Capital as a Social Process: A Marxian Perspective

Miguel Ramirez

No 1705, Working Papers from Trinity College, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper analyzes the very important notion of capital from a Marxian perspective as opposed to a neoclassical one. It is argued that when capital is viewed as a historically determined social process (relation), rather than as a thing or a collection of things, it tends to assume certain specific forms more often than others depending on the particular stage of economic history. Capital thus refers simultaneously to social relations and to things. Given this frame of reference, notions such as money and property capital are more easily accommodated and consequently are not written off as financial or fictitious capital—not real capital—because they “produce nothing.” The paper also focuses on Marx’s important analysis of the time of production and the turnover of capital in terms of the production of surplus-value (profit). It then examines Marx’s equally important and prescient analysis of how the turnover speed of capital is affected by the time of circulation of commodities (the realization of surplus-value) and the growing use of credit (in its various forms) in the capitalist system. Finally, the paper turns its attention to the economic role of time as it relates to interest-bearing (loan) capital and Adam Smith’s important distinction between productive and unproductive labor—one whose clear comprehension rests on viewing capital as a social construct.

Keywords: Capital; commodity capital; credit; crises; exchange-value; interest-bearing capital; money capital; productive capital; productive and unproductive labor; time of production and circulation; turnover speed of capital; rate of surplus-value (profit). (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B10 B14 B24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2017-10, Revised 2017-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cta, nep-his, nep-hme, nep-hpe and nep-pke
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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http://www3.trincoll.edu/repec/WorkingPapers2017/WP17-05.pdf First version, 2017 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Capital as a social process: A Marxian perspective (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tri:wpaper:1705

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