Why capitalism?

A review of the headlines of the past decade seems to show that disasters are often part of capitalist systems: the high-tech bubble, the Enron fraud, the Madoff Ponzi scheme, the great housing bubble, massive lay-offs, and a widening income gap. Disenchantment with the market economy has reached the point that many even question capitalism itself. The author disagrees, and drawing on deep expertise as a financial historian and authority on economic theory, he provides a resounding answer to the question, 'why capitalism?' Only capitalism, he writes, maximizes both growth and individual…