In his essay, "The self-regulating market..." Polanyi argues that a "vital part of the economic system" lies in the presence of "labor, land, and money" markets (24). While "none of them is produced for sale," it is crucial that these 'commodities' can be 'bought and sold' in order to acheive a self-regulating system. What happens when one of these markets is no longer available as part of a country's larger economy? Martorell suggests that a disturbance in a single market, such as that of land, can lead to the demise of an entire economy as he examines the "failure of capitalism" in Zimbabwe.
When Mugabe first came into power in 1980, 70% of agricultural land was still owned by affluent (and for the most part white) capitalist farmers, while the majority of the nations population lived on the brink of starvation. Mugabe did nothing to resolve the land problem, however, until about twenty years later. Faced with much resistance from the capitalist farmers, Zimbabwe finally saw the beginning of land redistribution, a thoroughly socialist phenomenon. Martorell seems to suggest that upon replacing this capitalist market with a socialist ideal, Zimbabwe merely contributed to the collapse of their economic system. Perhaps Polanyi is correct in deeming markets for land, labor, and money crucial to the survival of a capitalist economy.