Every Developed Country Is Capitalist

Isn't every developed country basically more capitalist than socialist? They just practice their own form of capitalism. None of those Scandinavian countries are considered socialist by real socialist who believe in real socialism where all economic activity is controlled by the gov't or where all means of production are publicly owned. I was onced told by a real socialist that those Scandinavian countries just practice capitalism with a smiley face.

 

And doesn't Denmark have the highest income tax in the world 40%-60%, everything is free (education, health-care). I think it would be better to say the most developed countries have methods of capitalism.

 

It's capitalism mixed in with varying degrees of socialism. It's often called the "Third Way." You could just as well say it's socialism with varying degrees of capitalism. The progression, however, is not towards capitalism, but socialism, as the trend is towards bigger government and more control over the markets. Anytime you have manipulation of the markets -- whether it's in the US or Sweden -- you cannot call that true free-market capitalism. Sure, you can refer to it as a type of capitalism -- state capitalism -- but state capitalism is really no more capitalist than it is socialist. It's the synthesis of the two, so it's not entirely capitalist or socialist.

 

The Cato Institute? Why are we letting neo-liberal think tanks dictate policy and public opinion?

But yes. Every developed country is designed to economically rely on capital.

You can have socialist governments that run capital economies. It's what social democracy is all about.

 

I am pretty sure the CATO Institute is a libertarian think tank.

Neoliberals are in favor of government intervention/control over the economy, whereas libertarians supposedly believe in free-market principles.

 

Yes, I'm sure the CATO Institute has a neo-liberal agenda to advocate 'freer economies'.

Why, do you endorse policy spit up from this Think Tank?

 

I don't even read their material. All I am saying is that the neoliberals clearly are not pushing for "freer economies." The neolibs are the ones who are most adamantly in favor of the bailout. The neolibs believe in government/corporate managed economies aimed and benefiting the corporations and bankers.

 

You've cited people who work for the CATO Institute before, in favour of their policies in the past.

*shrugs*

 

Hmmm... I don't remember that. I might have posted an article featuring a quote from a CATO person or something, but then again I've sourced material from all across the left/right spectrum.

 

Those countries seem to be making more moves towards the right economiclly or are considering doing so. High taxes in some of these countries bring problems with keeping talented people at home plus with their larger ageing populations and smaller workforces it's becoming harder to adequitly fund some of their social programs with taxes. It'll be interesting to see what these countries will be like in eight to ten years.

High income taxes in Denmark worsen a labor shortage - International Herald Tribune

Danish Tax Commission Publishes Reform Proposals

Sweden to abolish wealth tax - The Local

 

This does a good job of breaking down the different types of capitalism.

 

most developed countries with the exception of usa(the country i live in)have essentially a socialist public sector. that is to say people in other developed countries have a sense of shared responsibility to their fellow citizens. in countries like france, what all classess share is the idea of equal health care for all. their tax money goes into these type of public sector institutions. in the us of a a large portion of our tax payment goes to the biggest, imperialist military economy than all other nations in the world combined.

 

exactly....

 

What role does population size play is shapping the system that countries are able to have? Those European countries that have larger welfare systems are smaller than the U.S. America has 300 million people. Sweden has 8 million. Sweden's system may be ok for it's smaller more managable population. I'd think it would be more complicated trying to apply a Swedish style system to America's larger population.

 

Would these be the same free-market principles that crashed the economy in 2008?

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The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank.

Google takes less than a minute.

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Wow I need to lay off the Datura,,,

I read the thread as "Every developed country is Cannibalistic"

:rofl:

 

I'm very, very, very familiar with the CATO Institute, the recruited neo-cons and neo-libs that are paid to write for them and do analysis work for them.

'Libertarian' is a buzzword that describes a neo-liberalisation ideology applied to the financial markets.

But if you can't mentally make that kind of connection, meh.

 

Every developed country regardless of economic and social laws is ethically bankrupt. We're all assholes together.

 

Since I took that moniker from their web site, you need to bring it to the attention of the people who run the Cato Institute. I'm sure they will appreciate you correcting them.

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