ABSTRACT
Capitalist political economy by definition has at its heart a system of production whose economic strength depends upon general profitability over time. Economic “restructuring” is another term for economic development—a process underlying but analytically quite distinct from economic growth. Restructuring should be guided by standards moving us always closer to the achievement of increased economic, political, and social democracy, toward more equality and greater freedom. The patterns of production determine the patterns of employment, and their levels rise and fall together—if at different paces, in accord with technological change. Any proposal to decrease the highly unequal distribution of income—let alone the even higher inequality of wealth—faces not only great opposition from the powerful, but even more widespread outrage among the non-self-serving populace. The ratio of taxes to the national income in the United States is the lowest of all the industrial capitalist nations; so are our various governments’ social expenditures.
