I am no economist! But I am fascinated by rise and fall of two major economic paradigms in less than 100 years. 100 years is indeed a long time when we see our life span but much shorter to assess validity of any theory that influence human mind, living and society at large!
Simplicity of communist ideals was appealing to young me, having born in the state of Kerala. But through my teens, I realized the folly as I started seeing the gap between theory and practice. Followers of the philosopher who argued against religion ended up creating a new religion. What was meant to an equalizer, ended up created a new hierarchy. Well, the more it changes, the more it remains the same! Soon, the world witnessed collapse of the biggest communist empire, once a dream of the downtrodden!
Notion of natural balance of free market was then appealing as it offered possibility of equality through freedom. While technology is striving to be an equalizer connecting the world, former advocates of free market seems to be sulking by raising newer barriers! Swings of free market, between bullish run or bearish slump, ends up cornering wealth of the world in the hands of a few... and what is worse, from patterns of the free market swings, it seems to be more of a design than accident! Is the free market truly free, or just a good old ideal?
As a common man, what I am concerned is not so much effectiveness of economic paradigms but rather their appeal. It seems to me that the world needs a hope, a new theory, a new promise, to rally around albeit for a short while
