ABSTRACT
The profile of capital accumulation in the United States since World War II is familiar, with the high growth rates of production capacities during the 1960s and 1970s, and the low rates since the recession of 2001. We interpret this profile in relation to Marx’s theory of history and our macroeconomics of financing. A key thesis is the emergence of “managerialism” as new mode of production. Surplus labor is extracted by the traditional channel of the capitalist surplus and the new channel of upper wages. Neoliberalism, as alliance between the two upper classes, capitalists and managers, dramatically increased rates of exploitation (in what is known as the rise of inequality). Most of this surplus is, nowadays, consumed, and accumulation financed by borrowing. Accumulation progresses in a stepwise fashion, with important downward breaks during recessions due to accelerated discards (destructions of capital). Despite such complexities, the grasp of historical tendencies à la Marx is still apparent in long-term trends since World War II.
