"Life After Captitalism"

Robert Skidelsky wonders if the end of the road for capitalism is within sight:

Life after Capitalism, by Robert Skidelsky, Commentary, Project Syndicate: ...Capitalism may be close to exhausting its potential to create a better life – at least in the world’s rich countries. By “better,” I mean better ethically, not materially. Material gains may continue, though evidence shows that they no longer make people happier. ...

This is not to denigrate capitalism. It ... has lifted a large part of the world out of poverty. Yet what happens to such a system when scarcity has been turned to plenty? Does it just go on producing more of the same...

There have always been huge moral questions about capitalism... Capitalism’s defenders sometimes argue that the spirit of acquisitiveness is so deeply ingrained in human nature that nothing can dislodge it. But ... Greed, avarice, and envy were among the deadly sins. Usury ... was an offense against God. It was only in the eighteenth century that greed became morally respectable. ...

The dishonoring of greed is likely only in those countries whose citizens already have more than they need. ... The economic justification for large income inequalities – the need to stimulate people to be more productive – collapses when growth ceases to be so important. Perhaps socialism was not an alternative to capitalism, but its heir. ...