Synopses & Reviews
Americans love "this year's model," relying on the "new" to be always "improved." Enthusiasm for the new, says Stanley Buder, is essential to American business, where innovation and change stoke the engines of economic energy. To really understand the history of business in America, he argues, we must understand the intertwining dynamics of social and business values.
In a history spanning over three hundred years, Buder examines the enveloping expansion of the market economy, the laggardly use of government to modify or control market forces, the rise of consumerism, the shifting role of small business, and much more. He concludes with the explosive development of business in the 1990s and its aftermath of crises and scandal. Along the way, he analyzes the ways American social values foster an entrepreneurial ethos and why the identification of change with progress provides a distinctive and provocative theme in American life.
Buder studies American business as not only an engine of wealth accumulation but also an important generator and reflector of American values. Capitalizing on Change is the first full-length business history in recent years to make this relationship clear.
Review
"Especially timely. . . . [Buder] has done what few today are doing in surveying and interpreting American business history broadly. . . . Deserves to be widely read and discussed, particularly at this moment in our history."
-Enterprise and Society
Review
"A sweeping synthesis of American business history. . . . Deserves to be widely read and discussed, particularly at this moment in our history."
-Enterprise and Society
Review
"Makes a good case that understanding business history is essential to understanding American history. . . . Recommended."
-Choice
Review
"Synthesizes an extensive array of secondary sources into a judicious, accessibly written survey of American business. . . . Provid[es] a wealth of information and insight and giving readers a fine overview of the broad sweep of American business history."
-Journal of American History
About the Author
Stanley Buder is professor emeritus of history at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is author of Pullman: An Experiment in Industrial Order and Community Planning and Visionaries and Planners: The Garden City Movement and the Modern Community.
Table of Contents
"Do you love history? Do you enjoy business analysis? How about reflecting on social mores? Throw in a healthy dash of political drama and you've created the multiple layers of
Capitalizing on Change. . . . Buder makes the intertwining dynamics of our 300 years of history so very readable."
--Better Investing "Makes a good case that understanding business history is essential to understanding American history. . . . Recommended."
-Choice "A sweeping synthesis of American business history. . . . Deserves to be widely read and discussed, particularly at this moment in our history."
-Enterprise & Society "Especially timely. . . . [Buder] has done what few today are doing in surveying and interpreting American business history broadly. . . . Deserves to be widely read and discussed, particularly at this moment in our history."
-Enterprise and Society "Synthesizes an extensive array of secondary sources into a judicious, accessibly written survey of American business. . . . Provid[es] a wealth of information and insight and giving readers a fine overview of the broad sweep of American business history."
-Journal of American History