Varieties of capitalism in the globalizing world
Follow-up paper
Varieties of Capitalism
in the Globalizing World
2010-
St.
Petersburg
Contents
Introduction
Capitalism
Types and Models of the Capitalism
in the Globalizing World
Globalization
Globalization and Capitalism
Global Financial Crisis
Conclusion
Introduction
In our work on the topic “Varieties
of capitalism in the globalizing world” we consider the following questions:
what is capitalism, the main points of this system and we give a brief
historical background to the emergence of capitalism. In the
first part of our work we describe the main existing forms and models of
capitalism in the world.
The second part of our
topic is devoted to the phenomenon of globalization. We also give basic
information about globalization and consider capitalism in the era of
globalization.
In the third part of our
work, we consider all the exciting topic of the crisis and look at capitalism
in the era of the global financial crisis.
And in the end we will
make some conclusions on the above information.
In our opinion, our topic
“Varieties of capitalism in the
globalizing world” is quite interesting and relevant,
global financial crisis, according to many sources, has not yet ended, and
capitalism has not changed to any other system.
Capitalism
Below
is an attempt to give a working definition of the term 'capitalism', to trace
the emergence of capitalism in a historical context.
The Oxford English
Dictionary notes that the word "capitalism" first used in 1854 by the
novelist William Makepeace Thackeray to denote the set of conditions of
ownership of capital. In 1867, in his book Das Kapital Karl Marx used the term
"capitalism" to refer to the capitalist mode of production, as well
as "capitalist" - the owner of capital. To indicate the economic system
for the first time the term was used in 1884 in the book Douai "Best of
Times."[1]
Despite the fact that
democracy at the level of city-states emerged, apparently in ancient Greece and
Rome, explicit examples of democracies in history have been observed to de
Tocqueville observations with his American: he described the American example
enables some researchers to argue that since about from 1630, simultaneously
developed two systems - democratic rule and capitalism.
Historian Fernand Braudel,
who attributed the rise of capitalism to the period of 1400-1800 years,
admitted that he failed to define this phenomenon, but it is aware of the most
important characteristic of capitalism as a system of economic relationships
that are incompatible with feudalism, which is a different system of economic
relationships. Trade in goods and services exist in many of the feudal system,
such as the Aztecs, the Incas, in Japan of the Shoguns, in imperial China,
India and the Ottoman Empire.
Capitalism has the
following distinctive features:
1. The economy is
producing goods and services, as well as commerce and other types of legitimate
economic activity.
2. The means of production
are privately owned.
3. The source of
subsistence for the majority of society is the work not under duress, as is the
case in other economic systems, and on the free recruitment, sale of labor in
the form of wages.
Types
of Capitalism
There
are two types of capitalism in a modern world:
1st
type: capitalism in imperialistic and other developed capitalistic countries:
USA, Western Europe, Japan, Canada;
2nd
type: neo-colonial capitalism, that is works as a basis for the functioning of
the 1st type capitalism (incl. Russia).
Models
of capitalism according the theory of Benjamin D. Suarez
There
are a lot of classifications of capitalistic models in the today’s world, made
by different scientists. For our work we have chosen the classification of
capitalistic models according the theory of Benjamin D.Suarez.
There
are many forms of capitalism and they all very much differ from each other, but
all of them come to several models of capitalism.
Imperialistic
models
Japanese
model
It
is a national state monopolistic capitalism based on market and government
regulation. Democracy in Japan means submission of private interests to common
interests. It is a variant of collectivism democracy. Nation in Japan is above
all things. Japanese culture plays an important role. Japanese democracy:
subordination of private interests in favour of public interests. Japanese
model of capitalism can be characterised by stable economics, high level of
life and sustainable development of economics.
European
models of capitalism
There
are two main types of European models of capitalism:
A)
social-democratic model of Scandinavian
type:
Small
and medium-sized business acts as a basis. It is characterized by high level of
life, stability, social protection;
Such
countries have developed economics, high level of social protection of citizens
by the government (France) or monopolistic banks (Germany). These countries
typically have high level of life, high stability, sometimes they have high
level of unemployment and crime (esp. Italy).
USA
capitalism
Capitalism
in the USA is a classic state-monopolistic capitalism with high role of
government in economics and politics. The main characteristics of US-capitalism
are: high level of formal democracy, high average level of life, unemployment,
crimes.
Canadian
model
In
the basis of Canadian capitalism there is social-market economics and
harmonization of interests of all population, however, there is rather high
level of unemployment and ethnic conflicts (ex. Quebec).
Neo-colonial
models
Eastern
Asian capitalism (“Dragons”: South
Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and ASEAN countries)
Eastern
Asian capitalism is a capitalism with dominate role of government. Specific democracy
of “asian type” built on Confucianism ethics. Level of life: in “Dragons” level
of life is average, in ASEAN – below average. It can be characterized by dramatic
stratification of society, mafia, corruption, high crime rates.
South
Asian capitalism (India, Pakistan,
Sri-Lanka)
It
is a so-called “feudal clannish” capitalism, that is characterized by big
separation between the rich and the poor and serious interethnic problems.
Political fluctuation is also typical for these countries.
Buddhism
dominates, that is why denying of material wealth is typical.
Muslim
capitalism of Arabian countries
The
concentration of all power is in hands of dynastic sheiks. Democratic
institutions does not play any role in these countries. There is high average
indexes of life standards but in reality there is a high separation between the
rich and the poor. Basis of valuables is Koran.
African
capitalisms of militaristic feudal type
For
African capitalisms agrarian and raw-material economics are a basis. It can be
characterized by high level of poverty, famine. There is a small layer of very
rich people. It has clannish tribal democracy.
Latin
American model
This
is an autocratic criminal capitalism of agrarian type. This model is
characterized by high segregation of population, corruption and high rates of
crime.
It
is clear that all the models listed above are constantly in a changing process
as concerning the form and main points. In what direction are they changing?
The answer to this question demands the careful analysis of each concrete
model. But even in this case it will differ according to this or that ideology
which consciously or unconsciously the researcher adheres.
Capitalism
in Russia
Capitalism
in Russia is a capitalism of neo-colonial type.
World
Financial Crisis
“Few
people today realize that economical globalization involves crises
globalization” (S. Maltsev)
The current economic
crisis, in fact, begun a few centuries ago - at the time of the rise of
capitalism. The system, which is based on the idea of innovation and promote
scientific and technological progress in debt, so the manufacturer can create
an additional product, exchanging it for money, food and other benefits, sooner
or later, had to collapse.
The current global
financial crisis, there are many different reasons. But, in our opinion, there
are two main reasons that a local crisis of U.S. mortgage poor quality
escalated into full-blown global crisis.
Firstly, it's extremely high debt load of our financial
and economic system. And, secondly, it has reached
an unprecedented level of globalization of the world's financial processes.
First make our system
extremely vulnerable to a situation of falling prices, while the second allowed
the crisis quickly spread throughout the world system.
In this sense conversion
into securities of U.S. mortgage debt of poor quality only played the role of a
detonator for a bomb lying long under the global financial system.
Of course, if the
pre-crisis prices of many asset classes were not as high, if the shoulders were
not so great if the interdependence of markets was not so strong; the crisis
has not escalated to the world.
At
the beginning of this year there was a World economic forum in Davos. It has
fallen with criticism upon globalization, capitalism, bankers and the
authorities. Modern form of winning virtually all the capitalist
world can surely be called financial capitalism. This primarily refers to the
role that global finance and they created the global financial markets play in
today's world order.
“It
is not simply world crisis. It is crisis at globalization conditions, it is
globalization crisis” has declared the president of France Nikolas
Sarkozy. According to the president of France,
the finance, free trade and a competition “only means, instead of the purposes
in itself”. Businessmen were replaced by speculators.
We
considered that a freedom or enterprises above all and by that have weakened
democracy. Before us there is a crisis not economic, but deeply public. Also
that it at all hasn’t ended that any “bottom” is not reached, and that
continuation follows.
Key
questions today- not to replace capitalism, but how to develop it in less
inconsistent form.
Conclusion
As
a conclusion we would like to say, that key questions today- not to replace
capitalism, but how to develop it in less inconsistent form. And we have two
different ways of the solution:
1.
We ourselves will change sights at
economy.
2.
Time will force us to change them.
Clear
for understanding the fact that the world in future will be not such as world
today’s. The world needs the renewed capitalism and general values.
We
must satisfy a need in protection, justice and equal possibilities by means of
cooperation, adjustments and state administration, or the world expects
isolation and protectionism.
In
the future it will be an era of regulation, and in the world broken into large
economic regions, consisting whenever possible for the countries with as much
as possible homogeneous economy and levels of development.
And
we should remember that capitalism is a system and any system live definite
period of time. Another system should change capitalism on its place.
List
or resources
2.
www.kontinent.org
3.
www.wikipedia.org
4.
О
множественности моделей капитализма см.: Crouch C . Capitalist
Diversity and Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
5.
David Coates, “Models of Capitalism:
growth and stagnation in the modern era”
6.
Models Of Capitalism, “Debating
Strengths And Weaknesses”
7.
Федотова
В.Г. Глобальный капитализм: три великие трансформации: социально-философский
анализ взаимоотношений экономики и общества
8.
[1]www.wikipedia.org