I have some questions about the analysis of Marxist economist Michael Roberts, and I would be interested in the thoughts of others. Roberts writes: "But the ensuing slump in world production, trade, investment and employment did not start with a financial or stock market crash, which then led to a collapse in investment, production and employment. It was the opposite. There was a collapse in production and trade, forced or imposed by pandemic lockdowns, which then led to a huge fall in incomes, spending and trade. So the slump kicked off with an ‘exogenous shock’, then the lockdowns led to a ‘supply shock’ and then a ‘demand shock’." I have trouble with this. At least here in the US, it seems to me that it did start exactly with a "demand shock", not a collapse in production. Due to Covid, "demand" in the hospitality, transport and service industries (restaurants, hotels, airlines) collapsed. That was the start of the economic decline, no? Roberts has some great material on the tendency for the rate of profit to decline, but he sees that as the one and only contradiction of capitalism. Anything that hints at the inability of workers to buy back all they can produce is simply Keynesian reformism to him. I think this is why he doesn't see the collapse in demand here as the immediate cause of the economic crisis. What do others think? Also, any suggestions for good analysis of the present economy? Roberts' article: https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2020/12/02/a-credit-crash-ahead/
-- *“Science and socialism go hand-in-hand.” *Felicity Dowling Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#4411): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/4411 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/78928153/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
