The law of accumulation and breakdown of the capitalist system : being also a theory of crises

'Law of Accumulation, first published in German in 1929 , is one of the seminal works of Marxian political economy, both in its method and in substantive theory. Reissued in the original German in 1970 , Grossmann's work has also appeared in Japanese, but there has never (until now) been an English edition. This is an important volume ... it will be essential reading for anyone with an interest in the development of Marxian economic theory.' Science & Society Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Foreword Tony Kennedy -- Henryk Grossmann and the Theory of Capitalist Collapse Tony Kennedy -- Introduction by Henryk Grossmann -- 1 The Downfall of Capitalism in the Existing Literature -- The point at issue -- The conception of breakdown in the existing literature -- How Kautsky finally abandoned Marx's theory of accumulation and of breakdown -- Notes -- 2 The Law of Capitalist Breakdown -- Is there a theory of breakdown in Marx? -- Preliminary methodological remarks -- The equilibrium theory of the neo-harmonists -- The conditions and tasks of schematic analysis -- Why was classical economy alarmed by the fall in the rate of profit despite an expanding mass of profit? -- The views of classical economists on the future of capitalism (D Ricardo and J S Mill) -- The Marxist theory of accumulation and breakdown -- Marx's theory of breakdown is also a theory of crises -- An anti-critical interlude -- The logical and mathematical basis of the law of breakdown -- Why the Marxist theory of accumulation and breakdown was misunderstood -- The factors of the breakdown and the business cycle -- Crises and the theory of underconsumption -- The elasticity of accumulation -- The restricted development of productive forces under capitalism -- The Marxist theory of imperfect valorisation -- Notes -- 3 Modifying Countertendencies -- Introduction -- Part 1: Countertendencies Internal to the Mechanism of Capital -- Increases in the rate of profit through the expansion of productivity -- Reducing the costs of variable capital through increases in productivity -- Shortening the turnover time and its impact on the rate of surplus value -- The additional money capital required for an expanded scale of production -- The conflict between use value and exchange value "Henryk Grossmann's The Law of Accumulation is an important contribution to Marxist economic theory that until now has not been widely available in its English translation." "It was first published in 1929 in Leipzig and is an impressive theoretical elaboration of Marx's theory of the tendency to capitalist breakdown. Vindication of this theory was first provided by the Wall Street crash and the world depression of the 1930s, the most profound and wide-reaching crisis in the history of capitalism." "The return of global recession in the 1990s, the inability of the advanced capitalist nations to promote market forces in the post-Stalinist states, and the impoverishment of the Third World, provide further confirmation of the precariousness of the capitalist system today. It is these real developments that give Marx's revolutionary critique, and Grossmann's unsurpassed elaboration of it, such exceptional pertinence. Book jacket."--Jacket Henryk Grossman ; Translated And Abridged By Jairus Banaji ; Preface And Introduction By Tony Kennedy. Translation Of: Das Akkumulations- Zusammenbruchsgesetz Des Kapitalistischen Systems (zugleich Eine Krisentheorie)--cip T.p. Verso. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Henryk Grossmann's influential work provides the key to a fuller understanding of Marx's theory of crisis.