The Intellectual Situation On Your Marx Neoliberalism on the rocks
The orthodox story blames declining profitability (and price inflation) during the ?70s on the excessive demands of labor?a plausible enough explanation until you consider that the worldwide defeat of labor since the ?80s has failed to restore prior levels of growth. The high wages of the early ?70s are long gone ^^^^^ CB: "High" wages is the capitalists's version. Our version is that wages weren't high enough. Underconsumption is the cause of crisis. ^^^^^^^ Meanwhile production is guided by the search for low wages. The export-led growth of first Germany and Japan, then the ?Asian Tigers,? then China with its endless reserve army of labor has flooded the world with cheapening goods; and between 1985 and 1995 the US itself staged a manufacturing revival through the exporter?s proven formula of cowed labor and an undervalued currency. But this is supply: what about demand? The fundamental problem with workers (to whom as much money as possible should be denied if commodities are to be affordable) is that they are also consumers (to whom as much money as possible should be supplied if they are to buy commodities). Marxists aren?t kidding when they talk about the contradictions of capitalism. In the end, as Marx wrote, ?the ultimate reason for all real crises always remains the poverty and restricted consumption of the masses.? ^^^^ CB: Wow , Vol. III, the Marx as underconsumptionist quote. Take that Brennerites. ^^^ The result of declining or stagnant real wages since the ?80s has been global industrial overcapacity: too much plant turning out too much stuff for not enough buyers. ^^^^^ It would add a nice dialectical twist to the future history of our period if it could be said that, around the time the post-Maoist Chinese took up shopping, the post-bubble Americans turned to studying Marx. ^^^^ CB: Bye-bye Miss American Pie, and Lenin was reading Marx , the Day the Music Died, _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
