ABSTRACT

In feudal society, it was the few at the top who laid the ground for what was produced, how it was produced and how it was distributed. Freedom was restricted, and people were kept in their place by institutional structures. In capitalism, the focus is on free markets, free trade, and a personal freedom, where self-interest is assumed to lead to progress for the collective good. In today’s world, there is a move towards algorithmic capitalism at the micro-level, platform capitalism at the meso-level, and feudal capitalism at the macro-level. This is the new and innovative concept developed in this book. The author argues that feudal capitalism is distinct but linked to the innovation economy, and represents an interconnection between the organization of feudal society and central aspects of capitalism. Additionally, he asserts that the balance between feudal capitalism and a reinvented, sustainable capitalism based on the innovation economy, can help restore the moral compass lost in the evolution of global capitalism. The key argument of the book is that even if we see a development towards feudal capitalism, a more just and moral capitalism can be restored through various social mechanisms such as changes in the institutional framework, the development of a balanced form of globalization and re-establishing social cohesion and equality of opportunity. Further, the book offers policy interventions to support this idea. The book will find an audience among scholars and researchers of political economy, political theory, economic history, management, AI and ethics, philosophy and automation, inequality and equality of opportunity

part I|125 pages

The political economy of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – feudal capitalism

chapter 1|4 pages

Introduction

Capitalism in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

chapter 2|12 pages

Institutional changes

From neoliberalism to feudal capitalism

chapter 3|15 pages

A balanced form of globalization

chapter 4|31 pages

Restoration of social cohesion *

chapter 5|27 pages

Restoring the moral compass

chapter 6|34 pages

Restoring the equality of opportunity

part II|118 pages

Some consequences of feudal capitalisma

chapter 7|5 pages

The geopolitical system

chapter 8|28 pages

The maintenance of globalization

chapter 9|36 pages

The unequal social hierarchy

chapter 10|47 pages

Our moral compass is disintegrating

part III|12 pages

Crises in the political economy

chapter 11|10 pages

Innovation and economic crises

The supporting evidence