Contributor(s): Professor Luigi Zingales | When the Italian-born economist Luigi Zingales first arrived in the United States in the 1980s, he embraced the American dream: the belief that what brings you success is hard work, not luck or who you know. But the economic events of the past decade, combined with the actions of politicians from both sides, have undermined capitalism's reputation. In A Capitalism for the People, which he will discuss in this lecture, Zingales warns that the US economy risks deteriorating into a Berlusconi-style crony-capitalist system – pro-business rather than pro-market, and run by corrupt politicians who are more concerned with lining the pockets of the connected elite than with improving opportunity for the people. If it continues to lose popular support, can capitalism survive? Zingales' real-world recommendations for restoring true competition to the economic system give hope that the US can not only avoid the fate of Italy and Greece, but rebound to greatness. Luigi Zingales is the Robert C McCormack Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance, and the David G Booth Faculty Fellow at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. He serves as the director of the American Finance Association, a faculty research fellow for the National Bureau of Economic Research, a research fellow for the Center for Economic Policy research and a fellow for the European Governance Institute.