Economic Crisis

Video: MHI Panels at Left Forum 2012 on Harvey’s and Kliman’s Books

Video: “The Failure of Capitalist Production” at Bluestockings

Andrew Kliman gave the first public talk in New York City on his new book, The Failure of Capitalist Production: Underlying Causes of the Great Recession, at Bluestockings Bookstore on Feb. 6, 2012. The activist bookstore was packed, and many in the audience engaged in the discussion. A video of the event is below.

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New Book: The Failure of Capitalist Production

The Failure of Capitalist Production: Underlying Causes of the Great Recession

by Andrew Kliman

Published by Pluto Press, November 2011

Paperback / 256pp. / ISBN-13: 978-0745332390

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“Clear, rigorous and combative. Kliman demonstrates that the current economic crisis is a consequence of the fundamental dynamic of capitalism, unlike the vast bulk of superficial contemporary commentary that passes for economic analysis.”
. – Rick Kuhn, Deutscher Prize winner, Reader in Politics at the Australian National University

“Among the myriad publications on the present day crisis, this work stands out as something unusual. Kliman cogently argues against the view that the crisis is ultimately rooted in financialization. He is an excellent theorist, and an equally excellent analyst of empirical data.”
, – Paresh Chattopadhyay, Université du Québec à Montréal

“One of the very best of the rapidly growing series of works seeking to explain our economic crisis. … The scholarship is exemplary and the writing is crystal clear. Highly recommended!”
. – Professor Bertell Ollman, New York University, author of Dance of the Dialectic

The Failure of Capitalist Production is essential reading for all Marxists and lefts interested in what caused the Great Recession.  It debunks the fads and fashionable arguments of neoliberalism, underconsumption and inequality with a battery of facts.  It restores Marx’s law of profitability to the centre of any explanation of capitalist crisis with compelling evidence and searching analysis.  It must be read.
. – Michael Roberts, Michael Roberts Blog (full review here)

The thesis presented in the book stands out in a number of ways from many contemporary radical interpretations (notably the financialised-underconsumptionist thesis advanced by the influential Monthly Review … and that of the Marxist political geographer David Harvey). … Kliman provides far more compelling empirical evidence that American corporations’ rate of profit did not recover in a sustained manner after the early 1980s. …  A crucial finding undermining the financialisation thesis is that Kliman demonstrates how American corporations have not, as is often claimed, invested a smaller share of their profit in production.

. – Socialist Voice (full review here)

“Kliman’s main argument is that the fall in the rate of profit is an indirect cause of the crisis. He argues that the economy failed to recover fully from the slumps of the 1970s and early 1980s and that this problem, and policymakers’ response to it, set the stage for the latest crisis. … This book is a major contribution to the debate on the recent economic crisis. It exposes the flaws of some of the most popular arguments on the left and reinstates the centrality of Marx’s law of profitability in explaining the crisis. This is done using plentiful empirical evidence and through a series of logical steps. Everyone who is interested in understanding the roots of the crisis must read it.”

–“After the Fall,” International Socialism, issue 134 (full review here)

More reviews and comments:

UPCOMING EVENTS ON THE BOOK:

…..Feb. 6, 2012. NEW YORK CITY. 7 PM. Bluestockings Books, 172 Allen St., Manhattan. (212) 777-6028.

…..Feb. 10. TORONTO. 1:30 PM. York University Dept. of Political Science; Verney Room, Ross Building South, 6th Floor.

…..Feb. 15. WINNIPEG. 2:30-4:00 PM. Global Political Economy program, University of Manitoba; Concourse Lounge, University College. (On Feb. 16, 7:30 PM, Kliman will also talk on “Reclaiming Marx’s Capital” at the Marx Reading Group. Aqua Books, 274 Garry Street, Winnipeg. (204) 943-7555.)

…..Feb. 22. NEW YORK CITY. 8-9:50 PM. New School, talk sponsored by Student Action Initiative (open to public). 80 5th Ave., room 529. Corner of 14th St., Manhattan.

Feb. 26. MOSCOW. 4 PM. Tsiolkovskiy Bookstore.

Feb. 27. MOSCOW. 6 PM. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Marx Seminar, Faculty of Politics.

…..Feb. 29. TAMPERE, Finland. 4:15 PM. University of Tampere, Linna Building, Väinö Linna Hall, Kalevantie 5, Tampere. Part 1 of  seminar on “Origins of the Current Crises: Consequences and Political Alternatives” with talks by Alex Demirovic and Andrew Kliman. Origins of the Current Crises.

…..March 1. HELSINKI, Finland. 3:15 PM. House of the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, Lecture Hall 505, Kirkkokatu 6, Helsinki. Part 2 of seminar on “Origins of the Current Crises: Consequences and Political Alternatives“ with talks by Alex Demirovic and Andrew Kliman. Consequences and Political Alternatives.

…..March 5. LONDON. 6:30 PM. Bookmarks Bookshop. 1 Bloomsbury Street, WC1B3QE. Introduction by Joseph Choonara, talk by Kliman, discussion, wine.

…..March 6. SALFORD / MANCHESTER, UK. 6 PM. Mary Seacole G21 (ground floor), Salford University, Manchester.

…..March 8. SHEFFIELD, UK. 7 PM. Sheffield University, Jessop West Exhibition Space (off Upper Hanover St.).

…..March 10. NEWCASTLE, UK. 5 PM. Blackbull Pub, Mulgrave Terrace, Gateshead, Newcastle.

…..Weekend of March 17-18. NEW YORK CITY – Left Fourm. Sunday March 18 at 3:00 PM. Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza, Manhattan. Panel on book. Speakers: Brendan Cooney, Barry Finger, Alan Freeman, Anne Jaclard, and Mike West.

Check this space again for additional events and additional details, or contact Marxist-Humanist Initiative.

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DESCRIPTION OF BOOK, AUDIO/VIDEO INTERVIEWS, AND SYNOPSIS FOLLOW.

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