Marx’s Reproduction Schemes as an Unbalanced-Growth Model 1 Andrew Kliman Abstract Although Marx’s reproduction schemes are commonly con- strued as balanced-growth models, this paper argues that they can be understood as depicting a process of unbalanced growth. When the schemes of simple and expanded reproduc- tion are compared, they imply that the transition from simple to expanded reproduction requires production of means of production to grow faster than production of consumer goods. On this interpretation, the reproduction schemes emerge as an early and accurate analysis of the “take-off” pro- cess. The paper defends this interpretation exegetically, and argues that it eliminates an apparent incompatibility, between the schemes and the non-equilibrium character of the bulk of Capital, that arises when the schemes are construed as balanced-growth models. The Question of Internal Inconsistency Drawing heavily on the works of equilibrium theorists such as Dmitriev, Bortkiewicz, Leontief, and Sraffa, mainstream “Marxian economics” has interpreted Marx as an equilibrium theorist. More recently, however, research in an alternative, non-equilibrium inter- 1 Department of Economics, Pace University, 861 Bedford Road, Pleasantville, NY 10570, USA. e-mail:
[email protected]. 33 34 KLIMAN /MARX ’S REPRODUCTION SCHEMES AS AN UNBALANCED -GROWTH MODEL pretation of Marx’s value theory, the temporal single-system interpre- tation (TSSI), has identified fatal flaws in the equilibrium interpreta- tions (see, e.g., Freeman and Carchedi 1996, Kliman 2007). The most telling flaw is that the equilibrium interpretations fail to make Marx’s value theory make sense. They give rise to many unsolvable “internal inconsistencies,” and therefore imply that Marx’s theory of the origin of profit, his law of the tendential fall in the rate of profit, and other crucial aspects of Capital must be rejected or corrected .