Wolfgang Streeck in Sidecar:
What does it mean to say we are in a ‘polycrisis’? Under an increasingly undemocratic capitalism, the countries of the rich world all confront a similar bundle of crises that have sprung up more or less unnoticed. Underlying them is a long-simmering fiscal crisis of the state that is now finally coming to the fore, where the growing demands placed on society by the evolution of contemporary capitalism are clashing with the declining ability of democratic politics to secure the resources needed to meet them. One of the consequences is the notably parallel rise, across all the countries concerned, of new-model opposition parties, critical of the existing order, which threaten to oust the ageing postwar ruling parties from power.
The details vary from country to country, though not by much. As far as Germany is concerned, every government regardless of who leads it faces roughly the following problems, which are as acute as they are intractable, at least in the short term. All are caused by a latent policy of austerity, resulting in a failure to invest in public goods. These are, in no particular order: stagnant growth, under which any structural change takes on a zero-sum character; the deterioration of public infrastructure, including railways, bridges and roads; a growing housing shortage and rising urban rents; the failure to adapt both cities and rural areas to the consequences of climate change; the lack of an immigration policy to counterbalance an ageing population alongside a sharp decline in birth rates; the decay of the education system, particularly primary schools; the indebtedness of local authorities and their diminishing ability to make necessary investments and provide essential services; growing inequality in income and wealth, with low-income families – particularly those headed by single mothers – chronically the worst hit; and, last but not least, widespread anxiety about the future, driven in part by fear of cuts to state-provided essential services that are becoming increasingly hard to finance.
More here.
Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.