Even so, my Muscovite pals were wrong. Marx didn’t just get communism wrong — he was also profoundly mistaken about capitalism, which turns out to be the best prosperity-creating system humanity has come up with so far.

But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to evolve. The high-tech, globalized capitalism of the 21st century is very different from the postwar version of capitalism that performed so magnificently for the middle classes of the western world.

That’s why a lot of people, including many hard-driving capitalists, are trying to figure out how to retool the institutions of capitalism for our time. This week, the state of Delaware, which has made corporate governance its regional cuisine, approved a new form of incorporation, the B-corp, or benefit corporation. These are companies explicitly charged with a dual mission: to earn profits for shareholders, the traditional business goal, and also to pursue the social good in other ways, ranging from protecting employees to safeguarding the environment — even if these goals come at the cost of short-term financial gain…

Mr. Markell believes there is a hunger among investors and entrepreneurs to both do well and do good: “What an unbelievable opportunity this represents to harness the energy of entrepreneurs who are really focused on making money and who want to give back at the same time.”