• JoannaNewsom [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    You can read a Marxist interpretation of that change in Giovanni Arrighi’s The Long Twentieth Century (as well as similar crises in the past history of capitalism)

    Basically he posits that there are these cycles of accumulation that repeat over time in different dominant capitalist powers (Genoa->Netherlands->UK->USA)

    First there is a period of growth and increased investment/profit in the real material economy. Over time the rate of profit falls leading to a crisis of profitability, after which capital is increasing invested in finance as it is more profitable.

    Eventually there is a terminal crisis and another power takes over the dominant position, beginning a new cycle, probably China at the end of this cycle. Also, the cycles get shorter and shorter each time

    There’s a lot more to it in the book, I think it’s worth reading if you’re interested in this stuff