A former Bank of Canada governor is predicting Canada has about a 30 per cent chance of falling into a recession, amid growing global economic pressures.
The constant need for growth isn’t about making life better for most people. It’s a structural requirement of capitalism itself because the system runs on profit which comes from the value created by workers. Companies have to constantly expand their markets to keep the rate of profit from falling, cut costs, and find new ways to generate more value from us. If the economy stops growing then investment stalls and unemployment rises because the whole financialized structure is built on the expectation of future returns. The purpose of the economy isn’t to improve our lives, and the whole growth treadmill we’re on exists because capitalism demands endless accumulation to sustain itself.
The constant need for growth isn’t about making life better for most people. It’s a structural requirement of capitalism itself because the system runs on profit which comes from the value created by workers. Companies have to constantly expand their markets to keep the rate of profit from falling, cut costs, and find new ways to generate more value from us. If the economy stops growing then investment stalls and unemployment rises because the whole financialized structure is built on the expectation of future returns. The purpose of the economy isn’t to improve our lives, and the whole growth treadmill we’re on exists because capitalism demands endless accumulation to sustain itself.
And the prime reason rampant, unfettered capitalism will kill us all.
It really does come down to socialism or barbarism.