Re: [OPE] Marxist theory of crisis

Dave Z.: “The present crisis is fundamentally due to […] the dramatic rise of the unproductive financial sector and the rentier class which has been appropriating an ever greater share of the surplus product since the late-1970s.   Do you mean a problem of under consumption?   In the continuum *appropriation of a share of the surplus product*, what kind of distinctive consequences for the system do Marxists foresee if we are in one extreme or the other of this continuum?   For example, I. Wallerstein interprets that we are in the opposite side of this continuum.   Wallerstein: “What has made the system move so far from equilibrium? In very brief, it is because over 500 years the three basic costs of capitalist production -personnel, inputs, and taxation- have steadily risen as a percentage of possible sales price, such that today they make it impossible to obtain the large profits from quasi-monopolized production that have always been the basis of significant capital accumulation.”   Regards, A. Agafonow ________________________________ De: Dave Zachariah <davez@kth.se> Para: Outline on Political Economy mailing list <ope@lists.csuchico.edu> Enviado: domingo, 16 de noviembre, 2008 23:06:20 Asunto: Re: [OPE] Marxist theory of crisis on 2008-11-16 08:01 Paula wrote: > Do you think the present crisis is also fundamentally due to the long-run tendency of the rate of profit to fall? I have not studied the current conjuncture in depth. In the Marxist discourse there is a certain inflation in the word 'crisis' but clearly if the proportion of capital in danger of bankruptcy rises significantly it is appropriate to speak of a crisis of capital. I would not say that the present crisis is fundamentally due to some long-run depression of distribution of the profit rates. (Of course, one can stretch 'fundamentally' here.) Rather I think it is due to the dramatic rise of the unproductive financial sector and the rentier class which has been appropriating an ever greater share of the surplus product since the late-1970s. This in conjunction with the fundamental imbalance of the world economy the past 10 years or so; some countries running large trade surpluses and deficits building up debts, has turned out to be an unsustainable configuration. These are more ultimate factors than the proximate ones of Lehman Brothers et al. But I'm quite sure you know this better than me when I recall your article on imperialism. //Dave Z _______________________________________________ ope mailing list ope@lists.csuchico.edu https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/ope

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Received on Mon Nov 17 02:14:08 2008