8/19/2019 Foster, J. B. (1990). Crises Lasting for Decades. Science and Society, 54(1), 73-81
1/10
S S Quarterly, Inc.
Guilford Press
Crises Lasting for DecadesAuthor(s): John Bellamy FosterSource: Science & Society, Vol. 54, No. 1 (Spring, 1990), pp. 73-81Published by: Guilford PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40403049 .
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8/19/2019 Foster, J. B. (1990). Crises Lasting for Decades. Science and Society, 54(1), 73-81
2/10
CRISES
LASTING
FOR DECADES
73
Science
cf
ociety,
ol.
54,
No.
1,
Spring
1990,
73-81
CRISES
LASTING
FOR
DECADES
Sometimes
theoretical
ebate
will
degenerate
ntoa tower f
babel
because
he
participants,
ithout
eing
ware f the
fact,
re
answering
not
he ame
question
utdifferent
uestions.
t s therefore
ssential o
be clearaboutwhat s beingasked.In the case of my essay n The
Imperiled
conomy
Foster,
987),
whichHowardSherman
riticizes
n
a
recent
rticle
nScience
f
ociety
Sherman, 989),
he
uestion
was
given
in the itle:
What
s
Stagnation?"
oreover,
tagnation
s
distinguished
from
he
business
ycle
n
a
sentence
hat
refers
o
the former
s
a
"trend-line"
fslow
growth
around
which
he
recurrent
luctuations
f
the
business
ycle
ccur"
Foster,
987,
9).
Similarly,
n
the ther
rticle
thatSherman
riticizes
long
with
my
own
"Power,
Accumulation,
and
Crisis"
y
Gordon,
Weisskopf
nd Bowles the uthors lso make
itclear
that
what
hey
re
trying
o address t that
oint
s "the
tagna-
tion f theUnited tates conomyver he ast wodecades . ." (GWB,
1987,
53).
Sherman,
owever,
reats hese
pecific
ontributionss if
hey
were
concerned
primarily
ith he
very
different
but
of
course
related)
subject
f
the business
ycle,
hrowing degree
of
confusionnto he
discussion
s a
result. Neither
a demand-side
nor a
supply-side
approach,
herman
ells
s,
onstitutes
fully
eveloped profit-squeeze
theory"
f the
ycle,
ince
o
be
squeezed omething
as to be
"squeezed
from wo
sides."
Both
"supply-side
arxists"
a
label that Sherman
applies
o
Gordon,Weisskopf
nd
Bowles),
nd
"demand-side
arxists"
(a
labelunderwhich e includes
aran,
weezy
nd
myself)
re said to
reduce
theMarxist
otion hat
rofits
re
crushed
etween wo
nexo-
rable
forces
n
each
expansion"
o
ust
"one
essential
spect
r
relation."
Neither
f
these
heories,
herman
oncludes,
eserves he
abel
profit
squeeze."
ndeed,
Foster,"
e
points
ut,
didnot
use
the
words
rofit
squeeze"
Sherman,
989,
65).
This label Sherman hen laims s his
own
fter
roposing
"two-horned"
general
rofitqueezetheory"
r
"nutcracker"
odel.
The best
way
o
understand hat
s
happening
ere, think,
s to
view heproblemn termsfSherman'swnprevious ork, articularly
in relation
o certain
ong-standing
ifferences
hathe
has
with
he
theory
ssociated
ith
aran nd
Sweezy
s
Monopolyapital
1966).
Sher-
manhas
always
een first
nd
foremost theoristf
the
business
ycle,
and
in
this
ontext,
s well s in
his studies f
monopoly
rofits,
as
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8/19/2019 Foster, J. B. (1990). Crises Lasting for Decades. Science and Society, 54(1), 73-81
3/10
74
SCIENCE tf
SOCIETY
made
major
ontributions.
evertheless,
he
imits f his
nalysis
an
be
seen
in
the
fact hathe
has
persistently
nd
categorically
enied
any
validity
o theories f ecular
risis.
[A]ll
heories
f
ong-run
rises,"
e
wrote t one
point,
are
ncorrect . ."
(Sherman,
984,
91).
Further-
more,
hermanhas
frequently
sed this tance
o
distinguish
imself
from
he
tradition
epresented
y
Baran nd
Sweezy.
his can be seen
most
learly
n
the
followinguote
from herman's
eview
f
Monopoly
Capital
or
he
Americanconomiceview:
[W]here arx rguedhat ompetitiveapitalismuffersyclesfboom nd
bust
but
aid"there
re no
permanent
rises
.
."),
Baran nd
Sweezy
ee
monopolyroducing
permanent
endency
owardlowed
rowth
nd
tagna-
tion.
Sherman,
966,
20.)
The distinction
rawn
between
Baran/Sweezy
nd Marx here is
misleading,
ince he
postulate
f a more r less
"permanent
endency
toward lowed
growth"
subject
o
various
ountervailing
nfluences)
under
monopoly
apitalism
annotbe
reasonablyuxtaposed
to the
cryptic
emarks
hatMarx
directedt Adam mith
n
a five-lineootnote
in TheoriesfSurplus alue, o which hermans alludinghere Marx,
1968,
497n).
Certainly,
aran
and
Sweezy
ould
never
be accused
of
arguing
hat here s a
permanent alling
ateof
profit,
hich s what
Marx eems o be
criticizing
mith
or
n
that
assage.
Moreover,
arx
himself
as soon to
develop falling
ate
of
profit
heory
f his own
pointing
o secular risis endencies.
inally,
t
is
significant
hatthe
possibility
f
stagnation
nder ate
apitalism
s
already
isible
n
Engels'
1884
preface
o thefirst erman dition f Marx's
overtyf
hilosophy.
Thus at the end
of
a discussion
f
sharp
fluctuations
n world
rade,
Engels
dds the
following
ootnote:
At
east,
his
was
he aseuntil
ecently.
ince
ngland's onopoly
f heworld
markets
being
more ndmore hattered
y
he
articipation
f
France,
er-
many,
nd,
bove
ll,
of
America
n world
rade,
new orm
f
equalization
[between
roduction
ndthe
market]
ppears
obe
operating.
he
period
f
general
rosperityreceding
he risis till ails o
appear.
f it should ail
altogether,
hen hronic
tagnation
ould
ecessarily
ecomehe ormalondi-
tion
f modern
ndustry,
ith
nly
nsignificant
luctuations.
Engels,
963,
20n.)
The largely cholasticssueofwhether r notMarxand Engels
actually
ecognized
he
possibility
f
ong-run
risis,
s,
however,
minor
matter.More
mportant
s the fact
hat
herman imself
uite clearly
has an aversion
o
any
erious onsideration
f the
problem
f
economic
stagnation,
r
any
ther
onceivable orm f ecular risis.
ut n
reject-
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8/19/2019 Foster, J. B. (1990). Crises Lasting for Decades. Science and Society, 54(1), 73-81
4/10
CRISES LASTING
FOR
DECADES
75
ing
thishe s
closing
is
eyes
o
the
ignificance
hat
he
arger
istorical
environment
as
for the concrete
unctioning
f
the
economy.
his
aspect
f
the
modern
tagnation
ilemma
s
best
grasped
n
terms f
the
following
tatement
y
Kalecki: Our
analysis
hows
. .
that
ong-run
development
s
not nherent
n
the
capitalist
conomy.
hus
specific
'development
actors're
required
o sustain
long-run pward
move-
ment"
Kalecki,
1965,
161).
In
contrast,
herman
omplains
bout
theories
hat
ttribute
each
recovery
o an
external hock
such
as
innovations
r
wars).
t
is far
more
mpressive
he
says]
o
present
theoryhat xplains owthecapitalistystemeads todepressions,ut
also
how
depressions
ventually
end
to
lead
to
recoveries"
Sherman,
1989,
67).
But s
t
really
ossible
o
argue
o
confidently
hat
evere conomic
downturns
lways
eventually
end o ead"
to full
ecoveries as
if
he
trend,
s well
as the
cycle,
were
governed
y
some
automaticmech-
anism?
n the
populargame
"Trivial ursuit"
if
memory
erves)
he
answer
iven
o the
question
when
id
theGreat
Depression
nd?" s
"1933."
This
s when he
recoveryegan
of
tself,"
s
Schumpeter
aid.
Nevertheless,
n 1937the
unemployment
atewas till
4%,
nd
n
1938
itwas19%.Eventuallyull ecoveryid comeofcourse.But t amenot
as
a result
f
the automatic
unctioning
f
either he
regular
usiness
cycle
r
a
mythicalong
ycle,
ut s a
consequence
f
the econdWorld
War herman's
rgument
ould
ppear
o
agree
with
he
stablishment
viewpoint
hat
the
problem
would
have
"eventually"
een
solved
through
he
utomatic
orkings
f
the
conomy
ithout
ny
help
from
the state
r
the
military.
n
contrast,
tagnation
heorists
ould
rgue
thatwhile
his
s
possible
he
fact emains
hat he SecondWorld
War
was
apitalism's
olution
othe
risis,
nd
this n tselfhould
uggest
hat
there
s much
more t
issue here than
imply
he
business
ycle.
It s ofcourse ifficultomake ense fthisn terms f onventional
economic
raining
ince
ne is conditionedo think
f
the
economy
s
"self-equilibrating"
ver
the
ong
run,
s
well
as
over the short un.
Indeed,
adherence
o such views
s often
een
as a litmus
est of
respectability
ithin he
profession.
till,
Marxist
olitical
conomists
should
ake
eriously
alecki's
uestion
boutthe ecular rend:
Why
cannot
capitalist
ystem,
nce thas deviated ownward rom he
path
of
expanded
reproduction,
ind tself
n
a
position
f
ong-termimple
reproduction?"
Kalecki,
984,
164).
Kalecki's wn nswer
was
hat
here
is
nothing
n the
nature
fthe
apitalistconomy
hat
revents
his rom
happening.
his
being
he ase tbecomes
ecessary
omove
way
rom
mechanical
conomic
models and examine conomic
history,
here
there
s
some
hope
of
finding
n answer.
One need
only
dd
that
he
question
would
carcely
e
asked,
ither
n
the 1930s r
over he
ast wo
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8/19/2019 Foster, J. B. (1990). Crises Lasting for Decades. Science and Society, 54(1), 73-81
5/10
76
SCIENCE
fcf OCIETY
decades,
f
stagnation
erenot
actually resent
nd
yet
unaccounted
for.
Once
t s
recognized
hat
herman
as
always
ad
a
strong
version
to theories
f
secular
risis,
ne s
n
a
position
o understand ore
ully
his own
approach.
n
Sherman's
umerous rticles
n economic
risis
Marx's
heory
f the
falling
ate
f
profit
ased
on
rising rganic
om-
position
s subsumed
under
the
category
f a
cyclical
heory
which
emphasizes
rising
material
osts."
n
like
fashion,
tagnation
heory
f
the
ype
dvanced
y
Baran,
weezy
nd
Magdoff,
hich as
nvestment
as its central oncern,getssubsumedunder the category f "un-
derconsumption
heory"
which s
said,
virtually y
definition,
o
ignore
he
problem
f nvestment.
rofit
queeze
heories
uch s
those
of
Gordon,
Weisskopf
nd
Bowles re
generally
reated
more
traight-
forwardly,
ince
this s
mainly
business
ycle
heory.
et,
even here
Sherman
haracteristically
ends
o
neglect
heir reatment
f
the
ong
cycle
which s how
they
ry
o
stretch
heir
heory
nto a
secular
analysis.
In
all
ofthis herman
s,
believe,
rying
obe fair.
or
lthough
e
does not
give
much redence
o
problems
f secular
risis
e wants
o
showthateach of theseapproacheshas somelimited alidity hen
placed
n
the
ontext f
thebusiness
ycle.
Moreover,
ince hebusiness
cycle
s
by
definition
ymmetrical,
hile
he
ong-run
rend
f
develop-
mentfollows
somewhat
more ndeterminate
attern,
herman,
with
his
eyes
on
the
former,
s inclined o
think f theoretical
ontributions
that were
designed
primarily
n
relation
o the latter
s one-sided.
Indeed,
he
valiantly
ries o
overcome
his ne-sidedness
y
means
of
thought
lone
byproposing
two-hornedilemmas"
n
which
ll
sides
f
the
problem
re
given qual
importance.
et,
to me this eems o
be a
clear ase of whatC.
Wright
Mills
1959)
called thedemocratic
heory
ofknowledge" a type f "liberal racticality"hat lwaystresses al-
ance,
equilibrium
nd
countervailing
nfluences,
hile
xcluding,
y
general
heoretical
iat,
ny
possibility
f
long-term
neven
develop-
ment.
n
any
ase,
for
heorists
ocusing
n
secular
rises f low
rowth,
Sherman's
modifications
n the
name
f thebusiness
ycle
nd balanced
thinking
emove rom he
problem
ll
of its
most
ritical
spects.
This is
particularly
he case where
the traditiondentified
ith
Baran and
Sweezy's
Monopoly
apital
s concerned. or thinkersf
this
kind he main heoretical
oncern s
the
historical
eterminantsf the
accumulation
orsavings-and-investment)rocess.Although
hishas ts
short-run,
yclical
spect,meaningful
istoricaliscussions
egarding
investment
which
nvolve
he
xpansion
f
capacity,
he
projected
se
of
that
apacity,xpectations,
nnovation,
herelative
evelopment
and
stages
of
development)
f
departments
and
II in the
Marxian
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8/19/2019 Foster, J. B. (1990). Crises Lasting for Decades. Science and Society, 54(1), 73-81
6/10
CRISES LASTING FOR
DECADES
77
reproduction
chemes,
tc. are
not
easily
dealt with n
terms f a
stylized,
echanicalmodel
f the
business
ycle.
Accumulation
s
there-
fore reated
redominantly
n
a
long-run
ontext.
his s not o
say
hat
cyclical
nfluences
re
unimportant,
ut
simply
hat
the
nature of
accumulation
ecessarily
rives
ne toward
longer
iew,
eared
o
the
trend ather han he
cycle.
Hence,
t s not
urprising
hatwhen
herman akes
theory
f this
sort nd tries
o subsume t withinn
analysis
hat akes
nly
he
cycle
seriously,
arefully
emovingny
ong-run
nfluences,
e arrives
t the con-
clusion hat tone-sidedlyeglectsnvestment.hushe writeshat J.B.
Foster,
ollowing
he
views
xpressed
ySweezy
nd Baran n
Monopoly
Capital,
ees
the
problem
s a
torrent f
supply
acing very
imited
consumer emand"
Sherman,
989,
4).
This
eems o
reduce
Monopoly
Capital,
n addition o
my
own derivative
ork,
o a
crude
version f
underconsumptionism.
fter
ll,
even the
most
imple
model
has to
encompass
oth
onsumption
nd
nvestment.
herman's
nterpretation
therefore
as to be held
up against
he
ctual act hat
he
bulk
f
what
theorists
ike
Baran,
Sweezy
nd
Magdoff
ave written
as
focused
squarely
n investment.
f
one
looks t
Monopolyapital
tself,
irtually
nothingt all ifone discountshediscussion fthe ales ffort)sreally
said
aboutthe
consumption
f the
working
lass,
ince he
focus f the
entire
ook s on the
bsorption
f
the
urplus,
nd
workers,
s is
well
known,
ave
no access
o
surplus
While
he
key
discussion f
capitalist
consumption
ccupies
hree
ages,
he
bulk
fthe est f
their
67-page
analysis
s
concerned
with
historicalonditions
overning
nvestment,
government
pending,
nd international
apitalistxpansion.
It is therefore
ifficulto understand ow
Baran and
Sweezy's
analysis
an be treated
y
ne criticfter nother
for
hermans
not he
firsto
do
so)
as
if t
one-sidedlytops
t
consumption.
ndeed,
by
ayingthat heproblem osed bytheMonopolyapital heoryis a torrent f
supply facing
very
imited onsumer emand"
Sherman
himself
equates
he
tarting
oint
fthis
heory
which
ays
he
urplus
astobe
absorbed
ycapital
ince hemass
of
consumers o not
have
access o
surplus
withtsmain
ocus,
ompletely
gnoring
hefact
hat he
hief
concern
f the
analysis
s what
governs
nvestment
tself.
The main
vidence hat herman
oints
o
n
attempting
o
prove
the existence
f such
a
simplisticnderconsumptionism,
owever,
s
drawn
rom
my
wn
ssay.
herman
uotes
rom
he
following
assage,
which will
now
requote
n
full, lacing
n
talics
hose
arts
hat e had
replaced
with
llipses:
[A]ny
ontinual
lowing
ackof
profits
nto
new
nvestment
ould
meanthat
the means
of
production
Department
in
the
Marxian
reproduction
chemes,
he
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http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
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7/10
78 SCIENCE o SOCIETY
demand
or
which omes ut
of
gross rofits),
ould
expand
very
much faster han
articles
of
consumption
or
Department
,
thedemand
or
which
omes
mainly
rom
wages).
his
s,
n
fact,
hebasic
pattern
f
every
ccumulation
oom.But
t s a
self-annihilating
rocess.
ooner
or
later
depending
n historical
onditions
e-
termining
he
degree
o
which he
nvestment
rocess
s
self-sustaining)
he means
of
production
re
built
p
to such
prodigious
xtent
hat
social
ispropor-
tionalityevelops
etween
he
apacity
o
produce
nd
the
orresponding
e-
mand.
A crisis
f overaccumulation
ooted
n
overexploitation
hen
ccurs.
(Foster,
987,
1.)
The followings theway n which hermanummarizes y rgu-
ment
n the above
quote:
In other
words,
orkers'
ay
does
not
xpand
s
rapidly
s
output
ecause
workersre
too
weak,
apitalists
re
too
trong,
ndthe
ate
f
xploitation
s
rising.
elatively
ess
ay
orworkers
eansess
onsumer
emand
han
vail-
able
goods.
Sherman,
989,
3.)
Now this
may
be what
herman
wants
me to
say,
but t
s notwhat
was
said,
o
the
in other
words" s
a non
equitur.
hat his
oes
s
give
the false mpressionhat hearguments concernedimplywith on-
sumption
nd
neglects
nvestment.
ndeed,
further
ownon
the same
page
he states
hat
domestic
emand
s
often
een
[by
demand-side
theorists"]
s
only
onsumer
emand,
with he
assumption
hat
nvest-
ment
s
merely
erivative
f
onsumption."
et,
nthe
foregoingassage
from
my ssay
which
herman
icked
ut
precisely
ith
he ntention
f
backing p
his
own
rgument)
refer o
aspects
f ccumulation
invest-
ment,
ccumulation,
veraccumulation,
arx's
epartment
)
a
number
of times.
n
addition,
n
pointing
o
demand nd
not
onsumption
s a
constraint
n the
expansion
f
productiveapacity
was
explicitly
formulating
hematterna way hat ncompassednvestment.or s a
simple
functional
elationship
etween
onsumption
nd
investment
postulated,
ince
refer ohistorical
actorshat
etermine
he
degree
o
which nvestment
s
self-sustaining
n
any givenperiod.
To be
sure,
Sherman
s correct
n
suggesting
hat
my rgument
oints
oa
rising
ate
of
exploitation
s a
keypart
f thedialectic
f crisis. ut
to
reduce
he
whole
question
o one of
"consumer emand"
not
only
distorts
he
analysis
hat
presented,
ut
removes
he
very
hing
hat
onstituted
ts
central ocus:
apital
formation.
What makesthisdoublydisturbings thatSherman
himself as
virtuallyothingmeaningful
o
say
nhis rticlebout he ccumulation
process
s such.
nvestments treated
imply
s a
component
n
aggre-
gate
ncome r demand.
Hence,
ccumulationoes
not
seem
to be
an
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8/10
CRISES LASTING
FOR
DECADES
79
object
f
analysis
n
and
of
tself
n his
model,
espite
hefact hat
his s
the
cruxof the
contemporarytagnation
risis. his
seems
o
reflect
belief hat
nce t s shown hat here
re
two
aws supply
nd
demand)
to the
nutcrackerhat
queezes
cracks?)
rofits
n
each business
ycle
peak,
one
has solved he whole
problem
f
economic
risis,
ncluding
accumulation.
I
was
also
perplexed
when read Sherman's ontention
hat
my
analysis
ne-sidedlyneglects
he
roleof the
osts
f
supply,"
nd
wage
costs
n
particular
Sherman,
989,
4).
The rate
f
exploitation,
hich
Shermanhimselfays s at the coreof my analysis,s Marx'smain
supply-side
oncept.
ogically,
o
say
thatthe rate
of
exploitation
s
rising
o
more
neglects"
nit abor osts han o
say
hat t
s
falling
the
main
contention
f
Gordon,
Weisskopf
nd
Bowles).
To
suggest
s
Sherman
oes that
hewhole ruths that he
rateof
exploitation
oth
rises
nd falls
ver
the courseof
the
cycle
and
furtherhat ost
and
demand
constraints
ssert hemselves
o different
egrees
t
various
points
withinn
expansion),
implygnores
he
uestion
f ecular
risis.
For
a
crisis
f slow
growth
asting
or
decades
can
only
xist
f
either
supply-side
or
demand-side
constraints ssert themselves dis-
proportionatelyver he onghaul.Otherwiseherewould implye a
moving
quilibrium
s
postulated
n neoclassicalconomics.
ere
Spino-
za's
famous
hrase:
Omnis eterminadost
negatio"every
etermina-
tion s a
negation)
omes
o mind.
What re
the
political
mplications
hat herman raws?
n
closing
he
says
hat
his
"nutcracker"
odel s
superior
o
otherMarxian
risis
theories
ince
t
demonstrates
hat
only
he
end
of
capitalism
ill
nd
thebusiness
ycle."
n Sherman's
iew his s
a valuable onclusionince
Marxist
upply-side
heorists
imply
hat ower
wages
could
prevent
crises,"
while Marxist
emand-side heorists
erroneouslymply
hat
higherwages ouldpreventrises"Sherman,989, 0).HereI rubbed
my yes
n
disbelief
t is not
myplace
to
speak
for
Gordon,
Weisskopf
and
Bowles,
ut don't
hink
hey mply
hat
owering ages
ouldend
the usiness
ycle
what
herman
s
saying
ere.
However,
can
speak
for
he
traditiono which
belong,
nd
can
therefore
tate
definitively
hat
policy
f
promoting
igherwages
wouldnot
nd the
business
ycle
nder
apitalism,
hich
s an
inherent
part
f the
ccumulation
rocess.
Nor
are
higherwages
s such he
best
way
o deal
with
resent
roblems though
would
never
ttempt
o
discourage
workers
rom
ighting
or hem. here
are
of
course ther
routes o
redistributing
ncome nd wealthike
verhauling
regressive
tax
structure,
utting
military
pending,
nd
increasing
tate
pending
on
education,
ealth,
nd
housing,
s
well as on
combating overty,
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9/10
80 SCIENCE £sfOCIETY
cleaning
p
theenvironmentnd
repairing
nfrastructure.hese
may
not
ound ike
revolutionaryolicies,
utto
be consistent
hey
must
e
constructed
ithin n
anti-capitalist
ogic.
Having
eached uch
point
n thediscussion
t s
no
doubt
worth-
while
o take
look t the
world round
s.
We
have
been
witnessing
ot
only
elative
tagnation
or
wo
decades
now,
but
also
formost f that
period
very
eliberate
trategy
f
supply-side
estructuringesigned
to redress
what
he
capitalist
lass
tself ees as
a
problem
f structural
crisis. his
strategy
as included:
reaking
nions,
romoting
nem-
ployment, riving ownwages, utting ack on state pending hat
benefits
he
poor,
altering
he
tax
system
o redistribute
ncome
nd
wealth
rom
he
poor
to the
rich,
nd
forcibly
liminating
bstacles
o
thefree
low
f
capital
n
the
underdevelopedegions
f the
globe.
t is
this
verwhelming
eality
f our time
hathas
most
nfluenced
y
wn
thinking
s a
political
conomist,
hich asbeen
governed
y
n
attempt
to
resist
hese
oncrete
ractices
y ombating
he
deological
mantle
f
supply-side
conomics
n
which
hey
re clothed.
And
in
the
face
of this etermined
lobal
nslaught
ycapital
he
most
powerful
onclusion
hat herman
himselfs able
to
give
us,
in
what urportso be a moredeveloped heoryfeconomicrisis,s that
thebusiness
ycle
s
inherent
o
capitalism
think
his
may
have
to
do
with
he
fact
hathe is
asking
he
wrong
uestion.
JOHN
BELLAMY
FOSTER
Department
f
Sociology
University
f Oregon
REFERENCES
Baran,
aul
A.,
nd
Paul M.
Sweezy.
966.
Monopolyapital.
ew
York:
Monthly
Review ress.
Engels,
rederick. 963
1884).
"Preface
o
the
FirstGerman dition."
n Karl
Marx,
The
Poverty
f
Philosophy.
ew
York: nternationalublishers.
Foster,
ohn ellamy.
987.
What
s
Stagnation?"
n Robert
herry,
t
i,
eds.,
The
mperiled
conomy.
ew York: Union
forRadicalPolitical
conomics,
59-70.
GWB. 1987.
Gordon,
avid
M.,
Thomas
Weisskopf
nd SamuelBowles.
Power,
Accumulation,nd Crisis." n RobertCherry,tal., eds., The mperiled
Economy.
ew
York:
Union
for
RadicalPolitical
conomics,
3-57.
Kalecki,
Michal.1965.
Theory
f
Economic
ynamics.
ew York:
Augustus
M.
Kelley.
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http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
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CRISES
LASTING FOR DECADES
81
. 1984
1968).
"The Marxian
quations
f
Reproduction
nd
Modern
Economics."
n
John
ellamy
oster nd
Henryk
zlajfer,
ds.,
The
altering
Economy.
ew
York:
Monthly
eview
ress,
59-66.
Marx,
Karl.
1968
1862-63).
Theories
f urplus
alue,
art I. Moscow:
rogress
Publishers.
Mills,
.
Wright.
959.
The
ociological
magination.
ew
York:
Oxford
niversity
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Sherman,
oward
J.
1966.
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An
Essay
on
the
American
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nd SocialOrder."
Americanconomic
eview,
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. 1984 1979). Inflation,nemploymentndtheContemporaryusiness
Cycle."
n
John
Bellamy
oster
nd
Henryk zlajfer,
ds.,
The
Faltering
Economy.
ew
York:
Monthly
eview
ress,
1-117.
. 1989. "Theories
f Economic
risis:
Demand-Side,
upply-Side,
nd
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1990,
81-85
SHERMAN
ON
CRISES:
A
COMMENT
Howard Sherman's
ecent ommunication
n
Science sf
ociety
1989)
presents
useful
tarting oint
or
understanding
hecurrent
tate
f
Marxianrisisheory,
s
representedy
hisown
work,
nd
by
heworks
he criticizes
by John
Bellamy
oster,
nd
by
David
Gordon,
Tom
Weisskopf,
nd Sam
Bowles
GWB).
The
present
omment ocusses
n
what
see as
the
major
ontributions
f Sherman's
pproach,
nd also
on some
weaknesses
n his
argument.
Agreements
nd
Quibbles
First,
believe
herman
s correct
n
arguing
hat
complete
heory
of crisis
must
nvolve oth
"supply
ide" and "demand ide" factors
(Devine,1983; 1987a; 1987b).But mporting ainstreamerminology
into
he
theory
as
popularized
y
GWB)
can be
confusing.
While
t s
true thatmarket-oriented
argon
is less
scary
for
outsiders nd has
obvious onnections
ith
mainstream
acroeconomic
ebates,
t hin-
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