23 Things they don't tell you about Capitalism

South Korean economist Ha-Joon Chang specializes in development economics. Born in 1963, Chang emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1986, where he studied at the University of Cambridge, completing his PhD in 1992. His thesis is titled The Political Economy of Industrial Policy – Reflections on the Role of State Intervention. From 1990 to 2022, Chang taught at the University of Cambridge. In 2022, he joined the faculty of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, a public research university.

In addition to coauthoring numerous academic studies, Chang has published several books. In his 2003 book, Kicking Away the Ladder, Chang argues that many of today’s richest countries relied on interventionist policies to become wealthy and then prevented developing countries from doing the same. The book received a generally positive reception, though some of Chang’s peers criticized his methodology, accusing him of selectivity bias in his use of evidence. In 2008, Chang published Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism, which extends many of the themes in the previous book and likewise sparked debate about Chang’s rejection of free trade as a driver of growth in developing countries. Published in 2011, 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism brings Chang’s analysis to a general audience in an attractive, myth-busting format, while his 2015 follow-up, Economics: The User’s Guide, provides a succinct overview of various schools of thought in economics. In 2022, Chang published Edible Economics, which blends economic analysis with anecdotes about food.

Chang’s work places him in the institutionalist school of economic thought. Institutional economics considers the role of societal institutions in shaping outcomes. With noted Marxist economist Robert Rowthorn, Chang developed a theory of industrial policy that involves some government action against a capitalist backdrop; similar principles and recommendations can be found in this book’s Conclusion. On his website, Chang cites a wide variety of economists from Marxist, Neoclassical, and Institutionalist schools as inspirations, including thinkers with opposing views such as Friedrich von Hayek and Karl Marx. This demonstrates Chang’s disdain for the kind of dogmatic, all-or-nothing discourse that he criticizes in this book.

In addition to his academic work, Chang has served in various advisory capacities, acting as a consultant to various branches of the United Nations; countries and political groups; multilateral financial organizations, such as the World Bank; private companies, including Hyundai; and nongovernmental organizations, including Oxfam International. The breadth of Chang’s experience lends extra weight to his analysis of the varied actions of governments, businesses, and individuals throughout this book.

As a Korean, Chang has a natural interest in East Asian economies, and his work reflects this too. Throughout the book, Chang frequently references the “Asian miracle” that involved extended growth in several East Asian countries during the latter half of the 20th century. Contradicting a World Bank report that attributed this growth to free-market policies, Chang suggests that government interventions had a large role.

Overall, Chang offers a provocative, influential, and accessible voice. While some of his books oriented toward a general audience may be too broad and informal to satisfy every requirement of academic rigor, they at least constitute a good starting point for examining assumptions and questioning received wisdom.