Control Capitalism

Control Capitalism

Controlled capitalism is a growing trend in the modern world. For instance, in the United States, free-market economy corporations are threatened by an ever-increasing competition from state capitalist economic forms. According to Klein (48), controlled capitalism refers to the economies in which the state is a principal judge and actor, hence the utilization of market performance for political gains. In Venezuela, Russia, and China, this form of economy is rooted deeply. On the other hand, In Japanese and Western economies, the principal actors are large multinationals.

Tsing (8) argues that the government’s involvement in the economy is unavoidable since the political leaders must make economic decisions. It is a state’s responsibility to ensure that the competition is enough to keep the quality of the products high and the commodity prices low. If only a handful of companies are producers, they can decide to keep the product prices high. On the other hand, a single firm produces services and goods in a monopoly. Therefore, such a company is responsible for setting up prices and market regulations. As the 19^th century ended, corporations in the United States and Western Europe grew bigger by acquiring smaller ones and merging with others. Resultantly, the economic trusts became powerful due to their control of the market and commodity prices. However, the American government initiated 20^th-century policies to protect smaller firms.

Often, business leaders do not care about the decision they make in the society. For instance, there are dozens of factories that pollute rivers by pouring contaminated water into it. It is the government’s job to ensure that this does not happen. A controlled capitalism is not the same at all times because of consistent lows and highs. In the times when the economic prospects are favorable, organizations produce enough goods and the citizens have enough money. In other times, the scarcity of resources leads to high rates of unemployment and low sales record.

According to Reich (52), capitalism is more than a simple wealth accumulation. Indeed, it is more rooted in rationality over tradition. Additionally, a functional capitalist society in the modern times bears a regularized capital investment and disciplined workforce. Therefore, control capitalism ought to be clearly distinguished from the pursuit of gains because the latter involves profitability gains via economic exchange. Although capitalism has existed in Ancient Egypt, India, and Babylon, only the Western controlled capitalism is associated with the rational organization of free labor.

In a regulated capitalistic venture, the state regulates the investment, hence a profound contrast with the traditional economic activity types. In fact, economic experts associate this type of capitalism with a sustained wealth accumulation for its own sake rather than for the material rewards to the corporations and business owners. The making of money dominates human life, especially if the acquisition is the ultimate life purpose. However, in controlled capitalism, the economic acquisition is insubordinate to man as the only means to stratify the material needs.

In summary, the control of capitalism bears extensive implications not only to the modern society but also to the future Western economies. Undeniably, its principles of efficiency in the realms of economic and social organization guaranteed the prosperity and development of the modern society, but the rapid progression has plunged people into myriads of iron cage constraints. Over time, the capitalistic bureaucracies make it harder for people to exist autonomously and live freely. Formal control imposes orders in the society through quantifiable but strict terms. Notably, the decisions are largely based on universal regulations and rules that target calculable efficiency.

Works Cited

Klein, Naomi. "Disaster Capitalism." Harper’s Magazine 315 (2012): 47-58. Print.

Reich, Robert B. “Introduction: The Paradox and the Road to Supercapitalism”. First Vintage Books edition. Vintage Books, 2014: 50-88. Print.

Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt. The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2015:1-28. Print