ABSTRACT
In Chapter 2 we reviewed a number of different (if largely complementary) philosophies concerning the direction capitalism should take in discharging its responsibilities as the world’s largest and most powerful economic system. Towards the end of that chapter I introduced the idea of sustainable capitalism as the pinnacle of that debate. That laissez-fairism – capitalism red in tooth and claw – is no longer tenable is, I hope, a given; our wish that the engine of our economy should assume greater responsibility for its actions feels fairly uncontroversial, but on whether the necessary changes should or will be revolutionary or evolutionary, voluntary or regulatory, market-driven or crisis-driven, the jury’s still out and vested interests, as ever, all want their say. The ‘elephants in the room’, ever easier to ignore than to tackle, are growth (and externalities), reward (and its distribution) and timescale. Without major changes on these fronts, progress – perhaps our very survival – is in jeopardy.
