Is capitalism broken? That is the portentous question that I and other Financial Times columnists will be attempting to answer next week in a series of “Great Debates” that the paper is hosting in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
I will be arguing that capitalism is not broken. This is not, at present, a popular position. The market crash of 2008 called the stability of the world’s financial system into question, sparking both a Great Recession and huge government intervention.
But after marshalling the figures for a while, it is a surprisingly easy case to make. Capitalism looks to be decidedly intact. As a favour to my opponents, then, here is why capitalism is not broken.