I don't disagree with you, except to the extent that I think that the real rate of profits has been declining since the late 1960s. It got a boost from the decline in regulation and in the power of labor, as well as from the opening up of new markets. None of these could be expected to continue to increase more.
Of course, I can muster no specific numbers to support my theory, although Fred's work in does seem to lend some credence to it. Right, Fred? On Fri, Jan 25, 2002 at 07:24:07PM -0500, Doug Henwood wrote: > Michael Perelman wrote: > > >Doesn't fraud also accompany a falling rate of profit? I have thought about > >this relationship quite a bit, but I have seen relatively little written about > >it. > > > >As profit rates fall, companies resort to more and more risky behavior to > >compensate for the fall into rate of profit. In the process, they resort to > >first flaky and then fraudulent behavior. > > In the US, the profit rate rose from the early 80s until around 1997. > Funny accounting also increased over the period - in bull markets, > people don't want to hear bad news, and they want profits to grow > rapidly forever. The bursting of a speculative bubble brings calls > for tighter accounting. > > Doug > -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
