The first part deals with how societies functioned in antiquity, before coins and money were developed - temple and palace based records of account, drawing on Thorstein Veblin, Lewis Mumford and Michael Kalecki.  the split of political economics into economics and political science and the consequences. Capital as Power is organized as a comparative history of economic thought going through such topics as the theory of prices, labor theory of value, productivity, what are the factors of production, etc. with a critique of Classical, Neo-Classical and Marxist views emphasizing the limitations of each. None them can really even explain adequately how prices are determined, or where profits are derived, in part because they all leave out the aspect of power. For Nitzan and Bichler, capital is the embodiment of power, the ability to creatively reorder society so as to serve the interests of the capitalists. In more traditional societies this was the role of the kings and/or priests. The book is now available free from the Nitzan Bichler Archives at York University in Canada, though I paid close to $50 for it in 2010.
   

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."