Book excerpt: In fact, many not-for-profit (NFP) enterprises are now outperforming their for-profit counterparts - connected to a process described by economic theorist Jeremy Rifkin as the eclipse of capitalism . In the U.S., for example, credit unions offer their 96 million members consistently higher returns on deposits, lower loan rates and, since the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis, have increased their total assets by 30%, compared to a 6.5% increase by for-profit banks during the same period. Indeed, not-for-profit entities have marked advantages in terms of finance, human resources, productivity, innovation, governance, value creation and market reputation. The rise of NFP business provides the first real opportunity to address the dual crises of our time. Financial inequality, as shown in economist Thomas Piketty s recent work, is an inherent tendency of capitalism.^