Today’s Capitalism Has Run Its Course

As with politics, extremist and rigid economic policies cannot be sustained. As investor trust wanes and a credit crunch grips the globe, critics lash out. But extremist responses, pure capitalism or pure socialism, are inappropriate, suggests Bashir Goth writing for PostGlobal, moderated by Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek and David Ignatius of the Washington Post. “Just like we need and preach biodiversity in the field of ecology we need eco-diversity in the economic world,” writes Goth. The global economy can benefit from a blend of approaches, including public-sector intervention, free-market forces, centralized regulation combined with local guidelines. “Instead of propping up the pillars of an aging system, the world should come up with radical economic reforms based on holistic views and diversified structures instead of the current orthodox uniformity,” Goth notes. Approaches that serve the common good in sustained ways – respecting the economic welfare of all individuals and not just the wealthy few, he suggests – will stand the tests of time and crisis. – YaleGlobal