The Crisis and After: There Is No Alternative?

Abstract

The present paper devises an account of the possibilities that the recent crisis opens up for capitalism, which dwells upon its history. The paper takes three propositions as its starting point: First, capitalism, which must solve the problem of coordination of the decisions of different agents in changing environment, is prone to periodic and structural crises because of its very institutional structure. Second, thus, crises should be seen as signs that indicate that economic and social institutional matrix is at fault, which requires new “solutions”. Third, an appropriate account of capitalism must also take into account that crises usually require transformation almost the entire economic and socio-political institutional structure of the system. Having said this, we try to address briefly to possible and likely transformation.

Key words: Capitalism, Crisis, Institutional transformation.
JEL: E5, G01, P16.