Introduction

Abstract

Capitalisms are diverse and changing. Much has been written about this in recent years — in the context of the discussion on the varieties of capitalism this book is a critical yet constructive contribution. Many authors have seen all capitalisms moving in a liberal direction, others, joined by politicians and journalists, assert that maintaining or improving competitiveness unavoidably requires this move and have pleaded for it to speed up (although the crisis of deregulated capitalism starting in 2007 might have made them more cautious). A third group has been denying such a requirement and pointed to alternative routes as well as path dependencies that avert radical change. To assess these controversially debated claims this book will have to scrutinize the theories that make these claims and delve into empirical features and developments such as the types and characteristics of existing capitalisms, the pressures and changes they have been subject to during the past decades of global challenges and the ways they compete and perform, economically as well as in terms of social welfare.