Capitalism 4.0

The world did not end. Despite all the forebodings of disaster in the 2007-2009 financial crisis, the riots, soup kitchens, and bankruptcies did not materialize -- and no one any longer expects the global capitalist system to "collapse", whatever that emotive word may mean. Rather than blaming greedy bankers, incompetent regulators or gullible homeowners, the meltdown in the global financial system needs to be put into historical and ideological perspective. Capitalism is an adaptive system that evolves in response to a changing environment. If America and Europe fail to show the ideological flexibility required to make the new model of capitalism more successful than the old one, the political economy of the coming decades will be shaped more by China's state-led capitalism than Western democracy. If, however, the rising generation of American, European and Asian politicians and business leaders recognize that changes are inevitable in both market and state fundamentalist thinking, then a mutually beneficial balance should soon be re-established in the politico-economic dynamics of emerging economies and advanced capitalist nations.