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You say "Modern capitalism" as if there was a different capitalism before it. The system is the same (perhaps more optimized from longer innovation); the cultur

You say "Modern capitalism" as if there was a different capitalism before it. The system is the same (perhaps more optimized from longer innovation); the culture and the players are different.

Avicebron 6y ago
I think he's saying that the modern economic shell game that is going on is actively damaging the economic welfare of a large body of people. From my perspective the "modern" part of it has become more extractive than generative. A lot of "innovation" has been to cut as many corners as possible while isolating wealth into fewer and fewer groups.
jackcosgrove 6y ago
"Modern capitalism" might be better called "managerial capitalism". It is different from entrepreneurial capitalism, which preceded it. Entrepreneurial capitalism was a constellation of small private enterprises, often family-owned. Managerial capitalism is characterized by the dominance of firms publicly traded on capital markets, and managed by professional managers who are often distinct from the shareholders. Entrepreneurial capitalism, I believe, better aligns incentives by combining the shareholder and manager role. It also reduces dependence on capital markets, which can become a single point of failure during a financial panic. Lastly entrepreneurial capitalism makes coordination between competitors less likely, whereas such coordination is embraced by the mergers and acquisitions arms of banks in a mangerial capitalist system quite openly. The only advantage of managerial capitalism is scale. Pooling capital in public markets permits massive economies of scale and their efficiencies.
ken 6y ago
I believe capitalism can work well on a micro-scale when the products are simple enough that consumers can exert perceivable pressure on producers. Make a better hammer? I'll buy a better hammer. Where modern capitalism falls down is complexity. There's 3 (non-niche) desktop operating systems, for example, and way more than 3 attributes that consumers care about in a computer. Or cars, or TVs, or airplanes, or anything else that costs more than $20. There's simply not enough levers by which consumers can send any meaningful signal through the market to producers. This breaks the Invisible Hand.
netsharc 6y ago
There was capitalism when communism was still a force. That capitalism had to offer something better to workers to keep them from thinking "Maybe communism is better?": https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny/cp/2020/00000052/00000003/art00002;jsessionid=1umefkpasc5d7.x-ic-live-03 https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny/cp/2020/00000052... Nowadays, well, you got your Bezos and you got your Uber...

You say "Modern capitalism" as if there was a different capitalism before it. The system is the same (perhaps more optimized from longer innovation); the culture and the players are different.

Avicebron 6y ago

I think he's saying that the modern economic shell game that is going on is actively damaging the economic welfare of a large body of people. From my perspective the "modern" part of it has become more extractive than generative. A lot of "innovation" has been to cut as many corners as possible while isolating wealth into fewer and fewer groups.

jackcosgrove 6y ago

"Modern capitalism" might be better called "managerial capitalism". It is different from entrepreneurial capitalism, which preceded it. Entrepreneurial capitalism was a constellation of small private enterprises, often family-owned. Managerial capitalism is characterized by the dominance of firms publicly traded on capital markets, and managed by professional managers who are often distinct from the shareholders. Entrepreneurial capitalism, I believe, better aligns incentives by combining the shareholder and manager role. It also reduces dependence on capital markets, which can become a single point of failure during a financial panic. Lastly entrepreneurial capitalism makes coordination between competitors less likely, whereas such coordination is embraced by the mergers and acquisitions arms of banks in a mangerial capitalist system quite openly. The only advantage of managerial capitalism is scale. Pooling capital in public markets permits massive economies of scale and their efficiencies.

ken 6y ago

I believe capitalism can work well on a micro-scale when the products are simple enough that consumers can exert perceivable pressure on producers. Make a better hammer? I'll buy a better hammer. Where modern capitalism falls down is complexity. There's 3 (non-niche) desktop operating systems, for example, and way more than 3 attributes that consumers care about in a computer. Or cars, or TVs, or airplanes, or anything else that costs more than $20. There's simply not enough levers by which consumers can send any meaningful signal through the market to producers. This breaks the Invisible Hand.

netsharc 6y ago

There was capitalism when communism was still a force. That capitalism had to offer something better to workers to keep them from thinking "Maybe communism is better?": https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny/cp/2020/00000052/00000003/art00002;jsessionid=1umefkpasc5d7.x-ic-live-03 https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny/cp/2020/00000052... Nowadays, well, you got your Bezos and you got your Uber...