Ilias Alami, an Assistant Professor at Cambridge University and co-author of 'The Spectre of State Capitalism', dives into the nuances of state capitalism. He discusses how the state's role in the economy has shifted due to structural changes in global capitalism, challenging common misconceptions. The conversation highlights the fusion of state and private capital and the implications for global economic dynamics. Alami emphasizes the need for a global perspective to understand these transformations, especially in light of recent geopolitical events.
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Global View of State Capitalism
State capitalism is best understood globally, not just through a national lens focused on emerging markets like China.
It involves the growing and intertwined presence of state and private capital across all economies, including advanced democracies.
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Two Dimensions of State Capitalism
State capitalism consists of two dimensions: state ownership and state interventionism.
Both dimensions have massively expanded worldwide over the past 20 years, beyond just emerging markets.
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Transnational Connections Shape State Capitalism
Understanding state capitalism requires linking national political economies through transnational relations.
Countries often emulate and react to each other's state intervention policies in a competitive global network.
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In this episode, we welcome Ilias Alami to discuss state capitalism and his new book, co-authored with Adam Dixon, The Spectre of State Capitalism. We discuss why we are currently witnessing a historic arc in the trajectories of state intervention, characterised by a drastic reconfiguration of the state's role as promoter, supervisor, shareholder-investor, and direct owner of capital across the world economy. We discuss why the new state capitalism is rooted in deep geopolitical economic and financial processes pertaining to the secular development of global capitalism, as much as it is the product of the geo-economic agency of states and the global corporate strategies of leading firms. We discuss the growing fusion of private and state capital, and the development of flexible and liquid forms of property that collapse the distinction between state and private ownership, control, and management. This has fundamental implications for the nature and operations of global capitalism and world politics.
Takeaways
The expansion of the state's role in the economy is a response to structural transformations in global capitalism and not primarily an ideological shift.
Understanding state capitalism requires a global outlook and an analysis of transnational connections and inter-referentiality.
The material transformations in the global economy have triggered ideological and ideational adjustments regarding the role of the state in the economy.
State capitalism is not limited to a specific political ideology and is observable across different political systems.
The integration of state-owned enterprises in global trade and finance has led to a new form of state ownership that mimics private sector practices.
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