"Capitalism" doesn't sacrifice lives for the economy, Keynesianism does

submitted by Leo_Littlebook from self.politics

Reddit leftists claim that US Republicans wish to sacrifice lives in the name of capitalism.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PoliticalHumor/comments/fpkhcf/sounds_like_a_donaldian_bestdeal/

Singapore and Hong Kong are much more capitalist than the USA, and have absolutely no interest in sacrificing lives for the economy. Oligarchic Keynesian socialism is focused on "markets", but that doesn't make it capitalism.

China is sacrificing lives for its economy, but its economy is lives, due to the current effort to raise the country out of poverty.

The Keynesian model requires stimulation of animal spirits, and hence sacrificing lives to prevent rolling debt collapse. Capitalism, by contrast, permits people the freedom to value their lives highly, and to take extreme and effective measures to self-protect.

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[–]f5reaher5jnaer5j 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

This has nothing to do with Keynesian economics or Modern Monetary Theory. Both Singapore and Hong Kong practice it, with Singapore's inflation at ~1% per year, Hong Kong averages 2.5% per year. USA averages ~2.0%

[–]Leo_Littlebook[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Keynes advocated using debt as stimulus, which increases systemic fragility. The current shutdown threatens to trigger a rolling default. Inflation isn't relevant.

The HKD is pegged to the USD. I assume that the lack of an independent monetary policy means HK has a lighter debt load. In general, the HK government has a reputation for fiscal conservatism, so I expect less debt fragility. A glance at some debt to GDP figures yields 38.4% for HK govt in 2016 and 107% for the USG.