RE: Re: Re: Re: Re: RE: capitalism's expansion vs. limits

["Forstater, Mathew" <ForstaterM@xxxxxxxx>]

Constraints to Capitalist Expansion:

1) lack of aggregate demand - obviously, low demand means low sales. it
also probably means slow productivity growth, competitive weakness (for
firms, industries, sectors, nations), which feeds cumulatively back to
low demand

2) availability of credit. credit/liquidity crunch for banks and (other)
firms. credit, finance essential to growth

3) structural/technological - real capital formation necessary to meet
intersectoral requirements. lack of 'machine tools' (and in 21st c.,
microchips) can clog up the works. 2 above is about M-C-M', with 3 we
move to the schemes of reproduction (and expand it to 3 or more sectors,
e.g., 2 capital goods producing sectors, one producing capital goods
that make capital goods the other producing capital goods that make
consumption goods. But split the consumption goods sector into 2 or more
also, and see the additional problems of changes in the composition of
final demand (some become obsolete, market saturation, new goods are
introduced -- but some of these problems are linked to 1 above.
capitalism requires not only more but different.

4) biophysical limits. nonrenewable resources, but also using stock
renewables at a rate greater than their rate of renewal. and the local
and global assimilative capacities (ability of the environment to
transform waste into harmless forms -- qualitative and quantitative
limits here.

'reforms' necessary to deal with these limits are so severe it is hard
to see how it would still be 'capitalism' once we're done. on the other
hand, it's still here.  what about political? social?

some are arguing that we're already beyond capitalism in some
fundamental ways-- 'managerial' mode of production. elitist
credentialism and the annihilation of the surplus population.