Carrol Cox wrote:
> Steinem here seems to assume that "obsessive growth" is a function of > the intentions of individuals or groups of individuals. But, is it or is > it not true that capitalism & growth (in fact, 'obsessive' growth) are > inseparable? Can there be controlled growth under capitalism?
Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
Fiscal and monetary policies aren't completely powerless. We have to admit that, after the Great Depression, such policies have managed to steer growth in the West at least for the benefit of the Western ruling classes without any uncontrollable breakdowns.
US active policy has not been very successful. It's mostly a matter of the "automatic stabilizers" resulting from the relatively progressive tax and transfer system, along with the balance wheel that a relatively constant government budget (especially the military part) creates. Monetary policy is a very rough tool for stabilizing the system, as indicated by the gyrations that interest rates go through to "stabilize" the economy. Of course, fiscal & monetary policy "aren't completely powerless," but a lot of the expansion of capitalism has been on the international plane -- or on the micro level, the development of new products and ways to produce the, the disruption of old ways of life and the infiltration and replacement of pre-existing cultural forms with advertising, etc. -- Jim Devine / "These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people." -- Abraham Lincoln
