Capitalism 3.0
Ch. 4: The Limits of Privatization
January 2008
Susan Skalka
Slave to the Algorithm of Capitalism
3.0
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1. Maximize return to capital
2. Distribute property on a per share basis
3. The price of nature = 0
Starting Condition:
Top 5% own more ppty shares
than the remaining 95%
What about…
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Socially Responsible Corporations
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Enlightened Managers?
Socially Responsible Shareholders?
Mandatory Responsibility?
While nice thoughts, none of these would
really work, Barnes argues, since we are still
slave to the algorithm under each of these.
An Alternative…
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Change price of nature to > 0
 Managers immediately try to cut what now costs
money, polluting, being wasteful, etc.
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Free Market Environmentalism:
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Assign private ppty rights, e.g. right not to be polluted
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No rationale for assigning these rights
Giving rights for free to corporations is not good, is like
giving out free leases to a building that go on forever and
allow corp to earn rent.
A bunch of individuals aren’t well organized to fight corps.
A Better Alternative…
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‘Propertize’ but don’t Privatize
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Turn pieces of the Commons into common ppty,
not corporate ppty.
 Allows us to charge corporations higher price for using
commons
 Allows us share benefits of higher prices broadly
 Allows us to ensure quantity of usage rights sold is set
with interest of future generations in mind.