Is Capitalism Still Relevant?

Our cherished OLLI colleague Paul Goldstene taught a version of this course in 2010, comparing capitalism at its historical and theoretical roots to the “corporatism” of today. We continue to see corporatism at play in the opioid crisis and Purdue Pharma, the Boeing Max 8, Big Tech and “surveillance capitalism,” and PG&E service irregularity versus wildfires and power blackouts. Americans support the most expensive health care with some of the poorest outcomes and with wide income disparity. These are just a few examples. Is there another model besides the culture-war, “S-Word”? We will examine all stakeholder categories in our economy and posit another model, one that many of us encounter and appreciate every day.