Appearance and Essence: Neoliberalism, Financialization, and the Underlying Crisis of Capitalist Production

By Andrew Kliman, author of Reclaiming Marx’s “Capital”: A refutation of the myth of inconsistency.

1. Introduction

Some prominent Marxist and radical economists (e.g., Duménil and Lévy 2004, Husson 2008, Moseley 2008) have argued that “neoliberal” policies and increased exploitation have led to a substantial recovery of profitability since the early 1980s. They therefore dismiss the idea that a persistent fall in profitability is an underlying cause of capitalism’s latest economic crisis. Instead, they typically regard the crisis as an irreducibly financial one–that is, a crisis caused by the “financialization” of capitalism and macroeconomic difficulties resulting from it, as well as by more immediate financial-sector phenomena. This paper will challenge that thesis. Read More

Video “Economics & Politics of the Current Crisis” @ the Left Forum

A video recording of a panel, “Economics & Politics of the Current Crisis: Causes and Prospects for the Future,” sponsored by MHI at the 2010 Left Forum at Pace University in NYC is now available. Read More

Reply to Michel Husson on the character of the latest economic crisis

By Andrew Kliman.

In late December, Michel Husson, a Marxist economist, published a critique of my study of U.S. corporations’ profitability. His critique, “Les Coûts Historiques d’Andrew Kliman,” appears on the website of the Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste. Read More