by Sunny Hundal

The #occupy movement in the USA and the UK is frequently described in the media as being ‘anti-capitalist’.

But anyone with a cursory knowledge of economics who looks at this dispassionately will tell you this is hogwash.

They may not know it or say it, but the #occupy protesters are more ‘pro-capitalist’ than their critics.



Now, you may see and describe capitalism through the Marxist prism of capital and labour. But economics students come to the issue through a different prism: that of Perfect Competition. For this exercise I use that framework.

Perfect Competition is basically what what most economics aspires to. Consumers have perfect information to make rational choice; companies don’t have extraordinary power, and are forced – through competition – to only make normal profits over the long term.

Furthermore, there is no monopoly or even oligopoly power for long. No company can screw over customers for without being punished by competitors.

Of course – Perfect Competition does not exist in reality. Consumers and companies are irrational and information isn’t easily available in all case. But it is the ‘perfect model’ to which capitalists should, in theory, aspire to.

We’re in this economic mess because Corporatism reigns. Companies have far too much power and are deemed ‘too big to fail’. They work with and bribe (sorry, ‘lobby’) politicians to draft legislation in their favour. They are bailed out when they go under and are able to rig the market in their favour.

As Matt Taibbi points out – Wall Street isn’t winning, it’s cheating. The same applies to the UK.

There is widespread anger at the banks not just because of their stratospheric salaries, but because we all know they don’t deserve those salaries. The market is rigged. It definitely isn’t a vision of Free Markets or Perfect Competition.

Now let’s consider the protesters: I’ll accept the US movement is broader and more representative than the London one. But the core activists and their supporters are still a very mixed bunch. After all, they are meant to be the ‘99%’.

What do they want? Broadly, they want back a sense of fairness in society. They want a system that works for everyone, not just the very few. They want a level playing field. They don’t want to live in a system rigged for the powerful. In short, they want a system closer to perfect competition than the one we have now.

(Yes, there are anti-capitalists within the movement who don’t want to see any companies make a profit. But the #occupy movement is broad – at the very least they are all united in being anti-corporatist)

It’s their right-wing critics who, under the guise of defending capitalism, are shilling for big business and vested interests. They are the true anti-capitalists.