Trend Capitalism rebalanced

Summary

EY begins from the claim that capitalism is thriving and doing exactly what its incentives reward, channelling capital to the highest short-term returns, rewarding scale and ignoring costs that markets do not price. The problem is that these incentives were optimised for a stable world, and in today's volatile environment that optimisation becomes a weakness in resilience and long-term value. Some firms have diversified supply chains, trading efficiency for resilience, yet wealth and market value keep concentrating and AI is reinforcing winner-take-most dynamics. EY therefore sees the question as how and when capitalism adapts, not whether. The path it explores expands profit maximisation rather than abandoning it, with governments investing for the long term, investors allocating more widely and companies serving all stakeholders.