As its summer session gets going, the water temperature is already rising in the Capitol. The US Congress is currently debating legislation that would prioritize clean water projects within America's international aid budget and push the private sector to get involved, too. The bill's co-sponsors say that the private sector can quickly and effectively provide clean water using innovative technologies. Opponents contend that privatized water systems in developing countries tend to exclude the poor in order to break even, and have introduced competing legislation that keeps water provision in the public sphere. It will be interesting to keep an eye on these bills as they move through Congress. Will US companies currently developing new clean water technology shift research and development elsewhere if opponents win? Most importantly, how will underserved communities be affected by shifting priorities in the US international aid budget? It may be a long, dry summer before we find out. For more, check out this segment from NPR's "Living on Earth" radio show here.

Thanks for the introduction Al. I'll be answering a series of eight questions over the coming week, and would be interested in hearing any comments or questions that readers may have. To start, I'll talk a little bit about why capitalism is at a crossroads.

Q. Why is capitalism facing challenges right now? Is this time period very different from previous history?

Think of it this way: In my lifetime alone, the human population has ballooned from about 2 billion to more than 6.5 billion. If I live to a ripe old age, I could easily see 8 billion or more people on the planet. Thus, in a single lifetime, the human population will have grown from 2 billion to more than 8 billion. This growth is truly unprecedented. Never before in human history has a single generation witnessed such explosive change. Combine this population growth with humans’ insatiable use of resources and you have global impact of truly epic proportions. Indeed, every major living system on the planet is now either overused or in decline—fisheries, forests, soils, watersheds, and atmosphere, just to name a few. Yet, with only 800 million of the wealthiest people accounting for well over three-quarters of the current resource use, the impacts could multiply further if the 4-5 billion poor emulate the development path of the rich.