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Marx's Crises Theory: Scarcity, Labor, and Finance

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Marx's Crises Theory: Scarcity, Labor, and Finance MARX'S CRISES THEORY Scarcity, Labor, and Finance MICHAEL PERELMAN NewaYork PRAEGER Westport, Connecticut London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Perelman, Michael. Marx's crises theory. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Marxian economics. 2. Depressions. 3. Scarcity. 4. Marx, Karl, 1818-1883. I. Title. HB97.5.P349 1987 330.12'2 87-6936 ISBN 0-275-92372-X (alk. paper) Copyright © 1987 by Michael Perelman All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 87-6936 ISBN: 0-275-92372-X First published in 1987 Praeger Publishers, One Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010 A division of Greenwood Press, Inc. Printed in the United States of America @" The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). P In order to keep this title in print and available to the academic community, this edition was produced using digital reprint technology in a relatively short print run. This would not have been attainable using traditional methods. Although the cover has been changed from its original appearance, the text remains the same and all materials and methods used still conform to the highest book-making standards. CONTENTS Introduction: The Need for a New Reading of Marx's Crises Theory 1 1 Political Economy and the Press: Karl Marx and Henry Carey at the New York Tribune 10 2 Marx, Malthus, and the Concept of Natural Resource Scarcity 27 3 In Search of a Method: The Nature and Evolution of the Categories of Political Economy 56 4 Value Theory and Marx's Method 109 5 Capital, Constant Capital, and the Social Division of Labor 129 6 Fictitious Capital and Crisis Theory 170 7 Conclusion 218 Reference List 221 Index 245 v INTRODUCTION: THE NEED FOR A NEW READING OF MARX'S CRISES THEORY The history of capitalism is a sequence of recurring crises that ap­ pear in various forms: crises in putting people to work, crises in obtain­ ing resources, and financial crises. Marx wrote extensively on these subjects. In the process, he developed a rich theory of finance and resource scarcity. Yet Marxists have not generally responded ade­ quately to contemporary crises, such as the oil shocks of the 1970s or the debt crises of the 1980s. This book represents a first step in bring­ ing together Marx's theories of finance and resource scarcity. THE CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE OF MARX'S CRISES THEORY So long as society continues to endure this recurring collapse of the economic process, Marx's writings on crises will retain their impor­ tance. Mainstream theory has paid especially dearly for its neglect of Marx's work. Even Keynes, who came closest to appreciating the im­ portance of Marx, failed to carry through with his initial intuitions. By failing to come to grips with Marx, conventional economists have left themselves ill-equipped to deal with economic crises. Marx's contribution to understanding our present condition is substantially different from those of the classical political economists and the traditional contemporary economists. Whether one credits his method, his insight, or just plain luck, Marx happened to have focused on some of the most strategic factors that shape contemporary society. In this book, I have chosen to concentrate on two of these elements of Marx's work: First, a financial structure that frequently operates as if it were independent of the labor; second, a resource base that is essential to the functioning of any society. Although some Marxists 1 2 Marx s Crises Theory have begun to take an interest in Marx's theories of finance, they re­ main in a distinct minority. Within the studies of Marx's theories of finance, his key concept of fictitious capital has generally been neglected or misinterpreted. Marx's theory of resource scarcity has been virtually ignored. Marx is partially responsible for the unfortunate tendency to overlook his categories of fictitious capital and scarcity. His own method of presentation has thrown his readers off the track. Conse­ quently, the usual reading of Marx's crisis theory stresses other no­ tions, such as the falling rate of profit or insufficient demand. Nonetheless, the fault does not lie entirely with Marx. His own con­ tributions remain as fresh as ever. The responsibility for the failure to develop a powerful analysis of contemporary crises lies elsewhere: an unfortunate number of Marx's modern followers foisted an excess of formalism onto his theory. This formalism has robbed Marxism of the richness that historically has allowed it to inspire a broad spectrum of perspectives, ranging from that of Lenin to the Frankfurt school's. In this sense, I compare Marx's writings with Michelangelo's won­ derfully evocative Slaves. In place of the uniform delicacy and detail of his David or of the Sistine Chapel, these huge unfinished statues ap- pear to be forcing their own way out of massive granite stones. Their very incompleteness is a major source of strength. They demand that the viewer actively collaborate with the artist in imagining the ex­ traordinary possibilities of the project. During any particular encounter with these masterpieces, many im­ portant dimensions escape notice, in part, because of the roughness of the work. We are apt to discover them only when our own circum­ stances prompt us to do so. Thus, far from growing obsolete, such works gain in stature as they prove their capacity to respond to divergent perspectives. Perhaps no effort on the part of Michelangelo could match our own expectation of what we suppose the artist to have been attempting. Marx left his work in a similar condition. It struggles mightily to break through all earthly bounds to Hegelian heights, yet it remains firmly rooted in the solid analytic boulders of the concrete state of society. Passionate disagreements abound among those who confront this work. Reader after reader throws aside the learned commentaries of the past, bringing a new vision, yet all the while drawing on the in­ exhaustible power of the original source. Even today, this bedrock pro­ vides a solid foundation for constructing a powerful analysis of capitalist society. In this spirit, I offer this book as a framework for interpreting Marx's theory of crises once again. Like Michelangelo's Slaves, Marx's Introduction 3 crises theory has many unfinished details. I will try to push them to the fore with the full knowledge that other alternative interpretations exist, and that still more will be discovered. Why did most previous readings of crisis theory fail to find what I did? One reason is that most readers have not recognized how much Marx's theories were conditioned by their historical context. True, all students of Marx's work know that he was an active participant in the political world of his day. They have read Marx's innumerable calls for a unification of theory and practice. Yet this knowledge generally has not affected the reading of certain key elements of Marx's crisis theory. Typically, most discussions of Marx's crises theory assume that he developed his categories in a purely abstract fashion, equally ap­ plicable to all instances of the capitalist mode of production. In some cases, this assumption is justified. The category of value stands as a case in point. In other instances, this assumption has led to a false reading of Marx. Reading Marx's theory in light of its historical context leads to sur­ prising results. For example, I will show that the concept of the organic composition of capital was not nearly as abstract as it has been interpreted by later readers. It was developed to respond to the specific political conditions of the time. In fact, this category served primarily as a vehicle for analyzing resource scarcity. I will substan­ tiate my claim in the body of the book. I will take a moment to discuss how such a finding could have eluded previous readers of Marx's works. The answer, as I mentioned before, is that I read Marx in the historical context, separating, as best I could, theoretical propositions from what was developed to influence Marx's immediate political circumstances. Keeping in mind that this reading of Marx does indeed allow for a significant reinterpretation of his theories, let me return to the seemingly superficial matter of the com­ plications associated with the combined influence of theory and prac­ tice in Marx's works. Misunderstandings about Marx's crisis theory are compounded by the timelessness of his work. On the one hand, some of Marx's writings are time-bound. On the other hand, the method by which he attempted to analyze capitalist development is as valuable today as it was in his own lifetime. In fact, it might be more powerful now because of the enormous efforts that have since been devoted to refining it. ON THE RELATION OF THEORY AND PRACTICE IN REREADING MARX In contrast to the continuing relevance of Marx's method, the 4 Marx's Crises Theory specific political disputes that involved him were bound up with his unique historical environment. Although many important problems that Marx had addressed have undiminished importance, the social and political contexts in which these problems were located have changed. Consequently, Marx's works are at once both timeless and dated. For example, to study what Marx said and did regarding the First International might throw light on contemporary questions, just as the study of amphibian biology might provide important medical benefits to human beings.
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