Capitalism, a diverse, complex, stable, yet volatile system, has undergone fundamental transformations over the past century. Entrepreneurial capitalism has become increasingly managerial and corporate in nature. The influence of laissez-faire policies waned for decades, only to experience a recent renaissance. No longer dominated by industrial production, capitalist economies are now geared toward supplying services and toward integrating the working class into capitalist society. Individual companies have given rise to complex relationships between state, economy and multinational corporations. Focusing on the structural shifts in advanced political economies, this volume examines trends which occur below the surface of economic activity. The essays seek to identify the basic patterns of those transformations and their implications - social, political and economic - for contemporary and future capitalisms.
