The Short Version
Capitalism's social harms—inequality, healthcare gaps, and environmental costs—are well-documented, but the claim that these harms "outweigh" economic benefits is not supported by the available evidence. The highest-authority global data shows extreme poverty fell from roughly 36% to 9% between 1990 and 2017 under market-led growth, and mainstream institutions describe health and welfare gains within capitalist frameworks. No rigorous comparative cost-benefit analysis in the evidence pool establishes that aggregate harms exceed aggregate benefits.