Capitalism; Imperialism; Saving and investment; Socialism
'The diagram quoted', he says, 'was to prove conclusively a postulate
which, though simple enough, might easily give rise to objections,
unless the process be adequately understood--the postulate, namely, that
capitalist production creates a market for itself. So long as it is
possible to expand social production, if the productive forces are
adequate for this purpose, the proportionate division of social
production must also bring about a corresponding expansion of the demand
inasmuch as under such conditions all newly produced goods represent a
newly created purchasing power for the acquisition of other goods.
Comparing simple reproduction of the social capital with its
reproduction on a rising scale, we arrive at the most important
conclusion that in capitalist economy the demand for commodities is in a
sense independent of the total volume of social consumption. Absurd as
it may seem to "common-sense", it is yet possible that the volume of
social consumption as a whole goes down while at the same time the
aggregate social demand for commodities grows.'[317]
And again further on: 'Arising from the abstract analysis of the
reproductive process of social capital we have formed the conclusion
that nothing will be left over of the social product in view of the
proportionate division of the social capital.'[318]
Accordingly Tugan Baranovski subjects Marx's theory of crises to a
revision which he claims to have developed from Sismondi's
'over-consumption'. 'Marx is in substantial agreement with the general
view that the poverty of the workers, i.e. of the great majority of the
population, makes it impossible to realise the products of an ever
expanding capitalist production, since it causes a decline in demand.
This opinion is definitely mistaken. We have seen that capitalist
production creates its own market--consumption being only one of the
moments of capitalist production. In a planned social production if the
leaders of production were equipped with all _information_ about the
demand and with the _power_ to transfer labour and capital freely from
one branch of production to another, then, however low the level of
social consumption, the supply of commodities would not exceed the
demand.'[319]
The only circumstance which periodically causes the market to be flooded
is a lack of proportion in the enlargement of production. On this
assumption, therefore, Tugan Baranovski describes the course of
capitalist accumulation as follows: 'What would the workers ... produce
if production were organised on proportionate lines? Obviously their own
means of subsistence and production. With what object? To expand
production in the second year. The production of what products? Again of
means of production and subsistence for the workers--and so on _ad
infinitum_.'[320]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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