William I. Robinson, Can Global Capitalism Endure? — Book review by Elna Tulus

Created
Tue, 21/03/2023 - 07:10
Updated
Tue, 21/03/2023 - 07:10
It should be obvious to just about anyone by now that transnational capitalism cannot survive in its present form if humanity is to survive. The amount of negative externality that is not priced in is too great. Markets are not a mechanism that delivers accurate economic calculation, contrary to what Hayek argued in his Nobel Prize Lecture (1974), and is now widely accepted as received wisdom. Valuation is biased by failing to consider true cost and reliance on this is leading to more erroneous assumptions about addressing emergent challenges. 

Ignoring true cost including externalities will vitiate any market-based solutions that are propounded based on current theory and accounting practices. Probably most know this deep down but also know that addressing this issue effectively would be extremely painful and highly unpopular absent a presently pressing existential threat that gets wide attention and motivates large numbers of people to act. While this has not happened yet, at least sufficiently to motivate the changes that need to be made to the system, the pressure is rising.

Progress in Political Economy (PPE)
William I. Robinson, Can Global Capitalism Endure?
Elna Tulus