Economic systems

Inequality need not cause political division.

As we shift away from the unique conditions that fueled global growth for the past 30 years, investors will need more capital — and more patience.

Julia Kirby, HBR editor-at-large, explains how our economic system got to this sad state--and where to look for hope.

Netflix, Costco, and others are moving cash to Black-owned banks and businesses in response to public demand.

For three decades, executives have made maximizing shareholder value their top priority. But evidence suggests that shareholders actually do better when firms put the customer first.

The economy needs careful decision-makers as well as risk-takers.

To solve big, global problems, companies must rethink capitalism and how they collaborate, argues Mariana Mazzucato, professor in the economics of innovation...

No one would run a business without accounting for its capital outlays. Yet in 1999, when this article was originally published, most companies overlooked...

But it's unevenly distributed.

As the Western economies gradually recover from the recession, there is much public debate going on in New York, Paris, and London as to whether the traditional...

Market capitalism, a system that has proven to be a remarkable engine of wealth creation, is poised for a breakdown. That sounds dire, and it is. Increasing...

A guide to the four main types

Dial 1298 for Ambulance, a new 911-style emergency dispatch service in Mumbai and neighboring cities, is a for-profit company with an intriguing business model. (Prior to Dial 1298, India’s cities had no such services, despite governmental efforts to establish them in the past.) Its financial success derives from the fact that it is linked to […]

Lessons from the Igbo apprenticeship system.

"The notion that capitalists should allow communists to buy their companies is, some argue, taking economic liberalism to an absurd extreme. But that...

This evening, as I listened to NPR recite the latest long list of the world's limplosions, a tall, dark and handsome 23-year old neighbor knocked on my...

By inextricably linking business and capitalism, we dangerously limit the capacity of non-business organizations to innovate, fund, and bring to scale breakthrough ideas that could change the world.

The world is watching how China handles company defaults.

Roger Martin, author of Fixing the Game and dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, explains why linking CEO compensation to share price performance is like letting quarterbacks bet on their own teams.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey on his deep conviction that business leadership should not be only about maximizing profits for shareholders, but also about...