Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="faulkton" data-source="post: 6232510" data-attributes="member: 561910">Polanyi&#039;s story of the tensions in and collapse of the self-regulating economies that developed in the first half of the nineteenth century differs sharply from the story that Marx anticipated and from the story that Marxian economists have told. Though Polanyi argues that perception and response to the damages of the SRM (Self Regulating Market) varied by class, and therefore &quot;the outcome was decisively influenced by the character of the class interests involved,&quot; (p. 161) it was not unfair distribution of total output via exploitation that caused the tensions and ultimate collapse of the SRM system. The working class did not rise up to overthrow the system. Rather, land owners and bankers as well as merchants, whose interests were often threatened by fluctuations in trade, joined workers in seeking protection. As they got protection, the SRM was &quot;impaired,&quot; eventually the point of collapse. Increasing protection so impaired the SRM that it could no longer coordinate the world&#039;s economy when World War I destroyed Europe&#039;s balance of power. The struggle to restore the nineteenth century system by reestablishing the gold standard destroyed the international financial system.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="faulkton, post: 6232510, member: 561910"] Polanyi's story of the tensions in and collapse of the self-regulating economies that developed in the first half of the nineteenth century differs sharply from the story that Marx anticipated and from the story that Marxian economists have told. Though Polanyi argues that perception and response to the damages of the SRM (Self Regulating Market) varied by class, and therefore "the outcome was decisively influenced by the character of the class interests involved," (p. 161) [B]it was not unfair distribution of total output via exploitation that caused the tensions and ultimate collapse of the SRM system. The working class did not rise up to overthrow the system. Rather, land owners and bankers as well as merchants, whose interests were often threatened by fluctuations in trade, joined workers in seeking protection. As they got protection, the SRM was "impaired," eventually the point of collapse. [/B]Increasing protection so impaired the SRM that it could no longer coordinate the world's economy when World War I destroyed Europe's balance of power. The struggle to restore the nineteenth century system by reestablishing the gold standard destroyed the international financial system. [/QUOTE]

Verification