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Has the decline in the productivity of capital been halted?

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Intereconomics

Abstract

On a long-term assessment, the economic situation in the industrial countries has grown more difficult. Unemployment is higher than it was in the 1960s, while growth both in the economy as a whole and in productivity is now slower. High labour costs are frequently cited as the underlying cause of these changes. This article sets out to counter (or to complement) this supposition by directing the spotlight on to what has now become a substantial decline in capital productivity in the industrial countries.

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References

  1. OECD Labour Force Statistics 1974–1994 and 1976–1996, Paris 1996 and 1997, pp. 32f.

  2. Cf. OECD Economic Outlook 62, Paris, December 1997, p. A4.

  3. cf. T. Weiss: Hin zu den Diensten, in: Bundesarbeitsblatt 4/1997.

  4. Cf. OECD Economic Outlook 62, op. cit. Paris, December 1997, p. A36.

  5. This is shown, for example, by the make-up of the workforce; of. OECD Labour Force Statistics, op. cit. Cf. OECD Economic Outlook 62, Paris, December 1996, p. A4.

  6. On the German situation, see T. Weiss: Erhebliche Unterschiede, in: Bundesarbeitsblatt 3/1995.

  7. On the German situation, see T. Weiss: Hin zu den Diensten, op. cit. in: Bundesarbeitsblatt 3/1995.

  8. On high real interest rates, cf. R. Guttmann: Les mutations du capital financier, in: F. Chesnais (ed.): La mondialisation financière, Paris 1996; F. Chesnais: La mondialisation du capital (new ed.), Paris 1997, pp. 63 ff.

  9. Cf. P. Hirst and G. Thompson: Globalisation in Question, Cambridge, UK 1996, p. 101.

  10. On trends in unemployment in Germany and the USA since the 1980s, cf. A. Birk and T. Gries: Amerikanisches Job-Wunder versus deutsches Produktivitätswunder—ein Vergleich der Arbeitsmarktstrategien, in: Wirtschaftsdienst 2/1997; H. Werner: Die Arbeitsmarktentwicklung in den USA—Lehren für uns?, in: Mitteilungen für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung 3/1997.

  11. For a detailed theoretical presentation, see G. Reuten and M. Williams: Value-form and the State, London, New York 1989, pp. 116 ff.

  12. cf. E. Hein: Geld, effektive Nachfrage und Kapitalakkumulation. Eine Betrachtung aus Marxscher, Keynesscher und post-Keynesscher Perspektive, Berlin 1997, p. 18.

  13. Cf. J. T. Davis (ed.): Forbes Top Companies, The Forbes Annual Review of Today's Leading Businesses, New York 1997, p. 2; T. Weiss: Druck der Lohn(neben)kosten oder Last des Kapitalaufwands?, in: Sozialer Fortschritt 11/1997.

  14. On the reciprocal influences between banks and firms, cf. F. Chesnals, op. cit. (ed.): La mondialisation financière, Paris 1996; F. Chesnais: La mondialisation du capital (new ed.), Paris 1997, p. 128.

  15. see: EU Commission, Directorate for Economic and Financial Affairs: European Economy, Supplement A, No. 7, July 1997.

  16. Cf. P. Salama: La financiarisation excluante: Leçons des économies latino-américaines, in: F. Chesnais (ed.), op. cit. (ed.): La mondialisation financière, Paris 1996; F. Chesnais: La mondialisation du capital (new ed.), Paris 1997, p. 227.

  17. Cf. H.-J. Stadermann: Arbeitslosigkeit im Wohlfahrtsstaat, Tübingen 1995, pp. 131 ff.

  18. On the latter, cf. Kommission für Zukunftsfragen der Freistaaten Bayern und Sachsen: Erwerbstätigkeit und arbeitslosigkeit in Deutschland, Part III: “Massnahmen zur Verbesserung der Beschäftigungslage”, Bonn, November 1997, pp. 137 f.

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Weiß, T. Has the decline in the productivity of capital been halted?. Intereconomics 33, 86–92 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02929505

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