Kam N.
Hedge Fund Manager, Venture Capitalist, Commodity Trader, Mega Broker, Investment Banker
Is capitalism dead?
Answers (26)
Dean E.
Deputy Director, Division at CTSC
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No.
Capitalism is very much alive. As long as there is supply and demand there will be capitalism. What is dead is the Middle Class. The US is becoming the Have's vs the Have Nots.
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Harvey E. W.
Educator/Graphic Design
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Government subsidized capitalism is in. But it has been "in" for a good while now in the form of corporate tax breaks and subsidies.
I love it when people try to talk about how we have a meritocracy and that capitalism is the true judge of merit. This is the main criticism of affirmative action programs: the idea that they reward mediocrity and/or incompetence.
And here we are with government bailouts that seem to be rewarding the very same things.
It is perhaps fitting that the book opens with Enron and closes with bailouts during the tenure of this administration.
It is perhaps also fitting that the American citizens who put this administration in office for two terms will be the ones footing the bill.
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No
Les D.
Software Quality Assurance Lead
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Was it alive? Which capital is your ism?
Jerry Y.
Interaction Architect at Lender Processing Services
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Capitalism is alive and well. Rumors of its demise are merely exaggerated. However, it seems that american politicians and quite a few business leaders have decided to not believe in it any more. Buffet warned people of this a decade ago. Hey Brazil looks pretty good right now. And Chinas not bad either.
ciao,
jerryork@gmail.com
please feel free to invite/link!
Thomas T.
Vice President at ITA, Inc.
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Not even weak. However restraint is very ill.
Look at China and the US.
We have no problem wrecking the other guys life by speculating on the price of oil based on projections of consumption that can not be real.
Or lending money to people that can't afford a house because we can hide the risk in a new "investment product"
Chinese companies have no problem substituting chemicals that make otherwise wholesome foods into poison. Useful drugs are turned into life threatening compounds that can't be detected until enough people die.
Greed is very alive, but GREED ALONE IS NOT CAPITALISM!
The capitalism we all want is when people can have jobs because the objective of profit and employment coexists within the management of companies. The capitalism we all want is when getting the CEO his next bonus thru slash and burn management is secondary to R&D, investment and insuring continued operations. The capitalism we all want is when manufacturing is not treated as a burden to be gotten rid of, but the place where technical innovation can grow.
How do we get that - BY NOT CALLING IT A POLITICAL PROBLEM.
How would you personally contribute to "the kind of capitalism we want?"
Peggy I.
Editor/Writer
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nah, just bruised and embarrassed...
it'll get over it eventually, and do the same stupid things all over again.
Toby Marie W.
Independent Consultant, Acclivus PDP
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No, greed is, the entitled attitude is, the "give me" and "you pay" is, but not capitalism in America. Yet.
John F.
Award-winning communications professional, sustainability/CSR leader, Huffington Post blogger
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Capitalism is alive and well and the single greatest source of improvements in opportunity, quality of life and standard of living. Remember that the style of capitalism reflects the culture in which it is being implemented. What has taken a few lumps recently is the style of capitalism that Steven Young, Global Executive Director calls 'brute capitalism' (in his book Moral Capitalism) which combines social darwinism with an economic model. That leads to the idea of haves being somehow superior and have-nots somehow more deserving of their fates.
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John F. also suggests this expert on this topic:
No Capitalism can never get over.As long as the Rich get richer and the poor get poorer capitalism will continue to go stronger.
Ray M.
Energy expert, educator, award winning sculptor
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Alive and well and evidenced by the massive golden parachutes received by the CEOs of the institutions that are crashing and burning.
Gary S.
Award-winning Writer & Producer
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Are you confusing "capitalism" with "free market", as most confuse "religion" with "God"?
Clarification added September 19, 2008:
Maurizio, with all respect, Europe & Asia are not innocent of helping create Golem Amerika. For much of the last century your nations have heartily encouraged an increasingly militaristic America so as to avoid the expense of protecting your own sovereignty, your own trade and the equally corrupt status quo of your governments' power brokers. You cynically traded political & social integrity for lives of relative ease and abundance beneath the umbrella of US might. Now, that the Golem that YOU helped create has lost its moral compass you fault the creature. Perhaps, instead, you should reconsider where the blame truly lies and then share in the work necessary to rehabilitate the monster.
Lawyer Shah Peerally S.
US Immigration Lawyers & CA Debt Settlement Attorneys(LION)
I think yes. We are leaning more and more towards mixed economies. Face it the "invisible hand" is dead... or out of control
Links:
Maurizio P.
Director at S&I Savings and Investments Ltd.
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Never been alive, was a Ponzi scheme from the beginning, but when tempered by scholarly, fair mannered, patrician gentlemen like FDR, the Middle Cass had a chance.
And the world had a powerful , morally reliable nation to talk to.
With the Administration of Dubya G.W. Bush finally going down in history as the most shameless bunch of cronies ridden, scammers and fraudsters led by a mentally challenged puppet of the Powers that Be (have you seen his clueless face after 8 days of hell without even daring to take his head out of his a*s)
One thing, you Americans must put well in your minds :
All that you have preached to the world so far about free markets and democracy and all....was a BIG BUNCH OF LIES.
You Yanks are a Moral Hazard, to yourself and to the world.
Don't you EVER again go preaching about bringing democracy somewhere else with your Armies.
You're just a bloody rotten empire exactly like the Romans at Caligula times,, and the mental impaired leader you choose is even worse than caligula, he is not even intelligent enough to be evil!! And you have no respect for yourself and no principles you can preach around.
The thousands of soldiers who died in in G.W. Bush useless and liar's war will be your judges, one day, because if the God you fill your mouths with ever existed you will all have to deal with him someday.
The fact that you all as taxpayers will have to foot the bill of all this is just the fitting end to this farce.
You voted this deranged in power for two terms....have fun now.
But don't ever preach about capitalism, or philosophy or principles until a new generation who values morality and sober upbringing has come into power.
Till then, just bugger off the shoulders of the World and pay your debts, beggars!
Clarification added September 20, 2008:
Gary, I acknowledge that as reasonable enough. As usual, maybe things go down to people. Individuals may not be categorized under schemes...and probably, men of goodwill can be found under every sky and every banner.
Is when the men of goodwill abdicate to the shameless, bottomless, PowerHogs we did abdicate recently, that things get out of hand.
I really hope all of us go to the next vote with a good list of the incumbents and carefully avoid each of them and any other professional politician.
We need real people with goodwill and common sense...and it will be a long hard work to repair it.
Not dead as yet.............but looks like it's fighting for its life these days!!
Nicolas L.
► Business Consultant ► Open to Learn ► Open to Discuss ► Open to Help ► Open to Connect ► Open to Happiness
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You asked a legitimate question if you mean an absolute free market. It never exists. Market mechanism can only function in a limited range and needs external help to adjust or lubricate the engine.
Actually, we DO need routine oil change (government intervention) to power economic growth.
Stephen A.
Futurist, strategist, economist, and entrepreneur.
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Dear Kam,
Yes, and no. The market mechanism as a means of resource allocation is far too useful to be dispensed with, so that aspect of capitalism is likely to stay alive.
The future of American Capitalism, however, is perhaps a bit less certain. With Uncle Sam taking ownership of huge swathes of the financial system, the US economy is going to start looking distinctly European for the next few years. In this respect capitalism is dead, as the US reverts to more of a social-democratic alignment.
With best wishes,
Stephen
Links:
via F.
Structuring Complexity Into Opportunity
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Kam, there is a useful distinction between capitalism and free markets as illustrated by Arrighi and others--see the enclosed link. According to Arrighi, the US form of capitalism entered its final stage in the 1970s. Moreover, capitalism does not die, it just goes to live in another country, with better/more accommodating systems.
At this point in time, increasingly, the answer to your question is in the hands of the US creditor(s). They'll have an increasing say in how the capitalism evolves from here on.
On the other hand, check the second enclosed link to see that I raised a very similar question to yours, about 2 months ago. I was not aware at that time of the distinction between capitalism and free markets, yet I felt there was something rotten in capitalism. Worth reading are all the answers at that time--see also the implicit "socialist" cries from folks in very regulated industries...
Links:
Geoff F.
"Hands-on" Software Architect and Senior Developer
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No.
Reganomics and it's variant which includes financing 3 trillion pointless wars with "trickle down" ... yeah, that is dead. (I hope)
Chris G.
Product Manager, Mortgage Products at Informa Research Services
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Capitalism, like much in the U.S. that we hold dear, is an ideal - not a reality. Much like other ideals we strive for as American exceptionalists, such as democracy, justice, equality, opportunity, fairness, and steroid-free athletics, we steer for what we want to be, understanding that we are not likely to attain any. But we can't compromise on striving for the ideal.
The U.S. economic strength has been forged on the combined influences of government and capitalists. Throughout much of our history, there have been battles and compromises between the two camps. In the recent past, we found the pendulum had swung toward a stronger influence by capitalists; i.e., money bought influence in government. Even when government became involved in business, it did so to favor capitalists who employed lobbyists.
This won't change. In fact, even though we all currently feel that better regulation is required as a result of the troubles, in a year or two, capitalists will use their dollars to prevent much regulation from being passed.
When we talk about what ideals we should collectively pursue as a nation, we aren't always aligned. One recent ideal that has backfired has been the pursuit of increasing home ownership in America to as high a level as possible. With statistics showing minorities with a lower percentage of home ownership than white people, many worked to change that. Government and the GSEs assumed a mission to increase homeownership, and pointed to national stability as the desirable by-product. There was no regard for the mobile economy, where jobs and companies change regularly, requiring the new age of American worker to go where jobs exist. There was plenty wrong with the ideal of increasing home ownership in America - using taxes and bigger government to influence choices in what was supposed to be a free market. And now we see the results of the failed pursuit of that ideal.
Additionally, our political parties can lose sight of the ideals that originally brought them to prominence. The principles of the Republican party, based on truly conservative ideals, have not been followed leading to big government and fiscal irresponsibility. And the social justice espoused by the Democrats has often transformed into a decay in self-reliance, another important American ideal.
We will never agree on the appropriate and properly proportioned ideals, but one would hope that the Federal Government, as stewards of the people, would have a responsibility to be conservative with the taxpayer funds. Our country was formed based on a revolt caused by taxation without representation. The taxpayer needs to hold the Federal Government to an ideal of conservatism.
The funds spent should be used to defend us from others, from each other, and to provide required infrastructure in areas inefficiently served by the private sector. I am not certain how much the government should protect us from ourselves. But it should regulate sufficiently, protecting us from each other, to create an environment of stability for investment.
Please read "Moral Hazard: An Insider's Tale of the U.S. Mortgage Meltdown" that will soon be available. Contact me to find out how to obtain a copy.
Josh F.
Online Editor, AR: Absolute Return + Alpha
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From a purist perspective, we are seeing a type of capitalism. Remember there's crony capitalism, laissez faire capitalism, etc. Just because brokers have convinced government (perhaps correctly) that they are too essential to be allowed to fail does not mean we don't have a free system. The idea that people should be punished for their speculation is extremely naive. This is a psychotic example but it works: imagine your teenager takes the car out and crashes it. Do you refuse to pay the hospital bill to teach him a lesson. I guess you could if you were a purist, but at some point you help solve problems because to not do so, while intellectually satisfying, hurts you, too. No market or industry is an island. There are mini bailouts all the time and they add up. Just look at the annual farm bill. Look at $600 billion in annual government spending (arguably larger given appropriations tack-ons). This hasn't just started to become an inequitable system. It always was, but from another perspective the inequities are equitable or they wouldn't exist. For every lobby, there is another lobby. Sometimes one lobby achieves a monopoly for itself, but that in turn cycles out in time. Wall Street was ascendant, but the death of securitization will be very painful. Consider that capital raising is not rocket science. It takes real genius to convince people that selling stocks and bonds and then helping people trade them takes loads of brains. There are many equally complicated businesses, but it is far easier to charge more for fear and greed than for basic material goods. It is not surprising that industries associated with these strong innate desires for preservation and power should receive inordinate government attention. Anything else would be odd.
Clarification added September 24, 2008:
"Look at $600 billion in MILITARY spending."
