Clearly we have to maintain a balance. Neither predatory capitalism that further enriches the rich, nor social systems that promise universal welfare but discourage individual initiative, work well in the long run for most people. Some mixture of well-regulated capitalism that encourages competitive innovation but limits wealth inequality, along with well-administered social enterprise in areas like education, medical care, housing and public transportation seems to work best.

In recent decades in the United States capitalism has become increasingly driven by firms that specialize in making money for its own sake rather than making any useful product, while the United States also runs one of the largest socialist enterprises in the world: its Defense sector. And the medical care industry operates largely as a for-profit business sector rather than a provider of necessary services to people.