The Capitalist Reformation? Not Holding Breath, Not Holding Breath.

Even dedicated capitalists are beginning to realize they're in a hole to nowhere and they have to stop digging.

Just as classical economic models are being recognized as obsolete and of waning utility in a finite world heading toward a population of nine-billion, so too is capitalism coming under self-scrutiny.

Peter Bakker, president of the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, recently observed: "I am a capitalist … The mistake currently lies in only expecting (and managing) a return on financial capital. Capitalism requires a new operating system, and needs to be rebooted so that we expect and manage the return on financial, natural and social capital.

"Business as usual is not an option for a future-proofed economy in which nine billion people live well within the limits of the planet by mid-century."

Bakker's call to reboot capitalism exemplifies the disquiet among many these days, both within and outside the business community. Each offers a somewhat different diagnosis and treatment, ranging from the piecemeal vs the systemic, the incremental vs disruptive, and internally vs externally driven issues.

...Science and empirical metrics signal impending and irreversible ecological breaking points. Revisionists perceive that the drive toward boundless economic expansion clashes with the realities of planetary boundaries.

The ideal conditions for high functioning markets – no externalities, perfect information, and perfect competition – are becoming increasingly detached from reality. All this while the co-mingling of corporate power with political power undermines the capacity of governments and citizens to tame the impulses of financial and real economy enterprises to seek gain and socialise harm. This also leads to growing inequalities between the haves and the have-nots.

This does sound more than a bit lofty.   Commerce embracing social idealism?   Coming from an era of obsessive maximization of production and consumption and damn the externalities, the notion of some global commercial epiphany that arrests inequality and empowers social justice seems more than just a bit far fetched.

It seems far more likely that reformation will come to capitalism when conditions force that result.