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What does capitalism have to do with that?
by dragandj 9y ago
What does capitalism have to do with that?
- arethuza 9y agoThe Panama papers were about attempts to hide and obfuscate the control of capital?
- mjburgess 9y agoYeah, which has nothing to do with capitalism -- right? Unless you're using the humanities definition of capitalism by which it means "everything bad in the world".
- arethuza 9y agoWell, for "capitalism" to function in the way we've come to expect there have to be certain legal frameworks in place (property rights, companies, etc.) which are generally fairly tightly regulated. The Panama Papers described various schemes (often illegal even in Panama) where these legal frameworks were abused to hide ownership and control of large amounts of capital. Were these problems caused directly by capitalism? No. We're the criminal activities described in the Panama Papers facilitated by the structures that have to be in place for capitalism to work. Yes, I think that is arguable. The Panama Papers are an argument for more effective regulation, not against capitalism.
- mjburgess 9y ago> The Panama Papers are an argument for more effective regulation, not against capitalism. So you conclude with agreement despite disagreeing in each premise? As I said. Capitalism =/= the way the world is set up. Capitalism is an economic model. This humanities use of the word obfuscates more than it clarifies. The regulatory environment of the world is not "capitalism". At a guess, I'd say its vaugely semi-feudal. But certainly, there is no transnational court system to make the kinds of rights-based guarantees you'd need.
- erikb 9y agoOn a more abstract level it is the same in every system. But money, tax, company ownership are the attributes it has in capitalism. And this Malta Papers and Panama Papers topic is about tax, money and company ownership.