The success or failure of an economic system should be measured by the direct impact it has on the life of the people who live under that economic system. Measures of economic growth, wealth expansion, and financial stability should be correlated to the plights of people in the society. The impact of the economic system, in this case capitalism, should be measured by the level of security and satisfaction provided to the people. The security and satisfaction are further measured in terms of food security, education security, health security, and physical security. Another measure of the stability of the system is the moral, ethical, and ideological conviction and trust in the economic foundation.

Two major systems have dominated the world arena in the last one hundred years, namely, capitalism and socialism. Socialism collapsed before the end of the twentieth century with a complete failure and hence will not be discussed in this book except where it is needed to clarify a concept.

After the collapse of socialism, capitalism proceeded to dominate the entire globe; different flavors of capitalism exist in different parts of the world. Even socialist China has adopted a cocialist brand of capitalism. After the collapse of Soviet Leninist socialism, capitalism had entered the era of global economy, more officially known as globalization. Globalization extended the impact and influence of capitalism to almost every corner of the world. The most recent financial crisis, which started in the United States, rippled through Europe, Japan, China, the Middle East, and Africa. The study of the impact of capitalism is not constrained to a particular nation; rather its impact is observed globally.

The responsibility of capitalism to the economic situation of the world at large is an acknowledged fact. Globalization has made world capitalism the de facto economic system of the world. The activities of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the two main instruments of the capitalist world, are directly and indirectly responsible for the economic conditions in the developing world.