Re: [Marxism] Meanwhile..."Sharp Drop in Jobs Adds to Grim Picture of U.S. Economy" (NYT)

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

>The point of this escapes me. Recessions are not news nor are they,
>really, of much political importance. They have been a standard feature
>of capitalism since 1825 -- and in fact are mecessary for the health of
>the capitalist system. If one doesn't come now, it will come next year
>or the year after. And after the recovery in another 5 to 7 years
>another one will come.
>
>Their main political effect is that they individualize the work force as
>everyone scrambles for personal survival, thus having a dampening effect
>on mass movements.
>
>Carrol

I think that the current economic crisis is more than just the 
working out of the business cycle. In the introduction to Marxism 
class, we have been looking at these sorts of questions from the 
perspective of "crisis" theory, which may or may not have been of 
interest to Karl Marx. Some Marxists, to use the term in its most 
liberal connotations, argue that Marx anticipated the workings out of 
the business cycle in V. 2 of Capital around the "expanded 
reproduction" process. Others interpret the section on the falling 
rate of profit as support for the idea that Marx did believe in the 
tendency for capitalism to suffer deep crises.

I think that the spasms of the American economy for the past 10 years 
reflect a deep-rooted problem with the capacity of the system to 
generate profits. The dot.com bust and now the real estate bust seem 
to indicate that economic expansion has a very speculative nature. 
What happens to a society when the engines of economic growth begin 
to stall? That poses political questions.



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