Opinion pieces and speeches by EPI staff and associates.
Every economic system develops a set of political issues around itself.
The economic system now being created by the merging of world markets is no exception. The protesters in Seattle represent the beginning stage of a mass global-politics made possible by the same Internet technologies, declining travel costs, and rising education levels that expand the reach of global capitalism beyond the capacity of individual governments to regulate it. In the nineteenth century, technology and business organizations in the United States created continental corporations that outgrew the ability of state governments to regulate their markets. Fortunately, the political struggle over rules for the new continental marketplace could take place safely within the context of a democratic U.S. constitution. Over time, the power of corporate capital was balanced by protections for small business, labor, and the environment.