Capitalism has reached a cul-de-sac: Prabhat Patnaik

Economist and Marxist thinker Prabhat Patnaik has said that capitalism today finds itself at a dead end, unable to move forward — a stagnation that has cast a shadow over the global economy.

Speaking after receiving the Prof. V. Aravindakshan Award-2025 from Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby at a function at the Kerala Sahitya Akademi hall here on Saturday, Prof. Patniak said the immense rise in income inequality in every country under the neoliberal regime had brought about a stagnation of the system.

According to him, the symptoms of stagnation had begun to appear soon after the emergence of neoliberal capitalism.

Prof. Patnaik identified two dangerous phenomena emerging from capitalism’s present deadlock. “The first is neo-fascism, which has already captured power in several countries. Fascism thrives on twin pillars: extreme repression on the one hand, and generating hatred against some hapless religious or ethnic group on the other. These regimes are marked by ruthless suppression, the erosion of democratic institutions, and the alienation of minorities,” he said.

The second is economic aggression exemplified by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff wars. “Trump’s policies follow the logic of making one’s neighbour a beggar. By exporting unemployment to other countries, the U.S. has deepened global instability,” Prof. Patnaik said.

He recalled revolutionary theorist Rosa Luxemburg’s warning that capitalism would one day reach a stage where it could no longer accumulate further capital — eventually collapsing under its own contradictions. “While that total collapse may not be imminent, the crisis of stagnation today certainly reminds us of Luxemburg’s prophecy,” he added.

Despite attempts to revive the faltering system, Prof. Patnaik argued that capitalism’s current state reflected its inherent immorality, violence, and militarism. “The horror unfolding in Gaza and the militaristic mobilisations across Europe are symptoms of a decaying global order,” he said.

Concluding his remarks, Prof. Patnaik warned that capitalism, in its desperation to survive, was dragging humanity to the edge of an abyss — “the threshold of a new hell it has built for itself.”

Mr. Baby, who inaugurated the event organised by the Prof. V. Aravindakshan Foundation, said through his recent studies, Prof. Patnaik laid bare the deep injustices and inhuman nature of the exploitative capitalist order, revealing just how absurd and unsustainable it had become.

T.V. Madhu, Professor , Calicut University, delivered the remembrance speech of Prof. Aravindakshan. Kavumbayi Balakrishnan, president of the foundation, presided over.