It is well known that open free-market capitalism is a powerful engine for creating wealth. Much of that wealth is generated through innovation. So innovation itself is an engine for capitalism’s wealth engine.

But capitalism, too, is a focus of innovation, not just the products and services that free-market capitalism generates.

What will be the form of capitalism that wins the evolutionary battle for survival?

In the ‘boxing ring’, we have American capitalism, a rather brutal form of capitalism, which has almost no safety net, leaves one American in six without health insurance, and which has offshored its production without offering production workers viable alternatives except minimum-wage Wal-Mart jobs. Taxes are so low, governments lack the funds even to maintain infrastructure. 

Facing it we have French, German, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish capitalism, with high taxes and high safety nets. Inefficient? Wasteful? Sluggish? Perhaps – but humane. Victims are not blamed.  

And of course we have Asian capitalism – the Chinese variety, for instance, which features significant economic freedom but very little political freedom.

We have seen rapid convergence in social and economic systems. When the Berlin Wall fell on Nov. 9, 1989,  nearly all countries in the world rushed to embrace some form of free-market capitalism. 

However, enormous differences among the various types of capitalism remain.

There is a highly competitive world market in ideas, not just in goods, services, capital, technology and skills. Just as companies scour the world for best practices, so do people and political leaders. We do not yet know what best-practice free-market capitalism is. 

Which form of capitalism will ultimately triumph? The battle seems to be between efficiency – the American form is highly efficient, though brutal – and equality – the French and Scandinavian models are perhaps less efficient, in France’s case much less efficient, but are very humane. 

My personal hope is that fairness and humanity will win – and quickly.