Global capitalism today
Goal: the world economy trends 2008-2019
The purpose of this lesson is to approach to the trends of the world economy for the period 2008-2019, highlighting the reasons of the 2008-2013 crisis and describing the recovery cycle 2013-2018, in order to find out the outlook for a long-standing stagnant capital accumulation.
Main content
The first part addresses the origin of the crisis, known as Great Recession, taking into account the long waves theory under a period ruled by a financialised neoliberalism of State, providing some facts which creates divergent but linked trend among advanced, emerging and peripheral economies.
The second part deals with the determining and ruling factors for a stagnant stage in the middle terms with deeper stagnation and recessions than before and weaker recoveries. In other words, profit rate trends, income distribution, productivity evolution, indebtedness levels, investment rate, energy crisis and, definitively, the classes struggle.
The last part discusses on the probable triggering factors of a new and uneven recession or stagnation, depending on the regional role. The trade war, the depletion of the expansive monetary policy effectiveness, a new banking and financial crisis, or the failure of a big technological company will be considered.
Michael Roberts: A global manufacturing recession
Some debates to discuss at the end of the lesson:
Each group, should focus in one these issues: • The scope of new digital economy and automatization process in productivity trends. Reflect collectively about the causes of unemployment and try to find out the robotisation role in comparison with business cycles, economic policy, employment policy, investment and relocalisation decisions of big corporations, and production relationships. Is the technology the engine and solution over the type of sociohistorical relationships?. Can be the applied technology considered as a result of social forces in somehow?.
• The reconfiguration of capital globalisation in the trade war. Protectionism vs free trade? Or Fair Trade vs different imperialist model of trade relationship?. Identify advantages and problems of each trade policy, and reflect on conditions, regulations and ways to get a progressive international economic policy and a free, even and solidarity development.
• Share, from the point of view of the place you come from, how your regional economy, broadly, is influenced by the international economy, and how your national capital and State economic policy affects to the world economy. How are they connected?. Identify main sectoral activity and influence role or dependency regarding other international capital or countries