A Marxist Political Economy Site

[www.massline.org/PolitEcon]

Economics pamphlets, essays, articles and reviews from the Marxist perspective

This is a site devoted to Marxist political economy. It is still under development and a lot more material will be added later. To begin with, many of the materials have been written by the host of this web site, Scott H.   To make suggestions, comments or criticisms, contact:   scotth@massline.org   or   webmaster@massline.org

Note: Some of the documents and essays below are fairly long and are much easier to read if you print them out first. That will also give you the margins you’ll need to write down your criticisms!

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Political Economy - General

• “What Qualifications are Required to Talk about Political Economy?” [S.H.] (Dec. 3, 2009) — A posting on the “Uhoh” email list, 2 pages.   PDF Version [66 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
• The Definition of ‘Capitalism’ [S.H.] (March 2003) — A letter to friends.
• “The Myth of the Tragedy of the Commons”, by Ian Angus. (8/24/08)

Capitalist Imperialism and “Globalization”

• “Lenin on Imperialism” [S.H.] (2007) [PDF: 237 KB] — A 10-page discussion of Lenin’s views on imperialism in light of the new evidence and changes since his day.
• “The Three Contemporary Forms of Capitalism” (January 2010) — A discussion between Scott H. and a friend over the varying types of capitalism in the world today.   PDF Version [73 KB];   MS Word Version [37 KB]
• “What Really are ‘Economic Reforms’?” [S.H.] (1/31/01) — Some brief comments accompanying a Reuters report sent out to friends.
• “Globalization and Deglobalization” [S.H.] (2/20/09) — Introductory comments to an extensive article from The Economist (included) about the new trend toward “deglobalization”.   PDF Version [146 KB];   MS Word Version [126 KB]

China’s Economy

• China in the Mao Era:
  • Why China Has No Inflation, by Peng Kuang-hsi, (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1976), 44 pages. This important pamphlet explains not only why China during the socialist era had no inflation, but also why capitalist countries do suffer from this problem to varying degrees.
  • “Comments Accompanying a Notice of the Posting of a 1976 Chinese Pamphlet on Inflation” [S.H.] (02/17/09) — Together with a response to a correspondent.   PDF Version [146 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
• China in the Revisionist/Capitalist Era:
  • “An Example of Chinese Pseudo-Marxist Political Economy”, [S.H.] (Nov. 1, 2018), 5 pages. About the bourgeois perversion of contemporary Chinese economic crisis theory, and their fantasies about preventing or escaping a ruinous capitalist financial and economic crisis.   PDF format [61 KB]
  • “The Intra-Capitalist Struggle in China”, [S.H.] (June 4, 2012), 6 pages. About the conflicted feelings of the Chinese bourgeoisie over state capitalism vs. “private” monopoly capitalism.   PDF version [235 KB];   MS Word version [283 KB]
  • “Western Fears and Criticisms of State Capitalism in China”, [S.H.] (Dec. 9, 2011), 4 pages.   PDF version: [105 KB];   MS Word version [39 KB]
  • “Chinese Government Takes Foot Off Economic Brakes”, [S.H.] (Nov. 30, 2011), 4 pages. Comments accompanying an article from the New York Times.   PDF version [85 KB];   MS Word version [40 KB]
  • “A Survey of Some Graphical Socioeconomic Atlases”, [S.H.] (May 11, 2010), 12 pages. Includes comments on Chinese economic statistics presented in four atlases, including one devoted specifically to China.   PDF version: [160 KB];   MS Word version: [81 KB]
  • “Irrational Capacity Extension” [S.H.] (4/26/09) — A very short letter commenting on an article condemning Chinese steel “dumping”.   PDF Version [86 KB];   MS Word Version [28 KB]
  • “China’s Stimulus Program” [S.H.] (4/12/09) — A letter to a friend about the signs of improvement in China because of its massive “stimulus” program, and about the differences between the Keynesian and Marxist explanations for this. Also briefly discusses the importance of being able to make correct predictions in scientific political economy.   PDF Version [107 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
  • “The Realities of China Today”, by Martin Hart-Lansberg. Though the author is not a Maoist, and makes at least one very unsupported and unjustified criticism of Maoist economic policies, overall this 15-page article strongly debunks the notions of some people on the “left” today that China is still a socialist country, or that it at least is supposedly advancing the welfare of the Chinese masses. It shows that nothing could be further from the truth!   PDF version: [183 KB];   MS Word version: [81 KB]

Crises — The Marxist Theory of Capitalist Economic Crises

• An Introductory Explanation of Capitalist Economic Crises, by Scott H. (2008) — This pamphlet discusses both the underlying and surface contradictions involved in capitalist crises. [The first 5 chapters are now available. More will be added later.]
  • Introduction
  • Chapter I: The Basic Contradictions Underlying Capitalist Economic Crises
  • Chapter II: The Surface Layer of Contradictions
  • Chapter III: How Are Capitalist Economic Crises Overcome?
  • Chapter IV: Capitalist Economic Crises in the Imperialist Era (8/9/08)
  • Chapter V: The Industrial Cycle Has Split in Two! (8/19/08)
• “What is it about Capitalism that Requires the Creation of Huge Debt Bubbles?” [S.H.] (10/03/08) — A letter answering this question.   PDF Version [138 KB];   MS Word Version [37 KB]
• “Bourgeois Fantasies about Economic Bubbles” [S.H.] (Sept. 9, 2009) — A letter explaining that economic bubbles are inherent to capitalism and not just some irrationality that people are from time to time prone to—as is claimed in an article in the New York Times.   PDF Version [90 KB];   MS Word Version [61 KB]
• “Irrational Capacity Extension” [S.H.] (4/26/09) — A very short letter commenting on an article condemning Chinese steel “dumping”.   PDF Version [86 KB];   MS Word Version [28 KB]
• “What is the ‘Overproduction of Capital’?” [S.H.] (4/14/09) — A question from a friend and Scott’s answer.   PDF Version [125 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
• “Question About the ‘Falling Rate of Profit’ Theory?” [S.H.] (3/26/10) — A query from a friend and Scott’s answer.   PDF Version [153 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
• “Record Corporate Profits at Time of Crisis Show ‘Falling Rate of Profit’ Theory of Crises is False” [S.H.] (11/29/10) — Two letters to friends, 8 pages.   PDF Version [233 KB];   MS Word Version [58 KB]
• “Patnaik’s Aricle on MRZine” [S.H.] (1/14/09) — Criticism of an article by a left-Keynesian who thinks that overproduction crises can be ended by Keynesian deficits.   PDF Version [122 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
• “False Lessons from the Great Depression” [S.H.] (7/14/03) — A criticism of two main points in Peter Temin’s book, Lessons from the Great Depression.
• “Comments on Sison’s ‘Contradictions in the World Capitalist System and the Necessity of Socialist Revolution’” [S.H.] (1/23/02) — Discussion of Jose Maria Sison’s view of the world economic and political situation, as well as a critique of the “General Crisis of Capitalism” thesis.
• “Was Marx’s ‘Early Theory’ of Overproduction/Underconsumption Dropped by Him Later On?” [S.H.] (4/9/01) — A letter arguing that he did not do so, even though he did add other extraneous theories to his overall theory of economic crises. Also discusses the limitations of the crisis theory put forward in Engels’ Anti-Dühring.
• “The Difference Between Rosa Luxemburg and V.I. Lenin on Economic Crisis Theory” [S.H.] (2/25/01) — A letter to a friend.
• Letter to Bob Avakian on Imperialist War and Capitalist Economic Cycles [S.H.] (12/2/79)
• “The ‘Capital Shortage’ Myth: A Dangerous Error in Political Economy” [S.H.] (Jan. 1977)

Crises — The Current Economic Crisis

• 2008:
  • “Some Important Articles about the Current Economic Crisis” [S.H.] (4/9/08) — A letter recommending several articles about the developing crisis that appeared in Monthly Review and elsewhere. Also includes some of his predictions about how this crisis will develop, eventually into a depression.   PDF Version [86 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
  • “The Developing Crisis Brings about More Intense Disagreements among Economists” [S.H.] (7/6/08) — Letter about how bourgeois economists are growing more and more testy with each other, together with a column from the Financial Times.   PDF Version [62 KB];   MS Word Version [41 KB]
  • “Is the Current Economic Crisis a Crisis of Overproduction?” [S.H.] (7/11/08) — This letter responds to a question about the nature of the currently developing crisis, and also addresses the issue of the means that imperialist powers use to dump the effects of their own crises onto the backs of people of the countries they exploit.
  • “Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In” (7/14/08), an article from the satirical publication The Onion.
    • “The Onion is More Correct Than They Realize!” [S.H.] (7/24/08) — A serious commentary on the above article which argues that bubbles really are absolutely necessary under capitalism!
  • “Too Big to Fail — the Continuing Story...” [S.H.] (7/20/08) — Letter about how the U.S. government is being forced to bail out Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, etc.   PDF Version [111 KB];   MS Word Version [43 KB]
  • “Bankers Caught between Hope and Despair” [S.H.] (8/24/08) — Letter about how central bankers are unsure if the financial crisis will affect the “real economy”, together with an article from the Financial Times.   PDF Version [52 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
  • “The Economic Merger of Corporate Capital and the Capitalist State” [S.H.] (9/8/08) — Letter about the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the larger implications.   PDF Version [141 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
    • “Do the Right and Left Agree on the Economy?” (9/17/08) — A letter from a friend in response to the above item, and a reply.   PDF Version [62 KB];   MS Word Version [31 KB]
  • “The Crisis has Become an All-Out Panic” [S.H.] (9/18/08) — Letter about the deepening financial crisis and the ever more serious overall economic crisis.   PDF Version [114 KB];   MS Word Version [41 KB]
  • “Government Bailouts are Nothing New” [S.H.] (9/19/08) — Letter commenting on a point raised in an article forwarded by a friend.   PDF Version [150 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
  • “Will the $700 Billion Bailout End the Crisis?” [S.H.] (9/20/08) — Letter pointing out that the bailout is just one of many and that it certainly won’t end the underlying economic crisis.   PDF Version [95 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
  • “Top Execs at Bailed-Out Firms Made $27 Billion over Past 5 Years” [S.H.] (9/25/08) — Letter about the obscene looting of bailed-out financial corporations by their top execs.   PDF Version [67 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
  • “Is It Socialism?” (Sept. 25-27, 2008) — An email discussion between Scott H. and his friend Kirby about whether the bailouts and partial nationalization of several banks and financial institutions by the U.S. government should be considered “socialism”.
  • “Fed Buying Up Corporate Debt” [S.H.] (10/7/08) — Letter discussing the Federal Reserve’s move to purchase “commercial paper”.   PDF Version [93 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
  • “Can the Crisis be brought under Control?’” [S.H.] (10/11/08) — Letter raising the real possibility that this crisis will eventually develop into a depression, or else predicting that one of the next few recessions will.   PDF Version [185 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
  • “On Mike Davis’ Essay ‘Can Obama See the Grand Canyon?’” [S.H.] (10/16/08) — Letter commenting on an essay written by the well-known socialist writer Mike Davis.   PDF Version [125 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
  • “Wallerstein Says we have Entered a Depression” [S.H.] (10/17/08) — Letter discussing Immanuel Wallerstein’s view, together with his article.   PDF Version [95 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
  • “On Naomi Klein’s Theory that Public Infrastructure will be ‘the Next Bubble’” [S.H.] (10/24/08) — A letter pooh-poohing this notion.   PDF Version [136 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
  • “The Crisis is an Overproduction Crisis” [S.H.] (10/29/08) — Letter about how the current crisis is most essentially due to the overproduction of capital, and is not merely an financial crisis. Includes an article from the Financial Times about overproduction in the automobile industry.   PDF Version [69 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
  • “Are Bankers Idiots? And How About Us?” [S.H.] (11/10/08) — Letter briefly comparing the wisdom of Marxist political economy to the foolishness of bourgeois economics.   PDF Version [106 KB];   MS Word Version [44 KB]
  • “The Worst is Yet to Come” (11/22/08) — A Reuters article about the top IMF economist predicting the worst of the current financial/economic crisis is yet to come, together with a brief commentary by Scott H.
  • “Saving Capitalism No Sure Thing...” [S.H.] (12/22/08) — Letter commenting on an article from Bloomberg Business News reporting deep worries about what the crisis will mean for “private enterprise”.   PDF Version [214 KB];   MS Word Version [42 KB]
  • “Video Lecture by John Bellamy Foster on the Economic Crisis Available” [S.H.] (12/27/08) — Letter recommending this video from Nov. 3, 2008, but including a few criticisms of it.   PDF Version [94 KB];   MS Word Version [30 KB]
• 2009:
  • “The Significance of Perpetual Trillion Dollar Deficits” [S.H.] (1/7/09) — Comments on a Washington Post news report saying that Obama expects trillion dollar deficits for years into the future.   PDF Version [59 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
  • Letter on the Morality of the Continued Exploitation of Labor Through the Use of Machines Created by Past Labor” [S.H.] (1/16/09) — Includes some predictions about the future course of the current crisis.
  • “Is It a ‘Depression’?” [S.H.] (2/8/09) — An email agreeing with a friend that the current economic crisis has reached the stage where it is fully appropriate to view it as the early stages of a new depression comparable to that of the 1930s.
  • “Marxist Analysis at Business Week???” [S.H.] (Feb. 8, 2009) — A short commentary on an article by Peter Coy in Business Week magazine which pointed out that, contrary to what most (bourgeois) economists think, overcapacity is a major reason for the current economic crisis. Scott’s commentary agrees with this claim, but thinks that Coy doesn’t go far enough, and that he’s inconsistent in his views.
  • “The Worst Depression in Over 100 Years” [S.H.] (2/11/09) — A contribution to a discussion of an article from The Independent newspaper (U.K.) which reports a prediction that the current economic crisis will be the worst in over 100 years.   PDF Version [138 KB];   MS Word Version [37 KB]
  • “Comments Accompanying a Notice of the Posting of a 1976 Chinese Pamphlet on Inflation” [S.H.] (02/17/09) — Together with a response to a correspondent.   PDF Version [146 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
  • “Financial Aspect of Crisis Far From Over” [S.H.] (2/23/09) — A Bloomberg article forwarded to friends with my own brief summary of some of its highlights.   PDF Version [193 KB];   MS Word Version [56 KB]
  • “‘Dr. Doom’: U.S. Financial System is Insolvent; L-shaped Semi-Depression Possible” [S.H.] (March 5, 2009) — A column by the bourgeois economist known as “Dr. Doom”, together with my introductory comments, which was forwarded to friends.   PDF Version [122 KB];   MS Word Version [45 KB]
  • “Job Loss Curves” [S.H.] (March 7, 2009) — A letter about how jobs are being permanently lost in the current economic crisis, together with an article from the New York Times about how job recoveries after recessions are getting slower and slower.   PDF Version [124 KB];   MS Word Version [49 KB]
  • “Chinese Seriously Worried about their U.S. Holdings... A Sign of What’s to Come” [S.H.] (3/13/09) — A letter to friends about the need for a scientific organizing theory to understand the crisis and about increased Chinese worries that their investments in the U.S. might not be safe.   PDF Version [148 KB];   MS Word Version [68 KB]
  • “Stiglitz’s Exposure of New Obama Bailout Program” [S.H.] (4/1/09) — A letter discussing how the big Obama bailout of Wall Street and big banks amounts to a financial merger of finance capital with the bourgeois state on top of its already existing political merger.   PDF Version [141 KB];   MS Word Version [42 KB]
  • “China’s Stimulus Program” [S.H.] (4/12/09) — A letter to a friend about the signs of improvement in China because of its massive “stimulus” program, and about the differences between the Keynesian and Marxist explanations for this. Also briefly discusses the importance of being able to make correct predictions in scientific political economy.   PDF Version [107 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
  • “NY Times: Worries Rise on the Size of U.S. Debt” [S.H.] (5/4/09) — A short introduction to an article forwarded to friends.   PDF Version [216 KB];   MS Word Version [183 KB]
  • “Chomsky on the Economic Crisis” [S.H.] (5/10/09) — A response to a request from a friend to evaluate Noam Chomsky's views on the current economic crisis.   PDF Version [111 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
  • “The Ever-Worsening U.S. Government Debt Problem” [S.H.] (5/24/09) — A letter about the attempts of the government to both “stimulate” the economy through massive Keynesian deficits and also cut the ever-growing government debt, together with an article from the San Francisco Chronicle on the massive government debt problem.   PDF Version [67 KB];   MS Word Version [44 KB]
  • “Contraction Slows as Sluggish U.S. Recovery Nears” [S.H.] (July 31, 2009) — A letter explaining that the bourgeois claim that the “Great Recession” is nearly over depends on their superficial notion of what recessions are. (Article from Bloomberg.com is included as an appendix.)   PDF Version [144 KB];   MS Word Version [40 KB]
  • “Job Seekers Exceed Openings by Record Ratio” [S.H.] (Sept. 27, 2009) — A letter accompanying an article from the N.Y. Times about the seriousness of the unemployment situation.   PDF Version [230 KB];   MS Word Version [218 KB]
  • “Fantasies About the Economic ‘Narrow Escape’” [S.H.] (Dec. 21 & 24, 2009) — A letter to friends arguing that all the comments about the U.S. and world economies having “narrowly escaped” a Second Great Depression are not just grossly premature, but actually an outright fantasy! Includes a second letter explaining in more detail my theory why this is so.   PDF Version [268 KB];   MS Word Version [67 KB]
• 2010:
  • “‘Underwater’ Mortgages—Why Don’t People Just Walk Away?” [S.H.] (Jan. 24, 2010) — A short letter to friends commenting on an article in the New York Times (included as an appendix) about how surprisingly many people are continuing to pay their mortgages on homes that are worth less than they still owe on them!   PDF Version [219 KB];   MS Word Version [62 KB]
  • “Growing Permanent Unemployment” [S.H.] (Feb. 21, 2010) — A letter introducing an article from the N.Y. Times entitled “Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs”.   PDF Version [163 KB];   MS Word Version [76 KB]
  • “Which Economists are Most ‘Responsible’ for the Current Economic Crisis?” [S.H.] (Feb. 24, 2010) — A short letter to friends commenting on an article posted on the Monthly Review “Zine” website (included as an appendix) about a facetious “award” presented to Alan Greenspan for “causing” the current economic crisis.   PDF Version [115 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
  • “The Collapse of Bourgeois Economics” [S.H.] (March 26, 2010) — A short letter commenting on an op-ed article in the New York Times by David Brooks about the failure of “modern economics”. (Brooks’ column is included as an appendix.)   PDF Version [137 KB];   MS Word Version [100 KB]
  • “Asian Firms Gaining on U.S. in Innovation” [S.H.] (April 18, 2010) — An article from Business Week, together with my introductory comments which also connect up this development with the current economic crisis.   PDF Version [106 KB];   MS Word Version [45 KB]
  • “Large Sections of the ‘Middle Class’ Sinking into Poverty around the World” [S.H.] (April 22, 2010) — A 2-page letter discussing the state of the “middle class” in Japan, the U.S., and around the world, and linking to two N.Y. Times articles on that topic.   PDF Version [127 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
  • “Mortgage Securitization in the 1920s” [S.H.] (April 28, 2010) — A short letter introducing an article from the NBER Digest which brings out that the securitization of mortgages was also important in the financial aspect of the Great Depression of the 1930s, and is not at all the qualitatively new thing that it is often imagined to be.   PDF Version [125 KB];   MS Word Version [40 KB]
  • “Krugman on the Looming ‘Lost Decade’ for the U.S.” [S.H.] (5/21/10) — A discussion of the fallacies and misconceptions in an op-ed column by Paul Krugman.   PDF Version [170 KB];   MS Word Version [45 KB]
  • “Half-Assed Keynesianism” [S.H.] (6/9/10) — A letter about the half-hearted, and thus only moderately effective “stimulus packages” that the government has been using to try to improve the U.S. economy, along with an article from the New York Times about how the ruling class consensus has turned toward cutting deficits rather than intensifying the “stimulus”.   PDF Version [95 KB];   MS Word Version [47 KB]
  • “Why the Bourgeoisie Cannot Learn from History” [S.H.] (6/30/10) — A letter about the how the ruling class desire to "balance the budget" is interfering with, and prolonging, their economic problems.   PDF Version [84 KB]
  • “Crisis Economics — A Review” (7/26/10) — Scott H.’s 5-page review of the new book by Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm about the financial crisis.   PDF Version [169 KB];   MS Word Version [52 KB]
  • “Comments on an Interview with Steve Keen” [S.H.] (9/15/10) — A letter to a friend about the views expressed by the Australian economist Steve Keen in an interview by Max Keiser, 3 pages.   PDF Version [104 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]
  • “Will California Go Bankrupt?” [S.H.] (11/20/10) — A letter to a friend in response to a question about the state of the California economy, 2 pages.   PDF Version [65 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
  • “Record Corporate Profits at Time of Crisis Show ‘Falling Rate of Profit’ Theory of Crises is False” [S.H.] (11/29/10) — Two letters to friends, 8 pages.   PDF Version [233 KB];   MS Word Version [58 KB]
• 2011:
  • [To be added.]
• 2012:
  • [To be added.]
• 2013:
  • [To be added.]
• 2014:
  • [To be added.]
• 2015:
  • “Negative Interest Rates, and Abolishing Cash Money” [S.H.] (4/26/15) — A letter describing the recent trend within the ruling class media to talk about the need to establish negative interest rates “in order to get people to buy and invest”, and the resulting need to get rid of printed money.   PDF Version [96 KB];   MS Word Version [41 KB]

Debt

• “The Significance of Perpetual Trillion Dollar Deficits” [S.H.] (1/7/09) — Comments on a Washington Post news report saying that Obama expects trillion dollar deficits for years into the future.   PDF Version [59 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
• “NY Times: Worries Rise on the Size of U.S. Debt” [S.H.] (5/4/09) — A short introduction to an article forwarded to friends.   PDF Version [216 KB];   MS Word Version [183 KB]
• “The Ever-Worsening U.S. Government Debt Problem” [S.H.] (5/24/09) — A letter about the attempts of the government to both “stimulate” the economy through massive Keynesian deficits and also cut the ever-growing government debt, together with an article from the San Francisco Chronicle on the massive government debt problem.   PDF Version [67 KB];   MS Word Version [44 KB]
• “Japan’s ever more dangerous debt problem foreshadows that of the U.S.” [S.H.] (10/21/09) — A letter accompanying an article from the New York Times about the alarming growth of Japanese government debt.   PDF Version [139 KB];   MS Word Version [62 KB]
• “The Other National Debt” [S.H.] (6/16/10) — A commentary on an article about the federal government debt that appeared in the arch-reactionary magazine, National Review.   PDF Version [99 KB];   MS Word Version [49 KB]

Inflation, Deflation, and Currency Issues

• Why China Has No Inflation, by Peng Kuang-hsi, (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1976), 44 pages. This important pamphlet explains not only why China during the socialist era had no inflation, but also why capitalist countries do suffer from this problem to varying degrees.

Japan’s Economy

• “Japan’s ever more dangerous debt problem foreshadows that of the U.S.” [S.H.] (10/21/09) — A letter accompanying an article from the New York Times about the alarming growth of Japanese government debt.   PDF Version [139 KB];   MS Word Version [62 KB]
• “Crisis Idles Japanese Robots — But They Can’t Be Laid Off!” (7/13/09) — Some brief comments accompanying a forwarded article from the New York Times.   PDF Version [131 KB];   MS Word Version [57 KB]
• “Following the Japanese Economic Path” [S.H.] (7/11/08) — A letter about how it is becoming continually clearer that the U.S. (and world) is following the path of Japan, in and out of recessions interspersed with only short and shallow recoveries.   PDF Version [92 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
• “Japan Shows that Capitalist Stagnation is Indeed Possible” [S.H.] (2/08/01) — A letter to friends.
• “Japan’s Economy Gets Worse — So Does World’s” [S.H.] (9/10/01) — A letter to friends.

Keynes and Keynesianism

• Letter on the Relationship of Marxism and Keynesianism [S.H.] (1/15/09).
• “Patnaik’s Article on MRZine” [S.H.] (1/14/09) — Criticism of an article by a left-Keynesian who thinks that overproduction crises can be ended by Keynesian deficits.   PDF Version [122 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]
• “Half-Assed Keynesianism” [S.H.] (6/9/10) — A letter about the half-hearted, and thus only moderately effective “stimulus packages” that the government has been using to try to improve the U.S. economy, along with an article from the New York Times about how the ruling class consensus has turned toward cutting deficits rather than intensifying the “stimulus”.   PDF Version [95 KB];   MS Word Version [47 KB]
• “About Keynes and Keynesians”, from an interview with Paul M. Sweezy in which Sweezy comments briefly about his understanding of Keynesianism and his relationship to it.   PDF Version [12 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
• “Comments on an Interview with Steve Keen” [S.H.] (9/15/10) — A letter to a friend about the views on the current economic crisis expressed by the Australian post-Keynesian economist Steve Keen in an interview by Max Keiser, 3 pages.   PDF Version [104 KB];   MS Word Version [34 KB]

The Labor Theory of Value

• “Steve Keen on Marxist Economics & a Mini Essay on the Labor Theory of Value” [S.H.] (9/3/03) — A very one-sided review of Steve Keen’s Debunking Economics, focusing on the single chapter on Marxist economics, and the labor theory of value in particular. Puts forward the theory that past labor (in the form of tools and machines) can also contribute to surplus value.
  • Letter to Frank S. about the labor theory of value [S.H.] (12/08/03) — Scott’s friend Frank criticized his theory about machines being able to contribute to surplus value and his comments about Say’s “Law”. This is Scott’s response.
  • “Additional Comments on Say’s ‘Law’—and the Consequences of Failing to Recognize Its Fallaciousness” [S.H.] (1/15/04) — A continuation of the above, after a discussion with Frank.
• Letter on the Morality of the Continued Exploitation of Labor Through the Use of Machines Created by Past Labor” [S.H.] (1/16/09) — A further discussion of some moral issues related to my modified version of the LTV.
• “Some Continued Discussion” (1/19/09) — A continuation of the above discussion about the LTV and related topics, between Scott H. and a correspondent, 4 pages.   PDF Version [101 KB];   MS Word Version [39 KB]

The Monthly Review School

• “About Keynes and Keynesians”, from an interview with Paul M. Sweezy in which Sweezy comments briefly about his understanding of Keynesianism and his relationship to it.   PDF Version [12 KB];   MS Word Version [32 KB]
• “In Remembrance of Paul M. Sweezy”, by Dr. Gupta. This article is taken from People’s March, the revolutionary magazine from India, Vol. 5, No. 6, June 2004.
• “Working-Class Households and the Burden of Debt”, by the Editors of Monthly Review magazine. This important article appeared in MR in May 2000. It demonstrates quite convincingly, and with a lot of statistical support, that the long U.S. boom of the 1990s is to be explained largely by the tremendous increase in working-class debt over that decade, and not by the repeal of the laws of capitalism or through some “New Economy” magic.
• “Video Lecture by John Bellamy Foster on the Economic Crisis Available” [S.H.] (12/27/08) — Letter recommending this video from Nov. 3, 2008, but including a few criticisms of it.   PDF Version [94 KB];   MS Word Version [30 KB]
• “Monthly Review and Keynesianism” [S.H.] (April 12, 2010) — A 3-page email discussing the varying degrees of Keynesian influence on economists associated with the magazine Monthly Review.   PDF Version [84 KB];   MS Word Version [38 KB]
• “The Monthly Review School and Blaming the Economic Crisis on the Financialization of the Economy” [S.H.] (Feb. 24-26, 2010) — A 7-page discussion of financialization, the distorted MR conception of the crisis, and some political issues related to the economic crisis.   PDF Version [169 KB];   MS Word Version [52 KB]

Poverty

• “Situation for World’s Poor Continues to Worsen” [S.H.] (7/17/08) — A short letter accompanying a Reuter’s news article, 2 pages.   PDF Version [123 KB];   MS Word Version [30 KB]
• “World Bank Says You’re Not Poor if You Make $1.26 per Day” [S.H.] (8/28/08) — A short commentary on an article in The Economist.   PDF Version [124 KB];   MS Word Version [33 KB]
• “One in Three Americans Lacked the Income Needed to ‘Make Ends Meet’ in 2009; Young Adults among the Hardest Hit”, by Shawn Fremstad (9/16/10) — A discussion of how serious and widespread poverty is in the United States, 3 pages.   PDF Version [77 KB];   MS Word Version [74 KB]

The Revolutionary Communist Party and Political Economy

• “Notes on Notes on Political Economy” [S.H.] (2/25/00) — A long critique of an RCP document about the errors they made in their “1980s analysis” and their current views on the world economic situation.
• “First Notes Towards a Critique of America in Decline” [S.H.] (2/12/99) — A review, of sorts, of a major 1984 RCP book on political economy.
• “The ‘Capital Shortage’ Myth: A Dangerous Error in Political Economy” [S.H.] (Jan. 1977)

Statistics — Economic Statistics & Demographics

• “A Survey of Some Graphical Socioeconomic Atlases”, [S.H.] (May 11, 2010), 12 pages. Includes specific commentary on four atlases, including one devoted specifically to China.   PDF version: (160 KB);   MS Word version: (81 KB).
• “Government Admits it has been Underplaying How Bad Recessions Are” [S.H.] (Aug. 1, 2009) — A letter introducing a New York Times article I forwarded to friends, about some major adjustments to U.S. government statistics.   PDF Version [109 KB];   MS Word Version [48 KB]
• “Economist Challenges Government Data”, by Sam Zuckerman, San Francisco Chronicle, May 25, 2008, [PDF: 74 KB] — This article, from the bourgeois media, describes (and subtly tries to discredit) the work of the renegade bourgeois economist John Williams who runs a web site showing many of the distortions and lies in U.S. economic statistics.
• “Humanity Today and Demographics” [S.H.] (12/10/08) [PDF: 326 KB] — An 11-page summary of the U.S. and world population growth, fertility, ageing, urbanization, immigration, etc.
• “Harry Dent’s Demography-Based Economic Theory” [S.H.] (12/2/00)

Unemployment and Labor Issues

• “Growing Permanent Unemployment” [S.H.] (Feb. 21, 2010) — A letter introducing an article from the N.Y. Times entitled “Millions of Unemployed Face Years Without Jobs”.   PDF Version [163 KB];   MS Word Version [76 KB]
• “Job Seekers Exceed Openings by Record Ratio” [S.H.] (Sept. 27, 2009) — A letter accompanying an article from the N.Y. Times about the seriousness of the unemployment situation.   PDF Version [230 KB];   MS Word Version [218 KB]
• “The Actual U.S. Unemployment Rate as of Early 2009”, excerpted from the Editor’s Notes in the April 2009 issue of Monthly Review. (The Editor of MR is John Bellamy Foster.).
• “Job Loss Curves” [S.H.] (March 7, 2009) — A letter about how jobs are being permanently lost in the current economic crisis, together with an article from the New York Times about how job recoveries after recessions are getting slower and slower.   PDF Version [124 KB];   MS Word Version [49 KB]
• The Real U.S. Unemployment Rate in 2006 [S.H.] [PDF: 203 KB] — Explains why the real unemployment rate is well over twice as great as the government and media claim.
• “News Flash! Employers Constantly Cheat Low-Paid Workers!” [S.H.] (Sept. 2, 2009) — Short introductory comments to a New York Times article forwarded to friends.   PDF Version [83 KB];   MS Word Version [58 KB]

Other Topics in Political Economy

• “The Many Types of Capitalist Economic Anarchy” [S.H.] (02/23/83)

(More to be added later.)

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