Capitalism on the Brink: The Self-Destructive Spiral of Unchecked Growth
The Limits of Capitalism
Capitalism, the Proliferation of Capital, and Crisis
Capitalism is an economic system centered on capital (money). Capital multiplies through profit. In order for capitalism to be maintained and developed, capital must expand and function well. When capital stops multiplying, growth stops and a crisis occurs.
Capitalists compete to make more profits. If they fail to make more profits than others, they fall behind in the competition and are eventually eliminated.
In order to survive the competition, that is, to make more profits, the capitalist’s choice was to either produce more products and sell them, or to squeeze the workers. The capitalist took both of these methods.
The Limits of Capital’s Self-Reinforcement and the Low Growth of the Capitalist Economy
In the early and mid-20th century, Western capitalist countries, including the United States, fought fiercely to seize colonies in order to secure markets. This was because they had to continuously expand their markets to the outside to generate profits due to the limitations of domestic growth.
But after World War II, colonies gained independence and the profit-making market for Western countries shrank.
So the solution they found was to transplant low-return industries such as manufacturing to developing countries and focus their investment in high value-added industries such as finance, semiconductors, information and communication, and aerospace at home.
Arguments that Recognize the Defeat of Capitalism
As the problems and contradictions of the capitalist system are revealed, concerns are being raised that the growth of capitalism has reached its limits.
Yoshio Suzuki, chairman of the Nomura Research Institute, pointed out in 1993 that the collapse of the bubble economy and excessive investment by companies were the two major causes of the (Japanese) recession.
Kazuo Mizuno, a professor at Hosei University in Japan, criticized the ‘growth myth’ that seeks to solve everything through growth, and pointed out that the capitalist system has reached its limits, such as inequality and zero growth.