Description
How will post-corona capitalism look like? While we do not yet have a firm answer to this question, we can extrapolate from studies on empirical developments so far. The paper is based on a survey of some 300 academic studies on 31 corona-related issues published in Comparative and International Political Economy during 2020/21 (book to be published by Bristol University Press in May 2022). It distinguishes five different options for the near future of capitalism.
- Classical liberal capitalism: The focus is on a central role for
private business, the preponderance of shareholder value and
unregulated markets (laissez-faire). - Cosmopolitan technocratic capitalism: While sharing some concerns with classical liberal
capitalism, the focus here is on managing global capitalism in a
frictionless way, which includes some form of regulation and often
the delegation of authority to non-majoritarian institutions. - National social-democratic capitalism: Departing from a vision of
Northern capitalism after the World War II, the emphasis is on social
equality and parliamentary democracy, with an important role for the
welfare state. - Authoritarian capitalism: This is a vision of apitalism that has gained much popularity during the last decade,usually under the heading of ‘populism’.
- Alternative capitalism: This could also be called ‘alternatives to capitalism’, with its general
opposition to economic growth, inequalities of all kinds and top-down
policies.
The empirical evidence during the first two years of the crisis speaks against the first two options. While the last option has gained in importance, the two most likely contenders for the near future of capitalism are authoritarian or national social-democratic capitalism.
