The ideology of precapitalist Europe -- The transition to early capitalism and the beginnings of the mercantilist view -- The conflict in mercantilist thought -- Classical liberalism and the triumph of industrial capitalism -- Socialist protest amid the Industrial Revolution -- Marx's conception of capitalism -- Marx's social and economic theories -- The rise of corporate capitalism and its ideological defenses -- The consolidation of monopoly power and the writings of Veblen -- Economic prosperity and evolutionary socialism -- Imperialism and revolutionary socialism -- Keynesian economics and the Great Depression -- Contemporary American capitalism and its defenders -- Contemporary American capitalism and its radical critics.