Capitalismo e mercato. Il default.

This article focuses on the causes and the origin of the economic and financial crises started in 2007-2008 as well as the policies to be implemented to restore growth. First, the article takes into account the scenario of globalization, and the new international division of labour brought about by this process. Second, attention is paid to the opposition between the Washington Consensus, which came to the fore during the last thirty years, and the Keynesian Consensus. This preliminary analysis thus provide the reader with the tools for a comparison between the crisis of 1929-1933 and that of 2007-2008. The excesses of radical liberalism, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, and the fall in global demand appears to have been the main causes of the crises. Keynesians policies are to be adopted as they provide a credible way out of the crises.