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development of an institutional combination of which the market economy is one part. It has
also drawn on a system of shared values. related to trust. reliability and basic business ethics.
which have made the success of capitalism possible.
We have to recognise more adequately the role of non market institutions in the
success of the market economy. and the role of non profit values in the behavioural founda-
tions of the success of capitalism. The roots of success in the past suggest something substan-
tial about the ways into the future. We also have to identify the new challenges that capitalism
faces in such problems as the persistence of poverty. unemployment. insecturity. and the
depletion of the ecvironment. Then we must go on to ask what further supplementation of the
market economy-by appropriate non market institutions and behavioural norms are needed to
help resolve the problems faced. The recognition of the multidimensional nature of modern
society suggests that we look for solutions in the broadening of institutional and valuational
bases of economic systems and social living.
The first and perhaps the most important thing to recognise is that multidimen-
sionality related to institutions and norms-is not new to capitalism. In fact. simple theories of
capitalist success that deny the role of non market institutions (focusing only on the market)
and the functioning of non profit values (focusing only on profit making) not only do less than
justice to the remarkable history of capitalist success. they also stifle the constructive steps that
can be taken in contemporary capitalism to come to terms with the problems from security
and poverty to sustainability and environmental deterioration that are so seriously encoun-
tered right at this time. Simple theory can be a major barrier to adequate practice.
Institutional Combinations and Valuational Support
Why are markets alone not adequate? The answer lies not only in the fact that
markets need other institutions to function well. but also in the reality of the limited reach of
the market mechanism in areas beyound pure exchange and exchange based production.
Let us consider for a moment the history of capitalist evolution. Capitalism did not
emerge until legal and practical development of the possibility of orderly transactions and the
acceptance of property rights had made an ownership based economy feasible and opera-
tional. The efficiency of exchange could not work until business morality made contractual
behaviour sustainable and inexpensive (not requiring constant suing of defaulting contrac-
tors). Expansions are hard to plan without the needed trust in each other's plans and an-
nouncements. Investment in productive businesses could not flourish until the higher rewards
from corruption had been moderated.
The financing of businesses could not run smoothly until credit institutions had
developed. and borrowers were standardly inclined to repay loans. rather than absconding