New Delhi, Dec. 29 -- It's unlikely that reading a book-or reading at all, let alone an infinite scroll or hardback doorstopper-will ever be a popular way to ring in a new year. But 2025 gave us a tome worthy of such bravery: Capitalism: A Global History by Harvard historian Sven Beckert.

In the self-interest of this claim, its length is best left undisclosed.

It kicks off with a jaw-dropper: the 1639 trial in America of Robert Keayne, a trader shamed for 'false principles' like it being fine for someone to "sell as dear as he can and buy as cheap as he can" and take advantage of either "his own skill or ability" or "another's ignorance or necessity."

Adam Smith's thesis of an 'invisible hand' blending our interests to serve our collec...