On the Brink of the Abyss: The Imminent Bankruptcy of the Financial System by Alain de Benoist

On the Brink of the Abyss: The Imminent Bankruptcy of the Financial System Reviews

• 
  C. Varn

  De Benoist is a rightist, and I am not. However, he seems to understand and even appreciate many strands of left-wing economic theory: he expounds on post-Keynesianism and Marxism with knowledge of the underlying theories and a view of limitations. He sees capitalism as a corrosive force, which other rightists saw from traditionalist to Daniel Bell. More than many "Marxist" academics, he realizes that neoliberalism is a political rebranding of capitalism moving away from its fordist model. De Benoist laments the fordist model but is clear that it was limited by rates of profits and was not maintainable. De Benoist does discuss post-Keynesian solutions but is also clear that these would also be temporary. His primary fault of Marx is that Marx generally accepted Enlightenment values while critiquing capitalism (I am not sure this is true in Marx's later works but it is definitely true in the case of Engels and of many Marxists) and Marx's under-estimation of capitalism's ability to integrate the working class temporarily (which does seem to have been true). I must admit that many rightists will probably have issues with this books tone on capitalism, the fact it didn't see a few new developments in oil production that has temporarily slowed the devaluing of the dollar, and it's embrace of many left wing economic solutions. That is to be expected: what worries me is that rightist like De Benoist understand socialist political economy more consistently than most people in my brand of politics do. Warning: while Americans know French philosophers, this book mentions a lot of French political and economic thinkers generally not known by Americans and will require use of the footnotes.
• 
  Frederik Vandelannoote

  As all books by Benoist, this one is another well researched and thought book. It handles lots of different topics on economics. Sadly he leaves the basic income dilemma somewhat undecided. The critique on the present state of the capitalist system is brilliant and clear, but as always is it much more difficult to present sollutions or the ideal distributist system from nationalistic perspective. How to redistribute labour? Coupling of creditcreation to gold or some other value (real production)? Rent free economy possible? But besides this, the book is fantastic.
• 
  Dhiraj Bharude

  On the Brink of the Abyss: The Imminent Bankruptcy of the Financial System.
  by Alain de Benoist.
  Paperback -1985rs.
  The problem with most discussions of the crisis, Benoist notes, is that they focus on attempting to reform the present economic system in order to prevent such disasters from recurring. This is a mistake, he says, since the problem actually lies with the nature of the present-day form of international capitalism itself, a system which privileges the unbridled desires of the individual over the needs of the community; which protects the wealthy at the cost of the middle class and the poor; and which is causing so much suffering worldwide by making it easy for corporations in the richer countries to outsource their labour to other, disadvantaged ones, to the detriment of both. It is this system which must be questioned at its very foundations. Benoist holds both the Left and Right equally responsible for this situation, since the mainstream in both currents has come to unconditionally accept the idea that liberalism and globalised capitalism are not only the best, but the only desirable method of structuring economies in the world today. Meanwhile, the international financial system teeters on the brink, with American debt soaring and the euro on the verge of implosion. Benoist not only explores the roots of how this situation came about but also makes suggestions on what might be done about it. The current crisis is not simply a temporary one; it is the consequence of the logic of capital, which knows only one watchword: more! More profits, more goods, and more trade, even at the price of austerity measures which hit the poorest. Such a system cannot last forever. Here is why. The rest of the book tells how we got into this situation, and this is something all economists must read, at least the first eight chapters.
• 
  Pieter

  Alain de Benoist is best known as the French founder and thinker of the New Right ("la Nouvelle Droite"). This book focuses on the financial crisis: the role of credit, whether we should introduce a "guaranteed income", the use of immigration as a way to keep down wages, the disappearance of the middle class, the religion of "free trade" and the future of the US dollar and euro.
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  Marco Svevo

  effetti collaterali: se leggerete questo libro diventerete comunisti (ovvero come conciliare un'ideologia di sinistra con un'antropologia di destra)
  
  il libro meriterebbe anche solo per le due paginette di massimo fini. ostico da subito, con rimandi ad altri libri e fitte note a pie' di pagina (anzi a piè di fine libro). e non è neanche iniziato... "ricorrere a una manodopera a buon mercato, poco qualificata, ma altrettanto poco rivendicativa. ciò spiega perchè il padronato, considerando gli immigrati come un esercito di riserva del capitale che permette di spingere verso il basso il salario degli autoctoni, abbia sempre favorito l'immigrazione". PRENDI NOTA. "la causa immediata dell'aggravamento dei debiti pubblici è individuabile nei piani di salvataggio delle banche private, decisi dagli stati nel 2008 e nel 2009". PRENDI NOTA 2 "Non sara' certamente limitandosi a indignarsi , come è considerato di buon gusto fare oggi, che si cambieranno le cose. l'indignazione che non sfocia nell'azione concreta è soltanto un modo comodo di sentirsi a posto con la coscienza". esattamente cio' che scrive barnard quivi
  http://www.paolobarnard.info/info_vda... la seconda parte del libro si sofferma sull'analisi della situazione francese (in parte simile a quella italiana: se ad. esempio in itaglia la soglia di poverta' è 780 euro, in francia è 950). detto questo "LA COSTRUZIONE EUROPEA NON E' NIENTE'ALTRO CHE CHE UN MEZZO PER IMPORRE AI POPOLI (sic) DELLE RIFORME NEOLIBERALI IL CUI OBIETTIVO E' QUELLO DI ADATTARE LE SOCIETA' EUROPEE ALLE ESIGENZE DELLA MONDIALIZZAZIONE (globalizzazione?) altro dato interessante i 6000 ricchi incestuosi che terrebbero in mano, grazie al loro sterminato potere economico, le sorti del mondo (cfr. ROTHKOPF, nomen omen, che parla di SUPERCLASSE GLOBALE). e arriviamo al capitolo 10, che, guarda caso si intitola instaurare un REDDITO DI CITTADINANZA. l'autore scomoda addirittura PLATONE: "se uno stato vuole evitare una disintegrazione civile non bisogna permettere alla povertà e alla ricchezza estreme di svilupparsi in alcuna parte del corpo civile, perchè ciò conduce al disastro. ma prima, c'è un passo sul qualo non sono assolutamente d'accordo: quello in cui si definisce il reddito di cittadinanza come "diritto incondizionato alla sopravvivenza materiale di ogni cittadino". questa mi pare, per ovvie ragioni, una stronzata. per tacere della postfazione!!!! la POSTFAZIONE è da 5 stelle! ma sono cose da pazzi!!!
• 
  Ietrio

  The stupid kid of yesterday, the one who could not do the school math, now knows all the Algebra needed to understand Finance.
• 
  Frj

  كسم الرأسمالية طبعًا
• 
  Robert Chapman

  I've read extensively about the current financial system as well as the problems of the last decade. This is very thought provoking book and well worth the read.
  
  Although I don't agree with some of the ideas proposed, I found that the author did an excellent job of presenting both sides of any given argument for the readers consideration.
  
  The discussions around the loss of jobs due to offshoring and outsourcing as well as those around an existence income are particularly interesting.