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IrelandEli Cook argues late-stage capitalism isn't inevitable
WIRED's historian follows Reddit's economic anxieties through factory closures, rising inequality and the policies he says could change the direction.
WIRED
Story of Why this story? 858,098 views so far, and here is what is inside it.
History Professor Debunks The Biggest Capitalism Myths
Next story: WIRED puts the witch's hat through a historian's fact check
Things we can learn from the video
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- 0:23Cook introduces late-stage capitalism through a Reddit question, separating its historical usage from its life as an internet meme.
- 1:49The economic "golden age" generally refers to the postwar decades through the 1970s, he explains.
- 2:30He traces a later shift toward deregulation, deindustrialization and financialization.
- 7:15Greater wealth inequality can limit upward mobility, Cook argues, using the Great Gatsby curve.
- 9:32Earlier economic extremes and the New Deal underpin his argument that the present system is not inevitable.
- 13:40His closing policy discussion considers union support, taxation and public options as responses to inequality.
What made capitalism's supposed "golden age" golden? In Eli Cook's account, it wasn't simply companies being left to do whatever they wanted. It was an economy shaped by unions, taxation and public investment, with prosperity reaching more working households.
The historian takes Reddit questions as his starting point in WIRED's "History Professor Debunks The Biggest Capitalism Myths." Rather than treating late-stage capitalism as a countdown to an unavoidable ending, he traces decisions that changed how the economy works, and argues that different decisions remain possible.
Cook places the familiar golden-age period between World War II and the 1970s. He then follows the shift toward deregulation, declining industrial employment and financialization: making money through financial activity rather than manufacturing goods. Clips from Pretty Woman and The Wire help connect the economic vocabulary to recognizable stories about what businesses actually do.
His sharpest concern is opportunity. Using the "Great Gatsby" curve, Cook explains the relationship between greater inequality and lower upward mobility: a wider gap between rich and poor can make it harder for children to move beyond their parents' economic circumstances.
The title promises myth-busting, but much of the video is a historical argument against resignation. Cook points to the Gilded Age and the 1920s as earlier periods of economic extremes, then discusses the New Deal as an example of a political response.
For viewers coming chiefly for answers, his proposed approaches arrive near the end: support for unions, taxation and public options. "There's nothing inevitable about late-stage capitalism," Cook says. "It doesn't have to be this way."
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- Channel
- WIRED
- Subscribers
- 13,000,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 6,726,883
- Channel views, pace per day
- 515,661 (on a normal day: 1,105,611)
- Video published
- November 6, 2026
- Video views so far
- 858,098 (7 days online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 55,610 (on a normal day: 157,764)
The numbers
Cook's Reddit deep dive drew about 858,000 views in its first week. The focus here is his explanation, rather than an unusual jump in views.
💡 Test your knowledge
Which U.S. president launched the New Deal?
Roosevelt launched the New Deal in response to the Great Depression.