The Trouble With Capitalism: An Inquiry into the Causes of Global Economic Failure
Author: Harry Shutt
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ISBN: 1856495663
Publisher: Zed Books (September, 1998)
Sales Rank: 290,408
Average Customer Rating: 4 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 4 out of 5
Can capitalism be fixed?
This book has pierced the hubris of laizze-faire thought so common amongst the current economic pundits. It is a clear evaluation of the limits of capitalism and its failure in light of the human notion of an expanding economy. It should be read with an analytical attitude and should not be prejudged solely because of the title. It elucidates "the trouble with Capitalism" and why it will continue to spawn the normal up and down cycles. It presents clear examples of how political expediency, practiced by most OECD governments in their quest to appear as defenders of the public good, continues to play into the hands of private investment seeking contined increases in returns at the expense of real value. If you have ever wondered why taxes continue to rise, this book will explain how the public purse has become the corporate trough for ever increasing returns. He gives some interesting solutions of how the future could unfold if society can refocus its prioities and look to the "real" public good. A good read for any student of economic thought. The quote attributed to Marx that "the trouble with capitalism is that it eats its young" may come to mind after reading this book.
Rating: 4 out of 5
A challenge to contemporary laissez faire economists
Harry Shutt makes a strong case that private for-profit capitalism is nearing the end of its useful lifespan. He argues that capitalism's crisis is marked by an oversupply of capital desperately seeking investment opportunities in a world possessing a limited supply of secure, profit-producing activities. The author has written an unique and insightful economic history of the post-WW II world, tracing many contemporary problems back to their root causes and exposing official explanations as propaganda. For example, the privatization of state assets has been aggressively promoted principally because they provide new homes for investment dollars -- not necessarilly because the private sector can more efficiently run these enterprises (which in fact they often can not).
Shutt suggests that the industrial economies have created an untenable situation for themselves. Public debt has been increased in order to prop up asset values (witness the Savings and Loan bank bail-out in the U.S. and other corporate welfare policies), making it difficult for governments to invest in either their own infrastructures or third world governments. This means that the world economy can not grow at a fast enough pace to satisfy the needs of private capital. Eventually, the oversupply of capital will lead to a crash in asset values.
Events that have occurred after the book's publication suggest that the author was on the mark. The Internet stock investment mania and its subsequent collapse illustrates how desperately capital latches onto any opportunity that might promise above-average profits, however risky it may actually be.
Shutt finishes the book with an outline of what the world might look like following a crash of the present system. The author suggests that an institution such as the European Union (or more precisely, an expanded and modified version of the E.U.) could be used to manage a more just and equitable system: namely one that balances the needs of labor, environment and capital, with primacy given to local, sustainable business enterprises that are fully accountable to the public.
This is a highly readable and stimulating book. Anyone with an interest in contemporary political economy should enjoy it.
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