Original

Is capitalism dead? Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis thinks it is, and he knows who killed it — phys.org — 9 November 2023 (LINK)

Edited version

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The article argues that owners of the new digital trading platforms are able to charge exorbitant rents (30-35%) for access. "This is not extracting profit through the production or provision of goods and services, as these platforms are not a "service" in the sense in which the term is used in economics. They are extracting rents in the form of the huge cuts they take from the capitalists on their platforms. The Big Tech platforms are exempted from free-market competition."

The article also discusses how our unpaid labor contributes to the wealth and power of the new ruling class through our use of cloud-linked devices.

"Every time we use our cloud-linked devices [...] all of us contribute to 'the wealth and power of the new ruling class' through our 'unpaid labor.' We train their algorithms, which train us, to train them, and so on, in a feedback loop whose goal is to shape our desires and behavior. They are 'selling things to us while selling our attention to others'."

"Approximately 80% of the income of traditional capitalist conglomerates go to salaries and wages, according to Varoufakis, while Big Tech's workers, in contrast, collect 'less than 1% of their firms' revenues'.

Among his proposals, also made earlier: "ending the cloudalists faux 'free service' model and replacing it with a universal micro-payment model, instituting a Bill of Digital Rights, and using digital technology to 'democratize companies' (with decisions being taken collectively by 'employee-shareholders')."

AI version (LEO)

• bold indicates quote from original

The article discusses how capitalism has evolved into a technologically advanced form of feudalism, where traditional capitalists have become vassal capitalists and Big Tech companies have become the new lords.

The article argues that the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and quantitative easing measures have contributed to the rise of cloud capital and the emergence of a new ruling class. The author, Yanis Varoufakis, argues that we are now in a post-capitalist society where markets have been replaced by digital trading platforms and profit has been replaced by cloud capital as the fuel that drives the global economy.

The article also discusses how our unpaid labor contributes to the wealth and power of the new ruling class through our use of cloud-linked devices.