Capital financiero versus capital industrial: un impacto peligroso. (Sobre la degeneración del capital industrial)

One of the distinctive features of the monopolistic phase of capitalism is the growing struggle between two fractions of the ruling class: industrial capital and financial capital. This article analyzes how the hegemony of the latter has displaced the leading and transforming role of the former, in a process of subordination and deformation of the productive logic of capital valorization in favor of the speculative one. This is called the “degeneration of industrial capital”. Through the case of the United States and the 2008 crisis, it is shown that speculation has already overtaken productive investment, as well as the negative consequences this has had on economic stability and growth. Parasitism and extreme decadence, expressed in deepening inequality, growing dependence on unproductive activities, and the weakening of capitalism’s productive capacities, suggest that the system is entering a phase of decomposition, which may be terminal.