AN OVERALL REVIEW OF THE STATE OF JAPAN'S ECONOMY, AND THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS SINCE THE END OF WORLD WAR II, IS PRESENTED IN THIS ESSAY. LIMITED STATISTICAL INFORMATION IS GIVEN ON FOREIGN TRADE, RURAL-URBAN POPULATION, EMPLOYMENT TRENDS. THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY OF JAPAN IS SEEN AS AN EXAMPLE OF THE PROCESS OF CAPITAL ACCUMULATION. AUTHOR RECOMMENDS A SHIFT OF RESOURCES TOWARD PRIVATE CONSUMPTION GOODS.
COMPATIBILITY OF CAPITALISM AND DEMOCRACY ARE CONSIDERED, BOTH THEORETICALLY AND IN TERMS OF THE FUTURE OF LARGE INDUSTRIALIZED WESTERN DEMOCRACIES. THE CONTRADICTION BETWEEN THE 2 SYSTEMS, AS ARTICULATED BY MARX, IS DESCRIBED, AND THE AUTHOR SUGGESTS THAT THE PERIOD OF ECONOMIC EXPANSION HAVING ENDED AND CONTINUING CRISES BEING THE NEW REALITY, PROSPECTS FOR CAPITALIST-DEMOCRATIC COHESION ARE BAD.
THIS ARTICLE ARGUES FIVE PROPOSITIONS: 1) THE U.S. EMPIRE ACHIEVED DOMINANCE IN THE LATE 1940S AND EARLY 1950S, 2) SYMPTOMS OF DECLINE BEGAN TO APPEAR IN THE EARLY 1960S, 3) DECLINE CONTINUED IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 1970S, 4) THE REAGAN ERA ENDED IN FURTHER DECLINE, AND, 5) THE 1990S WILL WITNESS THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE WORLDWIDE U.S. EMPIRE AND ITS POSSIBLE REPLACEMENT BY A SYSTEM OF COMPETING TRADE-AND-CURRENCY BLOCS, COMMENT IS MADE ON EACH OF THE SUB-PERIODS, BUT NO ATTEMPT AT A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS.
IN LIGHT OF INCREASED INFLUENCE OF MARXISM IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, THE AUTHOR EXAMINES WHY THAT INFLUENCE HAS BEEN LEAST IN ECONOMICS. THOUGH KEYNES MADE AN ATTEMPT TO COME TO TERMS WITH MARXISM, HIS FOLLOWERS RETREATED, AND CRITICAL THOUGHT IN THE FIELD OF ECONOMICS BECAME MORE AND MORE EXCLUSIVELY THE REALM OF THE MARXIST OPPOSITION. ROBERT HEILBRONER IS DESCRIBED AS AN ECONOMIST WHOSE VIEWS EXIST WITHIN THE MARXIST UNIVERSE AND THIS PAPER EXAMINES HEILBRONER'S OVERALL VISION OF CAPITALISM.
Karl Marx believed that socialism would follow capitalism, ie, the exploited would replace the exploiters as the ruling class. In practice, however, socialism has given rise to a new ruling class. It is argued that this does not amount to a restoration of capitalism because the domination of capital accumulation by many competing capitals has been eliminated. Charles Bettelheim's attempt (Les Luttes de classes en URSS [Class Struggles in the USSR], 4 vols, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1983) to show that Soviet-type societies are driven by a similar competitive struggle between competing state enterprises is refuted. Capital accumulation does not hold the same place in centrally planned economies as it does in capitalism, hence, Marx's "laws of motion" of capitalism no longer hold. Actually, these societies have had to face overwhelming pressure from the surrounding capitalist world (economic, political, & military) & have been constrained to adopt certain types of development policies. Relief from these pressures would permit a fair test of the potential of these societies; however, such relief is unlikely to occur. Modified AA
IN THIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE ONGOING DEBATE BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND PAUL SWEEZY, BETTELHEIM EXAMINES THE CAPITALISTIC ASPECTS OF THE SOVIET ECONOMIC SYSTEM, ARGUES THAT THE ECONOMIC CRISES OF THE COUNTRY RESULT FROM A STRUCTURAL CRISIS IN THE PARTY LEADERSHIP AND POLICY, EXPLORES THE ROLE OF ECONOMIC COMPETITION WITHIN THE SOVIET SYSTEM, AND SEES SOVIET EXPANSIONIST POLICY AS A POTENTIAL ROUTE TO STAGNATION. SWEEZY GIVES A REPLY.
THIS ARTICLE IS THE INTRODUCTION TO A BOOK BY THE AUTHORS, STAGNATION AND THE FINANCIAL EXPLOSION, AND GIVES A HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STAGNATION AND ITS OCCURRENCE BOTH IN THE UNITED STATES AND INTERNATIONALLY.
IN THIS ARTICLE, THE AUTHOR APPLIES A THEORETICAL/HISTORICAL ANALYSIS TO THE PERFORMANCE OF CAPITALISM OVER THE LAST DECADE. THE AUTHOR CONCLUDES THAT CAPITALISM HAS AN INNER LOGIC, BUT THIS LOGIC WORKS OUT TO DIFFERENT CONSEQUENCES DEPENDING ON CHANGING HISTORICAL ENVIRONMENT.
