Are There Different Forms Of Capitalism?

With the fall of the Berlin wall, the market economy has come to dominate – or perhaps we should call it an economy of markets, where each one operates to adjust in a decentralised manner and in line with a price acting as a signal. Since the 19th century, the market economy has been inseparable from capitalism in the form of joint stock companies, in other words, joint (private) ownership of capital by shareholders, these “capitalists” taking on employees, in a way more or less controlled by the State.

Starting from the diversity – over time and space – of capitalism, this session will show what the institutions are valid “here and now”, with no dominant model or single path to growth. We will also study two challenges linked to the evolution of capitalism. Firstly, globalisation increases the scope of companies and the mobility of financial capital, while deepening the need for redistribution by the nation-state to compensate the losers. Secondly, in developed and developing countries alike, growth does not necessarily generate many unskilled jobs. How can capitalism evolve if it no longer requires work, and how can the social contract move forward if the redistribution mechanisms can no longer be founded on access to jobs, as it is currently the case?