Can capitalism be saved? | Nick Hanauer and Eric Beinhocker

Abstract:

For at least the past half-century, market “efficiency” and the maximization of shareholder profit have been the paramount goals of U.S. capitalism. The result: a proliferation of billionaires, soaring inequality, and growing doubts about the fairness of the U.S. economy.

A majority of California voters, for instance, say they support the “billionaire tax” on the ballot in November. New York City’s mayor is a democratic socialist. Many Americans have begun to question the merits of capitalism; Gallup finds that just 54 percent of Americans see capitalism favorably.

Capitalism is yet worth saving, argue entrepreneur Nick Hanauer and scholar Eric Beinhocker. But they also argue for a radical rethinking of what capitalism should achieve. Their solution: a philosophy they call “market humanism,” which elevates “human flourishing” over efficiency as goals for the economy.

Eric Beinhocker is a professor of public policy at Oxford University, and Nick Hanauer is a philanthropist, civic innovator, and entrepreneur. They are the authors of a new treatise, Markets Built for Humans.