Capitalism under pressure

Guest editorialCapitalism in various forms and transformations has evolved as countries have opened up to more trade and seen the globalization process as a way of achieving higher levels of growth. In some countries, large numbers of people have been brought out of poverty. However, it has been questioned whether global markets in this process need to be regulated in order to avoid huge income inequalities, financial crashes as well as damage to the planet through climate change. This special issue does not get into the theoretical models of capitalism from pure economics or political science perspective. It instead sets out to address some of these concerns, the factors that have led to a backlash in the global system, whether things can improve, by what means as well as considering whether there will be a temporary slowdown or further movement toward a process of deglobalization.