The Crisis in Context Democratic Capitalism and Its - MPIfG危机语境中的民主资本主义和它的mpifg.pdfVIP

MPIfG Discussion Paper 11/15 The Crisis in Context Democratic Capitalism and Its Contradictions Wolfgang Streeck Wolfgang Streeck The Crisis in Context: Democratic Capitalism and Its Contradictions MPIfG Discussion Paper 11/15 Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung, Köln Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne October 2011 MPIfG Discussion Paper ISSN 0944-2073 (Print) ISSN 1864-4325 (Internet) © 2011 by the author(s) Wolfgang Streeck is Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne. streeck@mpifg.de MPIfG Discussion Papers are refereed scholarly papers of the kind that are publishable in a peer-reviewed disciplinary journal. Their objective is to contribute to the cumulative improvement of theoretical knowl- edge. The papers can be ordered from the institute for a small fee (hard copies) or downloaded free of charge (PDF). Downloads www.mpifg.de Go to Publications / Discussion Papers Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies Paulstr. 3 | 50676 Cologne | Germany Tel. +49 221 2767-0 Fax +49 221 2767-555 www.mpifg.de info@mpifg.de Streeck: The Crisis in Context iii Abstract The “financial crisis” and its sequel, the current sovereign debt crisis, appear to be the latest permutations of an old conflict between capitalism and democracy that forcefully reasserted itself after the end of the postwar growth period. Today’s calamities were preceded by high inflation in the late 1960s and 1970s, rising public deficits in the 1980s, and growing private indebtedness in the 1990s and 2000s. In each case, governments were faced with popular demands for prosperity and security that were incompatible with market allocation. Inflation, deficits and financial under-regulation should not be understood as results of faulty economic management but rat