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Inside Story Americas
Has capitalism proven its durability?
We ask if falling US unemployment rates and increased profits for large
companies show capitalism can adapt and endure.
Inside Story Americas Last Modified: 29 Dec 2012 11:50
As unemployment in the US decreases and large companies expand their
profit margins, has the capitalist system once and for all proven its ability
to endure and adapt?
The jobless rate in the US has dropped to its lowest level in four years.
And the economy, which in 2008 appeared to be on the brink of collapse, is said
to be recovering.
"There are no impediments left to corporate capitalism and there is
no way ultimately to fight back …. There is no protection anymore for the
working class …. It is a world of masters and serfs."
- Chris Hedges, a journalist and author
But a closer look reveals the damage that has been left behind. According
to a recent study by the National Employment Project, most of those who lost
their jobs during the recession were in mid-wage occupations. But most of the
jobs that have been created during what has been called the recovery are in
low-wage occupations, such as retail and food preparation.
Meanwhile, the wealth gap is expanding even further. The richest are
becoming richer, and banks like JP Morgan and Wells Fargo, who helped spark the
economic crisis, are making record profits.
So will capitalism endure? Or should Americans be considering an
alternative economic system?
To discuss this, Inside Story Americas, with presenter Shihab Rattansi,
is joined by: Chris Hedges, a journalist and co-author of the book Days of
Destruction, Days of Revolt, and Richard Wolff, an economist and author of the
book Democracy at Work: A Cure of Capitalism.
"This was not a crisis that was expected or supposed to happen. The
government of the United States was supposed to be equipped with monetary and
fiscal policy to prevent such events and to cure them quickly if they occurred.
Neither of those proved possible. And here we are at the end of five years of
an unanticipated and unmanaged crisis still not even half way back [to previous
unemployment levels]. I would say that raises more questions about the
durability of capitalism than anything else."
Richard Wolff, an economist
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