The most recent financial crisis to occur in the United States is still not over, and unfortunately we are unaware of its current stage. Many believed that this crisis came about due to a failure of ethics; however Anatole Kaletsky argues that the biggest cause of this crisis was due to a failure of ideas. The commercial system that economists defined as capitalism has existed for more than two centuries, but it has dramatically changed over time adapting to different political, economic, and social events.

             In capitalism's lifetime it has gone through three major alterations. The economic distresses of 2008 were the motivation for the latest version, Capitalism 4. This new version rejects the belief that markets are always right and embraces the concept that government has an important role in economics. Kaletsky claims that we are currently in a point of history where it is time for the whole capitalism system to be reinvented in order to achieve economic recovery. .

             Kaletsky states there are three previous historical ages of capitalism. The first one came about from the publication of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. Smith's invisible hand theory explained the efficiency of a market economy. Capitalism 1.0's directing principle was laissez-faire, the idea that government should stay out of business and let free markets and free trade control the economy. Governments did interrupt by setting tariffs and trade policies, but economists saw these as temporary obstacles. Mercantilism grew in the latter 1800's; however income inequities and injustices led to violent protests by anarchists and socialists after World War I. This led to increasing popularity in democracy, which began the end of this era.

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             The 1930's Great Depression marked a radical change in economic and political thought. John Maynard Keynes' 1936 General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money became the guide for capitalism's next phase.