Abstract
This essay is an attempt to show that American capitalism is not viable in the long run, in the twenty-first century. Three points are elucidated in this discussion: (1) capitalism is a system of private socialization; as such, it tends to conflict with the private mode of allocation and to create crisis. It is, moreover, out of date, for it cannot, for example, cope with new phenomenon of inflation and unemployment. (2) Private executives do not empirically make the wisest decisions. (3) In fact, most businessmen do not want the government out of the economy; on the contrary, they want the government in the economy, on their side.
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Michael Harrington is Chairman of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee. He is the author of The Other America; Socialism; Fragments of the Century; Twilight of Capitalism; The Vast Majority: A Journey to the World's Poor.
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Harrington, M. Is capitalism still viable?. J Bus Ethics 1, 281–284 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382815
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382815