Abstract
J. S. Mill, Marx and Keynes describe the stationary state, i.e. an economy without development, as the accomplishment of capital accumulation. In it abundance and peace will reign, in a society finally freed from the passion for money. The stationary state did appear in 1970s western countries in the form of saturation of markets for common goods and widespread welfare. However, instead of satisfaction, it made—together with the enormous increase in productivity—competition harder, capital redundant, and consequently growing unemployment and poverty. Profit-hunting should now cohabit with non-profit activities, promoted either by institutions or by private initiative.
I explained, orally and roughly, the ideas of this paper at the conference of the “Associazione di Storia dell’Economia politica” (Storep), held in Gaeta (Italy) in June 2013. I thank the participants in that debate and in the debate held in Volos.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Cp. Schumpeter [1949], IV.7.3.a, 964–966.
- 2.
See for ex. Mill (1848), III.5.6, 570–574.
- 3.
Mill (1848, 2).
- 4.
Marx (1864–1965), ch. 48, 3, 933.
- 5.
See for ex. ibidem, ch. 51, 996–997.
- 6.
Marx (1857–1858), notebook VII.2, Competition, vol. 2, 405.
- 7.
Keynes (1930, 1).
- 8.
According to Zilibotti (2008, 38) the increase in welfare has been even higher than Keynes’s prevision.
- 9.
Cp. Leijonhufvud (2008).
- 10.
Similar statements can be often found in the comments to Keynes’s article in Pecchi and Piga (2008), like those by Solow, Phelps, Freeman, etc.
- 11.
- 12.
On full employment, see Pollin (2012).
- 13.
Marx maintains that the unemployed, being ready to accept lower wages, push the wages of employed workers down. To this end, capital always keeps this reserve army: Marx (1867) ch. 23.3, 688–701.
- 14.
O’Connor (1973).
- 15.
Ricardo (1821) ch. 31.
- 16.
On information technologies, see Gualerzi (2010).
- 17.
- 18.
Defoe (1728), 36–68.
- 19.
The concept of disguised unemployment first appeared in development economics, in order to measure backwardness. For ex., if in agriculture 100 labourers without caterpillar produce the same quantity than 10 labourers who use a caterpillar, in the first case there is a disguised unemployment of 90 workers (less the cost of the caterpillar, measured in wages).
- 20.
- 21.
Stiglitz (2008).
- 22.
Hirsch (1976).
- 23.
- 24.
Krugman (2012).
- 25.
- 26.
See, among the many data, those of the Economic Policy Institute (USA) cited by Fullbrook (2013): in the period 1979–2011 the average income of 90 % of US population (the less rich) rose from 27,000 to about 31,000 (+15 %); that of the richest 5 % (minus the top 1 %) rose from ca. 105,500 to 165,500 (+134 %); the average income of the richest 0.1 % of population rose from 570,000 to 2,000. 160 ca. (+279 %).
- 27.
- 28.
Marx realized such an evolution and put limits to the classical theory of labour value: M. (1957–1958), notebook VII.2, 403–406.
- 29.
Of course an economy with a vast non-profit sector does not mean a centralized or socialist economy, as some authors believe (see for ex. Trainer 2011, 80).
- 30.
Cp. Solow (2008), 92–93.
References
Baumann Z (2009) Capitalismo parassitario. Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2011
Chang HJ (2008) Bad Samaritans. The myth of free trade and the secret history of capitalism. Bloomsbury, New York
Defoe, D (1728) Plan of the English Commerce, being a complete prospect of the Trade of this Nation, as well Home as Foreign, reprint. Kelley, New York, 1967
Fullbrook E (2013) Score card: 16% vs. 288%. Real World Economics Review Blog, January 29
Gallino L (2011) Finanzcapitalismo. Einaudi, Torino
Genovesi A (1765) Lezioni di commercio ossia di Economia Civile, parte I. In: Custodi P (ed) Scrittori classici italiani di economia politica. Destefanis, Milano, pp 1803–1816, parte Moderna, 7 & 8
Genovesi A (1767) Lezioni di commercio ossia di Economia Civile, parte II. In: Custodi P (ed) Scrittori classici italiani di economia politica. Destefanis, Milano, pp 1803–1816, parte Moderna, 8 & 9
Gualerzi D (2010) The coming of age of information technologies and the path of transformational growth. Routledge, London
Hirsch F (1976) I limiti sociali allo sviluppo (social limits to growth). Bompiani, Milano, 1981
Keynes JM (1930) Economic possibilities for our grandchildren, on-line, scanned from Keynes, Essays in Persuasion. Norton, New York, pp 358–373, 1963
Krugman P (2012) End this depression now! Norton, New York
Latouche S (1995) La megamacchina (La Megamachine). Bollati Boringhieri, Torino, 2008
Leijonhufvud A (2008) Spalmando il pane sottile sul burro. In: Pecchi L, Piga G (eds) Il ventunesimo secolo di Keynes. LUISS U.P., Roma, 2011, pp 115–121
Marx K (1857–1858) Lineamenti fondamentali della critica dell’economia politica (Grundrisse). La Nuova Italia, Firenze, 1968, reprint 1978, 2 vols
Marx K (1861–1863) Teorie sul plusvalore. Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1961, reprint 1972, 2 vols
Marx K (1864–1865) Il Capitale, III. Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1968
Marx K (1867) Il Capitale, I. Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1964
Mill JS (1848) Principles of political economy, b. 4, ch. 6 (“Of the stationary state”), on line ed. 2000 Liberty Fund, http://www.econlib.org
Millar J (1771) The distinction of ranks in society. Murray, London, in-4
O’Connor J (1973) La crisi fiscale dello stato (The fiscal crisis of the state). Einaudi, Torino, 1977
Pecchi L, Piga G (eds) (2008) Il ventunesimo secolo di Keynes (Revisiting Keynes). LUISS U.P., Roma, 2011
Perrotta C (2004) Consumption as an investment, The fear of goods from Hesiod to Adam Smith. Routledge, New York
Pollin R (2012) Back to full employment. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Reinert E (ed) (2004) Globalization, economic development and inequality. Elgar, Northampton, MA
Ricardo D (1821) Principles of political economy and taxation. Dent, London, 1973
Schumpeter JA (1949) History of economic analysis, 1954, reprint. Routledge, London, 1997
Smith A (1776) Ricchezza delle nazioni (Wealth of nations). ISEDI, Milano, 1973
Solow R (2008) I nipoti di chi? In: Pecchi L, Piga G (eds) Il ventunesimo secolo di Keynes. LUISS U.P., Roma, 2011, pp 89–94
Soros G (2008) Cattiva finanza (The new paradigm for financial markets). Fazi, Roma
Stiglitz J (2008) Verso una teoria generale del consumismo. In: Pecchi L, Piga G (eds) Il ventunesimo secolo di Keynes. LUISS U.P., Roma, 2011, pp 49–88
Trainer T (2011) The radical implications of a zero growth economy. Real World Econ Rev 57:71–82
Zilibotti F (2008) ‘Possibilita’ economiche per i nostri nipoti’: una prospettiva globale 75 anni dopo. In: Pecchi L, Piga G (eds) Il ventunesimo secolo di Keynes. LUISS U.P., Roma, 2011, pp 37–48
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Perrotta, C. (2015). The Stationary State: Deadlocks and New Perspectives. In: Bitros, G., Kyriazis, N. (eds) Essays in Contemporary Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10043-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10043-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10042-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10043-2
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)