[ExI] Of Flying Cars and the Declining Rate of Profit

[Mirco Romanato]

Il 24/06/2012 16:18, Stefano Vaj ha scritto:
> On 19 June 2012 00:53, spike <spike66 at att.net <mailto:spike66 at att.net>>
> wrote:

>     In my mind, what is really great about capitalism is that it fosters
>     competition, and competition fosters excellence.  It settles
>     arguments: lets have a race.  Let’s see who is strongest, fastest,
>     most agile.  Debate on which system is best?  No problem, let’s see
>     which one makes for the best outcome, as measured in wealth.

> In principle, I would be inclined to agree. Only, is this really the
> case in capitalist system? What about monopolies, barriers to entry,
> inertia, the kind of class protection against social competition  and
> mobility that enraged the original Social Darwinists, the monetary
> mechanisms well described in things such as Money as Debt?

A capitalist system where there are what you write is no more a 
capitalist system, it is a socialist system (where profits and losses 
are socialized to the advantage of the ruling elite).

Better would be to understand what are the causes of the shift from a 
system to another and the ways to prevent it.

> Moreover, no reason why we should not consider competition amongst
> systems as well. Now, before its massive bureaucratisation in the
> aftermath of WWII, the growth of Soviet economy consistently
> outperformed in percentage that of the USA in spite of its being based
> on rather flawed, rigid and ideological postulates. What about
> intangible aspects related to group competition?

The reason the USSR in the 20's and '30s was able to outperform the US 
is simple enough: they used and abused the workforce of their inmates 
(as the people in the Gulags had a death rate of 1% per day). But, 
mainly, their increase of productivity was due to the electrification. 
The increase of productivity due to electrification was enough to offset 
the decrease of productivity due to lack of a full market system (they 
had to settle with a very limited market system to prevent total 
starvation of the population AKA NEP).
They were a one-trick pony. When the electrification stopped to yield 
increase of productivity, they stopped to grow and started to decline. 
In the final decades they were dependent from oil exports to Western 
countries to support their system and when the US started to push them 
in a Arm Race and the Saudis crashed the Oil market, they went bust.

Now, it would be interesting to understand because the elite there was 
unable to run the system in the right direction and prevent the collapse.

If history and Austrian theory are correct, the reason is the same for 
all type of government elite and whatever system have a not market 
selected (in and out) elite will run in the same problems before than after.

Mirco