The coronavirus crisis shows we need an entirely new economic system

It will be impossible for capitalism to return to normal: we need an economy that has people’s wellbeing and public health as its priority.

By Paul Mason

A pedestrian walks along the bank of the Thames with the towers of the City of London in the background in London on March 11, 2020. - Britain on Wednesday unleashed a "big bazooka" of aggressive spending and monetary policy stimulus, assembling an emergency response to the deadly spreading coronavirus -- and warning that it stood ready to act to safeguard the health of the nation and the economy. The British government and the Bank of England launched a coordinated fightback against the country's "significant but temporary" economic impact from the coronavirus, pledging fiscal stimulus worth £30 billion ($39-billion, 34.4-billion euros) and slashing interest rates to a record-low 0.25 percent. (Photo by Tolga Akmen / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)

“We will do whatever it takes,” says the Chancellor. Unfortunately, Rishi Sunak does not have what it’s going to take – or at least, not yet. Because the Covid-19 crisis is going to collapse growth – both here and across the globe – in an entirely different way from anything we’ve experienced.

And what Sunak is going to need is an anti-capitalist imagination. In response to this crisis the government has to do nothing less than take command of the economy. But it doesn’t know how to. It’s not just a question of lacking education and experience in crisis management; it’s a question of ideology.