"However, since the beginning of the 20th century at least, there has been very little in the way of laissez-faire in the more advanced capitalist countries. Late capitalism has been marked by more than anything by the intersection of large corporations and the federal government."
I agree with this argument in the linked article. and I agree that increased state involvement is not the key but political power is the key. There is inevitably a battle about who is being rescued at whose expense and the chances of working people really getting a significant shift of power is very limited. I assume that a social democratic solution is only possible now because it is in the interests of the dominant sector of large corporations, now that a very laissez faire finance sector has fallen into crisis, to dump this part of capital, and get things circulating again in its interests. It is will come up against less dramatic but more fundamental crunches. Chris Burford ----- Original Message ----- From: "Louis Proyect" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Progressive Economics" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 9:18 PM Subject: Re: [Pen-l] centralization of credit | Chris Burford wrote: | > | > In 1848 the state did not have the variety of instruments to enforce its | > pressures, short of dictat. What has happened is social democratic rather | > than socialist, but it is still a step towards another of the demands of the | > Communist Manifesto | > | > "Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national | > bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly. " | > | > - yes not an exclusive monopoly, but increasingly it is about recognising | > that *world wide* there is no alternative to oversight of the credit of the | > world as a whole by a coalition of central banks. | | October 1, 2008 | Are bailouts Marxist? | | (clip) | | Taking a step up from Perkins intellectually (we are being charitable) | is a blog commentary that appeared in the Canadian National Post on | September 29th. Written by Martin Masse, the publisher of the | libertarian webzine Le Québécois Libre, it makes Henry Paulson a | latter-day member of the Communist League: | | In his Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, Karl Marx proposed 10 | measures to be implemented after the proletariat takes power, with the | aim of centralizing all instruments of production in the hands of the | state. Proposal Number Five was to bring about the “centralization of | credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state | capital and an exclusive monopoly.” | | If he were to rise from the dead today, Marx might be delighted to | discover that most economists and financial commentators, including many | who claim to favour the free market, agree with him. | | | full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/are-bailouts-marxist/ | _______________________________________________ | pen-l mailing list | [email protected] | https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
