On the Many Flavors of Capitalism \u3cem\u3eor\u3c/em\u3e Reflections on Schumpeter\u27s Ghost

Most legal scholars treat capitalism as a genus with one species. The appearance of several books that argue to the contrary suggests that it is sensible to revisit this assumption. Discussion begins by considering the constructed nature of markets, the importance of market systems, and the role of financings as the factor distinguishing capitalism from other forms of a market economy. Thereafter, four articulations of the varieties of capitalism are reviewed: the classic Marxist one, one by a political economist, another by a pair of comparative political scientists, and third by a trio of economists. This review leads to a discussion of the notions of efficiency and an institution, as well as to Schumpeter\u27s vision of the entrepreneur and to the place of change in economic life. An examination the way varieties of capitalism manage change leads quite directly to an exploration of socialism and its relationship to capitalism. Then piece suggests that capitalisms probably vary on far more dimensions than might be derived from the understandings reviewed and that how any specific capitalism handles economic change is both crucial to an understanding of that capitalism and an important insight into the nature of the society in which it is embedded