“We have been arguing that conventional capitalism is dying, or at least mutating into something that will be closer to a version of communism,” Macquarie Wealth Management told its clients this week [$]. “Ultimately, a fusion of monetary and fiscal levers will lead to MMT-style policies, effective nationalisation of capital, universal income guarantees, and deep changes in work practice. … Today’s economic and investment strategies are built around concepts of a monetary world and the ultimate primacy of the private sector, and its ability to navigate well-defined business and capital market cycles … Alas, the world has already moved far away from these principles. … Unlike natural sciences, economic rules are not immutable, but rather bend under the pressures that societies face. What is regarded as acceptable in one era is disregarded in another & therefore prescriptions from one period will be unacceptable in another, even though some might actually yield more efficient outcomes. Unlike physics, economics does not progress according to well-known rules but rather attempts to satisfy prevailing societal mood. Homo Economicus is not a rational agent, but a confused beast, and economics is an outgrowth of societies, rather than a conventional science searching for truth.” Welcome, comrades!
20 March 2020