Variations in Capitalist Economies

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Variations in Capitalist Economies

• Capitalism Content Form

2
What is capitalism?

• Definitions by "form"
• system of private or corporate ownership of
  capital goods and control over investment vs
  state ownership control
• free market system vs state command/planning
• Definitions by "content"
• social system based on the endless imposition of
  work as the most fundamental form of social
  organization
• "form" of this imposition may vary

3
Cold War Juxtapositions

• US Allies vs Soviet Union Allies
• "Western" Capitalism vs "Eastern" Socialism
• Private investment vs state investment
• markets vs planning
• e.g., Case Fair chapter 24
• Only "mixed" economies in real world
• ? state enterprises in capitalist economies
• ? markets in socialist economies

4
Markets vs Planning

• Markets generally portrayed as "free", e.g.,
  independence of buyers sellers
• Planning generally portrayed in terms of
  government plans, e.g., Soviet 5-year plans
• BUT
• buyers sellers often NOT independent
• both buyers sellers PLAN seek to manipulate
  supply on the one side and demand on the other
• market can be planning tool, used when useful

5
Non-independence

• Obvious case oligopolistic collusion or
  inter-corporate sales between subsidiaries
• manipulate prices to avoid taxes, maximize
  overall profits
• Govt - Corporate Contracts, e.g., Pentagon
• often called the "real" welfare state
• Labor Market Arrangements between unions
  industry, e.g., closed shops, deals cut on wages
  to eliminate "market" pressures

6
Corporate Planning Markets

• Corporate planning
• extensive, many corporations larger than most
  countries, thus their planning greater than
  "central planning" in such countries
• planning of supply
• who produces how much of what
• manipulation of labor supply
• anti-unionism, unionism
• immigration policy, practice
• planning of demand --through manipulation of
  advertising, mass media, ideology, etc.

7
Govt manipulation of Markets

• State has often accorded monopolies
• Pentagon orchestrates oligopoly in defense
  industry
• Federal immigration policy "plans" labor supply
• Federal policy on collective bargaining "plans"
  role of labor markets
• Federal manipulation of Agricultural markets,
  e.g., early 1970s, constrict supply, expand
  demand to raise prices to increase value of
  exports

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Market planning tool

• So, we see "markets" being allowed to function
  "automatically" when they give the desired
  results
• "automatically" manipulated only by
  participants
• But Markets are manipulated by state, or state
  allows actors greater freedom to manipulate
  markets to achieve desired results
• Or, markets simply abolished and result dictated
  by state with or without collusion of participants

9
Private Sector

• Private sector business ( ???)
• Legal organization forms of ownership
• proprietorship - indiv. liability
• partnership - shared liability
• corporation - limited liability, ersatz
  individual
• Industrial "organization"
• market form (monopoly - perfect competition)
• actual organization of production

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Actual Organization

• Industrial "structure" a la Case Fair, ch.3
• manufacturing ?, services ?, finance???
• Industrial "structure"
• skilled craftspersons
• Taylorism - scientific management - deskilling
• Fordism - deskilled workforce - assembly line
• Putting out - Big complexes of plants - "diffused
  factory" - electronic cottage

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Public Sector

• Public sector government
• Government (1994)
• federal 22.8 of GDP
• state local 10.7 of GDP
• Government income f(taxes) T
• Government expenditures G
• Structure?
• state enterprises, R D, trade, foreign affairs,
  war
• Gc GI

12
Global Structure

• 1st, 2nd 3rd Worlds
• East - West
• North - South
• Hierarchy
• Network
• Note "Macroeconomics" still very "nation"
  oriented, trade brought in later, no "global"
  economics.

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