Capitalism has improved the lives of billions of people — something that's easy to forget at a time of great economic uncertainty. But it has left out billions more. They have great needs, but they can't express those needs in ways that matter to markets. So they are stuck in poverty, suffer from preventable diseases and never have a chance to make the most of their lives. Governments and nonprofit groups have an irreplaceable role in helping them, but it will take too long if they try to do it alone. It is mainly corporations that have the skills to make technological innovations work for the poor. To make the most of those skills, we need a more creative capitalism: an attempt to stretch the reach of market forces so that more companies can benefit from doing work that makes more people better off. We need new ways to bring far more people into the system — capitalism — that has done so much good in the world.

A speech that Bill Gates gave at Davos (and which Steve Levitt likes) is now being debated in an ongoing blog by an amazing cast of characters — including, to name a few, Lawrence Summers, Richard Posner, Michael Kinsley, Steven Landsburg, Michael Kremer, and Ed Glaeser. They are engaged in a lively discussion about whether corporate capitalism can be reinvented and reoriented with a combination of incentives and recognition to make progress on under-addressed social problems.

The turbulence of the U.S. economy has lots of people railing against capitalism itself, and with good reason: capitalism is inherently turbulent. That’s why the legendary economist Joseph Schumpeter called it “creative destruction.” Not only must eggs be broken to make an omelet, but sometimes people may decide they want their omelets made with no eggs at all.

"Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists. It is one of the most powerful defenses of the free market ever written."

Harvard Business School Professor Nancy Koehn on the next iteration of free markets.

Ted Koppel's four-part documentary covers old territory on the global effects of China's economic boom. But the cultural upheaval taking place in the communist nation is a revelation.

A conversation with Ted Koppel about his four part series about China, Koppel on Discovery: The People’s Republic of Capitalism.

In April, Umair Haque posted a manifesto on his blog on the Harvard Business Publishing web site where he called for today's investors and start-ups to start building applications to "change the world" instead of just making apps that make money. He challenged Silicon Valley to find a problem to fix that will change the world for the better and then pledged that he would help by providing free consulting. Recently, he revisited this topic which he was due to speak on at this year's Supernova conference.

The American and Chinese economies are irreversibly intertwined. The common complaint that the Chinese are taking jobs away from American workers is in many cases true. China's cheap and abundant labor attracts manufacturing from all over the world. Still, American economists estimate that the U.S. is as much as $70 billion richer each year because of its relationship with China —something must be going right.

Is doing good compatible with making money? It is if you practise spiritual capitalism.