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There is a lie at the heart of global capitalism. Politicians, financiers and global bureaucrats claim to believe in free competitive markets, but have constructed the most unfree market system ever. It is corrupt because income
is channelled to the owners of property - financial, physical and intellectual - at the expense of society.
This book reveals how global capitalism is rigged in favour of rentiers to the detriment of all of us, especially the precariat. A plutocracy and elite enriches itself, not through production of goods and services, but through ownership of assets, including intellectual property, aided by subsidies,
tax breaks, debt mechanisms, revolving doors between politics and business,
and the privatisation of public services. Rentier capitalism is entrenched by the corruption of democracy, manipulated by the plutocracy and an elite-dominated media.
Meanwhile, wages stagnate as labour markets are transformed by outsourcing, automation and the on-demand economy, generating more rental income while expanding the precariat.
The Corruption of Capitalism argues that rentier capitalism is fostering revolt, and concludes by outlining a new income distribution system that would achieve the extinction of the rentier while promoting sustainable growth.
List of contents
Glossary of Acronyms vii
Preface ix
Chapter 1 The Origins of Our Times 1
Chapter 2 The Shaping of Rentier Capitalism 41
Chapter 3 The Plague of Subsidies 85
Chapter 4 The Scourge of Debt 135
Chapter 5 Plunder of the Commons 167
Chapter 6 Labour Brokers: The Precariat Bears the Strain 209
Chapter 7 The Corruption of Democracy 241
Chapter 8 Rent Asunder: The Precariat's Revolt 279
Endnotes 321
Index
About the author
Guy Standing: Guy Standing is Research Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
He was previously Professor of Economic Security at the University of Bath and Professor of Labour Economics at Monash University in Australia, and was director of the Socio-Economic Security Programme of the International Labour Organization, in the United Nations. He is a co-founder and honorary co-president of the Basic Income Earth Network.
Summary
Standing demonstrates why, in the interests of democracy and our common wealth, the rise of rentier capitalism must be resisted.
