The Modes of Capitalism

Alan Greenspan
Book: The Age of Turbulence

"For twelve generations, capitalism has achieved one advance after another, as standards and quality of living have risen at an unprecedented rate over large parts of the globe. Poverty has been dramatically reduced and life expectancy has more than doubled. The rise in material well-being - a tenfold increase in real per capital income over two centuries - has enabled the earth to support a sixfold increase in population..."

"Competition, capitalism's greatest force, creates anxiety in all of us...fear of job loss..."

"Down deep that is probably the message of capitalism: "create destruction" - the scrapping of old technologies and old ways of doing things for the new - is the only way to increase productivity and therefore the only way to raise average living standards on a sustained basis..."