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

[Michael Perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well said.  The question then is do these contradictions reinforce each
other or do they cancel each other out?

On Sat, Jun 23, 2001 at 10:57:39PM -0500, Forstater, Mathew wrote:
> 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.
>

--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx