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The Rate of Profit, Aggregate Demand, and the Long Economic Expansion in the United States since 2009

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  • David M. Kotz

Abstract

The current economic expansion in the United States, which began in the summer of 2009, has lasted for more than nine years as of this writing, making it the second longest expansion since the end of World War II. The previous two expansions, of the 1990s and 2000s, were prolonged by big asset bubbles, which have played a key role in the neoliberal era in promoting long economic expansions. However, the current expansion has not seen an asset bubble large enough to significantly affect the macroeconomy. This paper examines the expansion since 2009 by analyzing the movements of the rate of profit, and its determinants, and the role of aggregate demand, with the aim of determining the factors that have kept crisis tendencies at bay so far. JEL Classification: E32, E30, E11, E02

Suggested Citation

  • David M. Kotz, 2019. "The Rate of Profit, Aggregate Demand, and the Long Economic Expansion in the United States since 2009," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 51(4), pages 525-535, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:51:y:2019:i:4:p:525-535
    DOI: 10.1177/0486613419846967
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Weisskopf, Thomas E, 1979. "Marxian Crisis Theory and the Rate of Profit in the Postwar U.S. Economy," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 3(4), pages 341-378, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mark Setterfield, 2024. "Managing the Discontent of the Losers Redux: A Future of Authoritarian Neoliberalism or Social Capitalism?," Working Papers 2401, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    2. Peter Flaschel & Sigrid Luchtenberg & Hagen Kramer & Christian Proano & Mark Setterfield, 2021. "Contemporary Macroeconomic Outcomes: A Tragedy in Three Acts," Working Papers 2105, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic expansion; profit rate; aggregate demand; recession;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian
    • E02 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Institutions and the Macroeconomy

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