Tuesday 7 October 2008

Don't get your hopes up.

A fine post here which I would urge you to read in full. But the basic point is worth reiterating.

There's a lot of people out there insisting that the current problems are "the end of capitalism".

Hmm, it might be a hiccup, it might be heartburn, but it ain't a fatal heart attack. The [people claiming the end of it seem not to realise what capitalism actually is:

....there is a certain silly gloating in the press, and commentators who should know better labelling this crisis as the end of capitalism. The Guardian seems particularly smug. But don't take predictions of 'a new world system' to replace capitalism too seriously. If the entire world financial system crashed tomorrow, wiping out every bank and making currencies worthless, by the end of the week someone would be striking silver coins in a local mint as a means of exchange; by next month some individuals would have acquired a surplus of coins and by next year capitalists would be back, evaluating risk and investing in merchant ventures.

1 comment:

Gawain Towler said...

Rather nice image of local currency creation and the foundation of Merchant Venturers Guilds