ABSTRACT
There are two main visions of accumulation (see Nell 1987). The first is the tradition of Adam Smith and the neoclassical economists, in which accumulation is mostly an allocational problem, the postponement of consumption. The other tradition, corresponding to classical and Marxian interpretations of CAPITALISM, sees accumulation as a result of profit-seeking behavior, independent of any plans for future consumption. Further, in this latter view, accumulation is seen as based on prior production of a surplus product.
