Book Bits: 17 May 2025

● Capitalism and Its Critics: A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AI
John Cassidy
Review via The New York Times
Trump makes a few cameo appearances in John Cassidy’s new book, “Capitalism and Its Critics,” for his demonstrated ability to brag about his riches while tapping into growing discontent with the global capitalist system. Some of the critics Cassidy features in this book wanted to replace capitalism entirely; others, like Trump, have sought to preserve a core of self-interest while remaking capitalism’s rules. Rejecting a world financial order fueled by free trade and a bedrock American dollar, the president has been promoting a grab bag that includes both tariffs and crypto — a Trumpian hybrid of the very old and the very new.

● Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company
Patrick McGee
Review via Vanity Fair
In May 2016, Tim Cook and two other top Apple officials arrived at the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party in central Beijing to strike an agreement with the Chinese government. At the time, Donald Trump was still running for president, campaigning on an anti-China platform and a promise to get Apple “to build their damn computers and things in this country!”
But Cook was in Beijing that day to do the opposite: to impress upon President Xi Jinping’s government that Apple was so committed to China that it planned to spend $275 billion in the country over the next five years. “I call it a Marshall Plan for China, because I could not find any corporate spending coming close to what Apple was spending,” said Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee, who writes about this and other moments illustrating Apple’s role in enabling China’s rise in his new book Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company.

● Making Money Work: How to Rewrite the Rules of Our Financial System
Matt Sekerke and Steve H. Hanke
Q&A with co-author (Hanke) via The Banker
Q: Does Trump have a point about wanting to reduce the US trade deficit?
A: President Trump’s thinking about the US trade deficits is wrong from start to finish. Trump trumpets that trade deficits are “bad”. No. US trade deficits are “good”. They are easy to finance. They have allowed Americans to consume more than they have produced since 1974. Trump also believes that our trade deficits are created by foreigners who engage in unfair, nefarious activities and rip us off. No. By definition, a country’s trade balance is governed entirely by the gap between its domestic saving and domestic investment. If a country’s domestic saving is greater than its domestic investment, like China’s, it will register a trade surplus. Likewise, if a country has a savings deficiency, like the US, it will register a trade deficit. The United States’ negative trade balance is “made in the USA” — a result of its savings deficiency.

● The Stoic Capitalist: Advice for the Exceptionally Ambitious
Robert Rosenkranz
Review via NY Post
Robert Rosenkranz is a self-made billionaire. His key to success: stoic philosophy.
In his new book, “The Stoic Capitalist: Advice for the Exceptionally Ambitious,” Rosenkranz shares how ancient wisdom from the likes of Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius shaped his own success — and can inspire yours, too.
“This whole book in a way goes against the grain of a lot of contemporary culture,” Rosenkranz told The Post. “It’s talking about self-reliance. It’s talking about taking full responsibility for your own life. It’s talking about not considering yourself a victim. It’s talking about quitting worrying about things that you can’t change.”

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