Free market capitalism has made its midwife finance capital — a strange but powerful beast that has grown too big to be regulated by national governments (“Finance and façade”, Feb.14). The strength of finance capital is its operational invisibility and inscrutability. Billions of dollars flow through computers via Internet cables on a daily basis. Finance capital will flee a market at the slightest hint of regulation. Its patrons and beneficiaries wield enormous power in the world of international finance. Governments take care not to offend the high priests of finance capital for fear of losing investments. Capitalism is supposed to be efficient in the allocation of resources, but finance capital cares more about super profits and handsome bonuses than it respects economic efficiency. With money flowing freely across national borders, the predatory behaviour of finance capital can only be regulated through greater international cooperation.
V.N. Mukundarajan,
Thiruvananthapuram
