It's a balancing act. Capitalism motivates innovation by promising personal rewards in the form of private profits. But that incentive leads to unsustainable economic inequality, which prompts populist or socialist revolts. Social democracies should allow investors to reap returns on their investments, but redistribute some of those gains with taxes, to prevent a plutocratic takeover of the government. Monopolies, for instance, should be broken up, and big money should be eliminated from the democratic process. This is all easier said than done, of course, because money talks.