Joanna wrote: > Sabri wrote: >> "but maybe we can explain this shift of capital >> from production to speculation using a more comprehensive >> theory, which does not exclude advanced robotics." > > From my reading of Marx, I seem to remember that the > shift from productive to speculative capital is cyclical > (along with the business cycle) and happens as industries > mature and profit margins start to shrink.
This was basically what I had in mind when I wrote the above. In that sense, there is nothing "new" under the sun, which does not contradict that we may be transitioning to something "new". Put differently, every "new" carries with it some features of the "old". As far as these cycles go, not only there is some stochasticity involved in the length of their period but also systemic structural changes lengthen or shorten the "deterministic" part (that is, the mean) of the period. I believe this is why most long-wave theorists are not sure whether we are still riding the contraction phase of the wave that started in 1968 (according to their theory) or we are out of it. The reason why I think the Republican coup of 2000 may be a historical turning point for the capital accumulation process (from speculation back to production) is that finance capital siphoned much of what could have been siphoned from the rest of the world through speculation. There is not much left to siphon that way anymore, at least, as I percieve. If you look at the composition of the Bush camp, most of them come from the military-industrial complex and there is little representation of finance capital, as in, O'Neill, not Rubin, at the reigns of the US Treasury. Anyway. Just some thoughts. Best, Sabri
