Technology, Distribution and the Rate of Profit in the US Economy: Understanding the Current Crisis

Deepankar Basu () and Ramaa Vasudevan
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Deepankar Basu: University of Massachusetts Amherst

UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers from University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper offers a synoptic account of the state of the debate within Marxist scholars regarding the current structural crisis of capitalism, identifies two broad streams within the literature dealing, in turn, with aggregate demand and profitability problems, and proceeds to concentrate on an analysis of issues surrounding the profitability problem in two steps. First, evidence on profitability trends for the Nonfarm Nonfinancial Corporate Business, the Nonfinancial Corporate Business and the Corporate Business sectors in post-War U.S. are summarized. A broad range of profit rate measures are covered and data from both the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (NIPA and Fixed Asset Tables) and the Federal Reserve (Flow of Funds Account) are used. Second, the underlying drivers of profitability, in terms of technology and distribution, are investigated. The profitability analysis is used to offer some hypotheses about the current structural crisis. JEL Categories: B51, E11

Keywords: profitability; technological change; income distribution; structural crisis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme and nep-pke
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Journal Article: Technology, distribution and the rate of profit in the US economy: understanding the current crisis (2013)
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