GAF seems to be majority made up of the left, and more and more I see opinions that are fairly "radical" for recent Western history, most notably a strong aversion to capitalism. The historical consequences of low regulation free market capitalism are well-known, and I'm not looking to dispute any of them.
I am curious, however, what who have a strong distaste for capitalism think should fix/replace it. My gut feeling is that a lot of the most ardent critics of capitalism don't often express their alternative, and so this seems as good a place as any.
The way I see it, capitalism has a few major points:
+ the ability to obtain a return on capital (either though lending, investment, renting etc) without proportional labour
+ the theory that return on investment drives lending which drives growth
And the major alternatives I see are:
1) Capitalism as it exists but with more regulation and/or taxes to drive redistribution and increased social services
2) "Market socialism" somewhere between the German and Chinese models, where the government and/or takes a large active role in the economy, with major ownership in many enterprises.
3) Communism, in which the state owns the means of production (including buildings and computers, I suppose, in the modern West), and private wealth is abolished.
4) Something completely new.
So GAFers, if you strongly dislike capitalism, how would you like to see it change/be replaced?
Since it's no fair to ask without answering, I lean towards (1) but I would be OK with (2) if (1) turns out to be unviable in slow growth economies. I favour significantly increased income taxes as well as a progressive tax on total wealth, and *especially* the estate tax. In my mind, the most direct solution to inequality caused by capitalism is to disincentivize "indecent" wealth. There are obviously many problems with this, most notably cross-country tax competition. But we're talking perfect world stuff here.
I am curious, however, what who have a strong distaste for capitalism think should fix/replace it. My gut feeling is that a lot of the most ardent critics of capitalism don't often express their alternative, and so this seems as good a place as any.
The way I see it, capitalism has a few major points:
+ the ability to obtain a return on capital (either though lending, investment, renting etc) without proportional labour
+ the theory that return on investment drives lending which drives growth
And the major alternatives I see are:
1) Capitalism as it exists but with more regulation and/or taxes to drive redistribution and increased social services
2) "Market socialism" somewhere between the German and Chinese models, where the government and/or takes a large active role in the economy, with major ownership in many enterprises.
3) Communism, in which the state owns the means of production (including buildings and computers, I suppose, in the modern West), and private wealth is abolished.
4) Something completely new.
So GAFers, if you strongly dislike capitalism, how would you like to see it change/be replaced?
Since it's no fair to ask without answering, I lean towards (1) but I would be OK with (2) if (1) turns out to be unviable in slow growth economies. I favour significantly increased income taxes as well as a progressive tax on total wealth, and *especially* the estate tax. In my mind, the most direct solution to inequality caused by capitalism is to disincentivize "indecent" wealth. There are obviously many problems with this, most notably cross-country tax competition. But we're talking perfect world stuff here.