Tag Archives: capitalism

Asymmetrical power. State capture by elites arises from asymmetrical power in societies rather than asymmetrical power being created by the state. "Might makes right." There are many factors involved in might other than physical force, but in the end, physical force is the ultimate enforcer. But in a cultured society, that is generally kept in the background and under liberalism, the elite has learned to be clever instead of brutal. But when push comes to shove.... Capitalism, like...

Neoliberalism arrived with globalization or else globalization arrived with neoliberalism; that is how the Great Regression began. [1] In the 1970s, the capital of the rebuilt industrial nations started to work its way out of the national servitude in which it had been forced to spend the decades following 1945. [2] The time had come to take leave of the tight labour markets, stagnant productivity, falling profits and the increasingly ambitious demands of trade unions under a mature,...

Schumpeter’s theory is interesting for several reasons. It was formulated at the same time as Lenin’s and Luxemburg’s and clearly with the knowledge of the two. It reacts to the exactly the same events as theirs. It is different though and it was held by Schumpeter throughout his life. The key text for Schumpeter’s theory is “The sociology of imperialisms” (note the plural) published in 1918-19. It is a very long essay of some tightly printed 80 pages in its English translation. Schumpeter...

Third way evangelists presented globalisation as inevitable and advantageous to all. In reality, it is neither, and the liberal order is paying the price.... The fundamental thing to grasp is that globalisation is—and always was—the product of human agency; it can be shaped and reshaped, for good or ill. The great problem with Blair’s forceful affirmation of globalisation back in 2005 was the presumption that it is essentially one thing, immutable to the way that our societies must...

Data show rising dissatisfaction with economic status quo. The millennial generation is the largest demographically, and it is poised to begin taking over power as the boomers start fading. AlterNet Millennials and Capitalism Just Don't Mix Emily C. Bell

Ok, I can't resist a title like that. What we are witnessing in the US and indeed throughout the western world is the total failure of capitalism. Capitalism is now merely a looting machine. The financial sector no longer supplies capital for production. What the financial sector does is to turn discretionary consumer income into interest and fee payments to banks. Aggregate demand can only grow through debt expansion, and the consumers reach a point where they cannot expand their...

[Noah] Smith is keen to refute the ‘mixed economy’, anti free trade ideas that have been sneaking into mainstream economics since the Great Recession, namely that ‘neo-liberalism’ and free markets are bad for living standards. Instead, a little dose of protectionism on trade (Rodrik) and state intervention and regulation (Kwak) helps capitalism to work better. But no, says Smith. Neoliberalism works better. He cites China’s growth phenomenon as his main example! In China, “the shift...

Was Ayn Rand just the expression of a cultural syndrome and an amplification of the Horatio Alger myth? Have new cultural myths been born to suit the historical transition from feudalism to liberalism, in the West at least?  Are the conflicts between liberalism and traditionalism the conflict of different myths characteristic of incompatible worldview? How is it that many conservatives find no contradiction between economic liberalism and social and political traditionalism? Is...

The key element that distinguishes capitalist societies from previous forms of social organization is not the existence of markets or money but rather capital investment, the act through which basic elements of society and life—including natural resources, technological discoveries, cultural productions, urban spaces, educational institutions, human beings, and the nation-state—are transformed (or “capitalized”) into income-generating assets valued and allocated in accordance with their...

The financial crisis has led many to question the legitimacy of capitalism. The verdict, 10 years on, has not been favourable. In an opinion poll by YouGov, three-quarters of German adults, two-thirds of Britons and over half of Americans believe that, “the poor get poorer and the rich get richer in capitalist economies”. Their sense of injustice is not only a reaction to bank bailouts, years of austerity and corporate scandals. The challenge is fundamental. There is a growing awareness in...