The Market Economy System in Question

Abstract

The 2008 economic crisis has triggered a flow of articles and books predicting the end of the market economy system and recommending an exit from the capitalism, allegedly accountable not only for the current economic and financial disaster, but also for the destruction of the environment, the deepening of income inequalities and the consumption society’s materialism. The crisis has shaken public trust in the market economy and several economists¹ believe that, to drive recovery, new models of capitalism must be embraced. Will society maintain the individualistic business model of capitalism that created the crisis with recurring structural public deficits, excessive rewards for bankers and traders, costly bailouts for the banks and austerity for the people, or will society develop and implement a new balance between state, business and society? How can the capitalist system be amended and economic mutations adopted without altering its core principles? Several economic and social changes are currently taking place in the world and in the European economy as a consequence of the economic crisis. This subject is today a worldwide debate.