Where Does Capitalism Go from Here?

where does capitalism go from here? Always a broad crunch, it seems all the broader now that the competing paradigm the command economy is dead. Will the various species of capitalism American, European, East Asian, to name but three come together or move further apart? Given the new demands that will be put on developed economies over the coming decades, will western capitalism of a recognizable sort even survive? The main varieties of capitalism have always differed in significant respects. In America, for instance, shareholders have a comparatively big say in the running of the enterprises they own; workers, who are for the most part only weakly unionized, have much less influence. In many European countries, shareholders have less say and workers more. In Germany, for example, the representatives of unions serve on supervisory boards; the companies'principle bankers also have plenty of clout in the strategic decisions of management. On this spectrum, Japanese capitalism lies even further away from the American variety no role except to provide capital, managers have been left alone to run their companies as they see fit namely, for the benefit of employees and of allied companies, as much as for shareholders. Despite these differences, all species of capitalism have had certain essentials in common. These are the things that will need to be preserved if liberal economics is to go on to further success. First and foremost, capitalist countries have separated, to a high degree, the realms of politics and economics. As a result, in capitalist countries it makes sense to think of each of these realms in its own right. Decisions about what goods and services are provided, by whom, to whom and for how much, are made for the most part in markets, by willing buyers and sellers. Governments in capitalist countries participate in markets, often in big way, either as buyers or sellers, or as regulators. But they do not except in certain narrow areas usurp the price system...