Bungacast /515/ State Capitalism Is Now ft. Ilias Alami
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Oct 13, 2025 
Ilias Alami, a political economist and assistant professor at the University of Cambridge, dives into the dynamics of state capitalism. He argues this phenomenon isn't limited to China but reflects a global trend influenced by stagnation and neoliberal legacies. Alami discusses how state capitalism signals systemic fragility rather than strength. He explores its implications for domestic politics and the potential for democratic reclaiming of state assets, all while navigating through the complexities of current economic structures and their effects on future governance.
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What State Capitalism Actually Is
- State capitalism combines expanded state-owned corporate entities with muscular industrial policies and trade controls.
- This global shift has multiplied sovereign wealth funds, SOEs, and state banks while increasing state-directed industrial strategies.
Four Driving Logics Of State Action
- Four impulses drive state capitalism: productivist, absorptive, stabilizing, and disciplinary.
- These impulses explain interventions from semiconductor policy to renationalization and sovereign wealth investing.
State Tools To Stabilize Crises
- The stabilizing impulse uses state banks, SWFs, and central banks to absorb shocks and backstop finance.
- States deploy these tools post-crisis to protect assets, elites, and macroeconomic stability.
