Duncan writes
I don't accept this conclusion. From a Marxian point of view the rate of
money interest is basically determined by bargains between
financial capitalists and industrial capitalists over the division of
surplus value. It seems to me that either in a gold standard system or in
a state credit system speculation plays a critical role in determining
money prices.
Paul
----
This is certainly a factor, but since a considerable part of debt
is state rather than commercial, bargains between financiers and the
state should be equally relevant. Marx, does not, admitedly, go into
much detail on this, since he is in vol 3 presenting interest as
a category internal to capitalist economic relations and thus
largely abstracting from the state. But I see nothing in his approach
which would prohibit one from taking state monetary policy into
account as a determinant of the rate of interest.
Paul Cockshott
wpc@cs.strath.ac.uk
http://www.cs.strath.ac.uk/CS/Biog/wpc/index.html