The irony of nationalization
There is dramatic irony in the current beliefs about nationalization, says Polanyi. Although everything seems plain and obvious to those whose lives are shaped in every way by nationalization, Polanyi remembers by appealing to history that the past was not like the present. Nationalization happened and changed the assumptions of civilians. There is a situational irony that comes from national power and economic production. For some reason, the assumption is that a nation should be profitable, even if the global economy is a zero-sum game.
Currency and the capitalist economy
Polanyi runs some thought experiments in the book. He remembers the past empires of the earth, those in Mesopotamia, Greece, and Africa, and also China and the East. In those examples, merchants were able to engage in global trade, but not with currency exchange. Instead, they traded real goods for real goods. The idea of currency in the capitalistic understanding of it is something that developed through time. Polanyi says that it seems self-explanatory, but it is surprisingly constructed.
Politics, power, and economy
Polanyi says the ironic truth of the economy is that there are people who are involved in politics who seem completely separate from the economy who profit from the economy and who shape it. The connection of the political sphere to the economic sphere is concealed and furtive, and with language like "free market" one might suspect that they are separate, but Polanyi says that until a person treats them as interconnected and symbiotic processes, the truth of the system will be invisible to them.
Philosophy and reality
There is a strange way in which yesterday's political ideas are today's realities. This is a powerful irony, because it means that today's ideas could be tomorrow's realities, but without admitting that this status quo is not automatically self-explanatory and sustainable, the reality of the situation is confused. Philosophy seems perfectly irrelevant, but to Polanyi, a study of philosophy and history is absolutely necessary in order to begin shaping a more stable tomorrow.
The problem of the renting class
Polanyi remembers a time when everyone owned land. The idea of working to pay one's rent is a fairly new problem in human history. He remarks that this is a dangerous problem, because by paying rent, the renting class pays the land owning class a serious amount of money, basically ad infinitum. The problem seems perfectly self-explanatory: land is expensive; not everyone can afford it. But he says the problem has tangible roots in law. He explores them in the chapters about the Speenhamland laws.
