Revisiting Reimagining Capitalism (with Rebecca Henderson)

Jan 27, 2026

Rebecca Henderson, Harvard Business School professor and author focused on how business can build a more just, sustainable economy. She discusses why capitalism needs reimagining, how purpose-driven firms can thrive, the limits of shareholder-only goals, and the policy, cultural, and institutional changes required to align markets with public goods.

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ANECDOTE

Scorpion And Frog Parable

Nick Hanauer recounts the scorpion and the frog parable to illustrate business behavior.
The parable warns some firms will harm society because 'it's in their nature' unless constrained.

INSIGHT

Reimagine, Don't Abandon Capitalism

Capitalism must be reimagined because the current system fails people and the planet.
Rebecca Henderson argues we can reform capitalism into a just, sustainable system rather than discard it.

INSIGHT

What Capitalism Means

Capitalism is private, widely distributed ownership of the means of production.
Henderson favors 'free and fair' capitalism where markets reflect real costs and competition is genuine.

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As inequality deepens, democratic institutions strain, and climate risk accelerates, it’s becoming impossible to ignore a basic question: What is capitalism actually for?

This week, we revisit our conversation with Harvard Business School professor Rebecca Henderson who argues that today’s economic crises aren’t the result of isolated failures, but of an economic system designed around the wrong goal—maximizing shareholder value at any cost. Drawing from her book Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, Henderson makes the case that markets built around cooperation, dignity, and shared prosperity don’t just serve the public good—they often outperform extractive, low-road models, while decades of trickle-down economics hollowed out institutions, rewarded cheating over value creation, and left businesses dependent on a society they are actively undermining. Together, they ask what it would take to build a new economic paradigm—one where firms exist to strengthen the communities, democracy, and planet they rely on to survive.

Rebecca Henderson is the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard Business School, where she teaches the acclaimed course Reimagining Capitalism and explores how business can help build a more just, sustainable economy. She is the author of Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, and a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a fellow of the British Academy and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has served on the boards of major public companies.

Social Media:

@RebeccaReCap