Capitalism’s transformations
Over the past 20 years, we have been experiencing truly astonishing transformations of the capitalist system, which since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 has been a global one, ordering the lives and destinies of the 6.5 billion inhabitants of our globe. Over time, that system has made many people prosperous, though, unfortunately without relieving the misery of those in the Third World. Capitalism has known periods of prosperity and decline, has caused world wars, but has managed to withstand the crises generated by the system itself. It always emerged from these crises, including the crash of 1929, renewed and strengthened and with new ideas and tools to deal with the disturbances caused by the uncontrollable forces of supply and demand. Its greatest trial was after 1917 when the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia caused it to be questioned by the working class, but it won that war in 1989, not only on the democratic level but in the economic sector, showing in practice that capitalism, that is, the market and private initiative, guaranteed progress and prosperity. However, over the past 20 years the system has begun to show signs of disintegration, particularly in that capitalist metropolis the USA. As all analysts agree, these phenomena were caused by the system’s swing toward neo-liberalism, which succeeded in abolishing all state control of markets. Social democracy was rendered suspect. However, the recent shattering events in the USA, with the virtual de-privatization of investment banks, might put an end to the system’s greed. The bubble that burst in 2001 with the collapse of the Nasdaq and the bubble that is bursting now at the investment banks is proof that the capitalist system is regaining an equilibrium that links capital profits with state protection for investors and consumers. As Bank of Greece Governor Giorgos Provopoulos said to President Karolos Papoulias, we are now experiencing a transformation of the system that will lead to a new equilibrium.
