Decent Capitalism

A Blueprint for Reforming our Economies

Sebastien Dullien, Hansjörg Herr, Christian Kellermann

The recent crisis, created by finance capitalism, has brought us to the economic abyss. The excessive freedom of international markets has rapidly transformed into international panic, with states struggling to rescue and bail out a globalised financial sector. Reform is promised by our leaders, but in governments dominated by financial interests there is little hope of meaningful change.

Decent Capitalism argues for a response that addresses capitalism’s systemic tendency towards crisis, a tendency which is completely absent from the mainstream debate. The authors develop a concept of a moderated capitalism that keeps its core strengths intact while reducing its inherent destructive political force in our societies. This book argues that reforming the capitalist system will have to be far more radical than the current political discourse suggests.

Contents

·     Introduction

1.  The Rise of Neoliberalism

2.  Unleashing Financial Markets

3.  Global Imbalances Fuel Global Instability

4.  Labour in the Wake of Markets

5.  The next stage of the crisis

6.  Main Features of a New Economic Model

7.  Strong Public Sector Balancing Markets

8.  Revaluing Labour and Wages

9.  Global Finances Need Global Management

10. A new growth paradigm

·     Conclusion: New Tale to Tell

·     Literature

·     Index

About the Authors

Sebastian Dullien is a Professor of International Economics at HTW Berlin–University of Applied Sciences. He is Senior Fellow of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) at the Johns Hopkins University.

Hansjörg Herr is a Professor at the Berlin School of Economics. He is the author of one of Germany’s leading economics text books.

Christian Kellermann is the Director of the Nordic Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in Stockholm. Before joining the FES, he worked as a financial market analyst in Frankfurt and New York.