Where Is Global Capitalism Headed?

Abstract

This paper considers the evolution of global capitalism in the context of high economic uncertainty and socio-political tensions affecting most countries, using the “varieties of capitalism” approach. It discusses the key advantages and driving forces of the neoliberal model of capitalism as well as the symptoms of its crisis. It argues that broader governmental intervention in the economy, i.e., a transition to “organized capitalism”, will not solve the problem of inequality, which has recently become the main factor of socio-political destabilization. Traditional political institutions of representation and the reconciliation of the interests of large social groups will be not able to solve these problems because such institutions operate at the national level, whereas rising inequality is largely due to the logic of competition in global markets. Only deep cooperation between developed and the main developing countries can produce a proper response to the challenges faced by global capitalism. An important precondition for such cooperation is the ability of national elites in these countries to limit their ambitions. However national elites still do not face strong enough internal and external pressures. As a result, they are not ready to cooperate and search for new ideas and solutions to satisfy broader public interests. Therefore, the move to new forms of global “organized capitalism” will, with high probability, be coupled with new political and armed conflicts and with risks of technological, ecological and epidemic crises.