Capitalism need not be about greed and gambling

John Kay

The protester who infamously complained that capitalism "should be replaced by something nicer" encapsulated the incoherence of the protests at Wall Street and the City of London.

Capitalism need not be about greed and gambling

John Kay

Without a more nuanced analysis of what capitalism is, there is scant chance of 'replacing it with something nicer', writes John Kay.

Capitalism "should be replaced by something nicer", one group of demonstrators demanded. The slogan encapsulates the incoherence of the protests at Wall Street and the City of London.

More than a century ago the sociologist Werner Sombart explained the lack of appeal of socialism in the US with the observation that "all socialist utopias have foundered on roast beef and apple pie". The socialist utopias of Russia and...

WARC subscribers can sign in to keep reading

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands