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)

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.

…..Week of Feb. 12. WINNIPEG. Multiple events being planned.

…..Feb. 29. TAMPERE, Finland.

…..March 1. HELSINKI, Finland.

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

…..weekend of March 17-18. NEW YORK CITY. Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza, Manhattan. Left Forum panel on book. Speakers: Brendan Cooney, Barry Finger, Alan Freeman, Anne Jaclard, and Mike West. Comments by Kliman.

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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Audio: Kliman on “The ‘Stagnant Pay’ Myth & Capitalist Production”

Geoffrey McDonald and Andrew Kliman gave presentations during the “Dimensions of the Crisis and Labor” panel that took place on May 8 at the Historical Materialism NYC conference. This audio recording includes their presentations as well as the stimulating and spirited discussion that followed.

Since only two papers were presented, the discussion period lasted more than an hour. The bulk of it concerned Kliman’s presentation. During his replies to questions and comments, he displayed a quotation, several graphs, and a table from his forthcoming book. The discussion period begins approximately fifty minutes after the start of the recording.

Click here to listen to the audio recording.

McDonald’s presentation was entitled “The Cry for Jobs: An Absurd and Brutal Affirmation of Labor’s Subordination to Capital.” Kliman’s presentation was entitled “The ‘Stagnant Pay’ Myth and the Persistent Frailty of Capitalist Production.” For video recordings of similar presentations by Kliman, click here or here.

Video: “The Great Recession & Its Aftermath” at the 2011 Left Forum

The Great Recession & Its Aftermath

Recorded March 19, 2011 at the Left Forum at Pace University in lower Manhattan. Featuring Alan Freeman on “Waking from the Dream: Europe in the Great Recession,” Andrew Kliman on ”The Great Recession and the Persistent Frailty of Capitalist Production,” David McNally on “Global Slump, Age of Austerity, and the Growing Resistance,” and Fred Moseley on “A Lost Decade for Jobs in the U.S., Unless…”

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