Economics After Capitalism

A free market discourse is used to legitimate the policy goals of an elite. The IMF along with the World Bank are ‘regulatory bodies’ that intervene to control the global economy through ‘a worldwide process of debt collection’.

Quantitative easing, where money was created and used to buy back government debt, put nearly £4 billion into the UK economy to prevent negative economic growth and deflation, during the recession from 2009 onwards. Inflationary in ordinary circumstances, in a state of austerity, this policy was used to keep the economy afloat. Tragically, rather than being used to fund renewable energy schemes, build schools, or even end poverty through a basic income scheme, the money was simply pumped into the banking system in the form of cheap credit. Monetary reformers argue that such money creation could be used to banish poverty and finance a sustainable future, rather than helping bankers.

Kovel argues that capitalism is like a virus spreading through the world, that moves extensively through geographical space and intensively into our very souls. Globalisation is driven by the crises of capitalism. To maintain profit, firms must sell more and exploit labour with greater vigour. A falling profit rate can be overcome by a combination of exploiting labour more intensively (getting them to work harder) or extensive (getting them to work for longer) and selling to new markets. To survive, capitalism therefore must grow forever. New economic niches must be exploited by constructing new needs. Capitalism, Luxemburg (1971) argued, needs an ‘outside’ to colonise. Nature must be commodified by enclosing and exploiting new habitats. People must constantly consume more and work harder. Capitalism has a psychological dimension. The system tends to select those who are most aggressive and inspired at increasing profit. Individuals in firms who decide that there is a kinder, gentler way of doing things, or who have priorities other than profit, for example, trying to produce what is most environmentally friendly or useful, either fail to rise to the top or are replaced.