What threatens capitalism now

Craig Calhoun

Book chapter · 2013 · Does capitalism have a future?

Abstract

Capitalism appears to be surviving the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression.Though its lows were not as low, in the world's rich countries this has brought a longer period of depressed or absent growth than the Depression itself.Moreover, the current crisis comes on the heels of a damaging era of lopsided financialization, neoliberal weakening of social institutions, and intensified inequality.This exacerbates problems, undercuts capacity to deal with them, and reduces the buffers that protect ordinary people from the effects of economics upheaval.Investors are still making money; no states have completely collapsed.Yet the future looks precarious.However, this and most talk of collapse, reflects views from the old core countries of the capitalist world-system and their close neighbors as they lose their privileged and profitable position.The views are different from many places in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.The current crisis both reveals and accelerates a shift of economic momentum away from longstanding core economies in Europe and North America towards newly developing regions.A key question for the future of capitalism is whether this momentum can be sustained.Capitalism is being transformed through this West to East and North to South shift, perhaps in ways that will restore its vitality.But the rapidly growing economies also face challenges.And renewed capitalist growth in the old “core” economies also depends on transformation, particularly in the relationship of capitalism to political power and social institutions.Crucially, capitalism is vulnerable not just to market upheavals, excessive risktaking, or poorly managed banks but also to wars, environmental degradation and climate change, and crises of social solidarity and welfare.producing economic growth -is up against environmental limits to growth and potential geopolitical conflicts exacerbated by unequal growth.In each of these areas, dealing with the threats to capitalism may transform it, not cause its collapse.Together, they may bring about a world in which capitalism remains enormously important and potentially recovers some of its vitality, but is no longer able to organize and dominate a world-system to the degree it has through recent history. Why not collapse?The idea of capitalism simply collapsing, as say the Soviet Union collapsed, is a bit misleading.This implies suddenness, a transition over just a few years from existing to not existing.The Soviet Union could cease to exist almost overnight because it was a particular institutional structurea stateand its legal form could be dissolved.But capitalism is not strictly analogous.