Global Capitalism at Risk: What Are You Doing About It?

Market capitalism has proven to be a remarkable engine of wealth creation, but if it continues to function in the next 25 years as it has in the past 25, we are in for a violent ride or, worse, a serious breakdown in the system itself. That sounds dire, and it is. As part of the preparation for Harvard Business School's 100th anniversary Global Business Summit, in 2008, which focused on the future of market capitalism, we asked small groups of business and government leaders around the world what issues should inform the school's agenda for the coming century. The long-term sustainability of global market capitalism was a primary concern for virtually all of them. But we heard surprising differences among them in how they thought they, as business leaders, should respond.