Most generally, the accumulation of capital refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value; the increase in wealth; or the creation of wealth. Capital can be generally defined as assets invested for profit. Capital has a number of related meanings in economics, finance and accounting. ...

In economics, accounting and Marxian economics, capital accumulation is often equated with investment, especially in real capital goods. Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... It has been suggested that Accounting scholarship be merged into this article or section. ... Note: Marxian is not restricted to Marxian economics, as it includes those inspired by Marxs works who do not identify with Marxism as a political ideology. ... Invest redirects here. ... In economics, the distinction between nominal and real numbers is often made. ...

But capital accumulation can refer variously to Capital has a number of related meanings in economics, finance and accounting. ...

• real investment in tangible means of production.
• financial investment in paper assets.
• investment in non-productive physical assets such as residential real estate that appreciate in value.
• "human capital accumulation," i.e., new education and training increasing the skills of the (potential) labour force.

Non-financial capital accumulation is an essential factor for economic growth, since additional investment is essential to enlarge the scale of production and increase employment opportunities. Without this, the total amount of tangible wealth that can be traded would not increase. Means of production (abbreviated MoP; German: Produktionsmittel), also called means of labour are the materials, tools and other instruments used by workers to make products. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Real estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. ... Human capital is a way of defining and categorizing the skills and abilities as used in employment and as they otherwise contribute to the economy. ... Skill is human (usually learned) ability to perform actions. ... In economics the labor force is the group of people who have a potential for being employed. ... World GDP/capita changed very little for most of human history before the industrial revolution. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ...

In modern macroeconomics and econometrics the term capital formation is often used in preference to "accumulation", though UNCTAD refers nowadays to "accumulation". Circulation in macroeconomics Macroeconomics is a branch of Economics that deals with the performance, structure, and behavior of the economy as a whole. ... Econometrics literally means economic measurement. It is a combination of mathematical economics and statistics. ... Capital formation is a term used in national accounts statistics and macroeconomics. ... The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body, UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment and development issues. ...

Harrod-Domar model

In macroeconomics, following the Harrod-Domar model, the savings ratio (s) and the capital coefficient (k) are regarded as critical factors for accumulation and growth, assuming that all saving is used to finance fixed investment. The rate of growth of the real stock of fixed capital (K) is: Circulation in macroeconomics Macroeconomics is a branch of Economics that deals with the performance, structure, and behavior of the economy as a whole. ... The Harrod-Domar model is used in development economics to explain an economys growth rate in terms of the level of saving and productivity of capital. ... The savings ratio is an economics term that refers to the proportion of income which is saved, usually expressed for household savings as a percentage of total household disposable income. ... A stock in business and social accounting refers to the value of an asset at a balance date (or point in time), while a flow refers to the total value of transactions (sales or purchases) during an accounting period. ...

where Y is the real national income. If the capital-output ratio or capital coefficient () is constant, the rate of growth of Y is equal to the rate of growth of K. This is determined by s (the ratio of net fixed investment or saving to Y) and k.

A country might for example save and invest 12% of its national income, and then if the capital coefficient is 4:1 (i.e. $4 billion must be invested to increase the national income by 1 billion) the rate of growth of the national income might be 3% annually. However, as Keynesian economics points out, savings do not automatically mean investment (as liquid funds may be hoarded for example). Investment may also not be investment in fixed capital (see above). This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Fixed capital is a concept in economics and accounting, first theoretically analysed in some depth by the economist David Ricardo. ...

Assuming that the turnover of total production capital invested remains constant, the proportion of total investment which just maintains the stock of total capital, rather than enlarging it, will typically increase as the total stock increases. The growth rate of incomes and net new investments must then also increase, in order to accelerate the growth of the capital stock. Simply put, the bigger capital grows, the more capital it takes to keep it growing and the more markets must expand.

The measurement of accumulation

Accumulation can be measured as the monetary value of investments, or as the change in the value of assets owned. Using company balance sheets, tax data and direct surveys as a basis, government statisticians estimate total investments and assets for the purpose of national accounts, Input-output tables national balance of payments and Flow of funds statistics. Usually the Reserve Banks and the Treasury provide interpretations and analysis of this data. Standard indicators include Capital formation, Gross fixed capital formation, fixed capital, household asset wealth, and foreign direct investment. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Economic policy Monetary policy Central bank   Money supply Fiscal policy Spending   Deficit   Debt Trade policy Tariff   Trade agreement Finance Financial market Financial market participants Corporate   Personal Public   Banking   Regulation        A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed on... Statistical surveys are used to collect quantitative information about items in a population. ... Measures of national income and output are used in economics to estimate the value of goods and services produced in an economy. ... The balance of payments is a measure of the payments that flow from one exports and imports of goods, services, and financial capital, as well financial transfers. ... Reserve Bank can amongst other things be: Reserve Bank of Australia Reserve Bank of Fiji Building Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of New Zealand Reserve Bank of Vietnam Federal Reserve Bank (United States) This is a disambiguation page — a list of articles associated with the same title. ... The term treasury was first used in classical times to describe the votive buildings erected to house gifts to the gods, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or the many buildings put up in Olympia, Greece by competing city-states, to impress each other during the Ancient Olympic Games. ... Capital formation is a term used in national accounts statistics and macroeconomics. ... Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) is a macroeconomic concept used in official national accounts since the 1930s. ... Fixed capital is a concept in economics and accounting, first theoretically analysed in some depth by the economist David Ricardo. ... Foreign direct investment (FDI) is defined as a long-term investment by a foreign direct investor in an enterprise resident in an economy other than that in which the foreign direct investor is based. ...

Organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, UNCTAD, the World Bank Group, the OECD, and the Bank for International Settlements used national investment data to estimate world trends. The Bureau of Economic Analysis, Eurostat and the Japan Statistical Office provide data on the USA, Europe and Japan respectively. This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body, UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment and development issues. ... It has been suggested that World Bank be merged into this article or section. ... The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization of those developed countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and a free market economy. ... BIS Headquarters in Basel The Bank for International Settlements (or BIS) is an international organization of central banks which exists to foster cooperation among central banks and other agencies in pursuit of monetary and financial stability. It carries out its work through subcommittees, the secretariats it hosts, and through its... The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that provides a comprehensive statistical picture of the economy of the United States. ... The Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) is the statistical arm of the European Commission, producing data for the European Union and promoting harmonisation of statistical methods across the member states. ...

Other useful sources of investment information are business magazines such as Fortune, Forbes, The Economist, Business Weekly etc. as well as various corporate "watchdog" organisations and NGO publications. A reputable scientific journal is the Review of Income & Wealth. In the case of the USA, the "Analytical Perspectives" document (an annex to the yearly budget) provides useful wealth and capital estimates applying to the whole country. This article is about the magazine as a published medium. ... Fortune magazine is Americas second longest-running business magazine after Forbes magazine. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London, UK. It has been in continuous publication since September 1843. ... A watchdog originally referred to a dogs job, but now has been used in additional contexts with the same implication of watching or safeguarding: For the dogs job, see guard dog. ... A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a private institution that is independent of the government although many NGOs, particular in the global South, are funded by Northern governments. ...

Psychology, sociology and ethics of capital accumulation

There have been numerous psychological and sociological studies of the motivations of investment behaviour by individuals. Most of these suggest that the propensity to accumulate capital is associated with qualities such as an intelligent understanding of property ownership, a positive attitude towards money, the ability to seize a money-making opportunity, and a desire to acquire more wealth. These are not innate or genetic qualities, but learnt through social experience. Psychology (ancient Greek: psyche = soul and logos = word) is the study of mind, thought, and behaviour. ... Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. ... Look up innate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... DNA, the molecular basis for inheritance. ... Although the term social is a crucial category in social science and often used in public discourse, its meaning is often vague, suggesting that it is a fuzzy concept. ...

However, even if a strong motivation for enrichment exists, the business climate, local culture or social instability may prevent this motivation from being realised. Hernando de Soto for example argues that the reason why poor countries are poor is mainly because of the absence of a legal-cultural infrastructure of "asset management" and of formalised and enforced private property rights. However the most popular argument in this respect remains the vicious cycle of poverty: the poor are poor because they are poor. Critics of this argument object it is an uninformative tautology. Culture (Culture from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning to cultivate,) generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... Hernando de Soto is a: Spanish explorer. ... In Economics and Sociology, the cycle of poverty is a social phenomena whereby poverty-stricken exhibit a tendency to remain poor throughout their lifespan and in many cases across generations. ... Within the study of logic, a tautology is a statement containing more than one sub-statement, that is true regardless of the truth values of its parts. ...

Greed and desire can play a very important role in capital accumulation, but are not a necessary requirement. Indeed according to Max Weber's study of capitalism and the Protestant ethic, frugality, sobriety and saving were among the key values of the rising bourgeoisie in the age of the Reformation. Greed is excessive or uncontrolled desire for or pursuit of money, wealth, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others. ... Look up desire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For the politician, see Max Weber (politician). ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Frugality (also known as thrift or thriftiness), often confused with cheapness or miserliness, is a traditional value, life style, or belief system, in which individuals practice both restraint in the acquiring of and resourceful use of economic goods and services in order to achieve lasting and more fulfilling goals. ... Sobriety is solemn or dignified personal behaviour, in particular moderation or abstinence with regard to (typically) the consumption of alcoholic beverages or other drugs. ... Save might refer to: Save (sport) - to stop a goal or maintain the lead To save a document in computer file management (see also Saving a webpage) The River Save (Zimbabwe), Zimbabwe The River Save (Hungary), Hungary -- joins the Danube just above Belgrade. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ...

Some economic historians (e.g. David Landes) refer to national psychology and argue that some nations or cultures (e.g. Europe) are inherently better equipped for capital accumulation, due to cultural habits, customs and values. David Landes is professor emeritus of economics and retired professor of history at Harvard University. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ...

Other economic historians (e.g. Paul A. Baran) have argued that psychological factors explain very little, because a nation which previously had a low level of accumulation can suddenly "take off". In that case, the causes must be sought in the prevailing social relations. Paul A. Baran (1910 - 1964) was an American economist known for his Marxist views. ... Although Harvard University has featured a Department of Social Relations (in which Talcott Parsons played a prominent role), and although the term social relations is frequently used in social sciences, there is no commonly agreed meaning for this concept (see also the entry social). ...

Controversies about the ethics of accumulation have occurred ever since commercial trade began. If informal and formal prostitution is regarded as the oldest profession, the first ethical debate about accumulation must have occurred tens of thousands of years ago at the very least. The problem is that trade or market forces do not create any particular morality of their own, beyond the requirement to meet contractual obligations that settle transactions. Some forms of trade may be accepted, others rejected, but there exists no general moral principle for this which can be derived from the trade itself. Ethics (via Latin from the Ancient Greek moral philosophy, from the adjective of Ä“thos custom, habit), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of values and customs of a person or group. ... Whore redirects here. ... It has been suggested that Commerce be merged into this article or section. ... Look up Market in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... -1... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ...

A good contemporary illustration of this problem is the gigantic increase in total reported crime and the grey economy or shadow economy after the deregulation of world markets from the 1980s, and the marketisation of the USSR and China. But ancient philosophers and theologians already knew about the problem, which is why they were intensely preoccupied with the politics of the “rule of law” and its enforcement. The grey market (in U.S. spelling, gray market) refers to the flow of goods through distribution channels other than those authorized by the manufacturer or producer. ... Shadow Economy can be defined as unregistered, undeclared, and not taxed share of the whole economy. ... Deregulation is the process by which governments remove, reduce, or simplify restrictions on business and individuals in order to (in theory) encourage the efficient operation of markets. ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... Theology is literally rational discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, rational discourse). By extension, it also refers to the study of other religious topics. ...

The main ethical questions concern which routes to wealth are morally justifiable, and what entitles individuals and groups to appropriate amounts of wealth, in particular wealth which they have not themselves created. The medieval economists invented theories of a just price and the moral debate surfaces again these days e.g. in the controversies about fair trade, imperialism and Islamic banking. Neo-liberal theory emphasises that a "good" person is one who creates new wealth, while socialist theory says a "good" person shares the wealth. The most popular moral theories are similar to that of John Rawls. Wealth from the old English word weal, which means well-being or welfare. The term was originally an adjective to describe the possession of such qualities. ... The just price is a theory of ethics in economics which attempted to set standards of fairness in financial transactions. ... Certified Fair trade quinoa producers in Ecuador. ... For the computer game, see Imperialism (computer game). ... Islamic banking refers to a system of banking or banking activity that is consistent with Islamic law (Shariah) principles and guided by Islamic economics. ... The term neoliberalism is used to describe a political-economic philosophy that had major implications for government policies beginning in the 1970s – and increasingly prominent since 1980 – that de-emphasizes or rejects positive government intervention in the economy, focusing instead on achieving progress and even social justice by... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... John Rawls (February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American philosopher, a professor of political philosophy at Harvard University and author of A Theory of Justice (1971), Political Liberalism, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, and The Law of Peoples. ...

Karl Marx illustrated his analysis with sarcastic comments about “Christian accumulation”; some forms of accumulation were believed to be compatible with Jesus Christ, while other were not; some forms of accumulation were forgiven by God afterwards, others were not. Martin Luther for example raged against usury and extortion. For another example, the famous christian hymn Amazing Grace was written by the captain of a slave ship. Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ... Look up usury in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person either obtains money, property or services from another through coercion or intimidation or threatens one with physical harm unless they are paid money or property. ... A piper plays Amazing Grace on Memorial Day. ...

Marxism-Leninism is hostile to private property and market activity. It must be kept in mind that the "private property" that Marx refers to is the ownership of the means of production by a generally small elite of wealthy entrepreneurs, a type of oligarchy also in command of the bourgeois state, and not any aspect of personal property per se such as homes, cars, or other assets of personal use. Ideological enemies of Marxism have made much of this confusion, creating fears in the general population that communism is about sharing everything, down to the last towel, toothbrush, and even wives. In fact the original doctrine of Christ is far more radical in its demand for the sharing of property and wealth redistribution than Marx. Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ...

But because capital accumulation does not presuppose any particular or specific "moral system", accumulation can also continue regardless of any particular morality advocated by popes, presidents, queens, journalists, pop stars, business tycoons or anybody else. All that is required is (1) the ability to own assets and trade in them and (2) sufficient income beyond subsistence to be able to afford accumulation.-1... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Pope (from Latin... President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. ... Cleopatra is one of the most well-known queens regnant A queen regnant (plural queens regnant) is a female monarch who possesses all the monarchal powers that a king would have without regard to gender. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... A celebrity is a person who is widely recognized in a society. ... A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a mogul, tycoon, or industrialist is a person who controls a large portion of a particular industry and whose wealth derives primarily from this control. ... Income, generally defined, is the money that is received as a result of the normal business activities of an individual or a business. ... The following is a list of subsistence techniques: Hunting and Gathering, also known as Foraging freeganism involves gathering of discarded food in the context of an urban environment gleaning involves the gathering of food that traditional farmers have left behind in their fields Cultivation Horticulture - plant cultivation, based on the...

Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... Image File history File links Karl_Marx. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Das Kapital (Capital, in the English translation) is an extensive treatise on political economy written by Karl Marx in German. ... Marxs theory of alienation (Entfremdung in German), as expressed in the writings of young Karl Marx, refers to the separation of things that naturally belong together, or to antagonism between things that are properly in harmony. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Class consciousness is a category of Marxist theory, referring to the self-awareness of a social class, its capacity to act in its own rational interests, or measuring the extent to which an individual is conscious of the historical tasks their class (or class allegiance) sets for them. ... In Marxist theory, commodity fetishism is a state of social relations, said to arise in complex capitalist market systems, in which social relationships center around the values placed on commodities. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... Cultural hegemony is a concept coined by Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci. ... The rate of exploitation is a concept in Marxian political economy. ... Marxs theory of human nature occupies an important place in his critique of capitalism, his conception of communism, and his materialist conception of history. Marx, however, does not refer to human nature as such, but to Gattungswesen, which is generally translated as species-being or species-essence. What Marx... Political Ideologies Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. ... Reification (German: Verdinglichung, literally: thing-ification) is the consideration of an abstraction or an object as if it had human (pathetic fallacy) or living (reification fallacy) existence and abilities; at the same time it implies the thingification of social relations. ... Relations of production (German: Produktionsverhaltnisse) is a concept frequently used by Karl Marx in his theory of historical materialism and in Das Kapital. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of ideologies and movements which aim to improve society through collective and egalitarian action; and to a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. ... Note: Marxian is not restricted to Marxian economics, as it includes those inspired by Marxs works who do not identify with Marxism as a political ideology. ... Labor power (in German: Arbeitskraft, or labor force) is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... The law of value is a concept in Karl Marxs critique of political economy. ... Means of production (abbreviated MoP; German: Produktionsmittel), also called means of labour are the materials, tools and other instruments used by workers to make products. ... In the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production (in German: Produktionsweise, meaning the way of producing) is a specific combination of: productive forces: these include human labor-power, tools, equipment, buildings and technologies, materials, and improved land social and technical relations... For the specific theoretical justifications behind the Great Leap Forward and the Five Year Plans, see Theory of Productive Forces. ... Surplus labour is a concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... Surplus value, according to Marxism, is unpaid labour that is extracted from the worker by the capitalist, and serves as the basis for capitalist accumulation. ... In Karl Marxs economics the transformation problem is the problem of finding a general rule to transform the values of commodities (based on labour according to his labour theory of value) into the competitive prices of the marketplace. ... Wage labour is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer in which the worker sells their labour under a contract (employment), and the employer buys it, often in a labour market. ... While anarchism and Marxism are two different political philosophies, there is some similarity between the methodology and ideology of groups of anarchists and Marxists, and the history of the two have often been intertwined. ... The capitalist mode of production is a concept in Karl Marx’s critique of political economy. ... Class struggle is the active expression of class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. ... The dictatorship of the proletariat is a term employed by Karl Marx in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Program that refers to a transition period between capitalist and communist society in which the state can be nothing but the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. The term refers to a... Primitive accumulation of capital is a concept introduced by Karl Marx in part 8 of the first volume of Das Kapital (in German: ursprüngliche Akkumulation, literally original accumulation or primeval accumulation). Its purpose is to help explain how the capitalist mode of production can come into being. ... A communist revolution is a social revolution inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism, normally with socialism (public ownership over the means of production) as an intermediate stage. ... International Socialism redirects here. ... World revolution is a Marxist concept of a violent overthrow of capitalism that would take place in all countries, although not necessarily simultaneously. ... Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are terms which cover work in philosophy which is strongly influenced by Karl Marxs materialist approach to theory or which is written by Marxists. ... Historical materialism is the methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history which was first articulated by Karl Marx (1818-1883), although Marx himself never used the term (he referred it as philosophical materialism, a term he used to distinguish it from what he called popular materialism). Historical... According to many followers of the theories of Karl Marx (or Marxists), dialectical materialism is the philosophical basis of Marxism. ... Analytical Marxism refers to a style of thinking about Marxism that was prominent amongst English-speaking philosophers and social scientists during the 1980s. ... For other meanings of autonomism, see autonomism (disambiguation) page Raised fist, stenciled protest symbol of Autonome at the Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus in Vienna, Austria Autonomism refers to a set of left-wing political and social movements and theories close to the socialist movement. ... Marxist feminism is a sub-type of feminist theory which focuses on the dismantling of capitalism as a way to liberate women. ... The term Marxist humanism has as its foundation Marxs conception of the alienation of the labourer as he advances it in his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844--an alienation that is born of a capitalist system in which the worker no longer functions as (what Marx terms) a... Structural Marxism was an approach to Marxist philosophy based on structuralism, primarily associated with the work of the French philosopher Louis Althusser and his students. ... Western Marxism is a term used to describe a wide variety of Marxist theoreticians based in Western and Central Europe (and more recently North America), in contrast with philosophy in the Soviet Union. ... Libertarian Marxism is a school of Marxism that takes a less authoritarian view of Marxist theory than conventional currents such as Stalinism, Trotskyism, and other forms of Marxism-Leninism, as well as a generally less reformist view than do Social Democrats. ... ‘Young Marx’ is one half of the concept in Marxology that Karl Marx’s intellectual development can be broken into two board categories, the other being ‘Mature Marx’. There is disagreement though as to when Marx thought began to mature, Lenin claimed Marxs first mature work as “The Poverty... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Friedrich Engels (November 28, 1820 – August 5, 1895) was a German social scientist and philosopher, who developed communist theory alongside his better-known collaborator, Karl Marx, co-authoring The Communist Manifesto (1848). ... Karl Kautsky (October 18, 1854 - October 17, 1938) was a leading theoretician of social democracy. ... G. V. Plekhanov Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (Георгий Валентинович Плеханов) (December 11, 1856 – May 30, 1918; Old Style: November 29, 1856 – May 17, 1918) was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist theoretician. ... Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Russian: , IPA: , better known by the alias   () (April 22, 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a Russian revolutionary, a communist politician, the main leader of the October Revolution, the first head of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, until 1922 (or Bolshevist Russia), and the primary theorist of Leninism...   (Russian: Лeв Давидович Трóцкий, Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7 [O.S. October 26] 1879 – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (), was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. ... Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (March 5, 1870 or 1871 – January 15, 1919, in Polish Róża Luksemburg) was a Jewish Polish-born Marxist political theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary. ... “Mao” redirects here. ... Georg Lukács (April 13, 1885 – June 4, 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher and literary critic in the tradition of Western Marxism. ... Antonio Gramsci (IPA: ) (January 22, 1891 – April 27, 1937) was an Italian writer, politician and political theorist. ... Karl Korsch (August 15, 1886 - October 21, 1961) was a German Marxist theorist. ... Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (June 14,[1] 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara, El Che or just Che was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, medical doctor , political figure, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. ... Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and Jürgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg The Frankfurt School is a school of neo-Marxist social theory (which is more akin to anarchism than communism), social research, and philosophy. ... Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (June 21, 1905 – April 15, 1980), normally known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre (pronounced: ), was a French existentialist philosopher and pioneer, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist and critic. ... Louis Pierre Althusser (Pronunciation: altuË¡seʁ) (October 16, 1918 – October 23, 1990) was a Marxist philosopher. ... This article is on criticisms of Marxism, a branch of socialism. ...

Marxian concept of capital accumulation

In Karl Marx's critique of political economy, capital accumulation refers to the chrematistic operation whereby a sum of money is transformed into a larger sum of money (capitalism is this money-making activity, although Marx often equates capitalism with the capitalist mode of production). Here, capital is defined essentially as economic or commercial asset value in search of additional value or surplus-value. This requires property relations which enable objects of value to be appropriated and owned. Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Various denominations of currency, one form of money Money is any good or token that functions as a medium of exchange that is socially and legally accepted in payment for goods and services and in settlement of debts. ... Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are all or mostly privately[1][2] owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a free market. ... The capitalist mode of production is a concept in Karl Marx’s critique of political economy. ... In general, the economic value of something is how much a product or service is worth to someone relative to other things (often measured in money). ... The production of surplus value, from Karl Marxs Capital in Lithographs, by Hugo Gellert, 1934 Surplus value is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy, where its ultimate source is claimed to be unpaid surplus labour performed by the worker for the capitalist, serving... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

According to Marx, capital accumulation has a double origin, namely in trade and in expropriation, both of a legal or illegal kind. The reason is that a stock of capital can be increased through a process of exchange or "trading up" but also through directly taking an asset or resource from someone else, without compensation. David Harvey calls this accumulation by dispossession. Marx does not discuss gifts and grants as a source of capital accumulation, nor does he analyze taxation in detail. Nowadays the tax take is so large (i.e. 25-40% of GDP) that some authors refer to state capitalism. It has been suggested that Commerce be merged into this article or section. ... Expropriation is the act of removing from control the owner of an item of property. ... David Harvey can refer to: David Harvey, former Leeds United goalkeeper (soccer) David Harvey, Marxist geographer David Harvey, philosopher David Harvey, Grammy Award winning producer D.Q.Harvey, statistician and treasurer of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians David Harvey, television presenter and executive David Harvey, author of Monuments... Accumulation by dispossession is a concept presented by the Marxist academic David Harvey, which defines the neoliberal changes in many western nations, from the 1970s and to the present day, as being guided mainly by four practices. ... Love gift Man presents a cut of meat to a youth with a hoop. ... Grants are funds given to tax-exempt nonprofit organizations or local governments by foundations, corporations, governments, small business and individuals. ... There are multiple definitions of the term state capitalism. ...

The continuation and progress of capital accumulation depends on the removal of obstacles to the expansion of trade, and this has historically often been a violent process. As markets expand, more and more new opportunities develop for accumulating capital, because more and more types of goods and services can be traded in. But capital accumulation may also confront resistance, when people refuse to sell, or refuse to buy (for example a strike by investors or workers, or consumer resistance). What spurs accumulation is competition; in business, if you don't go forward, you go backward, and unless the law prevents it, the strong will exploit the weak. Violence is a general term to describe actions, usually deliberate, that cause or intend to cause injury to people, animals, or non-living objects. ... Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). ...

In general, Marx's critique of capital accumulation is that the human chase after wealth and self-enrichment leads to inhuman consequences. The enrichment of some is at the expense of the immiseration of others, and competition becomes brutal. The basis of it all is the exploitation of the labour effort of others. When the "economic cake" expands, this may be obscured because all can gain from trade. But when the "economic cake" shrinks, then capital accumulation can only occur by taking income or assets from other people, other social classes, or other nations. The point is that to exist, capital must always grow, and to ensure that it will grow, people are prepared to do almost anything. Wealth from the old English word weal, which means well-being or welfare. The term was originally an adjective to describe the possession of such qualities. ... The Inhumans are a fictional race of superhumans in the Marvel Comics universe, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. ... The term exploitation may carry two distinct meanings: The act of utilizing something for any purpose. ...

The rate of accumulation

In Marxian economics, the rate of accumulation is defined as (1) the value of the real net increase in the stock of capital in an accounting period, (2) the proportion of realised surplus-value or profit-income which is reinvested, rather than consumed. This rate can be expressed by means of various ratios between the original capital outlay, the realised turnover, surplus-value or profit and reinvestments (see e.g. the writings of the economist Michal Kalecki). Note: Marxian is not restricted to Marxian economics, as it includes those inspired by Marxs works who do not identify with Marxism as a political ideology. ... A stock in business and social accounting refers to the value of an asset at a balance date (or point in time), while a flow refers to the total value of transactions (sales or purchases) during an accounting period. ... The production of surplus value, from Karl Marxs Capital in Lithographs, by Hugo Gellert, 1934 Surplus value is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy, where its ultimate source is claimed to be unpaid surplus labour performed by the worker for the capitalist, serving... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Look up Turnover in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The production of surplus value, from Karl Marxs Capital in Lithographs, by Hugo Gellert, 1934 Surplus value is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy, where its ultimate source is claimed to be unpaid surplus labour performed by the worker for the capitalist, serving... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Michał Kalecki (22nd June 1899-18 April 1970) was one of the greatest Polish economist. ...

Other things being equal, the greater the amount of profit-income that is disbursed as personal earnings and used for consumptive purposes, the lower the savings rate and the lower the rate of accumulation is likely to be. However, earnings spent on consumption can also stimulate market demand and higher investment. This is the cause of endless controversies in economic theory about "how much to spend, and how much to save".

In a boom period of capitalism, the growth of investments is cumulative, i.e. one investment leads to another, leading to a constantly expanding market, an expanding labor force, and an increase in the standard of living for the majority of the people. Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are all or mostly privately[1][2] owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a free market. ...

In a stagnating, decadent capitalism, the accumulation process is increasingly oriented towards investment on military and security forces, real estate, financial speculation, and luxury consumption. In that case, income from value-adding production will decline in favour of interest, rent and tax income, with as a corollary an increase in the level of permanent unemployment. Decadence was the name given, first by hostile critics, and then triumphantly adopted by some writers themselves, to a number of late nineteenth century fin de siècle writers associated with Symbolism or the Aesthetic movement. ... Value added refers to the additional value created at a particular stage of production or through image and marketing. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

As a rule, the larger the total sum of capital invested, the higher the return on investment will be. The more capital one owns, the more capital one can also borrow and reinvest at a higher rate of profit or interest. The inverse is also true, and this is one factor in the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

Ernest Mandel emphasized that the rhythm of capital accumulation and growth depended critically on (1) the division of a society's social product between "necessary product" and "surplus product", and (2) the division of the surplus product between investment and consumption. In turn, this allocation pattern reflected the outcome of competition among capitalists, competition between capitalists and workers, and competition between workers. The pattern of capital accumulation can therefore never be simply explained by commercial factors, it also involved social factors and power relationships. Ernest Mandel Ernest Ezra Mandel, also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter etc. ... Surplus product (German: Mehrprodukt) is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... Surplus product (German: Mehrprodukt) is a concept explicitly theorised by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... Invest redirects here. ... In economics, consumption refers to the final use of goods and services to provide utility. ... Competition is the act of striving against others for the purpose of achieving gain, such as income, pride, amusement, or dominance. ... There is no agreed-upon definition of power in economics. ...

The origin of capital accumulation in trade

In the simplest circuit of commercial trade, a sum of money M is loaned and returned with interest as the larger sum M'. Or, as a variation, M is traded for another currency, which rises in value. In counter-trade (a form of barter in which money may be used only to value goods and services), a commodity C exchanges for another commodity C', which may also result in a larger sum of value. Marx calls the additional value surplus-value. Countertrade is exchanging goods or services that are paid for, in whole or part, with other goods or services. ... The production of surplus value, from Karl Marxs Capital in Lithographs, by Hugo Gellert, 1934 Surplus value is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy, where its ultimate source is claimed to be unpaid surplus labour performed by the worker for the capitalist, serving...

In a slightly more complex trading circuit, a sum of money M buys a commodity C which upon sale yields a larger sum of money M', which can be reinvested. Alternatively, the circuit C − M − C' could substitute for M − C − M' but in this case the enlarged value consists of commodities rather than of money. These circuits are basic to merchant trade. Merchants function as professionals who deal with trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves, in order to produce profit. ... It has been suggested that Commerce be merged into this article or section. ...

In the more developed trading circuit of capitalism, however, M buys inputs C (means of production and labour-power) which through new production creates outputs C' and upon sale yield a larger sum of money M'. In this case, we are no longer dealing with merchant capitalism, but with capitalist industry (the capitalist mode of production: all or most of the inputs and outputs of production are available as marketed commodities, and the costs & benefits of total production are rationally calculated in price terms. Merchant capitalism is a term used by economic historians to refer to the earliest phase in the development of capitalism as an economy and social system. ... The capitalist mode of production is a concept in Karl Marx’s critique of political economy. ...

In modern capitalism, the circuits of finance, commerce and production have become exceedingly complex, often lack transparency and may involve multilateral exchanges or a lot of fictitious capital. The daily trading volume in the world's foreign exchange markets was estimated at $1.88 trillion in 2004, as against $590 billion in 1989 (current dollars) (Der Spiegel, special edition 4/2005, p. 107). By comparison, the New York Stock Exchange daily volume is said to be around $25 billion a day, and the international futures markets are said to trade about $35 billion worth of contracts a day. Speculative trading makes up the bulk of the daily trading volumes. Most rich people do not want to bother with the financial management of most of their wealth, and know little about it. Investment specialists make their money from investing the money of the rich using their superior market knowledge, contacts, networks and commercial skills. Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are all or mostly privately[1][2] owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a free market. ... In the physical sciences, specifically in optics, a transparent physical object is one that can be seen through. ... Multilateralism is an international relations term that refers to multiple countries working in concert. ... Fictitious capital is a concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. ... The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), nicknamed the Big Board, is a New York City-based stock exchange. ...

The circuit of capital accumulation from production

Strictly speaking, capital has accumulated only when realised profit income has been reinvested in capital assets. But the process of capital accumulation in production has, as suggested in the first volume of Marx's Das Kapital, at least 7 distinct but linked moments: This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Das Kapital (Capital, in the English translation) is an extensive treatise on political economy written by Karl Marx in German. ...

• The initial investment of capital (which could be borrowed capital) in means of production and labor power.
• The command over surplus-labour and its appropriation.
• The valorisation of capital through production.
• The appropriation of the new output produced by employees, containing the added value.
• The realisation of surplus-value through output sales.
• The appropriation of realised surplus-value as (profit) income after deduction of costs.
• The reinvestment of profit income in production.

All of these moments do not refer simply to an "economic" or commercial process. Rather, they assume the existence of legal, social, cultural and economic power conditions, without which creation, distribution and circulation of the new wealth could not occur. This becomes especially clear when the attempt is made to create a market where none exists, or where people refuse to trade. Invest redirects here. ... This article is about a city that serves as a center of government and politics. ... Means of production (abbreviated MoP; German: Produktionsmittel), also called means of labour are the materials, tools and other instruments used by workers to make products. ... Labor power (in German: Arbeitskraft, or labor force) is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... Surplus labour is a concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... The valorization of capital is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ... The production of surplus value, from Karl Marxs Capital in Lithographs, by Hugo Gellert, 1934 Surplus value is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy, where its ultimate source is claimed to be unpaid surplus labour performed by the worker for the capitalist, serving... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about law in society. ... Although the term social is a crucial category in social science and often used in public discourse, its meaning is often vague, suggesting that it is a fuzzy concept. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... There is no agreed-upon definition of power in economics. ... Wealth from the old English word weal, which means well-being or welfare. The term was originally an adjective to describe the possession of such qualities. ...

In fact Marx suggests that the original or primitive accumulation of capital often occurs through violence, plunder, slavery, robbery, extortion and theft. He argues that thecapitalist mode of production requires that people must be forced to work in value-adding production for someone else, and for this purpose, they must be cut off from sources of income other than selling their labor power. Primitive accumulation of capital is a concept introduced by Karl Marx in part 8 of the first volume of Das Kapital (in German: ursprüngliche Akkumulation, literally original accumulation or primeval accumulation). Its purpose is to help explain how the capitalist mode of production can come into being. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Looting (which derives via the Hindi lut from Sanskrit lunt, to rob) is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophy or riot, such as during war [1], natural disaster [2], rioting [3], or terrorist attack [4]. The term... Slave redirects here. ... Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person either obtains money, property or services from another through coercion or intimidation or threatens one with physical harm unless they are paid money or property. ... Everyday instance of theft: the bike which fits on this wheel has disappeared. ... The capitalist mode of production is a concept in Karl Marx’s critique of political economy. ... Labor power (in German: Arbeitskraft, or labor force) is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ...

Simple and expanded reproduction

In volume 2 of Das Kapital, Marx continues the story and shows that, with the aid of bank credit, capital in search of growth can more or less smoothly mutate from one form to another, alternately taking the form of money capital (liquid deposits, securities, etc.), commodity capital (tradeable products, real estate etc.), or production capital (means of production and labor power). Das Kapital (Capital, in the English translation) is an extensive treatise on political economy written by Karl Marx in German. ... “Banker” redirects here. ... Credit as a financial term, used in such terms as credit card, refers to the granting of a loan and the creation of debt. ... Various denominations of currency, one form of money Money is any good or token that functions as a medium of exchange that is socially and legally accepted in payment for goods and services and in settlement of debts. ... A commodity is something for which there is demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a given market. ... Means of production (abbreviated MoP; German: Produktionsmittel), also called means of labour are the materials, tools and other instruments used by workers to make products. ... Labor power (in German: Arbeitskraft, or labor force) is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ...

His discussion of the simple and expanded reproduction of the conditions of production offers a more sophisticated model of the parameters of the accumulation process as a whole. At simple reproduction, a sufficient amount is produced to sustain society at the given living standard; the stock of capital stays constant. At expanded reproduction, more product-value is produced than is necessary to sustain society at a given living standard (a surplus product; the additional product-value is available for investments which enlarge the scale and variety of production. In Marxian economics, economic reproduction refers to recurrent (or cyclical) processes by which the initial conditions necessary for economic activity to occur are constantly re-created. ... The Standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people. ... The Standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people. ... Surplus product (German: Mehrprodukt) is a concept explicitly theorised by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ...

Yet there is no economic law according to which capital is necessarily re-invested in the expansion of production; that depends on anticipated profitability, market expectations and perceptions of investment risk. All that Marx proves is that in capitalism production of output is conditional on capital accumulation, i.e. at least in the longer term, if production is not profitable, it will close down. Law and economics, or Economic analysis of law, is the term usually applied to an approach to legal theory that incorporates methods and ideas borrowed from the discipline of economics. ... Lets talk about risk control strategies, anyone with more information and willing to share, please do so. ... Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are all or mostly privately[1][2] owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a free market. ...

Ernest Mandel introduced the additional concept of contracted economic reproduction, i.e. reduced accumulation where business operating at a loss outnumbers growing business, or economic reproduction on a decreasing scale, for example due to wars, natural disasters or devalorisation. Ernest Mandel Ernest Ezra Mandel, also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter etc. ... The valorization of capital is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy. ...

Balanced economic growth requires that different factors in the accumulation process expand in appropriate proportions. But markets themselves cannot spontaneously create that balance, in fact what drives business activity is precisely the imbalances between supply and demand: inequality is the motor of growth. This partly explains why the worldwide pattern of economic growth is very uneven and unequal, even although markets have existed almost everwhere for a very long time. It also explains government regulation of market trade and protectionism. World GDP/capita changed very little for most of human history before the industrial revolution. ... The supply and demand model describes how prices vary as a result of a balance between product availability at each price (supply) and the desires of those with purchasing power at each price (demand). ... The World in Plate Carrée Projection In English, world is rooted in a compound of the obsolete words were, man, and eld, age; thus, its oldest meaning is Age of Man. ... Look up Market in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... It has been suggested that Commerce be merged into this article or section. ... Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, a variety of restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports, and anti-dumping laws in an attempt to protect domestic industries in a particular nation from foreign take-over...

Capital accumulation as social relation

"Accumulation of capital" sometimes also refers in Marxist writings to the reproduction of capitalist social relations (institutions) on a larger scale over time, i.e., the expansion of the size of the proletariat and of the wealth owned by the bourgeoisie. Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are all or mostly privately[1][2] owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a free market. ... Although Harvard University has featured a Department of Social Relations (in which Talcott Parsons played a prominent role), and although the term social relations is frequently used in social sciences, there is no commonly agreed meaning for this concept (see also the entry social). ... Institutions are structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of two or more individuals. ... The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. ... Wealth from the old English word weal, which means well-being or welfare. The term was originally an adjective to describe the possession of such qualities. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

This interpretation emphasizes that capital ownership, predicated on command over labor, is a social relation: the growth of capital implies the growth of the working class (a "law of accumulation"). In the first volume of Das Kapital Marx had illustrated this idea with reference to Edward Gibbon Wakefield's theory of colonisation: The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... Das Kapital (Capital, in the English translation) is an extensive treatise on political economy written by Karl Marx in German. ...

"...Wakefield discovered that in the Colonies, property in money, means of subsistence, machines, and other means of production, does not as yet stamp a man as a capitalist if there be wanting the correlative — the wage-worker, the other man who is compelled to sell himself of his own free-will. He discovered that capital is not a thing, but a social relation between persons, established by the instrumentality of things. Mr. Peel, he moans, took with him from England to Swan River, West Australia, means of subsistence and of production to the amount of £50,000. Mr. Peel had the foresight to bring with him, besides, 3,000 persons of the working-class, men, women, and children. Once arrived at his destination, “Mr. Peel was left without a servant to make his bed or fetch him water from the river.” Unhappy Mr. Peel, who provided for everything except the export of English modes of production to Swan River!" - [1]

In the third volume of Das Kapital, Marx refers to the "fetishism of capital" reaching its highest point with interest-bearing capital, because now capital seems to grow of its own accord without anybody doing anything. In this case, Das Kapital (Capital, in the English translation) is an extensive treatise on political economy written by Karl Marx in German. ...

"The relations of capital assume their most externalised and most fetish-like form in interest-bearing capital. We have here M − M', money creating more money, self-expanding value, without the process that effectuates these two extremes. In merchant's capital, M − C − M', there is at least the general form of the capitalistic movement, although it confines itself solely to the sphere of circulation, so that profit appears merely as profit derived from alienation; but it is at least seen to be the product of a social relation, not the product of a mere thing. (...) This is obliterated in M − M', the form of interest-bearing capital. (...) The thing (money, commodity, value) is now capital even as a mere thing, and capital appears as a mere thing. The result of the entire process of reproduction appears as a property inherent in the thing itself. It depends on the owner of the money, i.e., of the commodity in its continually exchangeable form, whether he wants to spend it as money or loan it out as capital. In interest-bearing capital, therefore, this automatic fetish, self-expanding value, money generating money, are brought out in their pure state and in this form it no longer bears the birth-marks of its origin. The social relation is consummated in the relation of a thing, of money, to itself. - Instead of the actual transformation of money into capital, we see here only form without content." [2] Although Harvard University has featured a Department of Social Relations (in which Talcott Parsons played a prominent role), and although the term social relations is frequently used in social sciences, there is no commonly agreed meaning for this concept (see also the entry social). ...

Different forms of capital accumulation

Essentially, in capitalism the production of output depends on the accumulation of capital. The propensity to invest in production therefore depends a lot on expectations of profitability and sales volume, and on perceptions of market risk. If production stops being profitable, or if sales drop sharply, or if there is social instability, capital will exit more and more from the sphere of production. Or if it cannot or does not, rationalisation investments will be undertaken, to amalgamate unprofitable enterprises into profitable units. Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are all or mostly privately[1][2] owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a free market. ... Profitability is a technical analysis term used to compare performances of different trading systems or different investments within one system. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... Market risk is the risk that the value of an investment will decrease due to moves in market factors. ...

As a corollary, capital accumulation may be the accumulation of production capital (industrial assets), or the accumulation of money capital (financial assets), or the accumulation of commodity capital (products, real estate etc. which can be traded).

But irrespective of whether the additional capital value (or surplus-value happens to take the form of profit, interest, rent, or some kind of tax impost or royalty income, what drives the accumulation process is the perpetual search for more surplus-value, for added value as such. The production of surplus value, from Karl Marxs Capital in Lithographs, by Hugo Gellert, 1934 Surplus value is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy, where its ultimate source is claimed to be unpaid surplus labour performed by the worker for the capitalist, serving... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For other senses of this word, see interest (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with rental agreement. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Economic policy Monetary policy Central bank   Money supply Fiscal policy Spending   Deficit   Debt Trade policy Tariff   Trade agreement Finance Financial market Financial market participants Corporate   Personal Public   Banking   Regulation        A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed on... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The production of surplus value, from Karl Marxs Capital in Lithographs, by Hugo Gellert, 1934 Surplus value is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of political economy, where its ultimate source is claimed to be unpaid surplus labour performed by the worker for the capitalist, serving...

This requires a constant supply of a labor force which can conserve and add value to inputs and capital assets, and thus create a higher value. Normally, the socio-economic compulsion to work for a living in capitalist society is legally enforced and regulated by the state, for example through workfare and strict conditions for receiving an unemployment benefit. A state is a political association with effective dominion over a geographic area. ... Workfare is an alternative model to conventional Social Welfare systems. ... Unemployment benefits are payments made by governments to unemployed people. ...

Although capital accumulation does not necessarily require production, ultimately the basis for it is value-adding production which makes net additions to the stock of wealth. Capital can accumulate by shifting the ownership of assets from one place to another, but ultimately the total stock of assets must increase. Other things being equal, if production fails to grow sufficiently, the level of debt will increase, ultimately causing a breakdown of the accumulation process when debtors cannot pay creditors. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Capital accumulation does not necessarily require trade either, although capital presupposes trade, and the ability to exchange goods for money. The reason is that wealth can be amassed through illegal or legalised expropriation (robbery, plunder, theft, piracy, slavery, embezzlement, fraud and so on). However, a continuous and cumulative accumulation process always presupposes that capital ownership is secure. Consequently, military and police forces have typically been necessary for capital accumulation on a larger scale, to protect property. It has been suggested that Commerce be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about a city that serves as a center of government and politics. ... Looting (which derives via the Hindi lut from Sanskrit lunt, to rob) is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophy or riot, such as during war [1], natural disaster [2], rioting [3], or terrorist attack [4]. The term... Everyday instance of theft: the bike which fits on this wheel has disappeared. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Maritime piracy. ... Slave redirects here. ... This page covers security in the sense of protection from hostile action. ...

In medieval society, typically the bourgeoisie could not protect its capital assets permanently from attacks, which meant that the accumulation process was interrupted, and remained limited in scope. Today however, capitalists can own billions of dollars worth of assets which are well-protected against crime (see the annual Merrill-Lynch survey of the world's wealthy). With the aid of private banking it is easier to obscure or hide the wealth that one owns. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Capitalism generally refers to in philosophy and politics, a social system based on the principle of individual rights, including property rights. ... Private banking is done by major institutional banks known as private banks, which offer financial services to private individuals. ...

Regime of accumulation

Both the Regulation School of French Marxist economists, inspired by the original writings of Michel Aglietta and developed by Robert S. Boyer, as well as the American social structure of accumulation school founded by the economists Samuel Bowles and David Gordon have emphasized that the processes of capital accumulation occur within a social regime of accumulation. Michel Aglietta, born in 1938, is a former student of the École Polytechnique (Promotion X1959) and of the ENSAE. Current Professor of Economic Science at the University of Paris X: Nanterre, he is a scientific counsellor at CEPII, a member of the University Institute of France, and a consultant to... Robert Stephen Boyer, also known as Bob Boyer, is a professor of computer science, mathematics, and philosophy at The University of Texas at Austin. ... Samuel Bowles is an American economist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he taught courses on microeconomics and the theory of institutions. ... David Gordon is one of the original developers of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, a trainer, author and modeler, who has helped create and shape the field of NLP for almost 30 years. ... Although the term social is a crucial category in social science and often used in public discourse, its meaning is often vague, suggesting that it is a fuzzy concept. ...

In other words, a specific political and socio-economic environment is required that enables sustained investment and economic growth. This environment is created partly by state policy, but partly by also by technological innovations, changes in popular culture, commercial developments, the media, and so on. An example of such a regime often cited here is that of Fordism, named after the enterprise of Henry Ford. As the pattern of accumulation changes, the regime of accumulation also changes. Politics is the process by which decisions are made within groups. ... Socioeconomics is the study of the social and economic impacts of any product or service offering, market intervention or other activity on an economy as a whole and on the companies, organization and individuals who are its main economic actors. ... Invest redirects here. ... World GDP/capita changed very little for most of human history before the industrial revolution. ... Technology (Gr. ... Popular culture, sometimes called pop culture, consists of widespread cultural elements in any given society. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Fordism is a form of production or production paradigm that prevailed in post-war decades (and perhaps even before second world war) in western industrial countries. ... Henry Ford (1919) Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. ...

Similar ideas also surface in institutional economics. The main insight here is that market trade cannot flourish without regulation by a legal system plus the enforcement of basic moral conduct and private property by the state. But the regime of accumulation responds to the total experience of living in capitalist society, not just market trade. Institutional economics focuses on understanding the role of human-made institutions in shaping economic behavior. ...

Environmental criticism of capital accumulation

The environmental criticism of capital accumulation focuses on four main ideas.

Firstly, there is the problem of externalities. This means that privately owned industry incurs costs, including environmental and health costs, which are not charged or priced. This happens for example when effluents are discharged on land, water or in the air, which can cause pollution or despoilation of terrains. In recognition of this, environmental taxes are sometimes imposed. An externality occurs in economics when a decision (for example, to pollute the atmosphere) causes costs or benefits to individuals or groups other than the person making the decision. ... In the context of creating Plutonium at the Hanford Site, effluent refers to the cooling water that is discharged from a nuclear reactor that may or may not be radioactive. ... It has been suggested that Pollutant be merged into this article or section. ...

Secondly, commercial activities which may be rational from the point of view of a private enterprise may not be rational from the point of view of society as a whole, or from the point of view of the biosphere, especially when they involve the destruction of natural habitats of flora and fauna, pollution and entropy. A false-color composite of global oceanic and terrestrial photoautotroph abundance, from September 1997 to August 2000. ... Habitat (which is Latin for it inhabits) is the place where a particular species live and grow. ... In Botany a Flora (or Floræ) is a collective term for plant life and can also refer to a descriptive catalogue of the plants of any geographical area, geological period, etc. ... Fauna is a collective term for animal life. ... It has been suggested that Pollutant be merged into this article or section. ... Ice melting - classic example of entropy increasing[1] described in 1862 by Rudolf Clausius as an increase in the disgregation of the molecules of the body of ice. ...

Because a natural resource happens to be a freely available good (for example fish in the open sea), it may be plundered for profit. Or, a lot of energy may be wasted producing and transporting a good to the consumer, to which business people are indifferent because they do not pay for it. Or, the disturbance of subsistence economics by commerce may cause overpopulation. Map of countries by population density (See List of countries by population density. ...

Thirdly, goods and services may be produced for profit in ways which are directly or indirectly harmful to human life, either because of the nature of the use-value involved, or because of the techniques used to produce them, or because they encourage consumer habits with harmful effects. A good in economics is any physical object (natural or man-made) or service that, upon consumption, increases utility, and therefore can be sold at a price in a market. ... Services are: plural of service Tertiary sector of industry IRC services Web services the name of a first-class cricket team in India This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... In Marxs critique of political economy, any labor-product has a value and a use value, and if it is traded as a commodity in markets, it additionally has an exchange value, most often expressed as a money-price. ...

Finally, business ethics may often not be reconcilable with human ethics or environmental ethics. This means for example that the imputation of a price to an environmental cost, or imposing an environment tax may be insufficient as a policy, because some things which have value simply have no price. Business ethics is a form of the art of applied ethics that examines ethical rules and principles within a commercial context, the various moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business setting, and any special duties or obligations that apply to persons who are engaged in commerce. ... Ethics (via Latin from the Ancient Greek moral philosophy, from the adjective of Ä“thos custom, habit), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of values and customs of a person or group. ... Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers the ethical relationship between human beings and the natural environment. ... Imputation can refer to: Dividend imputation, tax credits attached to company dividends Imputation (economics) Imputation (religion) Imputation (statistics) This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Economic policy Monetary policy Central bank   Money supply Fiscal policy Spending   Deficit   Debt Trade policy Tariff   Trade agreement Finance Financial market Financial market participants Corporate   Personal Public   Banking   Regulation        A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed on... In general, the economic value of something is how much a product or service is worth to someone relative to other things (often measured in money). ...

Nowadays environmental concerns are an essential part of so-called socially responsible business and corporate governance. However, opinion is divided about whether a capitalist market economy can be ecologically sustainable. Some argue that the experience of environmental destruction in the Soviet Union and China proves that state socialism or command economy is ecologically worse than capitalism. Others argue that the ultimate result of capital accumulation must be the destruction of the biosphere, unless drastic steps are taken to control pollution, population growth, and consumerism, and that the examples of the former Soviet Union and China are not exculpatory of Western capitalism since these nations were, in essence, copying within severe economic and strategic constraints, the production and consumerist models of the West, especially those found in the United States. They had simply bought into a false model of the good life. Social responsibility can be viewed as a part of the social contract in that is the responsibility of each entity whether it is state, government, corporation, organisation or individual that they are contributing to society at large, or on a smaller scale. ... Corporate governance is the set of processes, customs, policies, laws and institutions affecting the way a corporation is directed, administered or controlled. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Forests on San Juan Island in Washington. ... State socialism, broadly speaking, is any variety of socialism which relies on ownership of the means of production by the state. ... A planned economy is an economic system in which economic decisions are made by centralized planners, who determine what sorts of goods and services to produce, and how they are to be priced and allocated. ... Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are all or mostly privately[1][2] owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a free market. ... A false-color composite of global oceanic and terrestrial photoautotroph abundance, from September 1997 to August 2000. ... It has been suggested that Pollutant be merged into this article or section. ... Human population increase from 10,000 BC – 2000 AD. Population growth is change in population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals in a population per unit time. ... Consumerism is a term that can mean either the opposite of anti-consumerism or of producerism. ...

In the 1970s, many environmentalists argued for a policy of "zero economic growth" in "affluent" Western societies. However, when a long recession began in that decade, halving economic growth rates, most people became more concerned about mass unemployment. Thus, the proponents of zero growth lost popularity. Nowadays, the popular concept is sustainable economic development or growth. But interpretations of what that means can differ wildly. One difficulty is that predictions of future resource scarcity are usually based on extrapolation from the past, "assuming present trends will continue", but they may not. A recession is traditionally defined in macroeconomics as a decline in a countrys real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more successive quarters of a year (equivalently, two consecutive quarters of negative real economic growth). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Forests on San Juan Island in Washington. ... In economics, scarcity is defined as a condition of limited resources, where society does not have sufficient resources to produce enough to fulfill subjective wants. ... In mathematics, extrapolation is the process of constructing new data points outside a discrete set of known data points. ...

Today [2005] many serious environmentalists consider capitalism, or the "market system" as it is usually called, incapable of complying with the basic requisites of a sustainable and respectful habitation of planet earth. A major problem, inherent in corporate dynamics, and amply represented in its executive sociology, is the constant compulsion to expand production without limits of any kind, disregarding the irrefutable fact that it is irrational to seek infinite expansion in a finite world. In this particular regard, critics point to the corporate penchant to plan in short-term cycles, and with a purview that is only concerned with the fortunes of a single firm or business entity, thereby ignoring the cumulative effect brought to bear on the biosphere by the entire commercial production system.

Capital accumulation and risk

Most capital accumulation involves risk, because capital is committed to an investment without perfect certainty about future earnings. A capital asset could gain value, but it could also lose value in the future. Owners of capital (investors) therefore typically diversify their investment portfolio, and try to minimise the risks involved in investments by every possible means. Lets talk about risk control strategies, anyone with more information and willing to share, please do so. ... This article is about a city that serves as a center of government and politics. ... An investor is any party that makes an investment. ... Look up portfolio in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In the course of two centuries of capital accumulation based on industrialisation the intensive economising and exploitation of human labour, and technological innovation, A factory in Ilmenau (Germany) around 1860 Industrialisation (also spelt Industrialization) or an Industrial Revolution is a process of social and economic change whereby a human society is transformed from a pre-industrial (an economy where the amount of capital accumulated per capita is low) to an industrial state (see... The term exploitation may carry two distinct meanings: The act of utilizing something for any purpose. ...

• the value of the assets that are invested in has become very large
• the markets traded in extend around the globe
• the deregulation of markets has increased the level of market uncertainty
• the volume of speculative capital has grown enormously
• the banking industry dominates the ownership of capital assets.

This has led to an enormous expansion of the insurance industry and of the profession of risk management. As a corollary, this powerfully stimulates the construction of mathematical models which aim to assess how probable it is that particular "risky events" will occur. Some sociologists such as Frank Furedi claim that an exaggerated and unhealthy preoccupation or anxiety about risks has infiltrated the whole of modern society. Deregulation is the process by which governments remove, reduce, or simplify restrictions on business and individuals in order to (in theory) encourage the efficient operation of markets. ... For other uses, see Bank (disambiguation). ... Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. ... For non-business risks, see risk or the disambiguation page risk analysis. ... Frank Furedi is professor of sociology at the University of Kent, UK. Previously, as Frank Richards, he was founder and chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Great Britain, a left-wing political party which was expelled from the International Socialists in the 1970s, styling itself as the Revolutionary Opposition. ...

Speculation is justified as follows: "The roles of speculators in a market economy are to absorb risk and to add liquidity to the marketplace by risking their own capital for the chance of monetary reward." Speculation involves the buying, holding, and selling of stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, collectibles, real estate, derivatives or any valuable financial instrument to profit from fluctuations in its price as opposed to buying it for use or for income via methods such as dividends or interest. ...

Capital accumulation and military wars

Capitalist competition for profits, markets and spheres of influence, pushed to an extreme, culminates in military wars. In that sense, the theatre of war expresses the frontline of the accumulation process. Military wars typically cause the destruction of capital assets. But at the same time wars have been a powerful stimulus for the accumulation of capital and market expansion outside the theatre of war. Often this has induced laws against war profiteering. Look up Market in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). ... A war profiteer is any person or organization that makes profits (rightly or wrongly) from warfare or by selling weapons and other goods to one or even both of the parties at war in their own or in foreign countries. ...

War destruction can be illustrated by looking at World War 2. Industrial war damage was heaviest in Japan, where 1/4 of factory buildings and 1/3 of plant & equipment were destroyed; 1/7 of electric power-generating capacity was destroyed and 6/7 of oil refining capacity. The merchant fleet lost 80% of the ships. In Germany in 1944, when air attacks were heaviest, 6.5% of machine tools were damaged or destroyed, but around 90% were repaired. About 10% of steel production capacity was lost. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Germany's total war damage was estimated at about 17.5% of the pre-war total capital stock by value, i.e. about 1/6. In the Berlin area alone, there were 8 million refugees lacking basic necessities. In 1945, less than 10% of the railways were still operating. 2395 rail bridges were destroyed and a total of 7500 bridges, 10,000 locomotives and more than 100,000 goods wagons were destroyed. Less than 40% of the remaining locomotives were operational. This article is about the capital of Germany. ...

However, by the first quarter of 1946 European rail traffic regained its prewar operational level. At the end of the year, 90% of Germany's railway lines were operating again. In retrospect, the rapidity of social reconstruction appears astonishing.

Initially, in May 1945, Harry S. Truman's directive had been that no steps would be taken towards economic rehabilitation of Germany. In fact, the industry plan of 1946 prohibited production in excess of half of the 1938 level; the iron and steel industry was allowed to produce only less than a third of pre-war output. In 1946, 2% of Germany's physical capital stock (plant & equipment) was also dismantled and confiscated, about a quarter of it going to the USSR. By 1947, industrial production in Germany was at 1/3 of the 1938 level, and industrial investment at about 1/2 the 1938 level. Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the thirty-third President of the United States (1945–1953); as Vice President, he succeeded to the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. ...

The first big strike wave in the Ruhr occurred in early 1947 - it was about food rations and housing, but soon there were demands for nationalisation. The US Governor (Newman) however stated at the time that he had to power to break strikes by withholding food rations. The clear message was: "either back to work, or you starve". By 1951, German industrial production had overtaken the prewar level. The Marshall Aid dollars were important, but, after the currency reform (which permitted German capitalists to revalue their assets) and the establishment of a new political system, much more important was the commitment of the USA to rebuilding German capitalism, rather than keeping Germany in a weak position. Average real wages remained low, lower even than in 1938, until the early 1950s, while profitability was unusually high. So the total investment fund, aided by credits, was also high, resulting in a high rate of accumulation. This was called the German Economic Miracle or "Wirtschaftswunder"(Source: Armstrong, Glyn & Harrison 1984). U.S. postage stamp issued 1997 honoring the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. ...

In modern times, it has often been possible to rebuild physical capital assets destroyed in wars completely within the space of about 10 years, except in cases of severe pollution by chemical warfare or other kinds of irrepairable devastation. However, damage to human capital has been much more devastating, in terms of fatalities (in the case of world war 2, about 55 million deaths), permanent physical disability, enduring ethnic hostility and psychological injuries which have effects for at least several generations. It has been suggested that Pollutant be merged into this article or section. ... Chemical warfare is warfare (and associated military operations) using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy. ... Human capital is a way of defining and categorizing the skills and abilities as used in employment and as they otherwise contribute to the economy. ... Look up disability in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ...

New developments in capital accumulation

New trends in capital accumulation include:

• financialisation (the extraordinarily strong growth of the international financial markets. This is trade in financial claims to current and future income. As a corollary, the proportion of national income which consists of interest income and rentier income increases. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association reported in September 2006 that the outstanding nominal value of swaps and derivatives at the end of June 2006 was $283 trillion - nearly ten times the combined GDP of the US, Canada, the EU, Japan, and China; or ten times the value of total US home equity (each being valued at about $34 trillion). According to Standard & Poor's, world stock market capitalization is about $41 trillion. Of total swaps and derivatives, some $26 trillion was in the fastest growing area, credit default swaps.

• Modern information technology makes it possible to engage in very complex investment projects and shift funds extremely quickly from one placement to another in space and time. This increases the rotation speed of capital and raises the profit rate, but can also increase potential financial risks.

• the growing controversies about intellectual property rights and the protection (or security) of ideas which can make money for the owner. Increasingly, the basic conditions necessary for a good, service or idea to become a tradeable commodity are theoretically defined.

• ongoing privatisation of assets which were previously under public ownership. The IMF estimates suggest that in two decades since 1985 more than $2 trillion US dollars (in 2005 values) worth of state assets were privatised worldwide. Typically, these assets also rise sharply in value within a few years, because they involve enterprises occupying monopoly positions (e.g. utilities) which thus provide guaranteed profits. If profits dry up in the private sector, capitalists plunder public assets paid for by all citizens, with the argument that if they run them, supply will be more efficient.

• The enormous increase in capital gains from rising property values in the richer countries, especially in the housing market. US tax data for fiscal 2000 showed that realised capital gains in the USA peaked at an estimated $644.3 billion worth of income while US GDP in 2000 was at US$9,817.0 billion, in other words realised capital gains assessed for tax purposes were equal to 6.5% of GDP at that point (total capital gains would be larger). Yet GDP, being a measure of value added in production, does not even include this "hidden" personal and business income.

• A growing proportion of capital assets which is not productively invested (overcapitalisation), together with an increase in the amount of consumer debt and liabilities. Some observers see the cause as being an increase in the gap between rich and poor, which causes only sluggish demand growth. "Debt management" has become a distinct and profitable business.

• The crisis of numerous pension funds providing a large amount of investment capital, which are alleged to be badly managed.

• An international "competition of currency values" strongly influenced by speculative capital, which has a big effect on the pattern of international trade. The magnitudes involved can be gauged e.g. from the currency conversion ratios used to establish purchasing power parity. For example, India's GDP valued at "ppp" becomes five times larger. This tends to stimulate counter-trade.

• The acceleration of the concentration and centralisation of capital internationally in very large corporations. The Fortune Magazine "Global 500" largest corporations in 2004 employed more people than the whole workforce of Germany. The after-tax profit volume of the Fortune Global 500 was said to be $731 billion, the combined asset value was $60.8 trillion, gross income (revenues) $14.8 trillion, and stockholders equity $6.8 trillion. For comparison, world GDP in 2004 was valued at $40.9 trillion (World Bank).

• The Merrill lynch/CapGemini World Wealth Report 2005 covering High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) claims the fortunes of the world's millionaires and billionaires grew strongly in 2004, increasing by 8.2% to US$30.8 trillion in one year. Driven by North America & Asia–Pacific, this represents "the highest growth of HNWI wealth in more than three years".

• Dollarisation - more US currency now circulates outside the US than inside it, and some countries such as Ecuador and El Salvador have adopted the US dollar as national currency. "Dollar hegemony" is maintained by large Asian, Arab and European investments in the United States.

• the tendency for corporate investment to orient towards activities which secure good short-term returns for shareholders. This is called "value-based management". Most corporate executive officers (CEO's) cite profitability as their prime concern.

• an increasing preoccupation with the conditions for extending credit, and with all sorts of risk factors. World markets are increasingly sensitive to events and disturbances which might cause social instability or panics.

• the declining overall significance of business start-ups, in the sense of enterprises creating new products and services, rather than being just tax-shelters or secondary employment (whether this is a permanent trend remains to be seen).

• the growth of criminal (or illegal) accumulation as measured by crime reports, including business crime and corruption such as fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, insider trading, smurfing and theft, but also prostitution, forced labour, slavery, war plunder etc. The volume of illegal international transactions is now said to be around $1 trillion a year, equal to the GDP of Spain or Canada. National Geographic has reported there are about 27 million slaves in the world. ILO estimates of forced labor are a little over a dozen million. There are possibly 70 million people involved around the world in prostitution of one form or another. But there are many more, employed or unemployed, in "intermediate" positions. Traditional sociological categories may not describe their situation accurately, but a growing "underclass" (which may not be an accurate label) is a policy concern for many governments.

• the most ignored aspect is the changing structure of the international workforce in its totality, specifically the number employed by specific employment status and by income, in different sectors. But just as Marx's Law of Accumulation predicted, the working class has grown enormously within 2 centuries. Deon Filmer estimated that 2,474 million people participated in the worldwide non-domestic labour force in the mid-1990s. Of these around a fifth, 379 million people, worked in industry, 800 million in services, and 1,074 million in agriculture. The majority of workers in industry and services were wage & salary earners - 58 percent of the industrial workforce and 65 percent of the services workforce. But a big portion were self-employed or involved in family labour. Filmer suggests the total of employees worldwide in the 1990s was about 880 million, compared with around a billion working on own account on the land (mainly peasants), and some 480 million working on own account in industry and services.

the increasing dominance of the finance industry in the sum total of economic activity, of financial controllers in the management of corporations, of financial assets among total assets, of marketised securities and particularly equities among financial assets, of the stock market as a market for corporate control in determining corporate... In finance, financial markets facilitate: The raising of capital (in the capital markets); The transfer of risk (in the derivatives markets); and International trade (in the currency markets). ... The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) is a trade organization of participants in the market for over-the-counter derivatives. ... Publications Standard & Poors publishes a weekly (48 times a year) stock market analysis newsletter called The Outlook, which is issued both in print and online to subscribers. ... Information and communication technology spending in 2005 Information technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware. ... In law, particularly in common law jurisdictions, intellectual property is a form of legal entitlement which allows its holder to control the use of certain intangible ideas and expressions. ... A commodity is something for which there is demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a given market. ... Privatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or — especially in India — disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership. ... This article is about state ownership. ... A monopoly (from the Greek language monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a product or service, in other words a firm that has no competitors in its industry. ... A public utility is a company that maintains the infrastructure for a public service. ... In finance, a capital gain is profit that is realized from the sale of an asset that was previously purchased at a lower price. ... Houses in Fishpool Street, St Albans, England For other meanings of the word house, see House (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hinderance, or puts one at a disadvantage. ... Gross domestic product (by purchasing power parity) in 2006 The Purchasing power parity (PPP) theory was developed by Gustav Cassel in 1920. ... Countertrade is exchanging goods or services that are paid for, in whole or part, with other goods or services. ... Categories: Magazines stubs | Time Warner subsidiaries | Business magazines ... Money laundering is the practice of engaging in financial transactions in order to conceal the identity, source and destination of the money in question. ... Insider trading is the trading of a corporations stock or other securities (e. ... Look up smurf in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Everyday instance of theft: the bike which fits on this wheel has disappeared. ... Whore redirects here. ... Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for forms of work, especially in modern or early modern history, in which adults and/or children are employed without wages, or for a minimal wage. ... Slave redirects here. ... Looting (which derives via the Hindi lut from Sanskrit lunt, to rob) is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophy or riot, such as during war [1], natural disaster [2], rioting [3], or terrorist attack [4]. The term... The National Geographic Society was founded in the USA on January 27, 1888, by 33 men interested in organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge. ... The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ... The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues. ... Whore redirects here. ... A social class is, at its most basic, a group of people that have similar social status. ...

A few references to works of theory

• Karl Marx, Das Kapital Vol. 1, Part 7 and Vol. 2, Part 3.
• Rudolf Hilferding, Finance Capital.
• Rosa Luxemburg, The Accumulation of Capital.
• Joan Robinson, Essays in the Theory of Economic Growth.
• Henryk Grossman, The Law of Accumulation and Collapse of the Capitalist System.
• Paul A. Baran, The Political Economy of Growth.
• Ernest Mandel, Marxist Economic Theory.
• Samir Amin, Accumulation on a world scale.
• Seymour Melman, Profits without production.
• Michel Aglietta, A Theory of Capitalist Regulation.
• Andre Gunder Frank, World accumulation, 1492 - 1789. New York 1978
• Harry Rothman, Murderous providence; A study of pollution in industrial societies.
• Vaclav Smil, China's Environmental Crisis: An Inquiry into the Limits of National Development. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 1992.
• Elmar Altvater, Gesellschaftliche Produktion und ökonomische Rationalität; Externe Effekte und zentrale Planung im Wirtschaftssystem des Sozialismus.
• P. Groenewegen (ed.), Economics and ethics.London: Routledge 1996.
• Hernando de Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else.
• Philip Armstrong, Andrew Glyn and John Harrison, Capitalism since World War II.
• Michael Perelman, Steal this Idea: the Corporate Confiscation of Creativity.
• Milton Friedman & Rose Friedman, Free to choose.
• Manual Velasquez, Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases.
• William J. Bernstein, The Birth of Plenty: How the Modern World of Prosperity was Launched.
• Deon Filmer, Estimating the World at Work, a background report for World Bank's World Development Report 1995 (Washington DC, 1995).
• Willem van Schendel and Itty Abraham (eds), Illicit Flows and Criminal Things. States, Borders, and the Other Side of Globalization. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2005; ISBN 0-253-34669-X
• Joshua S. Goldstein, War and economic History [3]

Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Das Kapital (Capital, in the English translation) is an extensive treatise on political economy written by Karl Marx in German. ... Rudolf Hilferding (1877 - 1941) was an Austrian Marxist economist and a popularizer of the economic reading of Karl Marx. ... Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg (March 5, 1870 or 1871 – January 15, 1919, in Polish Róża Luksemburg) was a Jewish Polish-born Marxist political theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary. ... Joan Violet Robinson (1903 in Surrey - 1983) was a Keynesian economist who was well known for her knowledge of monetary economics and wide-ranging contributions to economic theory. ... Henryk Grossman/Grossmann (1881-1950) was born in Kraków and studied law and economics in Kraków and Vienna. ... Paul A. Baran (1910 - 1964) was an American economist known for his Marxist views. ... Ernest Mandel Ernest Ezra Mandel, also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter etc. ... Samir Amin (b. ... Seymour Melman (born December 30, 1917 in New York City; died December 16, 2004 in Manhattan of an apparent aneurism) was a professor emeritus of Columbia Universitys Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science[1] who wrote extensively for fifty years on economic conversion, the ordered transition from... Michel Aglietta, born in 1938, is a former student of the École Polytechnique (Promotion X1959) and of the ENSAE. Current Professor of Economic Science at the University of Paris X: Nanterre, he is a scientific counsellor at CEPII, a member of the University Institute of France, and a consultant to... Andre Gunder Frank (Berlin, February 24, 1929 – Luxembourg, April 23, 2005) was a German economic historian and sociologist who was one of the founders of the Dependency theory and the World Systems Theory in the 1960s. ... Elmar Altvater (born 24 August 1938) was Professor of political science at the Otto-Suhr-Institute of the Free University of Berlin, before retiring on 30 September 2004. ... Hernando de Soto is a: Spanish explorer. ... Milton Friedman (July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was a prominent American economist and public intellectual. ...

See also

Accumulation by dispossession is a concept presented by the Marxist academic David Harvey, which defines the neoliberal changes in many western nations, from the 1970s and to the present day, as being guided mainly by four practices. ... // [edit] Introduction [edit] Definition If we were to take snapshots of an economy at different points in time, no two photos would look alike. ... Capital formation is a term used in national accounts statistics and macroeconomics. ... This article is about a city that serves as a center of government and politics. ... Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are all or mostly privately[1][2] owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a free market. ... The capitalist mode of production is a concept in Karl Marx’s critique of political economy. ... In Marxist theory, commodity fetishism is a state of social relations, said to arise in complex capitalist market systems, in which social relationships center around the values placed on commodities. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Das Kapital (Capital, in the English translation) is an extensive treatise on political economy written by Karl Marx in German. ... DEMOLOGOS stands for Development Models and Logics of Socioeconomic Organization in Space. ... Fixed capital is a concept in economics and accounting, first theoretically analysed in some depth by the economist David Ricardo. ... Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) is a macroeconomic concept used in official national accounts since the 1930s. ... The theory of capitalism describes the essential features of capitalism and how it functions. ... Invest redirects here. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... The law of accumulation is the adage which according to author Brian Tracy, says: ... that everything great and worthwhile in human life is an accumulation of hundreds and sometimes thousands of tiny efforts and sacrifices that nobody ever sees or appreciates. ... Prices of production refers to a concept in Karl Marxs critique of political economy. ... Primitive accumulation of capital is a concept introduced by Karl Marx in part 8 of the first volume of Das Kapital (in German: ursprüngliche Akkumulation, literally original accumulation or primeval accumulation). Its purpose is to help explain how the capitalist mode of production can come into being. ... Productive and unproductive labour were concepts used in classical political economy mainly in the 18th and 19th century, which survive today to some extent in modern management discussions, economic sociology and Marxist or Marxian economic analysis. ... Proletarianization is a concept in Marxism and Marxist sociology. ... Relations of production (German: Produktionsverhaltnisse) is a concept frequently used by Karl Marx in his theory of historical materialism and in Das Kapital. ... Return on capital, also known as Return On Invested Capital (ROIC) is defined as NOPLAT / Invested Capital usually expressed as a percentage. ... Simple commodity production (also known as petty commodity production; the German original word is einfache Warenproduktion) is a term coined by Frederick Engels to describe productive activities under the conditions of what Marx had called the simple exchange of commodities, where independent producers trade their own products. ... Surplus value, according to Marxism, is unpaid labour that is extracted from the worker by the capitalist, and serves as the basis for capitalist accumulation. ... Unequal exchange is a concept used in Marxian economics to denote forms of exploitation which commercial trade of any type can involve, if objects of unequal value are being exchanged or traded. ... Value investing is a style of investment strategy from the so-called Graham & Dodd School. ...

External links

• Growth, Accumulation, Crisis: With New Macroeconomic Data for Sweden 1800-2000 by Rodney Edvinsson