The following article by Guardians CEO Adrian Orr was published, in association with the Milken Institute, in September 2015.

Current capitalist systems, and general financial market practices, do better than the alternatives at allocating scarce capital to its most productive uses. Witness the rapid per-capita income growth of recent centuries, which is unprecedented in human history. The economic outcomes in health, shelter, security and choice have never been greater.

However, not all is well. Social cohesion, culture and the environment continuously come under immense pressure. Likewise, modern economies lurch between boom and bust. The income and opportunity divide remains wide between and within countries. Cultural dominance strips communities of their sense of purpose. And the environment is being degraded at the cost of future generations. At times, capitalism and financial markets, when left alone, yield outcomes that can be unfair, unstable and unsustainable. How do we create more inclusion and stability?