The United States can be thought of as a strained marriage of democracy and capitalism, with the two often at odds with each other. Interestingly, history has shown that inflection points occur when there is a shift in dominance between democracy and capitalism within our economy. And although managers should not assume that history will repeat itself in exactly the same fashion, they would be wise to use history as a guide in interpreting the secular changes presently occurring within the U.S. economy.