Is Capitalism The Right Answer for Emerging Markets?

Given our extensive presence in emerging markets and the implosion of Western-style free market capitalism, the following question is becoming relevant and important: Is capitalism the right answer for emerging markets?

I would like to open up the topic for discussion. Please use my recent piece Restructuring Capitalism as context, and share your thoughts on where countries like India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Africa, and so on should be heading.

India, for example, has a long history of family-run businesses. Its conglomerates are all family-run, and even in the SMB sector, family-owned and -operated businesses constitute a fair share of the economy. Today, with the advent of angel and venture financing, albeit still small in its impact, India is starting to change.

China is practicing  a hybrid model of communist capitalism – state run, efficient, and extremely high growth.

The financial markets, the discipline of speculation, and the comfort level with debt, otherwise known as leverage, are all timid in the emerging markets compared to the West. Perhaps that’s a good thing in the long run.

What are your thoughts?