Micheal Jacobs - Capitalism is in crisis. And we cannot get out of it by carrying on as before

Even capitalists agree our economic model is broken. Fundamental change on the scale of 1945 and 1979 is needed now

Capitalism is on the rocks. Neoliberalism doesn't work and even many of the capitalists now agree.

This is not a view held only on the left of the political spectrum. Read the Economist and the Financial Times, or listen to business leaders in the CBI and the Federation of Small Businesses, and it is apparent that even capitalists think the current model of capitalism is in trouble. Their anxiety is not just that it has lost public support. It is that the core engine of private sector growth is no longer working. In almost every field of economic policy it is becoming clear that tinkering at the edges of the current economic system is not going to be enough. A much more fundamental transformation is required.

The labour market needs to be rebalanced. For wages to rise, workers need to take home a larger share of national income – through a higher minimum wage, more security for workers in the “gig economy” and a higher proportion of sectors in which trade unions engage in collective bargaining. As other European countries show, this helps, not hinders, productivity improvement.

Micheal Jacobs - Capitalism is in crisis. And we cannot get out of it by carrying on as before