Capitalism overrated?

gravenewworld

-CEOs now on average make 400x's what their average worker makes. In 1980 it was only 40x's. Many CEOs still make ridiculous amounts of money even when their companies are failing.

-Record oil and grain company profits. Food and gas prices now going through the roof. Food riots popping up all over the globe.


-Depressed housing market. Due to overproduction and other predatory practices, home prices in some markets have now been depressed by almost 50%

-US now mostly a service economy due to massive amounts of outsourcing

russ_watters

Could you at least try to connect those facts to the question you ask in the title? Ie, what do those facts have to do with whether or not capitalism is overrated? And overrated by whom? And how is capitalism even "rated" anyway?

OrbitalPower

Yes. It's a failed system. Capitalism does not work at all like the original economists claimed it would. It has obviously been hierarchical and oppressive, like those and other statistics show, and grossly unfair to the workers.

I think we should start over with a new system.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/4Inequality.htm

http://www.un.org/popin/unfpa/dispatches/aug96.html

drankin

Any suggestions? I kind of like our current one, myself.

Gokul43201

Our governmental system has also failed to work like political theorists envisioned. We have huge concentrations of political power among large corporations, we have unchecked abuses by executive branches, and we repeatedly have problems with conducting smooth elections.

Should we also abandon democracy?

g33kski11z

I think the things that you mention has to do with poor internal U.S. policies, rather than capitalism itself. just a thought.

gravenewworld

So how exactly do you regulate shipping jobs overseas in order to maximize profits? That wouldn't be capitalist then.

Gokul43201

But since there's already boatloads of trade regulation in the form of embargoes, quotas, tariffs, duties and subsidies, you can hardly say we have a capitalist system in place (particularly one that would be destroyed by enforcing regulations on outsourcing).

g33kski11z

I have no idea, I'm not an economist. Like I said, just a thought. I'm sure we could define better policies all around.

RonPaul2008

Capitalism is not perfect, but I think it is the best system in the world. Surely you are not advocating communism or socialism. It worked out well for the Soviet Union, though, didn't it?

RonPaul2008

Regulation is the problem with America's market right now. The government should not have the right to tell people how much of their earnings they can keep, how they will operate, and who they will hire. I don't feel it's really a free market anymore, because our government has become borderline socialist. I'd welcome a flat tax rate only for individuals without any special taxes on corporations.

Evo

Grossly unfair to the workers? As in unemployment is fairer? People are free to quit their job at any time, they are not forced to work for a company against their will.

What the heck is this, it's from 1996! What are we supposed to be looking at here? "GIVING TEENS A CHOICE IN BOTSWANA"?