E quity. S ocial justice among nations, within nations, between classes, ethnic groups, men and women. The precautionary principle. W hen a product or practice raises potential threats to the environment or public health, governments should have the right to take preventative actions. Finally, Economists strongly condemn the many government subsidies and trade restrictions that impede free trade and that try to rig the game in one country’s favor.
B y letting comparative advantage guide who makes what, free trade increases total world output and thereby raises living standards. U nder free trade, each country specializes in its area (s) of comparative advantage and then trades with other countries to obtain the goods and services it desires to consume. T hus, for the last 50 years, national governments have increasingly pushed for fewer and fewer restrictions on international trade. T his free trade movement has resulted in hundreds of millions of new jobs and a vast improvement in living standards and happiness because people all over the world are free to trade and buy whatever they want to make them most happy — even if that means buying from a foreigner. Therefore, nowadays each nation is a part of the global system, which has becoming a tightly knit web.
C hanges anywhere in the world can have amplified effects elsewhere, with increased benefits to some people and increased costs to others. T here is also the possibility of some changes producing instability and uncertainty that are to the disadvantage of all [2,46]. C apitalism in the 20th century changed substantially from its 19th-century origins, but remained in place and by the end of the century was established as the world’s most prevalent economic model, after the collapse of the USSR. Several major challenges to capitalism appeared in the early part of the 20th century. T he Russian revolution in 1917 established the first communist state in the world; a decade later, the Great Depression triggered increasing criticism of the existing capitalist system.
O ne response to this crisis was a turn to fascism, an ideology which advocated state-influenced capitalism; other responses are, a rejection of capitalism altogether in favor of communist or socialist ideologies. In the years after World War II, capitalism was moderated and regulated in several ways. Nations, like all participants in social systems, sometimes find it to their advantage to suffer some short-term losses to achieve the longer-term benefits of a stable world economy. W orldwide stability may depend on nations establishing more reliable systems of doing business and exchanging information, developing monitoring mechanisms to warn of global catastrophes. T hus, global interdependence in all spheres of life provides countries make decisions against the background of the benefits and perks of the capitalist economic system which has already proved its advantages in comparison with the disadvantages of the planned (socialist) economy of the former Soviet block nations [6,19]. B
y the beginning of the 21st century, capitalism had become a widely pervasive economic system worldwide. T he near universality of capitalism resulted from the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1991. T
he collapse weakened the principal alternative system, communism, considerably. T he United States, in particular, has continued to push for the global adoption of capitalism, although not as aggressively as was done during the Cold War. C apitalism still faces rivalry, particularly with the rise of new socialist movements in Latin America, most notably Bolivarianism. T
hese movements have also had ties to more traditional anti-capitalist movements, such as Bolivarian Venezuela’s ties to communist Cuba. I n many of the so-called emerging markets, the influence of banking and financial capital have come to increasingly shape national developmental strategies, leading some to argue we are in a new phase of financial capitalism. T he financial crisis of 2007−2010 has also caused a reevaluation of economics, leading to more notable support for socialism or mixed economies. BibliographyBrenner, Robert, 1977, «The Origins of Capitalist Development: a Critique of Neo-Smithian Marxism,» in New Left Review 104: 36−37, 46 Dobb, Maurice 1947 Studies in the Development of Capitalism. N ew York: International Publishers Co., Inc.
42−46, 48 Joseph E. S tiglitz. G lobalization: is it a Curse or Blessing? — N. Y. — 2005 Marx, Karl [1867] 1976 Capital: A Critique of Political Economy Volume One trans. B
en Fowkes. H armondsworth and London: Penguin Books and New Left Review. 874Marx, Karl [1867] 1976 Capital: A Critique of Political Economy Volume One trans. B en Fowkes. H
armondsworth and London: Penguin Books and New Left Review. 875James Fulcher, Capitalism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004) Degen, Robert. T he Triumph of Capitalism. 1st ed. N ew Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2008. p.
