Crisis of Capitalism : Compendium of Applied Economics (Global Capitalism)

Introduction: economics between science and 'non-science' in the current -- Crisis of the capitalist system -- A critique of basic economic categories -- Economic theory from utopian socialism to marx -- The production process -- Categories and dynamics of the capitalist system and its crises -- The basics of national accounting -- A critique of national accounting -- A critique of economics as applied to the structure of management : the enterprise system and the public administration system -- A critical theory of the enterprise -- The enterprise and the microeconomics of socialism -- Socialist public administration -- A critique of economics as applied to economic systems : regulation and planning -- A critique of the theory of hegemonic liberalism and the paradigms -- Of financialization -- The objectives of the socialist economic model -- A critique of economics as applied to the world-system : open economy and -- Imperialism -- International trade and imperialism. Crisis of Capitalism 3 Copyright 4 Contents 5 Acknowledgements 13 Introduction: Economics between Science and ‘Non-Science’ in the Current Crisis of the Capitalist System 15 PART ONE TOWARDS A CRITIQUE OF BASIC ECONOMIC CATEGORIES 37 1 Economic Theory from Utopian Socialism to Marx 39 Before Marx 39 The Contributions of the Socialist School 41 3. The Mystifications of Political Economy according to Marx 42 2 The Production Process 45 Capitalist Production and the Marxian Theory of Value 45 Surplus Labour / Surplus Value 51 Social Classes 58 The Usefulness of the Marxian Analysis in the Current Context 60 PART TWO CATEGORIES AND DYNAMICS OF THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM AND ITS CRISIS 65 3 The Basics of National Accounting 67 Marxian Categories and their Statistical Translations 67 Limits of Conventional Neoclassical Economic Concepts 69 The Centrality of the Debate on Productive and Unproductive Labour 70 National Income Accounting 73 Economic Operators 74 GNP and GDP 75 Investment as a Central Category of the Capitalist System 77 Productive and Unproductive Investment 79 4 A Critique of National Accounting 81 Some Problems Posed by National Accounting 81 Marxism and the System of National Accounting 84 PART THREE A CRITIQUE OF ECONOMICS AS APPLIED TO THE STRUCTURE OF MANAGEMENT: THE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM AND THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM 87 5 A Critical Theory of the Enterprise 89 Business Models and the System of Development 89 Individual Aspects and Economic Determination of Self-Financing 95 Entrepreneurial Dynamics, Values and Valuations 95 Privatizing to Tackle the Depreciation of Capital 97 Enterprise Value 99 The Theory of Value Creation 100 The Evaluation of the Enterprise 101 6 The Enterprise and the Microeconomics of Socialism 103 The Basic Rules of Operation 103 The Double Character of the Process of Socialist Enterprise Governance 106 An Analysis of the Behaviour of the Socialist Enterprise 106 The Process of Public Management 107 The Impact of Changes on State Participation 108 7 Socialist Public Administration 109 The Evolution of the Conceptual Foundations of Public Administration 109 Reform Processes in Public Management for Socialist Construction 110 The Necessity of Establishing Monitoring Systems and Indicators 115 The Means and Mechanisms for the Relations between the State and Economic Policy 116 PART FOUR A CRITIQUE OF ECONOMICS AS APPLIED TO ECONOMIC SYSTEMS: REGULATION AND PLANNING 121 8 A Critique of the Theory of Hegemonic Liberalism and the Paradigms of Financialization 123 Which Liberalism? Which Market Economy? Which Globalization? 123 The Financialization of Economics 126 9 The Objectives of the Socialist Economic Model 129 The Transition to Socialism: Different Approaches 129 Changes in Socialist Economic Models 130 Special Features of Some Economic Planning Models 132 The Socialist Economy and the Capitalist Economy 132 The Model of Centralized and Decentralized Planning 138 The Reformed Model 139 The Flexible Dual Model 140 PART FIVE A CRITIQUE OF ECONOMICS AS APPLIED TO THE WORLD SYSTEM: OPEN ECONOMY AND IMPERIALISM 141 10 International Trade and Imperialism 143 Long Cycles and the Internationalization of Markets 143 The Role of International Trade 148 A Critique of the Theory of International Specialization through Trade 151 11 International Economic Relations from the Point of View of the Theory of Imperialism 153 Marx’s Approach 153 Formation of Financial Capital ‘Kf’ 154 Lenin’s Theory of Imperialism 155 The U.S. as an Imperialist Economy 159 Economic Imperialism 160 Strategies of Economic Imperialism 163 Productive Chains 163 International Zones 164 Patents 165 Not Only the US; the Europole in Global Competition 167 12 Imperialism and International Trade in Action 173 The North-South, but also the East-West Conflict 173 Unequal and Combined Development 176 Neoliberalism and Unequal Development, even in Mature Capitalist Countries 182 Imperialism and Financialization in the Current Systemic Crisis 183 The Productive Fall-Out of Global Competition 183 Systemic Crisis and the Use of Keynesian Variants 186 U.S. Military Imperialism and the Economy: the Military-Industrial Complex 190 The Role of the War Economy 190 The Transnational Factors of the Military Economy 194 PART SIX SCENARIOS FROM THE SYSTEMIC CRISIS AND THE VALIDITY OF MARX’S SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS FOR THE CRITIQUE OF APPLIED ECONOMICS 197 13 The Post-Fordist Paradigm and the New Industrial Revolution 199 On Class Power 199 How does the Industrial Revolution Continue? 201 The Information Revolution or Third Industrial Revolution 204 Fordist Enterprises and the Knowledge Economy 207 14 Socio-Productive Configuration of the Knowledge Economy 211 The Knowledge Economy in a Society that Manages Communications 211 Society and Immaterial Processes in Knowledge Economies: A Marxist Approach 215 The Value of Knowledge or Value Originated by Knowledge 219 15 The Dynamics and Implementation of Economic Policies in the Global Competition 223 The System of International Political-Economic Dominance 223 The Market of Global Financial Capital 227 Tools for ‘Economic Interdependence,’ i.e., Strategies to Enforce Dependency in Global Competition 228 Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) as Political Strategies of Neoliberal Globalization 237 Goals, Measures and Interventions through the SAP 237 Monetary Policy 239 Consequences of the Application of Neoliberal Policies 241 16 The New Composition of the World of Labour and the Construction of an Anti-capitalist Social Bloc 249 The Modern Proletariat in the New Capital-Labour Contradiction 249 Structural Unemployment and Precariousness as a Characteristic of the Post-Fordist System 253 Inside the Crisis of the System: Pulling Together the Threads of the Capital-Labour Conflict at the International Dimension 257 PART SEVEN CAPITAL AGAINST NATURE 263 17 How Capital Destroys Humanity 265 An ‘Unnatural’ Globalization of Capital 265 The Consumer Society and Quantitative Development 268 18 Market ‘Sustainable Development’ in the Dynamics of the Quantitative Development of Capital 273 What is Sustainable Development? How, Why and for Whom? 273 The Limits of a Growth Without Progress, Without Self-Determined Sustainable Development 275 19 Capital Destroys and then Measures 279 The Cursed GDP 279 The So-Called Alternative Indicators and Environmental Laws. But What “Green Perspective”? 281 Non-Alternative Macroeconomic Indicators 281 Statistical Indicators for Measuring Environmental Impact 283 Environmental Laws, Monitoring Tools for Management Analyses 286 20 ‘Clean’ Energies of Capitalism: Agro-Fuels and Planned Crimes Against Humanity 293 Producing Energy from Food: the Monstrosity of Growth 293 Examples of Leadership and Anti-Leadership 296 21 Brief Conclusions: The Struggles of Grassroots Movements and an Economic Socio-Ecological Political Theory for a Development Outside the Market 299 PART EIGHT CURRENT TRENDS: FROM QUANTITATIVE GROWTH TO THE STRUCTURAL AND SYSTEMIC CRISIS OF CAPITALIST PRODUCTION 303 22 Capitalist Accumulation and its Crises 305 The Concept of Crisis 305 Schools of Thought on the Theory of Crisis 306 The Counteroffensive of Capital 308 23 The Economies’ Cyclical Behavior After WWII 311 How Do Crises of Underconsumption and Overproduction Arise? 311 Cycles and Economic Crises 311 The International Character of the Capitalist Cycle during the 1970s and Early 1980s 315 The Role of Foreign Trade in the Transmission of the Cycles 316 Dependence on Raw Materials, Monetary-Financial Relationship and the Transmission of the Cycle 317 The Economic Cycle of the 1980s, Macroeconomic Policy and New Technological Paradigms 320 24 An Attempt to Overcome the Structural and Systemic Crisis: The Solution is a Radical Alternative 323 Some Considerations and Interpretations of Neoliberal Globalization 323 Globalization as an Objective Process 326 Globalization as a Subjective Phenomenon: The Political Project of Neoliberal Globalization turns into Global Competition 328 The Proof that Global Competition is the Current Stage of Imperialism 330 Aspects of the Current World Economic and Financial Scenario in the Face of the Globalization Myth: The Example of Pension Funds 336 The Relevance of Structural and Systemic Crises 338 The Radical Alternative Derives from Those Who Do Not and Cannot Pay for the Crisis 348 Bibliography 353 Index 383 Preliminary Material -- Introduction: Economics between Science and 'Non-Science' in the Current Crisis of the Capitalist System -- Towards a Critique of Basic Economic Categories Economic Theory from Utopian Socialism to Marx -- The Production Process -- Categories and Dynamics of The Capitalist System and ITS Crisis The Basics of National Accounting -- A Critique of National Accounting -- A Critique of Economics as Applied to The Structure of Management: The Enterprise System and The Public Administration System A Critical Theory of the Enterprise -- The Enterprise and the Microeconomics of Socialism -- Socialist Public Administration -- A Critique of Economics as Applied to Economic Systems: Regulation and Planning A Critique of the Theory of Hegemonic Liberalism and the Paradigms of Financialization -- The Objectives of the Socialist Economic Model -- A Critique of Economics as Applied to The World System: Open Economy and Imperialism International Trade and Imperialism -- International Economic Relations from the Point of View of the Theory of Imperialism -- Imperialism and International Trade in Action -- Scenarios from The Systemic Crisis and The Validity of Marx's Scientific Analysis for The Critique of Applied Economics The Post-Fordist Paradigm and the New Industrial Revolution -- Socio-Productive Configuration of the Knowledge Economy -- The Dynamics and Implementation of Economic Policies in the Global Competition -- The New Composition of the World of Labour and the Construction of an Anti-capitalist Social Bloc -- Capital Against Nature How Capital Destroys Humanity -- Market 'Sustainable Development' in the Dynamics of the Quantitative Development of Capital -- Capital Destroys and then Measures -- 'Clean' Energies of Capitalism: Agro-Fuels and Planned Crimes Against Humanity -- Brief Conclusions: -- Current Trends: From Quantitative Growth to The Structural and Systemic Crisis of Capitalist Production Capitalist Accumulation and its Crises -- The Economies' Cyclical Behavior After WWII -- An Attempt to Overcome the Structural and Systemic Crisis: The Solution is a Radical Alternative -- Bibliography -- Index This book is a compendium of a comprehensive treatise of applied economics published in Italian by Jaca Books in 2007. It includes a number of changes and updates, and a new section on the contradictory relation of capital to nature, intrinsic to the fundamental conflict between capital and labour. The context for the analysis provided of the dynamics of the capitalist development of the forces of production is the global economy, or capitalism as a world system.