After reading this week's edition of The Economist I couldn't help wondering if this is the end of capitalism. It seems like capitalism was abused so extensively that the only solution is to abolish it. Governments nationalizing banks?! Isn't that socialism? What's next, nationalizing oil companies and home builders? I'm not saying that governments should not try to prevent an economic collapse, I just can't believe that we have to go that far!
The Economist says it perfectly, "Now economic liberty is under attack and capitalism, the system which embodies it is at bay. This week Britain, the birth place of modern privatisation, nationalized much of its banking industry; amid talk of the end of the Thatcher-Reagan era, the American government has promised to put $250 billion into its banks..."
It seems like all that Reagan and Thacher has accomplished has been thrown out the window. The only question is who to blame. Current governments, the governments of Clinton and Blair (and others in the 90s for mishandling the Reagan-Thatcher policies), or should the blame be put on Reagan and Thatcher themselves.
One thing is becoming increasingly clear, if this trend continues, you can kiss goodbye to neoliberalism and say hello to socialism.
God help us.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
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3 comments:
I haven't read the article, but, personally I don't believe it's the system, I think it's the people in the system. Corrupt elements in a capitalist system will be just as corrupt in a socialist system. I suspect that there are more inherent checks and balances in a capitalist system than there would be in a socialist system which relies on disinterested and supposedly honest bureaucrats to ensure regulations.
Potato:
Corruption is everywhere.
The wonderful thing about capitalism is that if one company rips you off, whether you are a customer, employee, or service provider, you just deal with other companies in the future. And you share your experiences with others, so they know who to deal with in the future.
If the government rips you off, where do you go? Short of emmigration, they have a monopoly.
Companies can screw you over, but to really give you the shaft takes a government.
Late to the conversation here. I'm usually skeptical of any "endism" as history has shown such Hegelian dialectic reasoning to be proven false.
It's a correction, like what happened after the Gilded Age with the progressives, then after/during the Depression with the New Deal. America's foundation of Liberalism is too strong for it to be permanently replaced.
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