Thoughts on Mutualism, Socialism and Capitalism

As the byline to my blog indicates I am interested in radical non neo-classical economic theories of both Marx and Mises.

Reading Kevin Carson's thoughts on Mutalist political economy has made me think about the differences between Capitalism and the Free Market, in particular his brilliant de-coupling of the two. Carson's main argument is that Capitalism is a result of state and corporate power combined and that if you remove one the other will collapse.

Carson's main insight is that to generate capital you need monopoly and state support. Without this capital then large corporate entities are impossible to support and the relationship between employer and employee is suddenly much more equal. How though are these monopolies to be broken up? Carson cleverly attacks patents, the idea of corporation as legally defined person

Although Carson draws heavily from the American Libertarian tradition this hostility to capital accumulation places him very much within the Marxist tradition even though he does not share much of their historical analysis. Carson offers a new synthesis of seemingly incompatible ideas through re-defining the Free Market as the free non-coerced exchange of goods and ideas through what ever forms free stateless people choose to make..be they a co-operative, commune, small business etc....