Capitalism at a Crossroads: Unfulfilled Expectations and Future Challenges

Andrew Michael
Additional contact information
Andrew Michael: Intercollege Larnaca

Chapter 19 in Capitalism and the Social Relationship, 2014, pp 303-319 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Capitalism is and has been the dominant economic system in the world during the last 50 years (Meltzer, 2012). Its appeal and promise of a better life eventually led to the collapse of the planned (command) economic system that had existed for about 40 years in Eastern European countries and the U.S.S.R. until the late 1980s and early 1990s. The collapse of the command economic system was heralded in the West as a victory for free market ideology over state authoritarianism and other forms of economic system. However, the antecedents and consequences of the recent Great Recession and financial crisis have resulted in a call for a rethinking of economics and of the way firms and their managers operate in free markets (Ahmad, 2011; Bootle, 2009; Kalatsky, 2010; Krugman, 2009; Stiglitz, 2010; Vidal, 2009; Wolff, 2010). While capitalism has always had many advocates (Cosh, 2007; Friedman, 1982; Hayek, 1948; 1988; Last, 2006; Levin, 2010; Meltzer, 2012; Simon, 2002; Tracinski, 2002), more and more people have begun to express the view that there is a need for a better system (Ababas, 2009; Dugger, 2010; ISEC, 2013), one which allows for the pursuit and existence of other equally important values (such as inner harmony, self-respect, security, and meaningful social relationships) besides wealth accumulation (Abel, 2010; Ahmad, 2011; Crittenden, 2000; Vidal, 2009), and in which there is a greater balance between firms’ and society’s interests.

Keywords: Business Ethic; Income Inequality; Free Market; Corporate Reputation; Free Market Economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-32570-9_19

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781137325709

DOI: 10.1057/9781137325709_19

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().