Includes bibliographical references (pages 396-428) and index.

Introduction: business in society -- Part I: The background -- 1. Love the product, hate the producer -- 2. A history of pharmaceuticals: a case for treatment -- Part 2: A brief history of business -- 4. The mechanical firm -- 5. The rise of manufacturing -- 6. The rise of corporations -- 7. Changing fortunes -- 8. The decline of manufacturing -- Part 3: The secret of our success -- 9. Better at everything -- 10. Better at business -- 11. Value -- 12. Stanley Matthews changes trains -- Part 4: The age of individualism -- 13. Money can't buy you love -- 14. Or perhaps it can: the modern theory of the firm -- 15. The myth of ownership -- 16. Must companies maximise profits? -- 17. Leaky pipes and overflowing sewage -- 18. The dumbest idea in the world -- Part 5: How it all worked out -- 19. The evolution of finance -- 20. The art of the deal -- 21. Not a pretty picture -- 22. The fall of the icons -- 23. The finance curse -- Part 6: The corporations in the twenty-first century -- 24. Combinations and capabilities -- 25. A letter from Arnold Weinstock -- 26. The MacNeil returns to Barra -- Part 7: Capital in the twenty-first century -- 28. Capital as a service -- 29. Capital and wealth -- 30. Who are the capitalists now? -- 31. In search of capital -- Part 8: The best of times, the worst of times -- 32. Ambiguity is a feature, not a bug -- 22. After capitalism.