a closing section on rebuilding the world economy argues for capitalism with stronger government control.

Morgan Housel put it among 23 books that changed his life, predicting it would anger half its readers and help the other half see that every way of organizing an economy has flaws.