Home Forum Political Economy Measuring Creorder by the State Reply To: Measuring Creorder by the State

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In a mature capitalist state, State Power and Capital Power are intertwined and inseparable.

To be clear, such a condition is not inevitable. In the beginning, all social power derives from the state. Whether the state advances the status of one segment of society over another, or fails to protect one segment of society from another, society’s order flows from state action and/or inaction.

Capitalism requires the delegation of state power to private parties, i.e., capitalism proceeds from privilege.

I think of social power as a pie chart, with state power initially representing the whole pie. A state that believes in freedom of religion, in giving expression to that belief, carves out a domain of social power exclusive to religion. Over time, capitalist states have delegated more and more social power to capital, e.g., by ceding the power to control the money supply, limited sovereign immunity (limited liability), favorable tax treatment for capital, etc.  The false duality of politics v. economics has been instrumental in securing this outcome for capital. (As an aside, I believe the separation of politics and economics logically flows from the separation of church and state; that doesn’t make it true, but the basic argument is the same when grounded in natural rights).