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Capital's Pons Asinorum: the Rate of Turnover in Karl Marx's Analysis of Capitalist Valorisation

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  • Passarella, Marco
  • Baron, Hervé

Abstract

This article aims to shed light on the role played by the ‘rate of turnover’ of capital within the Marxian analysis of the working laws of capitalism. Oddly enough, that concept has been neglected by the most part of Karl Marx’s scholars and exegetes, as is demonstrated proved by the small number of scientific works dealing with it. Yet, the rate of turnover plays a crucial role in Marx’s economic thought, since it allows Marx to address the impact of the improvement in finance, transportation and means of communication on the capitalist process of creation (and realization) of surplus-value. As we are going to show, the new manuscripts from the MEGA2 philological edition of Marx’s writings may provide some useful insights. Against this background, the goal of the paper is twofold: first, to bridge the gap in the literature concerning the economic thought of Marx; second, to provide a rigorous (and general) definition of the notion of the ‘rate of turnover’ of capital. This will also allow us: to redefine the concept of the ‘annual rate of profit’; to define a new linked concept – that is, the ‘temporal composition of capital’; and to add a further element in the debate on the counter-tendencies to the law of the tendential fall in the general rate of profit.

Suggested Citation

  • Passarella, Marco & Baron, Hervé, 2013. "Capital's Pons Asinorum: the Rate of Turnover in Karl Marx's Analysis of Capitalist Valorisation," MPRA Paper 48306, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 14 Jul 2013.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:48306
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Riccardo Bellofiore, 2005. "The Monetary Aspects of the Capitalist Process in the Marxian System: An Investigation from the Point of View of the Theory of the Monetary Circuit," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Fred Moseley (ed.), Marx’s Theory of Money, chapter 8, pages 124-139, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Rudy Fichtenbaum, 1988. "'Business Cycles,' Turnover and the Rate of Profit: An Empirical Test of Marxian Crisis Theory," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 221-228, Jul-Sep.
    3. Paulo L. dos Santos, 2011. "Production And Consumption Credit In A Continuous‐Time Model Of The Circuit Of Capital," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 729-758, November.
    4. Costas Lapavitsas, 2000. "On Marx's Analysis of Money Hoarding in the Turnover of Capital," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 219-235.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marxian Economics; Turnover of Capital; Financialization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B24 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist; Scraffian
    • B51 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian
    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian

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