With the global economy possessing record debt of approximately $300 trillion1 and with countries struggling to recover from the tumult caused by the political response to the crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, and others such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the world appears to have entered a period of great historical significance. Since 2020, the “new normal” has circulated as a phrase that appears to have multiple meanings, which generally describe a post-pandemic world characterized by a growing presence of digital technology that shapes the future of societies and economies, respectively making them increasingly interdependent and productive.2-4 However, to some the phrase connotes a world where political power is centralized, and where technology increasingly becomes a means for exerting social control.5-7 Is it possible that capitalism and and economics as we know it have come to an end?
Economic Theory and the Evolution of Capitalism
Unlike all other socioeconomic systems in human history, industrial capitalism, which originates from the West some two hundred years ago has brought with it unprecedented prosperity in the form of scientific and technological innovation. What drives its economic engine is the profit motive, which encourages people across the world to become producers and consumers, entailing in mutually beneficial transactions with the result that societies benefit from the greater levels of comfort and security that they obtain from the use of products and services.8
Capitalism as we know it today is no longer isolated to a certain region of the world. It has become a global phenomenon driven by flows of information, natural resources, finance, and people, all of which have over the years led to globalization, that is, the interconnectivity of the world’s countries so as to make them increasingly dependent upon each other for their continued prosperity.9
In spite of the prosperity that capitalism has brought to a significant part of the world’s population, its negative externalities have become much more apparent in recent years. More specifically, because of the exploitative nature of its economics, we now find ourselves in a social and ecological predicament that has become more or less global in its reach. The endless economic growth that has been characteristic of capitalism up until today is what makes it problematic as it has encouraged voracious resource consumption with little to no regard for the natural environment and all things dependent upon it, which includes but is not limited to: plants, animals, and of course, humans as well.10
If the above-mentioned isn’t enough to be concerned about, another problem with capitalism and its economics up until now, and especially since the last century, is that the profit motive has become so dominant that business interests have taken precedence over those of society. This trend is reflective of how major businesses (e.g. multinational conglomerates) have gained enough purchasing power so that they are able to influence the future direction of countries by lobbying within their borders with the result that they can decide how they’re affected (or not) by taxation and employment policies.11 Needless to say, the conflicts of interest that abound are no longer isolated to any particular region of the world; corruption has become widespread, which should come as no surprise given that in the free market businesses have little choice other than to use their freedoms by employing whatever means necessary regardless of ethical considerations to gain a competitive advantage.12-13
What does all of this signify? The capitalist system has reached a stage in its development where the world’s countries find themselves in a struggle between themselves due to competition for resources that are becoming increasingly scarce. At the same time, however, governments are becoming increasingly cognizant that they cannot afford to consider only national interests due to the fact that they are so dependent upon the cooperation of other countries for their own survival.
To put the above-mentioned into perspective, in 2018, The Independent published an article entitled “This is how UN scientists are preparing for the end of capitalism”. The article discusses the incompatibility of conventional economics with Earth’s ecological parameters, and more precisely, how humanity had reached a point in its social and economic evolution where it was beginning to use more energy than before for extracting natural resources that it was using for industry.14 In short, industrial capitalism and its economics have reached the end of their usefulness.
The Beginning of the End?
Theoretically, the end of industrial capitalism could have happened prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, this did not happen because the figures leading the future direction of societies, economies, including that of business models and politics had decided that the time was not appropriate.
Not long since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic the World Economic Forum (WEF) had declared that it was initiating the Great Reset in response to the crisis supposedly caused by the pandemic. At this point, I must point out that the pandemic itself is a political event that has no scientific basis. I discuss this in another article as it has come to my awareness that most are either uninformed or misinformed about the evidence that authorities have presented for justifying their decisions. I recommend reading this article and preferably without bias or prejudice! I say this because the information it contains challenges a number of “truths” that the majority of the world’s population appears to have unfortunately taken for granted.
Regardless of the above-mentioned, in 2020 the WEF’s founder Klaus Schwab has stated that:
the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a “Great Reset” of capitalism.15
It is worth noting that the WEF has positioned itself as an authority figure in this context, which is not surprising given that it is officially an international organization that pledges allegiance to no country and that promotes public-private cooperation for the purpose of advancing what it calls “stakeholder capitalism”.16 Fundamentally, the purpose of promoting stakeholder capitalism is about developing an economic system that is more socially inclusive and that has ecological integrity, i.e. stakeholder capitalism is fairer for all and is not as environmentally damaging as its industrial counterpart. In line with this, the news industry appears to support the notion that industrial capitalism is obsolete – see the below examples.
3rd of April, 2020 | Al Jazeera – Will coronavirus signal the end of capitalism?17
17th of November, 2020 | The Economist – Covid-19 is up-ending capitalism18
27th of May, 2021 | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) – Why the next stage of capitalism is coming19
13th of June, 2021 | Hindustan Times – The pandemic must lead to a reset of capitalism20
30th of July, 2021 | The Guardian – During the pandemic, a new variant of capitalism has emerged21
Returning our attention to the WEF, we notice it has received criticism by some who are not convinced about the organization’s mission, and this is not without reason either.22-26 The Forum is on record of having promoted a vision for the future that would seemingly be in contrast with the way of life that we enjoy today. For example, the same organization is behind the publication of an article that is featured on the website of Forbes with the title “Welcome To 2030: I Own Nothing, Have No Privacy And Life Has Never Been Better”, which as it suggests, it is about envisioning a way of life in the future where private property and privacy become a thing of the past.27 Such a vision may be viewed as Marxist insofar as it is loosely based upon the communist philosophy of Karl Marx.28
The global transformation that is currently underway is at once both revolutionary and evolutionary as it is leading humanity toward a future that is technocratic. What this means is that skilled professionals, e.g. technicians, scientists, and engineers dictate the state and behavior of societies, allowing for little to no freedom of individual expression, which they do through the application of science and technology. Needless to say, they are democratically unelected and perhaps unaccountable. This certainly seems to be what the future will look like according to economist Patrick Wood who is author of a number of books that detail the history and development of technocracy.29 His analysis and insight are uniquely valuable for comprehending the present state of the world and its future development. It seems as though his concerns about a dystopian, scientific dictatorship may be justified, at least for the foreseeable future.
Putting the above-mentioned into perspective, the WEF has hundreds of partners from different sectors of industry that have a vested interest in making a profit. This is worrying. It is worrying because the WEF’s Klaus Schwab is on record of having unabashedly suggested that the Forum and its partners are in a position to change the future direction of the world. Presumably, they would do so without leaving any room for dialogue regarding their decisions. Here’s a segment of a speech he gave during a Davos conference in Switzerland this year:
Let’s… be clear. The future is not just happening. The future is built by us; by a powerful community as you here in this room. We have the means to improve the state of the world.30
Regardless of how we may perceive this issue, we can probably agree that the WEF and its chosen industry leaders are in the cockpit and have basic but limited control over the world’s flight path. The key word here is “limited” because whether anyone likes it or not, there is no way to prevent an aircraft from descending if its engines stop functioning as a result of fuel starvation; the same in principle applies to an economic system due to a lack of natural resources that are necessary for market transactions, thus maintaining the operation of the economic engine. This can happen if humans haven’t advanced their science and technology far enough to counteract this plight (hint: this needn’t be as such as we already have both, however, it would be extraneous to go into any detail in this article).
Industrial Capitalism and its End
In relation to what we have covered previously, there has been a growth in the number of so-called “conspiracy theories” during recent years due to concern that political power has been growing excessively in the hands of an unelected and unaccountable minority.31-32 We may refer to this minority as the “elite” due to how they are in positions of authority, allowing them to use the power that comes with in whichever way that suits their political agenda(s). Such a concern is not without justification; around the world, we have been witnessing more and more people rebelling against the authoritarian approach of governing authorities within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic as awareness has grown of the conflicts of interest between academia, the pharmaceutical industry and governing authorities such as the World Health Organization (WHO).33-34
What does the above-mentioned indicate? The rise in authoritarianism and the public resistance in response to it are predictable outcomes if viewed from the perspective of sociology. Structurally, the clash between the general public and the private sector of industry is a sign that capitalism is unable to adequately satisfy the welfare needs of societies because as an economic system, it was never designed to promote social equity and justice. After all, how can an economic system premised upon the biological concept of competition do such a thing? The result of such competition is noticeable by observing the titanic-sized gaps in wealth and income between the rich and the poor. According to a publication that the World Inequality Report has released this year:
The richest 10% of the global population currently takes 52% of global income, whereas the poorest half of the population earns 8.5% of it. [In addition to this] wealth inequalities are even more pronounced than income inequalities. The poorest half of the global population barely owns any wealth at all, possessing just 2% of the total. In contrast, the richest 10% of the global population own 76% of all wealth.35
If we look back into history, these inequalities haven’t changed in any significant respect compared to what they were about a century ago. If anything, they are becoming worse, which within the context of worsening global conditions (e.g. economic, political, social, ecological) is a sign that industrial capitalism is destroying itself, and thus, it has reached the stage of obsolescence. We may then ask ourselves – what comes next?
What Comes Next?
The question of what comes after industrial capitalism is fairly simple; we will still have capitalism, albeit in a different form, and this will not change anytime soon. Until it does, its economic structure will become more complex and intricately connected to Earth’s ecological parameters, that is, rather than being determined by price signals, natural resources will gradually become the basis upon which it functions. We are witnessing a crude form of this today with the appearance of Natural Asset Companies (NACs), which the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) states that they will:
capture the intrinsic and productive value of nature and provide a store of value based on the vital assets that underpin our entire economy and make life possible.36
What this means is that NACs prioritize the environment by placing a value on the benefits that Earth’s ecosystems provide us with. For example, this would apply to a wetland comprising various plants and shrubs that sequester metal residues that may seep into groundwater aquifers from nearby mines, helping to reduce the risk that humans become sick from drinking polluted water. The implication is that the extraction of minerals from mines will have a lesser priority, and thus a lower market value in the long-term as it is relatively wasteful.37
However, not everyone is convinced that this is a positive development; some are concerned that this may represent a scheme to concentrate even more wealth and power into the hands of a minority elite under the guise of promoting “sustainability”.38-39 Indeed, if we consider this critically, we notice that asset management companies such as BlackRock, which manages over $10 trillion worth of assets is the largest of its kind in the world.40 How is this a concern? It is a concern because investors would be enabled not only to make a profit from Earth’s ecosystems (which are not supposed to be for sale), but also that they will have the right to decide who will have secure access to its natural resources whether they be in the form of freshwater or agricultural crops.
In spite of the numerous problems that are affecting the world at the moment whether they manifest as corruption, poverty, famine or war, it is important to bear in mind that these are actually symptoms of an even bigger problem that is largely out of the control of any single entity – the capitalist system. At present, we’re living in a time of relative scarcity, which becomes evident when studying the worsening social, economic, political, and environmental conditions around the world. However, on the flipside, the above-mentioned signify that the future can be one of relative abundance, though this would require that we apply the best that science and technology have to offer, which capitalism discourages because it thrives on artificial scarcity. The reason for this is that scarcity is what drives up prices of products and services, enabling profits to be made, which needless to say is an inefficient way of encouraging industrial productivity in the long-term.41
Clearly, the economy of the future must avoid this wastefulness. With that said, the capitalism we can expect to see later during this century will have an economy that is less wasteful because instead of merely extracting and using resources for the sake of profitability, it will encourage human behavior in the direction of reusing, recycling, and repurposing Earth’s natural resources. This is what the term “circular economy” refers to.42 Already, it is possible to see that we are rapidly heading in this direction. Indeed, we should embrace this transitionary period and use it as an opportunity to think optimistically yet critically about how we are going to survive and evolve in the future as this is the first time in history that we have had such an opportunity, and for all that we know, it may be the last! As for the latter, of course, we would have to be either unbelievably unlucky or spectacularly stupid. Perhaps a combination of both. Either way, it is the end of economics as we know it.
References
1 Wilkes, T., 2022. Emerging markets drive global debt to record $303 trillion – IIF. Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/emerging-markets-drive-global-debt-record-303-trillion-iif-2022-02-23/.
2 Thalbauer, H., 2020. COVID-19: What Is The New Normal?. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2020/04/06/covid-19-what-is-the-new-normal/?sh=49ce3a437fb4.
3 Eberstadt, N., 2020. The “New Normal”: Thoughts about the Shape of Things to Come in the Post-Pandemic World. NBR. Available at: https://www.nbr.org/publication/the-new-normal-thoughts-about-the-shape-of-things-to-come-in-the-post-pandemic-world/.
4 Aubrey, A., 2020. New Normal: How Will Things Change in Post Pandemic World. NPR. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2020/04/27/845322553/new-normal-how-will-things-change-in-post-pandemic-world?t=1655460516287.
5 Scott, B., 2020. The Cult of the Brave New Normal. OffGuardian. Available at: https://off-guardian.org/2020/10/23/the-cult-of-the-brave-new-normal/.
6 Todhunter, C., 2021. From 1980s Neoliberalism to the Post Covid “New Normal”. Global Research. Available at: https://www.globalresearch.ca/1980s-neoliberalism-new-normal/5746761.
7 Watson, P., 2021. Globalist Klaus Schwab: World Will “Never” Return to Normal After COVID. Summit News. Available at: https://summit.news/2020/11/10/globalist-klaus-schwab-world-will-never-return-to-normal-after-covid/.
8 Mises, L., 2010. The History of Capitalism. Mises Institute. Available at: https://mises.org/library/history-capitalism.
9 Investopedia offers a brief, but fair definition and description of globalization. Link: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/globalization.asp.
10 To put this into perspective, out of the awareness that there is a need to address the problems emanating from conventional economic theory and to address the gap between economics and ecology, the Ecological Economics journal has come into existence for this reason. The following link offers more information: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/ecological-economics.
11 Senker, P., 2015. The Triumph of Neoliberalism and the World Dominance of Capitalism. Prometheus, 33(2), pp.1-15. Available at: https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.1080/08109028.2015.1070482.
12 Reinsberg, B., Kentikelenis, A. and Stubbs, T., 2019. Creating Crony Capitalism: Neoliberal Globalization and the Fueling of Corruption. Socio-Economic Review, 19(2), pp.607-634.
13 An example of how businesses can have an unfair advantage over the general public can be found in the use of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement. The following link contains more information on this issue: https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3715&context=bclr.
14 Ahmed, N., 2018. This is how UN scientists are preparing for the end of capitalism. The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/capitalism-un-scientists-preparing-end-fossil-fuels-warning-demise-a8523856.html.
15 Schwab, K., 2020. Now is the Time for a ‘Great Reset’. World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/now-is-the-time-for-a-great-reset/.
16 World Economic Forum. 2022. Our Mission. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/about/world-economic-forum/.
17 Mason, P., 2020. Will coronavirus signal the end of capitalism?. Al Jazeera. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/4/3/will-coronavirus-signal-the-end-of-capitalism/.
18 Foulis, P., 2020. Covid-19 is up-ending capitalism. The Economist. Available at: https://www.economist.com/the-world-ahead/2020/11/17/covid-19-is-up-ending-capitalism.
19 King, M., 2021. Why the next stage of capitalism is coming. BBC. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210525-why-the-next-stage-of-capitalism-is-coming.
20 Shkhar, S., 2021. The pandemic must lead to a reset of capitalism. Hindustan Times. Available at: https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/the-pandemic-must-lead-to-a-reset-of-capitalism-101623593436515.html.
21 Elliott, L., 2021. During the pandemic, a new variant of capitalism has emerged. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/30/pandemic-new-variant-of-capitalism-spending-covid-state.
22 Armstrong, M., 2020. Klaus Schwab says – You will Own Nothing in 10 Years. Armstrong Economics. Available at: https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/conspiracy/klaus-schwab-says-you-will-own-nothing-in-10-years/.
23 Newman, A., 2020. “You’ll Own Nothing”: UN-backed “Great Reset” Is Feudalism. The New American. Available at: https://thenewamerican.com/youll-own-nothing-un-backed-great-reset-is-feudalism/.
24 Rekas, K., 2022. How Wonderful to Own Nothing! The WEF’s Great Reset Expropriation. Global Research. Available at: https://www.globalresearch.ca/how-wonderful-own-nothing/5768858.
25 Hoft, J., 2022. Leo Hohmann Shares New insights on Klaus Schwab’s ‘You Will Own Nothing and Be Happy’: How AI and the Internet of Things Will Control Everything You Do in Life. The Gateway Pundit. Available at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/07/leo-hohmann-shares-new-insights-klaus-schwabs-will-nothing-happy-ai-internet-things-will-control-everything-life/.
26 Eleven, D., 2022. WEF Caught Scrubbing ‘You Will Own Nothing and Be Happy’ Post From Internet. Truth11. Available at: https://www.truth11.com/wef-caught-scrubbing-you-will-own-nothing-and-be-happy-post-from-internet/.
27 Auken, I., 2016. Welcome To 2030: I Own Nothing, Have No Privacy And Life Has Never Been Better. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/worldeconomicforum/2016/11/10/shopping-i-cant-really-remember-what-that-is-or-how-differently-well-live-in-2030/?sh=15501ae51735.
28 Karl Marx authored The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels, which contains some of the fundamentals of communist thought at the time of its publication in 1848, e.g. abolition of private property. See here for more information: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm.
29 Wood, P., 2022. About the Staff. Technocracy News & Trends. Available at: https://www.technocracy.news/about/.
30 Klaus Schwab makes this statement between 5:35 and 5:52 during the welcoming remarks and special address of the Davos conference. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTfW-cchpYA.
31 Some conspiracy theories are not only implausible, but even amusingly so; the Flat Earth theory is one such example. The following article elaborates on the theory’s factual and logical contradictions: https://www.livescience.com/24310-flat-earth-belief.html.
32 Some conspiracy theories are plausible and factual. See here for more information about some of the most recent theories that established news broadcasters have dismissed without adequate justification: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/not-so-crazy-now-five-theories-that-dropped-the-conspiracy-in-2021.
33 Mercola, J., 2021. New documentary on WHO exposes widespread corruption, massive funding by Bill Gates. Lifesite News. Available at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/new-documentary-on-who-exposes-widespread-corruption-massive-funding-by-bill-gates/.
34 Jureidini, J. and McHenry, L., 2022. The Illusion of Evidence Based Medicine. British Medical Journal. Available at: https://www.datascienceassn.org/sites/default/files/The%20illusion%20of%20evidence%20based%20medicine.pdf.
35 World Inequality Report 2022. 2022. Executive Summary. Available at: https://wir2022.wid.world/executive-summary/.
36 NYSE. 2022. Introducing Natural Asset Companies (NACs). Available at: https://www.nyse.com/introducing-natural-asset-companies.
37 Kennedy, E., 2021. Natural Asset Companies (NACs): A New Type of ESG Investment. Nasdaq. Available at: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/natural-asset-companies-nacs%3A-a-new-type-of-esg-investment-2021-09-16.
38 Engdahl, F., 2021. Wall Street’s Diabolical Plan to Financialize All Nature. New Eastern Outlook. Available at: https://journal-neo.org/2021/11/23/wall-street-s-diabolical-plan-to-financialize-all-nature/.
39 Webb, W., 2021. Wall Street’s Takeover of Nature Advances with Launch of New Asset Class. Unlimited Hangout. Available at: https://unlimitedhangout.com/2021/10/investigative-reports/wall-streets-takeover-of-nature-advances-with-launch-of-new-asset-class/.
40 The following link details the company’s financial status in 2021: https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1364742/000156459022007117/blk-10k_20211231.htm.
41 Aguilar-Millan, S., Feeney, A., Oberg, A. and Rudd, E., 2010. The Post-Scarcity World of 2025-2075. The Futurist. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/216807965_The_Post-Scarcity_World_of_2050-2075.
42 The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) offers a succinct description of what a circular economy is: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/presspb2017d10_en.pdf.