Participative Capitalism

I favor both the capitalistic system and free global markets. Capitalism works best in free markets. If one country is more productive than others in a particular industry or product line, then they deserve to gain a large market share. In the long term, productivity and quality will determine the market position.

Cheap labor tends to place some countries in a short-term advantage. In many instances, a lack of capital tends to level the playing field. Projecting longer emerging economies will find wages rising as well as the availability of capital. I repeat, eventually productivity and quality will determine market position. Countries with smaller populations will be forced to focus their efforts on a limited number of industries to remain competitive.

Protectionism is not in any countries best interest. Any country that chooses to protect its domestic market will find that other countries will have no choice but to retaliate. Protectionist countries will lose out in the long run and hamper the standard of living for their citizens.

In my opinion, the key to how well the Capitalistic system works is determined by the ratio of population that participates in that system.

One measure of capital participation is the stock market.

Recent studies report that the top 1% of the wealthiest in our country own over 50% of stocks and the top 10% of the wealthiest own 89%. Of the remaining 11% a majority are owned by institutional investors, pension funds and other groups. What that means is that 90% of the population has a minuscule representation.https://share.smartnews.com/HdZHt