The Unmaking of Marx's Capital: Heinrich's Attempt to Eliminate Marx's Crisis Theory

Abstract

Michael Heinrich's recent Monthly Review article claims that the law of the tendential fall in the rate of profit (LTFRP) was not proved by Marx and cannot be proved. Heinrich also argues that Marx had doubts about the law and that, for this and other other reasons, his theory of capitalist economic crisis was only provisional and more or less in continual flux.This response shows that Heinrich's elementary misunderstanding of the law--his belief that it is meant to predict what must inevitably happen rather than to explain what does happen--is the source of his charge that it is unproved. It then shows that a simple misreading of Marx's text lies at the basis of Heinrich's claim that the simplest version of the LTFRP, "the law as such," is a failure. Marx's argument that increases in the rate of surplus-value cannot "cancel" the fall in the rate of profit is then defended against Heinrich's attempt to refute it. Finally, the paper presents evidence that Marx was indeed convinced that the LTFRP is correct and that he regarded the crisis theory of volume 3 of Capital as finished in a theoretical sense.

Land Grabbing E Crise Do Capital: Possíveis Interseções Dos Debates

“…8 A título de breve apontamento, observamos que Harvey (1982) o consideraria como o primeiro corte da teoria da crise para posteriormente (HARVEY, 2015a; 2015b) a criticar; Heinrich (2013) o trata como uma inconsistente formulação editada por Engels e posteriormente abandonada por Marx;Kliman et al (2013), Carchedi e Roberts (2013) e Kurz (2015) se dedicariam contra a posição de Heinrich; Kliman (2015) se esforçaria em provar que Harvey (2015a) se distancia do próprio Marx; e Kurz (1995) constrói sobre este mesmo fundamento sua formulação sobre a ascensão do capital fictício, criticada por Prado (2011).…”

Marx’s Capital in the information age

“…‘In contrast to Marx, we cannot assume a “law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall”’ (Heinrich 2013: 153). Others argue against Heinrich that such a law is consistent on Marx’s own terms, is crucial for understanding the capitalist economy’s contradictions, and that Heinrich attempts to eliminate Marx’s crisis theory (see, for example, Kliman et al 2013). No matter which position one takes in this debate, it shows that Heinrich advances just like Harvey a particular interpretation of Marx.…”

The Great Recession and Marx's Crisis Theory

“…Marx clearly believed that the tendency for the rate of profit to fall prevails over the counteracting factors; after all, that was what the empirical evidence available to him suggested. However, his law has an explanatory function; it does not assert that the fall in the rate of profit is inevitable (Kliman et al 2013). Nor does it say that the rate of profit will exhibit a declining trend throughout the lifetime of capitalism as a whole.…”