Capitalism, Open Societies and Institutions, a long-run perspective

• Department of History

A Conversation with Professor Bas van Bavel (Utrecht University).

In his 1962 book Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman argued that capitalism is a ‘necessary condition for political freedom’. Advocates of capitalist structures and ‘market economies’ often claim that capitalism is connected to politically and socially more open societies. The rarity of both ‘market economies’ and ‘open societies’ throughout history and the overlap between the two, seemingly supports such a view. 

In this webinar, professor Bas van Bavel argues that this narrow view of the relationship between market economies and open societies is inherently flawed. Building on approaches from institutional economic history, Professor van Bavel will use recent empirical work on the long-run development of market economies, to show how the relation between market economies and open societies is both dynamic and cyclical. Where at one point they reinforce each other, market economies can also destabilize open societies. 

CNHC welcomes everyone to join us for an exciting conversation on Capitalism, Open societies and institutions throughout history.