From: Rakesh Bhandari (rakeshb@STANFORD.EDU)
Date: Sun Dec 14 2003 - 10:51:15 EST
reasons for recovery in US profitability after 1982. 1. what role did mergers and acquisitions play in it? has this question ever been asked? Paul Mattick: "And because the centralizaton process can raise the rate of profit even in the absence of capital concentration, simply by the reorganization and different utilization of the existing capital, a relative stagnation of capital does not at once express itself in lower profits. On the other hand, the hastened concentraton and centralizaton of capital can also be seen as measures foruced upon capital to maintain its profitability. Insofar as these measures compensate for lack of sufficient new investments, they hold down the rising organic composition of capital, thus bolstering the rate of profit at the expense of accumulation. But while the rate of profit may be maintained, general economic economic activity stagnates, for it cannot advance without the production of additional capital. Sooner or later, the stagnation leads to a crisis, which can be overcome through the resumption of the accumulaton process" Marxism: last refuge of the bourgeoisie? See http://www.monthlyreview.org/0501duboff.htm, though this very rich analysis focuses on the impact on democracy from m & a activity, not the effect on profitability 2. international dimension--Brenner's currency devaluation, more unequal terms of trade for primary commodity producers. The inflow of capital has also allowed US firms to renovate cheaply. And foreign outsourcing has allowed a very substantial increase in shiftwork 3. closing down of entire branches of production in which value added may have been relatively low (James Galbraith's C sector), though this drove workers from mfg jobs into working poverty in the so called service sector. 4. of course a rise in the rate of increase in the rate of exploitation. Rakesh
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