11 - Capitalismat war

Summary

This chapter considers influence of capitalism on war. It then examines whether the structure of the capitalist economy has motivated the owners of capital to show some systematic preference for war by comparison with the elites of other systems. Ricardo used the word "capitalist" to distinguish the owners of capital from landowners and laborers. But the mere existence of capitalists falls short of implying "capitalism", an entire economic and social system with private capital ownership at its foundation. Writers like Norman Angell and Ivan Bliokh believed that modern capitalism had driven up the opportunity cost of war to a point where the industrial and commercial powers would no longer fight major wars. A more original contribution of capitalism was enormously to enhance the fiscal capacity of the state. By the twentieth century, the capitalist fiscal revolution had been all but overtaken by the repressive mobilization capacities of fascism and communism.