With the collapse of communism and the accelerated trend of globalization, a new stage of capitalism has arrived. Protest actions that occurred in Seattle and Washington as well as in Prague and Genoa, clearly show that the legitimacy of capitalism is being questioned in many respects. Surveys in Eastern and Central Europe show that a considerable part of the population is not able to accept capitalism as an economic system. This volume assesses the ethical basis of capitalism in an effort to assess its future in the twenty-first century.Contributors range from one of the world's most successful capitalists and philanthropists to the founder of INSEAD, Europe's leading business school, to noted economists, philosophers, cultural historians, and business ethicists.