Hi, I was reading "Communist Figures" (Figures du communisme) by F. Lordon, and at one point, he argues that capitalism relies on perpetual growth. He doesn't go into much detail, mostly explaining this statement by behavioral reasons (corporation's owners, shareholders etc. always want more), but without giving any structural reasons. I'd love to get a better understanding of this.
That's probably an utopia, but couldn't a capitalist system with 0% growth work ? (meaning extracting the same amount of resources each year, producing the same amount of manufactured goods each year etc., with maintaining private ownership of the productive apparatus). Is there any structural reason to why capitalism needs >0% growth to function ? Would a capitalistic system with flat growth mechanically collapse ?
Thanks !
Is the statement "capitalism relies on perpetual growth" correct ?
byu/LordCumstard_du_16 inAskEconomics
Posted by LordCumstard_du_16
1 Comment
Capitalism isn’t a clearly defined system in for modern economics. We usually talk in terms of market based economies, but not so much about the ownership class structure.
No, it’s a strawman claim. If population is rising and/or new tech is being developed, then in a market system we expect that there would be growth. But in the standard Solow growth model among others (Ramsey is the classic), without those, the economy reaches a steady state of zero growth. There is nothing that says market economies require growth.
Having said that, given the poverty and desires we still have as a species, growth in our ability to produce goods and services would be a good way to reduce poverty and raise living standards.