Taming the Evolutionary Beast
On the interdependency of economic, political, and cultural institutions
Born out of a movement of individualism, capitalism is ingenious in many ways. Through labor specialization, private ownership, and the pursuit of self interest — markets coordinate production and consumption for billions of people around the world. Capitalism is an enabler of freedom; which Amartya Sen describes as both the objective and the means of human development. It’s clear the growth of market economies around the world has been a fundamental driver of human progress to date. In the past 30 years alone, economic growth has lifted 1.2 billion people out of extreme poverty. That represents a drop in poverty rates from 36% to 8% across the global population.
Yet, despite its virtues, modern capitalist economies are failing us. Widening global wealth inequality has led to a surge in populism around the world, in many cases taking an authoritarian form. Carbon dioxide emissions are causing global temperature increases, with potentially devastating social consequences. Despite elements of meritocracy, women and minorities face systemic discrimination, fraying social contracts to their breaking point.
COVID-19 lays bare capitalism’s inherent fragility, causing severe economic contraction and job loss around the world. In June, the World Bank estimated that, “when…
