ABSTRACT
We argued in Chapter 4 that there are four perspectives associated with a Kondratieff type of interpretation of the current persistent worldwide economic malaise in the Affluent Capitalist nations. The Rostow-Kondratieff perspective includes the concept of relative underdevelopment of commodity production because of a long period of relatively low prices (as compared to manufactured goods) and suggests that it will take a couple of decades or so to make this up. In the Forrester-Kondratieff interpretation there is great excess capacity in the capital goods industries because in the long upswing of La Deuxième Belle Epoque they have been providing for their own expansion as well as the expansion of the durable goods industries. Once this expansion tapers off, they do not even have replacement demand, since much of the plant and equipment is new.
