Search me! In it's series on 'Capitalism' bbc r4 China was analysed and identified as practising state capitalism alongside Norway, Singapore Thailand etc and both contributors to the prog were speaking approvingly of such a system and suggested it was the way forward for other countries as it was clearly the most successful system of those available.
Standard bbc fare in other words but leaving aside the leftist bias as you always have to do with the state broadcaster I realized than in discussing such a system where the state engages in industrial programmes and strategies it could have been talking about the UK, France or Germany!
The received categorisation for such a system in the West has been the Mixed Economy but having listened to the prog I think it should be changed to State Capitalism since that is exactly what it is and it would clarify the situation in the public's mind by the use of that clear definition which the coy murky words Mixed Economy fails to convey.
It would also serve the purpose of ridding silly commentators in the British media of the annoying habbit of referring lazily - or as I would say deliberately and misleadingly to the 'capitalist system'.Let's call things by their proper names then perhaps we have a fair chance of doing something about them.
The problem is of course that state capitalism is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms and it is used by people who seek to conflate capitalism with communism so for that reason it would perhaps best be avoided although mixed economy is equally contradictory and is indicative of how much obsfuscation this subject is prey to.
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