We talk about capitalism as though it is one thing. The metaphor that is most often used by both its advocates and its detractors is that of the free market. A public space where buyers and sellers can trade in mutually enriching ways. And who doesn’t like freedom. It’s up there with motherhood and apple pie in the list of things that people like.
Capitalism is becoming topic du jour. Steve Denning's new book, “Reinventing Capitalism in the Digital Age” has just been published by Cambridge University Press. It's on order and it will be interesting to see if Steve talks of anti-markets, too. Have you read Matt Stoller on Substack?
Capitalism is just private ownership of capital (or as Marx would put it, the means of production). Socialism is social ownership of capital. Markets are just one way of exchanging goods, they’re generally linked because socialist and communist countries typically engage in planning because they think that the best way of establishing what his need is (as in “each according to his need”) is to have someone a long way away tell them. You can have a socialist market economy. Take Australia for instance, government spending has been as high as 40% of gdp - so it’s basically a socialist market economy.
Capitalism is becoming topic du jour. Steve Denning's new book, “Reinventing Capitalism in the Digital Age” has just been published by Cambridge University Press. It's on order and it will be interesting to see if Steve talks of anti-markets, too. Have you read Matt Stoller on Substack?
Capitalism is just private ownership of capital (or as Marx would put it, the means of production). Socialism is social ownership of capital. Markets are just one way of exchanging goods, they’re generally linked because socialist and communist countries typically engage in planning because they think that the best way of establishing what his need is (as in “each according to his need”) is to have someone a long way away tell them. You can have a socialist market economy. Take Australia for instance, government spending has been as high as 40% of gdp - so it’s basically a socialist market economy.