According to Margaret Thatcher, "There Is No Alternative". It seems indeed that capitalism is the only economic system which suits our modern democratic societies. It is only by adopting its methods that China was able to perform its huge economic leap forward. But there are different forms of capitalism, which can contribute either to reduce or to increase social inequalities.
During the eighties a new form of capitalism has been introduced. The hyperliberal financial capitalism has replaced the "entrepreneurial capitalism". In the fordism conception of the economy, there was a joint interest of the entrepreneur and the workers. This is no more the case with the financial capitalism, which looks for locating production in places where workers accept the lowest salaries for producing goods that they will not be able to buy themselves. Speculation, on the other hand, which is the dominant mechanism of this financial capitalism, can bring no added value and has only a destructive effect, by no means creative.
Therefore, the question of an alternative form of capitalism is raised. Two possible scenarios can be considered. A first scenario is a change of politics, with the risk of radical movements, advocating for simple and populist decisions. The other scenario would be the transformation of the system itself. Financial speculation can lead only to failure. More and more people will realize that they cannot trust such a system. Therefore new forms of "distributed captalism" might result, which would enable individuels to finance firms through non speculative, transparent mechanisms. It is one of the areas where innovation is most required.
"There is no alternative" disait Margaret Thatcher. Effectivement, on ne voit guère d'alternative au capitalisme, qui apparait comme le seul mode de fonctionnement de l'économie dans les pays démocratiques. C'est en se ralliant aux méthodes capitalistes de gestion des entreprises que la Chine a pu , depûis Deng Xiaoping effectuer un formidable bond économique en avant. Toutefois, il n'existe pas une forme unique de capitalisme. En
fait, le terme de capitalisme qui s’applique à toute économie moderne
dans laquelle les moyens de production sont assurés par des intérêts privés,
recouvre des réalités très diverses. Certaines formes de capitalismes peuvent contribuer
à réduire les inégalités et d’autres les accroître.
