Capitalism is in trouble, but not from @BernieSanders.. Instead, it faces:

- Rapidly https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📉" title="Chart with downwards trend" aria-label="Emoji: Chart with downwards trend"> population growth across https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌍" title="Earth globe europe-africa" aria-label="Emoji: Earth globe europe-africa">
- Insufficient consumption & excess savings
- Monopolization across sectors, led by https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💻" title="Personal computer" aria-label="Emoji: Personal computer">
- Changing social expectations that limit business& #39; maneuverability

The population angle has been covered very well by @PeterZeihan as early as 2013.

Fertility rates across https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌍" title="Earth globe europe-africa" aria-label="Emoji: Earth globe europe-africa"> has been falling for decades. Developed world is below replacement, & even developing countries like https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flag of China" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of China"> & https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇧🇷" title="Flag of Brazil" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of Brazil"> are below https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flag of United States" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of United States">. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9zH1dWeKE0">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

Since the days of Columbus there& #39;s been an expectation that there will always be more land, more resources, more people.

That expectation is rapidly falling apart, except in a few places like Central America & Africa. Expect much more aggressive interest in those places.

The excess savings issue has been https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🔨" title="Hammer" aria-label="Emoji: Hammer"> by @michaelxpettis for at least as long. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇩🇪" title="Flag of Germany" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of Germany"> exports 50% of GDP, https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇪🇺" title="Flag of European Union" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of European Union"> runs a large current account surplus, https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flag of China" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of China">& #39;s household % of GDP is ~40%, https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇯🇵" title="Flag of Japan" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of Japan"> only grows from foreign markets.

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flag of United States" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of United States"> can& #39;t--& won& #39;t--lift https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌎" title="Earth globe americas" aria-label="Emoji: Earth globe americas"> economy forever. https://carnegieendowment.org/chinafinancialmarkets/51899">https://carnegieendowment.org/chinafina...

We are ill-suited to understand & deal w/ the issue of excess production b/c for 98% of human history we& #39;ve had to deal w/ insufficient production instead.

But industrialization has made the former much more likely, e.g. Great Depression.

http://www.tianxiangxiong.com/2019/12/22/whats-wrong-with-996.html">https://www.tianxiangxiong.com/2019/12/2...

W/ insufficient production, solution is to grow more food, manufacture more goods, etc. People know how to do that; gov& #39;t intervention is usually counterproductive.

But w/ excess production, https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏭" title="Factory" aria-label="Emoji: Factory"> enter a vicious https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="♻️" title="Universal recycling symbol" aria-label="Emoji: Universal recycling symbol"> of cutting costs & laying people off, exacerbating the problem.

"But let the market sort it out!" the lonely libertarian cries. "Less efficient businesses will be culled and the market will rebalance".

On a small scale, perhaps. If there are too many https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇳" title="Flag of China" aria-label="Emoji: Flag of China"> restaurants in a https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏙️" title="Cityscape" aria-label="Emoji: Cityscape">, some will shut down. But if there& #39;s too much https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌽" title="Ear of maize" aria-label="Emoji: Ear of maize"> & https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🛢️" title="Oil drum" aria-label="Emoji: Oil drum"> & https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚗" title="Automobile" aria-label="Emoji: Automobile">...

The "culling" will not merely be of a few businesses, but of a large % of society.

It& #39;s a mirror to the insufficient production problem, analogous to saying that a shortage of food can be fixed by some people not eating. Arithmetically yes--but good luck seeing that through.

The monopoly issue has been written about by @matthewstoller is what I& #39;d say is a very selective but nonetheless still informative reading of history.

Monopoly is perhaps most salient in https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌐" title="Globe with meridians" aria-label="Emoji: Globe with meridians">, but exists even in old industries like https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥜" title="Peanuts" aria-label="Emoji: Peanuts">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧈" title="Butter" aria-label="Emoji: Butter">. https://twitter.com/xiongtx/status/1252292532173602818?s=20">https://twitter.com/xiongtx/s...

The https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❓" title="Red question mark ornament" aria-label="Emoji: Red question mark ornament"> is what is sustaining monopolies.

One reason must be the high barrier to entry that bureaucracies have produced. Look at "too big to fail" https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏦" title="Bank" aria-label="Emoji: Bank">--they& #39;ve actually consolidated their positions since & #39;08 b/c only the largest institutions could meet regulatory requirements.

The issue of how to tackle monopolies has no right, let alone simple answer. But the likes of @HawleyMO & other young politicians are starting to address them.

One starting point is goal-oriented rather than process-oriented regulation. https://twitter.com/xiongtx/status/1210721666101211137?s=20">https://twitter.com/xiongtx/s...

It& #39;s no secret that extant large players have an outsized role in determining what the processes are. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏦" title="Bank" aria-label="Emoji: Bank"> lobby hard to make sure compliance standards adhere closely to what they& #39;re already doing.

Goals are a fairer standard--I don& #39;t care how you do it, just get it done!

The last issue of changing social expectations ties everything together.

Up to & including the Great Depression, https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏦" title="Bank" aria-label="Emoji: Bank"> failures were common. Recession meant https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏃" title="Person running" aria-label="Emoji: Person running"> to withdraw your https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💰" title="Money bag" aria-label="Emoji: Money bag">; if you& #39;re too late, you lost your savings. That& #39;s simply intolerable today. https://twitter.com/xiongtx/status/1252112527422447619?s=20">https://twitter.com/xiongtx/s...

During the current #WuhanCoronavirus it& #39;s simply expected that gov& #39;t will pay unemployment & bail out businesses large & small.

Societies will simply not tolerate what they did 100 yrs. ago, when families moved into shantytowns at the first https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌊" title="Water wave" aria-label="Emoji: Water wave"> of layoffs.

This reduces the possibilities of businesses to deal w/ crises.

In the early days of the Depression Henry Ford first tried cutting prices & raising wages to boost demand; when it became clear that this was bigger than https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🚗" title="Automobile" aria-label="Emoji: Automobile">, he laid 2/3 of @Ford& #39;s https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👨‍🏭" title="Man factory worker" aria-label="Emoji: Man factory worker"> off.

Try doing that today!