A diverse, complex, and stable, yet volatile system, capitalism has undergone fundamental transformations during the 20th century. Entrepreneurial capitalism has become increasingly managerial and corporate in nature. The influence of laissez faire policies waned for decades, only to experience a renaissance in the late 1990s. No longer dominated by industrial production, capitalist economies are geared toward supplying services, and toward integrating the working class into capitalist society. Individual companies have given rise to complex relationships between state, economy, and multinational corporations. This book focuses on these changes, providing a perspective of the whole century. It aims to set the stage for he analysis of the logic of globalization, and subsequent trends in capitalism.
