Affiliation:
1. University of New South Wales
Abstract
The competing political-economic systems of free-market capitalism and fascism are vastly different systems, rather than variants of the same genus, as they are sometimes presented. Though these systems are connected by a continuum of possible levels of government intervention, fascism is a form of hyper-interventionism amounting to socialism. The system of fascism is examined here by reference to the business and economic climate prevailing in Nazi Germany. This shows that the political and economic dynamics of fascism are very different to those of free-market capitalism. In particular, government actions in the fascist political system lead to a business environment where economic entrepreneurialism is gradually replaced by political entrepreneurialism, leading to an entrenched and privileged ruling elite. The productive business class is replaced by an unproductive class of political entrepreneurs. The result of this process is economic decline and ultimately economic collapse, precipitating a drive to war.
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