The financial crisis that began in 2008 and its lingering aftermath have caused many intellectuals and politicians to question the virtues of capitalist systems. The 19 original essays in this Handbook, written by leading scholars from Asia, North America, and Europe, analyze both the strengths and weaknesses of capitalist systems. The volume opens with essays on the historical and legal origins of capitalism. These are followed by chapters describing the nature, institutions, and advantages of capitalism: entrepreneurship, innovation, property rights, contracts, capital markets, and the modern corporation. The next set of chapters discusses the problems that can arise in capitalist systems including monopoly, principal agent problems, financial bubbles, excessive managerial compensation, and empire building through wealth-destroying mergers. Two subsequent essays examine in detail the properties of the "Asian model" of capitalism as exemplified by Japan and South Korea, and capitalist systems where ownership and control are largely separated as in the United States and United Kingdom. The handbook concludes with an essay on capitalism in the 21st century by Nobel Prize winner Edmund Phelps.

始于2008年的金融危机及其挥之不去的后果，使许多知识分子和政治家对资本主义制度的优点提出质疑。本手册中的19篇原创文章由来自亚洲、北美和欧洲的知名学者撰写，分析了资本主义制度的优势和劣势。本卷以关于资本主义的历史和法律渊源的文章开篇。随后的章节描述了资本主义的性质、制度和优势：创业、创新、产权、合同、资本市场和现代公司。下一组章节讨论了资本主义制度中可能出现的问题，包括垄断、委托代理人问题、金融泡沫、过度的管理报酬以及通过破坏财富的兼并建立帝国。随后的两篇文章详细研究了以日本和韩国为例的资本主义 "亚洲模式 "的特性，以及美国和英国那种所有权和控制权基本分离的资本主义制度。本手册以诺贝尔奖得主埃德蒙-费尔普斯关于21世纪资本主义的文章作为结尾。