BOOK LAUNCH | Geert Noels- Capitalism XXL: Why the Global Economy Became Gigantic and How to Fix It

DETAILS AND REGISTRATION:

The Consul General of Belgium in New York, Ambassador Filip Vanden Bulcke, has the pleasure to invite you to the presentation of the book Capitalism XXL: Why the Global Economy Became Gigantic and How to Fix It by Belgian economist Geert Noels.

The presentation will take the form of a panel discussion between several prominant econosmists, including Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh (Professor, Columbia University) and Daan Struyven (Managing Director/Senior Energy, Goldman Sachs).

The panel discussion will be followed by a networking reception.

Please RSVP by Friday, May 5th (EOD) via email to events.newyork@diplobel.fed.be

Geert Noels is a macro-economist, frequent commentator on financial and economic topics, and co-founder of Econopolis.

about the book

Our world is suffering from economic gigantism. Under the current capitalist system huge companies and organizations are becoming even larger and more powerful, creating a Champions League effect that kills healthy competition, doesn’t consider sustainable growth, and leaves workers feeling pressured and susceptible to burnout.

Capitalism XXL makes it clear that current rules of capitalism favour bigness in an unfair way, and that a general unease with the capitalist system is growing. The trend for bigness goes beyond businesses: schools, hospitals, libraries, and all kinds of organizations, misled by economies of scale, have consolidated. A larger entity can seem attractive for its short-term financial gains, but the results produce enormous social costs. Rather than dismantling the capitalist system in favour of neo-Marxism, Geert Noels argues, we have to instead go back to the roots of capitalism and embrace its traditional principles as written by Adam Smith in the eighteenth century.

Capitalism XXL makes the case for changing the rules in order to tame the giants and restore the individual to the world economy. Guided by history, Noels proposes an approach to capitalism that considers all human dimensions - social, ecological, and economic - and describes a sustainable future economy that will not burden the generations to come with debt, social inequality, and a natural environment that is damaged beyond repair.