...can you explain to us what you mean by the term
'market-driven politics,' and can you explain the primary forces that have
been driving this process.
Colin Leys: I use that term to mark the dramatic change that the de-control
of capital meant for a country like Britain -- or almost any country other
than the United States.
With the removal of capital controls, once capital could move where it wished to, governments ceased to have control of the direction of investment, or the terms on which investment is made, making politicians responsive more to the bond markets than to their electorates.
This puts political parties in office in a new and complicated position
vis-à-vis the electorate. I had seen that happening in Africa where
ex-colonial states, very poor and very dependent on external capital, were
constantly having to adapt what they said in public, and what they did in
practice, to external forces, and it seemed to me that that would be likely
to happen to all countries once capital could go where it wanted.
Capital would be much in demand and would be able to set the terms with nation
states....
FULL Story:
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