From January 12, 2009 “Meet the Press”:
David Gregory: Let me ask a final question here in a conversation that will certainly go on. Mark Zandi, on the other end of all this, what’s the future of capitalism?
Mark Zandi: Oh, capitalism’s going to be fine. I mean, we’ve got a crisis of capitalism. We made a lot of mistakes as capitalists. And that’s why we have a government, and that’s why government has to be bold and step in the breach, and that’s what they’re doing. And on the other side of this, government will figure out a way to step out gracefully.
Paul Gigot: Well, I think capitalism will survive, but I think a good question now at this particular juncture is what kind of capitalism? Are we moving to a European brand; a, a much larger welfare state, a much larger entitlement state with slower growth, higher long-term unemployment? Or are we going to stick with what has been for the last 30 years, more or less, a relatively successful model? We’ve had this blowup. If we don’t make mistakes, we can get through this.
How remarkable for the most prestigious and longest running (61 years) television show to raise the question of the future of capitalism. Moreover, it is a sign of the times that there is a direct reference to the system itself rather than the usual euphemisms (free market economy, private enterprise, etc.) That is obviously a function of the severity of the crisis. In times like this it is difficult to be taken seriously when you use bland language to describe a condition that is anything but bland.
Since the role of “Meet the Press” is to maintain the ideological hegemony of the ruling class cutting across party lines, it is no surprise that they would call upon the likes of Zandi and Gigot to reassure their audience.
full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/the-final-question/ _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
