Capitalism 4.0

The central argument is that capitalism has never been a static system that follows a fixed set of rules, characterized by a permanent division of responsibilities between private enterprise and government. Contrary to the teachings of modern economic theory, no immutable laws govern the behavior of a capitalist economy. Instead, capitalism is an adaptive social system that mutates and evolves in response to a changing environment. When capitalism is seriously threatened by a systemic crisis, a new version emerges that is better suited to the changing environment and replaces the previously dominant form.

Once we recognize that capitalism is not a static set of institutions, but an evolutionary system that reinvents and reinvigorates itself through crisis, we can see the events of 2007 - 2009 in another light; as the catalyst for the forth systemic transformation of capitalism, comparable to the transformations triggered by the crisis of the 1970's, the crisis of the 1930's, and the Napoleonic Wars of 1803 - 15. Hence the title of the book.