The contradictions of 21st century capitalism
Abstract
In this article, Michael Roberts analyses the economic, environmental, and geopolitical contradictions inherent in the capitalist system from a historical and comparative perspective. According to the economist, the Long Depression in which the world economy has been submerged for decades may end up assuming various forms (recessions, technological revolution, changes in the economic cycle), or through political action that consciously replaces the capitalist social formation. However, the turbulences of the world today could also, as in the imperialist past that preceded the First World War, end in creative destruction through war. In any case, the global threat of climate change, if current trends are not reversed, could even end life as we know it.
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