Declining Profitability and the Evolution of the US Economy

Declining Profitability and the Evolution of the US Economy PDF Author: Ascension Mejorado
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000956334
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
The 1970s were a pivotal decade for the US economy: deindustrialization broke the power of the labor unions and made possible the redistribution of income in favor of corporate profits; globalization and offshore investments opened alternatives to domestic nonfinancial capital accumulation; domestic productivity growth declined; and labor-saving technology empowered superstar corporations to rapidly gain market share. This book argues that the persistent fall in profitability, leading to the stagflation crisis, was a direct result of the transition from the Fordist phase of capital accumulation, based on large-scale manufacturing, to the neoliberal phase and the rising power of finance. Neoliberalism restored the power of rentiers but not the profit rates of nonfinancial corporations. Falling accumulation rates weakened the growth capacity of nonfinancial corporate firms and secular stagnation became the norm. Neo-Keynesian economists, Larry Summers and Paul Krugman, explained the persistence of secular stagnation with arguments borrowed from Alvin Hansen in the 1930s, such as the declining birth rate or the falling relative prices of investment goods, hence a shortfall of demand. In the Classical paradigm, profitability drives capital accumulation and falling profitability slows down growth. As the accumulation rate declined and the capacity growth diminished, breakdowns in supply links, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, prevented large infusions of purchasing power to find matching levels of supply, hence the stagflation crisis returned. The book will be a great asset to researchers and scholars interested in the development of Classical Political Economy concerning issues related to inflation, stagnation, growing inequality, and the next phase of neoliberalism.

Declining Profitability and the Evolution of the US Economy

Declining Profitability and the Evolution of the US Economy PDF Author: Ascension Mejorado
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000956334
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 311

Get Book Here

Book Description
The 1970s were a pivotal decade for the US economy: deindustrialization broke the power of the labor unions and made possible the redistribution of income in favor of corporate profits; globalization and offshore investments opened alternatives to domestic nonfinancial capital accumulation; domestic productivity growth declined; and labor-saving technology empowered superstar corporations to rapidly gain market share. This book argues that the persistent fall in profitability, leading to the stagflation crisis, was a direct result of the transition from the Fordist phase of capital accumulation, based on large-scale manufacturing, to the neoliberal phase and the rising power of finance. Neoliberalism restored the power of rentiers but not the profit rates of nonfinancial corporations. Falling accumulation rates weakened the growth capacity of nonfinancial corporate firms and secular stagnation became the norm. Neo-Keynesian economists, Larry Summers and Paul Krugman, explained the persistence of secular stagnation with arguments borrowed from Alvin Hansen in the 1930s, such as the declining birth rate or the falling relative prices of investment goods, hence a shortfall of demand. In the Classical paradigm, profitability drives capital accumulation and falling profitability slows down growth. As the accumulation rate declined and the capacity growth diminished, breakdowns in supply links, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, prevented large infusions of purchasing power to find matching levels of supply, hence the stagflation crisis returned. The book will be a great asset to researchers and scholars interested in the development of Classical Political Economy concerning issues related to inflation, stagnation, growing inequality, and the next phase of neoliberalism.

Competing Schools of Economic Thought

Competing Schools of Economic Thought PDF Author: Lefteris Tsoulfidis
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031585801
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description


An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change

An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change PDF Author: Richard R. Nelson
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674041431
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
This book contains the most sustained and serious attack on mainstream, neoclassical economics in more than forty years. Nelson and Winter focus their critique on the basic question of how firms and industries change overtime. They marshal significant objections to the fundamental neoclassical assumptions of profit maximization and market equilibrium, which they find ineffective in the analysis of technological innovation and the dynamics of competition among firms. To replace these assumptions, they borrow from biology the concept of natural selection to construct a precise and detailed evolutionary theory of business behavior. They grant that films are motivated by profit and engage in search for ways of improving profits, but they do not consider them to be profit maximizing. Likewise, they emphasize the tendency for the more profitable firms to drive the less profitable ones out of business, but they do not focus their analysis on hypothetical states of industry equilibrium. The results of their new paradigm and analytical framework are impressive. Not only have they been able to develop more coherent and powerful models of competitive firm dynamics under conditions of growth and technological change, but their approach is compatible with findings in psychology and other social sciences. Finally, their work has important implications for welfare economics and for government policy toward industry.

Producing Prosperity

Producing Prosperity PDF Author: Gary P. Pisano
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
ISBN: 1422187543
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 186

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Book Description
Manufacturing’s central role in global innovation Companies compete on the decisions they make. For years—even decades—in response to intensifying global competition, companies decided to outsource their manufacturing operations in order to reduce costs. But we are now seeing the alarming long-term effect of those choices: in many cases, once manufacturing capabilities go away, so does much of the ability to innovate and compete. Manufacturing, it turns out, really matters in an innovation-driven economy. In Producing Prosperity, Harvard Business School professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih show the disastrous consequences of years of poor sourcing decisions and underinvestment in manufacturing capabilities. They reveal how today’s undervalued manufacturing operations often hold the seeds of tomorrow’s innovative new products, arguing that companies must reinvest in new product and process development in the US industrial sector. Only by reviving this “industrial commons” can the world’s largest economy build the expertise and manufacturing muscle to regain competitive advantage. America needs a manufacturing renaissance—for restoring itself, and for the global economy as a whole. This will require major changes. Pisano and Shih show how company-level choices are key to the sustained success of industries and economies, and they provide business leaders with a framework for understanding the links between manufacturing and innovation that will enable them to make better outsourcing decisions. They also detail how government must change its support of basic and applied scientific research, and promote collaboration between business and academia. For executives, policymakers, academics, and innovators alike, Producing Prosperity provides the clearest and most compelling account yet of how the American economy lost its competitive edge—and how to get it back.

Economic Security: Neglected Dimension of National Security ?

Economic Security: Neglected Dimension of National Security ? PDF Author: National Defense University (U S )
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
On August 24-25, 2010, the National Defense University held a conference titled “Economic Security: Neglected Dimension of National Security?” to explore the economic element of national power. This special collection of selected papers from the conference represents the view of several keynote speakers and participants in six panel discussions. It explores the complexity surrounding this subject and examines the major elements that, interacting as a system, define the economic component of national security.

Inequality and Institutions in 20th Century America

Inequality and Institutions in 20th Century America PDF Author: Frank Levy
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Income distribution
Languages : en
Pages : 53

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Book Description
We provide a comprehensive view of widening income inequality in the United States contrasting conditions since 1980 with those in earlier postwar years. We argue that the income distribution in each period was strongly shaped by a set of economic institutions. The early postwar years were dominated by unions, a negotiating framework set in the Treaty of Detroit, progressive taxes, and a high minimum wage -- all parts of a general government effort to broadly distribute the gains from growth. More recent years have been characterized by reversals in all these dimensions in an institutional pattern known as the Washington Consensus. Other explanations for income disparities including skill-biased technical change and international trade are seen as factors operating within this broader institutional story.

China's Economic Rise

China's Economic Rise PDF Author: Congressional Research Service
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781976466953
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
Prior to the initiation of economic reforms and trade liberalization 36 years ago, China maintained policies that kept the economy very poor, stagnant, centrally-controlled, vastly inefficient, and relatively isolated from the global economy. Since opening up to foreign trade and investment and implementing free market reforms in 1979, China has been among the world's fastest-growing economies, with real annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth averaging nearly 10% through 2016. In recent years, China has emerged as a major global economic power. It is now the world's largest economy (on a purchasing power parity basis), manufacturer, merchandise trader, and holder of foreign exchange reserves.The global economic crisis that began in 2008 greatly affected China's economy. China's exports, imports, and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows declined, GDP growth slowed, and millions of Chinese workers reportedly lost their jobs. The Chinese government responded by implementing a $586 billion economic stimulus package and loosening monetary policies to increase bank lending. Such policies enabled China to effectively weather the effects of the sharp global fall in demand for Chinese products, but may have contributed to overcapacity in several industries and increased debt by Chinese firms and local government. China's economy has slowed in recent years. Real GDP growth has slowed in each of the past six years, dropping from 10.6% in 2010 to 6.7% in 2016, and is projected to slow to 5.7% by 2022.The Chinese government has attempted to steer the economy to a "new normal" of slower, but more stable and sustainable, economic growth. Yet, concerns have deepened in recent years over the health of the Chinese economy. On August 11, 2015, the Chinese government announced that the daily reference rate of the renminbi (RMB) would become more "market-oriented." Over the next three days, the RMB depreciated against the dollar and led to charges that China's goal was to boost exports to help stimulate the economy (which some suspect is in worse shape than indicated by official Chinese economic statistics). Concerns over the state of the Chinese economy appear to have often contributed to volatility in global stock indexes in recent years.The ability of China to maintain a rapidly growing economy in the long run will likely depend largely on the ability of the Chinese government to implement comprehensive economic reforms that more quickly hasten China's transition to a free market economy; rebalance the Chinese economy by making consumer demand, rather than exporting and fixed investment, the main engine of economic growth; boost productivity and innovation; address growing income disparities; and enhance environmental protection. The Chinese government has acknowledged that its current economic growth model needs to be altered and has announced several initiatives to address various economic challenges. In November 2013, the Communist Party of China held the Third Plenum of its 18th Party Congress, which outlined a number of broad policy reforms to boost competition and economic efficiency. For example, the communique stated that the market would now play a "decisive" role in allocating resources in the economy. At the same time, however, the communique emphasized the continued important role of the state sector in China's economy. In addition, many foreign firms have complained that the business climate in China has worsened in recent years. Thus, it remains unclear how committed the Chinese government is to implementing new comprehensive economic reforms.China's economic rise has significant implications for the United States and hence is of major interest to Congress. This report provides background on China's economic rise; describes its current economic structure; identifies the challenges China faces to maintain economic growth; and discusses the challenges, opportunities, and implications of China's economic rise.

The Economics of Global Turbulence

The Economics of Global Turbulence PDF Author: Robert Brenner
Publisher: Verso
ISBN: 9781859847305
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
A commanding survey of the world economy from 1950 to the present, from the author of the acclaimed The Boom and the Bubble.

The Great Reversal

The Great Reversal PDF Author: Thomas Philippon
Publisher: Belknap Press
ISBN: 0674237544
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
A Financial Times Book of the Year A ProMarket Book of the Year “Superbly argued and important...Donald Trump is in so many ways a product of the defective capitalism described in The Great Reversal. What the U.S. needs, instead, is another Teddy Roosevelt and his energetic trust-busting. Is that still imaginable? All believers in the virtues of competitive capitalism must hope so.” —Martin Wolf, Financial Times “In one industry after another...a few companies have grown so large that they have the power to keep prices high and wages low. It’s great for those corporations—and bad for almost everyone else.” —David Leonhardt, New York Times “Argues that the United States has much to gain by reforming how domestic markets work but also much to regain—a vitality that has been lost since the Reagan years...His analysis points to one way of making America great again: restoring our free-market competitiveness.” —Arthur Herman, Wall Street Journal Why are cell-phone plans so much more expensive in the United States than in Europe? It seems a simple question, but the search for an answer took one of the world’s leading economists on an unexpected journey through some of the most hotly debated issues in his field. He reached a surprising conclusion: American markets, once a model for the world, are giving up on healthy competition. In the age of Silicon Valley start-ups and millennial millionaires, he hardly expected this. But the data from his cutting-edge research proved undeniable. In this compelling tale of economic detective work, we follow Thomas Philippon as he works out the facts and consequences of industry concentration, shows how lobbying and campaign contributions have defanged antitrust regulators, and considers what all this means. Philippon argues that many key problems of the American economy are due not to the flaws of capitalism or globalization but to the concentration of corporate power. By lobbying against competition, the biggest firms drive profits higher while depressing wages and limiting opportunities for investment, innovation, and growth. For the sake of ordinary Americans, he concludes, government needs to get back to what it once did best: keeping the playing field level for competition. It’s time to make American markets great—and free—again.

Deglobalization, Financial Inequality, and the Green Economy

Deglobalization, Financial Inequality, and the Green Economy PDF Author: Fikret Čaušević
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000987760
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
One of the most challenging issues for the current state of global economy is a highly uneven distribution of global financial assets and liabilities. Drawing on extensive data, this book analyses the new global divisions in economic and financial inequality across the globe in the first two decades of this century. After outlining the context of the global financial system in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008/2009, this book provides a detailed examination of the data on economic and financial inequality, analysing growth rates relative to financial liabilities and assets for all countries where data is available. The central issues in understanding the financial and environmental efficiency of economic growth are also addressed as well as the development of financial and regulatory technologies (FinTech and RegTech). The final part of this book explores the changes in economic growth and financial assets/liabilities as a result of major events in the past three years: Covid Crisis, the rise of inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The focal point of this analysis is the relationship between the speed of economic growth, the use of financial resources for funding that growth and levels of inequality. The green transition, as one of the most important challenges in the global economy, is an integral part of this analysis, along with the inequality in available financial resources for this transition and potential threats to global financial stability. This book will be vital reading for those interested in inequality, financial economics, the global financial system and economic growth.