The level of profitability of current capitalism is not comparable to that of the Golden Age, despite the numerous attempts that have been made to achieve it. When the results of fordism and Keynesian policies were declining, the proposals of the neoliberals were the “liberalizations” of the markets to recover profitability, the “privatization” of goods and public enterprises, the new regulatory regulation (the so-called deregulation). What worked on paper, like trickle-down economics or the flow effect, did not help to recover the level of profitability that capital needed, was a dose of doping. The Great Recession is an example of this, capitalism has entered a long-term downward cycle.

The speed achieved by globalisation over this time has been impressive. The process initiated in the sixteenth century has accelerated with technological innovations; in the last decades of the twentieth century, the dissemination of information and communication technologies, together with the help of non-renewable energy sources, is an example of this, cheap oil. Each era has had its own hegemonic country, with its growth and decrements. Today, it is clear that the hegemonic country EE.UU. He's losing his role, as the recently deceased Immanuel Wallerstein said. There does not seem to be any other hegemonic country in the coming years, we seem to be on the opposite trend.

Comparing the times, I am often led by the Great Recession of 1873-1896: the hegemonic country was the United Kingdom, but had great competitors, the United States and Germany. In this recession, states applied economic protectionism. The other historical period that has often been mentioned is the Great Descent of the 1930s: protectionist measures were also widespread. Behind these two periods was the First and Second World War; and in the second, including the former Great Depression, directly influenced the decisions taken after the first, as Keynes recognized in his work Economic Effects of Peace.

However, relations between the current economies are very close: what was once produced in our territory is now done elsewhere in the world; often a small part of the production chain is rooted in a particular territory, while the productive process is scattered throughout the world. From an economic point of view, it is difficult to measure the return of trade wars and protectionism. What is being discussed is the current model of globalization, and the elites losing this struggle turn their attention to the most important elements of it. Uncertainty is the main characteristic of the economic context.

The unstable situation of the international economy, including conflicts, the downward trend in the profitability of capitalism, a new economic crisis and the climate emergency are above us. The elites of the world are rethinking globalization for their own benefit, not the workers, of course. How will these changes affect the economic fabric of our territory? Hard to measure, but to start with, it won't be good. The administrations have not learned much, the Great Setbacks will surely catch them unprepared.

But I don't want to look dark. In globalization, economic sovereignty was dissolved as a stick, if it ever existed; while the latter is in question, obstacles can appear to build other avenues. That's the good side of uncertainty, the possibility of cracks appearing.