Image - the speakers and the book cover
Past Event

Chris Hughes with Sen. Scott Wiener: The 100-Year Struggle to Shape the American Economy

Join us for an unexpected history of the rise of American capitalism—and an argument that entrepreneurial leaders in government, not the “free market,” created the most dynamic economy the world has ever known.

Economist and writer Chris Hughes takes us on a journey through the modern history of American capitalism, relating the captivating stories of the most effective “marketcrafters” and the ones who bungled the job. Hughes, author of the new book Marketcrafters, says both Republicans and Democrats have consistently attempted to organize markets for social and political reasons, like avoiding gasoline shortages, reducing inflation, fostering the American aviation and semiconductor industries, fighting climate change, and supporting financial innovation.

That flies in the face of the widespread belief among policymakers and business leaders alike that free markets, untouched by the soiled hands of government, bring us prosperity and stability. Hughes says that’s wrong. American policy makers, on the right and the left, have spent much of the past century actively shaping our markets for social and political goals. Their work behind the scenes and out of the headlines has served as a kind of “marketcraft,” mirroring the statecraft of international relations.

In recent decades, the art of marketcraft has been replaced by the idea that markets work best when they are unfettered and free. Hughes argues that by rediscovering the triumphs and failures of past marketcrafters, we can shape future markets, such as those in artificial intelligence and clean power production, to be innovative, stable and inclusive.

Notes

Speaker photo by Susan Stripling.

May 15, 2025

Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California
110 The Embarcadero
Taube Family Auditorium
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States

Speakers
Image - Chris Hughes

Chris Hughes

Entrepreneur; Co-founder and Chair. the Economic Security Project; Author, Marketcrafters: The 100-Year Struggle to Shape the American Economy

Image - Scott Wiener

Scott Wiener

California State Senator (D-San Francisco)