Inspired by the market crash and great recession of 2008, Jonathan Levy turned to history to understand everything that had happened. He found that capitalism in America has evolved through four distinct ages, separated by dramatic cataclysms that each forced a major turn in how the economy operated. The Age of Commerce spans the colonial era up to the outbreak of the Civil War. The Age of Capital traces the impact of the first major leap in economic development following the Civil War: the Industrial Revolution. The Great Depression immediately sparked the Age of Control, when the government took on a more active role in the economy. In the Age of Chaos that followed, the combination of deregulation and the growth of the finance industry created a booming economy for some but also striking inequalities. Today, in the aftermath of the Age of Chaos and in the midst of severe political discord, the nature of capitalism in United States once again is at a crossroads. In Ages of American Capitalism, Jonathan Levy proves that, contrary to political dogma, capitalism in the United States has never been just one thing—and it's likely changing again right now.