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Growth, Accumulation, and Unproductive Activity

Author

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  • Wolff,Edward N.

Abstract

This book documents the growth of unproductive activity in the United States economy since World War II and its relation to the economic surplus, capital accumulation, and economic growth. Unproductive activities broadly consist of those involved in the circulation process, including wholesaling and retailing, banking and financial services, advertising, legal services, business services and many (though not all) government activities. The results indicate that the level of unproductive activity in the postwar economy has been a significant factor in the slowdown in the rate of capital accumulation, productivity growth and the overall growth rate. Here, the villain is shown to be the gradual but persistent shift of resources to unproductive activities. The consequence has been a reduction in new capital formation and productivity growth and an erosion in the rate of growth in per capita living standards. Moreover, the rise in unproductive activity is itself seen to be rooted in the logic of advanced capitalism. The forces of competition, which in the early stages of capitalism lead to rapid technical change and productivity growth, promote non-productive and even counterproductive activities in its more advanced stages.

Suggested Citation

  • Wolff,Edward N., 1987. "Growth, Accumulation, and Unproductive Activity," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521251518, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:cbooks:9780521251518
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    Cited by:

    1. David Alexander, 1992. "Resource Use and U.S. Manufacturing Productivity Growth," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3), pages 389-407, March.
    2. Paul Lewis & Elisabeth Allgoewer & Paul Zarembka & Jurriaan Bendien & John Lodewijks & J. E. King & William Tabb & William Tabb & Tae-Hee Jo & Martin Gregor, 2009. "Book Reviews," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 163-189.
    3. Thomas E. LAMBERT, 2016. "Monopoly Capital and Capitalist Inequality: Marx after Piketty," Journal of Economics and Political Economy, KSP Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 151-159, March.
    4. Thomas E. Lambert & Edward Kwon, 2015. "Monopoly capital and capitalist inefficiency," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 533-552, July.
    5. Böhm, Volker & Vachadze, George, 2008. "Capital accumulation with tangible assets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 248-257, October.
    6. Hyun Woong Park & Dong-Min Rieu, 2020. "A Mathematical Formulation of the Dual Nature of Unproductive Labor," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 716-738, December.
    7. Keith Cowling, 2006. "Prosperity, Depression and Modern Capitalism," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 369-381, August.
    8. Nikolaos, Chatzarakis & Tsaliki, Persefoni, 2021. "The dynamics of capital accumulation in Marx and Solow," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 148-158.
    9. Lefteris Tsoulfidis & Persefoni Tsaliki, 2014. "Unproductive labour, capital accumulation and profitability crisis in the Greek economy," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(5), pages 562-585, September.
    10. Bruce Cronin, 2001. "Productive and Unproductive Capital: A mapping of the New Zealand system of national accounts to classical economic categories, 1972-95," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 309-327.
    11. Engelbrecht, Hans-Jurgen, 1997. "A comparison and critical assessment of Porat and Rubin's information economy and Wallis and North's transaction sector1," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 271-290, December.
    12. David Bailey & Keith Cowling, 2006. "Industrial Policy and Vulnerable Capitalism," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(5), pages 537-553.
    13. Miguel Roig-Alonso, 1998. "Fiscal visibility in the european union member countries: New estimates," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, February.

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