Reformist policies fail – capitalism is the root cause of maldistribution

The underlying structural source of global maldistribution is capitalism. A system of surplus accumulation – where the economy is geared towards acquiring ever greater material wealth – is inherently bound to generate the sorts of large inequalities that were starkly summarized in Scholte’s opening chapter. When capitalism operates globally, it will inevitably produce stark economic gaps between countries and people on a world scale. Reformist and regulatory policies are not an answer to this situation, because its roots are historical and systemic. This is not to dismiss attempts at regulating capital and its many economic and social manifestations. Proposals such as Piketty’s global wealth tax are not wrong per se (Piketty 2014). The problem is that reformative attempts – such as regulating capital – are only palliatives. They have reinforced the asymmetric growth of society, the polarization between the rich and poor within and between nations, as well as between humanity and nature. And so I advance the thesis that veritable development requires resistance to the capitalist roots of modern maldevelopment (see also Tandon 2009, 2015). 32 Yash Tandon My chapter focuses on the role of capital investments in creating global maldistribution of wealth and welfare, and what role investments can play in an alternative development model. The discussion is in three parts. In the first part, I analyse the concept of investment capital, including its historical and systemic roots.