The Great Recession in the US from the Perspective of the World Economy

Juan Pablo Mateo, null

doi:10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.7.2.0182

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World Review of Political Economy

Volume 7, Issue 2

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The Great Recession in the US from the Perspective of the World Economy

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Author(s): Juan Pablo Mateo

Publication date (Print): Summer 2016

Journal: World Review of Political Economy

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: profitability, accumulation, economic crisis, US economy, Marxist theory

Abstract

In this article, the economic crisis from the US perspective is analyzed, using a Marxist approach. As the so-called Great Recession constitutes a general crisis of the capitalist economy at world level, this article intends to provide an analytical framework to explain it from the profitability of capital point of view, while emphasizing the meaning of the real estate bubble and the placement of the US economy in the world system. In doing so, an additional objective of this article is to provide elements to reveal the limitations of the conceptions of the theory of the crisis based on income distribution, finance, neoliberalism, and generally any aspect outside the core of the process of capitalist valorization as the key explaining factor.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): worlrevipoliecon

Title: World Review of Political Economy

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 2042891X

ISSN (Electronic): 20428928

Publication date (Print): Summer 2016

Volume: 7

Issue: 2

Pages: 182-207

Article

Publisher ID: worlrevipoliecon.7.2.0182

DOI: 10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.7.2.0182

SO-VID: 7b5156ba-42ff-45c5-97d4-c62743629b5a

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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References

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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] AMECO. 2014. “European Commission, Economics and Financial Affairs.” AMECO. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/ameco/user/serie/SelectSerie.cfm.

[2] Arriola, J. 2011. La Globalización o la Razón del Más Fuerte [Globalization or reason from the stronger]. Oviedo, Spain: Asociación Paz y Solidaridad de Asturias.

[3] Astarita, R. 2008. “Crédito, Crisis Financiera y Ciclo Económico” [Credit, financial crisis and economic cycle]. Working paper, October. Accessed June 10, 2013. http://rolandoastarita.com/doc.html.

[4] Basu, D., and R. Vasudevan. 2013. “Technology, Distribution and the Rate of Profit in the US Economy: Understanding the Current Crisis.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 37 (1): 57–89.

[5] BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis). 2006. “A Guide to the National Income and Product Accounts of the United States.” September. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.bea.gov/national/pdf/nipaguid.pdf.

[6] BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis). 2012. “International Transactions.” US Department of Commerce. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.bea.gov/international/bp_web/tb_download_type_modern.cfm?list=1&RowID=2.

[7] BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis). 2014a. “Fixed Assets Tables (FAT).” US Department of Commerce. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.bea.gov/iTable/index_FA.cfm.

[8] BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis). 2014b. “National Income and Products Accounts (NIPA).” US Department of Commerce. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.bea.gov/iTable/index_nipa.cfm.

[9] BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics). 2014. “Major Sector Productivity and Costs.” US Department of Labor. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.bls.gov/lpc/#tables.

[10] Brenner, R. 2009. “What Is Good for Goldman Sachs Is Good for America: The Origins of the Current Crisis.” April 18. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/issr/cstch/papers/BrennerCrisisTodayOctober2009.pdf.

[11] Broda, C., and J. Romalis. 2008. “Inequality and Prices: Does China Benefit the Poor in America?” First draft, March 26. Accessed January 17, 2012. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTMACRO/Resources/June5&62008MGConferencePAPERBRODA.pdf.

[12] Carchedi, G. 2011. Behind the Crisis: Marx's Dialectics of Value and Knowledge . London: Brill.

[13] Carchedi, G., and M. Roberts. 2013. “The Long Roots of the Present Crisis: Keynesians, Austrians, and Marx's Law.” World Review of Political Economy 4 (1): 86–115.

[14] CEA (Council of Economic Advisers). 2010–14. Economic Report of the President . Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. Accessed June 6, 2015. https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/cea/economic-report-of-the-President/2013.

[15] De Angelis, M., and D. Harvie. 2008. “Globalization? No Question! Foreign Direct Investment and Labor Commanded.” Review of Radical Political Economics 40 (4): 429–44.

[16] FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency). 2014. “House Price Indexes.” Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.fhfa.gov/DataTools/Downloads/pages/house-price-index.aspx.

[17] Freeman, A. 2010. “Marxism without Marx: A Note towards a Critique.” Capital & Class 34 (1): 84–97.

[18] Freeman, A. 2012. “The Profit Rate in the Presence of Financial Markets: A Necessary Correction.” Journal of Australian Political Economy 70: 167–92.

[19] Freeman, R. 2004. “Doubling the Global Workforce: The Challenges of Integrating China, India, and the Former Soviet Block into the World Economy.” Conference on Doubling the Global Work Force, Institute of International Economics, Washington, DC, November 8. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/freeman1104.pdf.

[20] Guerrero, D. 2008. “La crisis actual: de la geopolítica a la dinámica del sistema capitalista.” El Revolucionario , September 22. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.elrevolucionario.org/rev.php?articulo881.

[21] Harman, C. 2008. “From the Credit Crunch to the Spectre of Global Crisis.” International Socialism 118. Accessed January 25, 2012. www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=421.

[22] Harvey, D. 2010. The Enigma of Capital and the Crises of Capitalism . London: Profile Books.

[23] ILO (International Labour Organization). 2008. “Global Wage Report 2008/09.” International Labour Organization, Geneva. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.ilo.org/global/publications/WCMS_100786/lang–en/index.htm.

[24] IMF (International Monetary Fund). 2007. “World Economic Outlook.” April, Washington, DC. Accessed June 6, 2015. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2007/01/.

[25] IMF (International Monetary Fund). 2014. “World Economic Outlook Databases.” October, Washington, DC. Accessed June 6, 2015. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/index.aspx.

[26] Jones, P. 2013. “The Falling Rate of Profit Explains Falling US Growth.” 12th Australian Society of Heterodox Economists Conference, November.

[27] Kalogerakos, T. 2013. “Financialization, the Great Recession, and the Rate of Profit: Profitability Trends in the US Corporate Business Sector, 1946–2011.” Master thesis, School of Economics and Management, Lund University. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile&recordOId=4648167&fileOId=4648170.

[28] Kliman, A. 2011. The Failure of Capitalist Production . London: Pluto Press.

[29] Marx, K. (1867) 1996. Capital , vol. I. Vol. 35 of Marx/Engles Collected Works . New York: International Publishers.

[30] Marx, K. (1894) 1998. Capital , vol. III. Vol. 37 of Marx/Engles Collected Works . New York: International Publishers.

[31] Mateo, J. P. 2013. “La Crisis Económica Mundial y la Acumulación de Capital, las Finanzas y la Distribución del Ingreso. Debates en la Economía Marxista.” Revista de Economía Crítica 15: 31–60.

[32] Mateo, J. P. Forthcoming. “The Long Depression in the Spanish Economy: Bubble, Profits and Debt.” In The World in Crisis , edited by G. Carchedi and M. Roberts. London: Haymarket.

[33] McNally, D. 2009. “From Financial Crisis to World Slump: Accumulation, Financialization, and the Global Slowdown.” Historical Materialism 17 (2): 35–83.

[34] McNally, D. 2011. Global Slump . Oakland: PM Press.

[35] Milberg, W. 2008. “Shifting Sources and Uses of Profits: Sustaining US Financialization with Global Value Chains.” Economy and Society 37 (3): 420–51.

[36] Mohun, S. 2009. “Aggregate Capital Productivity in the US Economy, 1964–2001.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 33 (5): 1023–46.

[37] Moseley, F. n.d. “Is the US Economy Headed for a Hard Landing?” Accessed April 16, 2013. http://www.mtholyoke.edu/∼fmoseley/.

[38] NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research). 2010. “US Business Cycle Expansions and Contractions.” Accessed January 20, 2012. http://www.nber.org/cycles.html.

[39] Norfield, T. 2012. “Derivatives and Capitalist Markets: The Speculative Heart of Capital.” Historical Materialism 20 (1): 103–32.

[40] OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). 2013. “OECD Economic Surveys: China 2013.” OECD Publishing. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/oecd-economic-surveys-china-2013_eco_surveys-chn-2013-en.

[41] Potts, N. 2010. “Surplus Capital: The Ultimate Cause of the Crisis?” Critique 38 (1): 35–49.

[42] Roberts, M. 2009. The Great Recession: Profit Cycles, Economic Crisis: A Marxist View . Lulu.com. Accessed October 15, 2011. http://www.archive.org/details/TheGreatRecession.ProfitCyclesEconomicCrisisAMarxistView.

[43] Roberts, M. 2013. “Cash Hoarding, Profitability and Debt.” December 4. Accessed December 6, 2013. http://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/cash-hoarding-profitability-and-debt/.

[44] Schwartz, H. 2009. Subprime Nation . Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

[45] Shaikh, A. 2016. Capitalism: Competition, Conflict, Crises . New York: Oxford University Press.

[46] Smith, J. 2010. Imperialism and the Globalisation of Production . PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.

[47] Smith, M., and J. Butovsky. 2012. “Profitability and the Roots of the Global Crisis: Marx's ‘Law of the Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall’ and the US Economy, 1950–2007.” Historical Materialism 20 (4): 39–74.

[48] S&P/Case-Shiller. 2013. “S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index.” Accessed June 16, 2015. http://www.spindices.com/indices/real-estate/sp-case-shiller-us-national-home-price-index.

[49] Tapia, J. A. 2013. “From the Oil Crisis to the Great Recession: Five Crises of the World Economy.” Paper presented at the 2014 ASSA-AEA Meeting, Philadelphia. Accessed June 6, 2015. http://drexel.edu/coas/faculty-research/faculty-directory/JoseTapia/.

[50] WTO (World Trade Organization). 2013. “Quarterly Data. Quarterly Merchandise Trade Value.” October. Accessed June 6, 2015. https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/short_term_stats_e.htm.

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