American capitalism has taken an apocalyptic turn
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Business | Schumpeter<br>American capitalism has taken an apocalyptic turn<br>Millenarian thinking permeates business and markets<br>Share
Photograph: Brett Ryder
Jun 3rd 2026|5 min read
Charles Mackay’s “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” (1841) is reviled by historians and revered among traders. The book is best known for its colourful passages on Tulip mania in the 17th century and the South Sea bubble in the 18th. But those wanting to understand business in the 21st should instead turn to Mackay’s chapter on the “epidemic terror of the end of the world”.
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