MixedThe Wall Street JournalThe book’s title is misleading—Mr. Friedman’s narrative is about the evolution of economic thought, not capitalism. He alternates between theological debates and developments in economic thought. On economics he is compelling, on theology disappointingly tendentious. Mr. Friedman unselfconsciously presents as fact a host of skeptical—and highly debatable—claims about Christianity and biblical texts. More important, he relies on a caricatured version of Calvinism, especially the New Testament-based doctrine that God predestines some to be saved, to set up his central claim: The weakening of traditional Calvinism, he contends, spurred a more optimistic conception of human potential, which helped to inspire key innovations in economic thought ... contains genuine contributions—the historical context of Adam Smith’s work and the Social Gospel origins of the American Economic Association are two. But the continuing and unconvincing emphasis on predestination gives the appearance of a unifying theme to a book that, alas, doesn’t have one.
