The best books on crony capitalism

Surveillance Capitalism is a path-breaking work that highlights how a clutch of international digital monopolies are modifying our behaviour and predicting our preferences in a way in which human nature is threatened. The accumulation of vast wealth and the power that accompanies it enables a few corporate conglomerates to influence not only what we watch, hear and read but also anticipate our decisions and, in the process, are enabled to earn super-profits. This new era of capitalism is marked by extreme concentrations of information and knowledge with no democratic oversight, Professor Shoshana Zuboff convincingly argues. Her book may appear intimidating to some because of its size (nearly 700 pages) but is lucidly written and comprehensible for even a lay reader. 

American author Mark Twain had described the last decades of the 19th century as the Gilded Age in the United States, a period when on the surface everything appeared to be glittering like gold concealing the filth and ugliness that lay beneath. British journalist and academic James Crabtree, now based in Singapore, believes that the last few decades in India closely resembles the Gilded Age of the US. His 357-page book is filled with dozens of anecdotes about some of India’s most wealthy individuals such as Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, and Vijay Mallya. His meetings with them and his detailed descriptions of their lifestyles and demeanour make for racy reading. 

A disclaimer: Crabtree has described in flattering terms his meeting with this writer and referred to some of my articles and books.

This book describes in fascinating detail several episodes of crony capitalism in contemporary India. The author focuses on the intimate nexus between big business and politics that shapes economic policies and covertly funds elections, often to the detriment of the interests of underprivileged sections of society. Drawing on his experience as an investigative journalist, Josy Joseph delineates corporate rivalries, the activities of shady lobbyists and recounts financial scandals. A riveting read.

This book paved the way for several other publications and reports that examine how tax havens are misused by rich individuals and corporate entities and private trusts and to legally avoid as well as to illegally evade taxes. The taxes not paid could have been used for supporting social welfare schemes and infrastructure projects that benefit ordinary people. In this manner, tax havens deepen and widen inequalities of income and wealth and concentrates economic power in the hands of crony capitalists.

Nicholas Shaxson’s book was of immense help to me when I wrote with Shinzani Jain a book titled Thin Dividing Line: India, Mauritius and Global Illicit Financial Flows published by Penguin Random House in December 2017.

This book is a series of essays that were originally blogs, written by a retired civil servant. These essays have been arranged not in a chronological sequence but under subject-heads, making them a cohesive commentary on the times we live in, in India, about which the author writes. While not a work of history, the book is instead the shout of a wounded civilisation. These essays will find place in the annals of India’s evolution through the 21st century. Uncompromising in his analysis, the author studiously cites the dark clouds of political, social, and economic failures, that seem to be without the proverbial silver lining. Disclosure: I am the publisher of this book.