The new left economics: how a network of thinkers is transforming capitalism

[applegrove]

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jun/25/the-new-left-economics-how-a-network-of-thinkers-is-transforming-capitalism

After decades of rightwing dominance, a transatlantic movement of leftwing economists is building a practical alternative to neoliberalism.

By Andy Beckett at the Guardian

"SNIP....


There is a dawning recognition that a new kind of economy is needed: fairer, more inclusive, less exploitative, less destructive of society and the planet. “We’re in a time when people are much more open to radical economic ideas,” says Michael Jacobs, a former prime ministerial adviser to Gordon Brown. “The voters have revolted against neoliberalism. The international economic institutions – the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund – are recognising its downsides.” Meanwhile, the 2008 financial crisis and the previously unthinkable government interventions that halted it have discredited two central neoliberal orthodoxies: that capitalism cannot fail, and that governments cannot step in to change how the economy works.

A huge political space has opened up. In Britain and the US, in many ways the most capitalist western countries, and the ones where its problems are starkest, an emerging network of thinkers, activists and politicians has begun to seize this opportunity. They are trying to construct a new kind of leftwing economics: one that addresses the flaws of the 21st-century economy, but which also explains, in practical ways, how future leftwing governments could create a better one.

Christine Berry, a young British freelance academic, is one of the network’s central figures. “We’re stripping economics back to basics,” she says. “We want economics to ask: ‘Who owns these resources? Who has power in this company?’ Conventional economic discourse obfuscates these questions, to the benefit of those with power.”

The new leftwing economics wants to see the redistribution of economic power, so that it is held by everyone – just as political power is held by everyone in a healthy democracy. This redistribution of power could involve employees taking ownership of part of every company; or local politicians reshaping their city’s economy to favour local, ethical businesses over large corporations; or national politicians making co-operatives a capitalist norm.



....SNIP"

[DemocracyMouse]

1. Thank you for sharing this.

I have been advocating for such thinking for years, does that mean I'm in the new network?

[applegrove]

2. They do things in Germany where all players are in board rooms including

union reps. They are trying things all over the place. Canada has a few co-op banks. Naomi Klein tried to help workers get ownership of a plant that had closed in South America. Really it is long past due that liberals and lefties look at the big picture and come up with stuff. Why i'm trending towards Elizabeth Warren.

[DemocracyMouse]

3. I wish more people on DU were intellectually engaged in posts like this.

DU seems more caught up in the horse race. I spent months trying to get editorials on green issues noticed. When I finally got 70-80 "recs" the editors ignored it and filled the "trending" section with posts that had far fewer recs.

New ideas aren't trending in this country, even among the left? I susoect Warren is shaking that up though. OR I should say the old guard Democrats really are resisting new thinkers like Bernie Sanders. They're caught in a 1980s compromise with Reagan worldview. Can't be asserting ourselves now can we?

[applegrove]

4. I think the trending section is to showcase. I don't think they moved

your post from anywhere else. Just that you were on fire.

[DemocracyMouse]

5. On fire? Like the Doors' song "Light my Fire?"

[applegrove]

6. Ha! I think there used to be a fire icon burning on some website, maybe the

Last edited Sun Jun 30, 2019, 03:52 AM - Edit history (1)

DU, when a thread is busy being interacted with a lot. I can't remember if it was the DU.

Just realized fire icon are still on DU. I read thread ops i guess instead of seeing how popular they are.