Community | November 08, 2009 | 27 comments

Actually, Free-Markets DON'T WORK, Survey says

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8347409.stm

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Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new BBC poll has found widespread dissatisfaction with free-market capitalism.

In the global poll for the BBC World Service, only 11% of those questioned across 27 countries said that it was working well.

Most thought regulation and reform of the capitalist system were necessary.

There were also sharp divisions around the world on whether the end of the Soviet Union was a good thing.

Economic regulation

In 1989, as the Berlin Wall fell, it was a victory for ordinary people across Eastern and Central Europe.

It also looked at the time like a crushing victory for free-market capitalism.

A Frankfurt stock trader, Oct 2008
A Frankfurt trader tries to deal during the 2008 banking crisis

Twenty years on, this new global poll suggests confidence in free markets has taken heavy blows from the past 12 months of financial and economic crisis.

More than 29,000 people in 27 countries were questioned. In only two countries, the United States and Pakistan, did more than one in five people feel that capitalism works well as it stands.

Almost a quarter - 23% of those who responded - feel it is fatally flawed. That is the view of 43% in France, 38% in Mexico and 35% in Brazil.

And there is very strong support around the world for governments to distribute wealth more evenly. That is backed by majorities in 22 of the 27 countries.

If there is one issue where a global consensus seems to emerge from the survey it is this: there are majorities almost everywhere wanting government to be more active in regulating business.

It is only in Turkey that a majority want less government regulation.

Opinion about the disintegration of the Soviet Union is sharply divided.

Europeans overwhelmingly say it was a good thing: 79% in Germany, 76% in Britain and 74% in France feel that way.

But outside the developed West it is a different picture. Almost seven in 10 Egyptians say the end of the Soviet Union was a bad thing and views are sharply divided in India, Kenya and Indonesia.
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27 comments // Actually, Free-Markets DON'T WORK, Survey says

  • vesher
    • 0
      vesher  

    • but they do know that if there are not enough fish in the sea, they dont eat. or if there is not a surplus, they make no extra money. if there is no rain, the harvest is weak. etc. give the people of the world a bit more credit. ever hear of street smarts vs. book smarts?

    • 2 years ago
  • Argon18
    • 0
      Argon18  

    • The trouble is that there hasn't BEEN a free market in the US for a long time. If there had then the corporations that had made such poor business decisions that made them fail would've been replaced by other stronger compaines that avoided such bad planning instead of needing to be bailed out.

    • 2 years ago
  • Varex_Sythe
    • 0
      Varex_Sythe  

    • The problem with a flat tax is that it undertaxes the rich and overtaxes the poor. You need moderation in order to effectively fuel the government economy.

    • 2 years ago
  • crispyfritters
    • 0
      crispyfritters  
    • Varex_Sythe:

      Well, that's not to say that the progressive tax system is perfect. Knowing the Ron Paul libertarians (I used to be one), they have a good sentiment: that a flat tax is completely fair in a perfect scenario. Unfortunately, their world-view doesn't take into account the way the world actually works. We just can't afford to split the national deficit evenly among everyone. You need to make concessions here and there.

      While it does make sense that the richest people should pick up the slack that the poorest make, it doesn't seem fair to me to punish people just for being wealthy.
      That, and no taxes to encourage/discourage behavior. That's social engineering, and it's corrupt, unconstitutional nonsense.

    • 2 years ago
  • Varex_Sythe
    • 0
      Varex_Sythe  
    • Varex_Sythe:

      You are correct that it doesn't necessarily seem fair. However, I am going to nitpick a little bit and cherry pick an example that not all rich people follow. For the example CEO's who have been receiving obscene bonuses despite the fact that their companies have been loosing money. I think its perfectly fair to tax the living hell out of them. They make and spend disgusting amounts of money, and they haven't even been responsible enough to keep their companies afloat without government aid.

    • 2 years ago
  • RickLD
    • 0
      RickLD  

    • Why dont we just have a Flat tax on everyone. It would stop all this stupid fussing about the uber-rich not paying their share... or the poor man getting robbed blind by the government.

      Oh, and why should a trust a poll, when most the fact are taken from socialist countries, that dont even use a free market system.....

    • 2 years ago
  • kennymotown
    • 0
      kennymotown  

    • The American dream is dead for the average American citizen thanks too a very laze regulation in the last thirty years. It's time too embrace the European dream and tax the crap out of the Rich who have used you the worker for years. Time to get back to taking care of America. None of these capitalist made their money without the huge sacrifices we all made for them. Standing on the shoulders of the workers and buying the government is how we got screwed now it's their time to get screwed.

    • 2 years ago
  • JohnA
  • SleepDirt
  • sampierre
  • magnusdeus
    • 0
      magnusdeus  

    • This is a misleading title. Your average global citizen probably doesn't know what way a demand curve slopes, let alone have the credibility to comment on the viability of capitalism as an economic system.

    • 2 years ago
  • SleepDirt
    • 0
      SleepDirt  
    • Image
    • magnusdeus:

      "Your average global citizen probably doesn't know what way a demand curve slopes..."

      And the average American citizen...

      • Eats peanut butter at least once a week
      • Prefers smooth peanut butter over chunky
      • Can name all Three Stooges
      • Cannot name all three branches of government
      • Lives within a 20-minute drive of a Wal-Mart
      • Has fired a gun
      • Is between 5 feet and 6 feet tall
      • Weighs 135 to 205 pounds
      • Is between the ages of 18 and 53
      • Believes gambling is an acceptable entertainment option
      • Grew up within 50 miles of current home

      Zogby poll:
      -77 percent of Americans could name two of the seven dwarfs, while just 24 percent knew two of the nine Supreme Court justices.
      -57 percent of Americans could name fictional boy wizard Harry Potter, less than half could name Great Britain's real prime minister, Tony Blair.
      -25% of people read no books
      -27% have a passport.
      -56 percent -- know that Paula Abdul is a judge on “American Idol”, 21 percent know that the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people” comes from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
      -54 percent do not know that the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, not the president.
      -A large number (43 percent) of politicians did not know what the Electoral College does.
      ...and my personal fave
      -Only 32 percent of politicians can actually define what the free-enterprise system is – even though many of them may have campaigned for office pledging to defend it.
      Source: Americans Know ‘American Idol’ Star Better than American History
      http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/39715

    • 2 years ago
  • magnusdeus
  • thedirtman
    • 0
      thedirtman  

    • Free market reaches a point of maturity when competition plays out. It really worked great when America was an agrarian country and people needed to get up, chop wood for energy and work the fields for food. They could use the rest of the day to market goods and trade surplus. Most of the natural resources have been claimed by now with privatization. Corporations have people in a pathological grip. The market needs a reset button.

    • 2 years ago
  • joshuaheller
  • 2hellnwait
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • isnamthere
  • remanns
    • 0
      remanns  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      Actually,..........fair enough. How about "the free market" does not enhance the "self-worth" (as opposed to "net worth") of the individual. FREEDOM does. The "free market" supports the hierarchy and exploitation of the pack,....FREEDOM is "live or die" on your own terms,.....me,....myself,....and I. (Doesn't mean you don't look out for your friends,..........BECAUSE they- ARE- your friends,...NOT contractual obligations/dependents or lifelines). Death to the land owners, blue bloods of the castle, robber barons, feudal lords, corporate scum!

    • 2 years ago
  • Varex_Sythe
    • 0
      Varex_Sythe  
    • ibrake4rappers13:

      Regulated free market work like regulated freedom works.

      Simple analogy, the government needs to put some restrictions and regulations upon businesses to prevent and/or punish things like fraud or unfair business tactics. Much in the same way that though we have freedom, we have laws that prevent and/or punish us in the event that we commit a crime, such as theft or murder.

      When the market is too free, has few to no regulations, then it tears itself apart much as the banks and large businesses have while creating this recession. When people are too free, there are no laws to prevent or punish crimes, you have a third world country or downtown L.A. on a bad day.

      Yes, the part about downtown L.A. is supposed to be a joke.

    • 2 years ago
  • SleepDirt
  • CreditFigaro
    • 0
      CreditFigaro  

    • Here is the issue: the degree success of capitalism lies in the amount of socialism that supports it.

      You aren't going to clear markets if there are no roads to get from place to place.

      You aren't going to have mutual trust in business deals if there is no third party agency to enforce them.

      You won't be able to have good treatment of employees without enforceable laws to protect them.

      You aren't going to have prosperity of the many if there aren't enough taxes on the extraordinarily wealthy.

      At the same time:

      Unilateral economic management in a top down communist system as was the practical incarnation of communism during the 20th century, you aren't going to have incentive to work (USSR) OR you aren't going to have citizens being treated equitably (China).

      Capitalism is an excellent way to go for many kinds of goods and services. However, just like technology, the understanding of economics, by the experts and the masses, is becoming more and more sophisticated, over time.

      There needs to be a word for: "an economic system where social services are socialized and the method for production and distribution of consumer goods and services are privatized."

      The truth is, the government is better at some stuff, and private industry is better at other stuff. Figuring out which is which is the challenge.

    • 2 years ago
  • remanns
  • loupetho
    • 0
      loupetho  
    • CreditFigaro:

      Same as Remanns ... thanks.

      There's nothing more complex than people; there desires, needs, attitudes, beliefs, agendas etc. We live in an ever complex world. We need to find the middle ground and create a system, with a feedback-loop, where we can be the best we are capable of no matter what that is, and look after others at the same time.

    • 2 years ago
  • Argon18
    • 0
      Argon18  
    • CreditFigaro:

      I'd agree with those ideas, it is a shame that for the most part people can't seem to get over the extremes of having systems all one way or the other without finally figuring the degrees of free markets production and goverment protection to make the systems more effective.

    • 2 years ago
  • NickerBocker09
    • 0
      NickerBocker09  

    • I wasnt surprised by the results from Europe however I was a bit intrigued by the USA and other nations. I thought more would approve of less regulated capitalism. i was a little worried about Egypt, and a couple other nations that said the end of the Soviet Union was a bad thing.

    • 2 years ago
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