Mercantilism was also a pretty good economic system until it wasn't. It's not sound reasoning to say that capitalism had a net positive impact (at least in Nor

Mercantilism was also a pretty good economic system until it wasn't. It's not sound reasoning to say that capitalism had a net positive impact (at least in North America and Europe) through much of the 19th and 20th centuries and conclude that it is and will forever be the optimal system. I think there's a compelling argument to be made that in this century, with forces like globalization and automation removing a lot of the leverage which labor had, modern capitalism is going to result in a net negative economic state for a vast majority of people.