economics

James Doughney responds to William Jefferies critique of his article “Marx was wrong about the declining rate of profit. Isn’t it time we put this false idea to rest?”.

Michael Pröbsting — While Foster and Ness make correct criticisms of left-wing authors who ignore imperialist superexploitation of semicolonial countries, both fail to understand the essence of the Marxist theory of imperialism.

Dmitry Pozhidaev — Trump’s tariffs are less a blueprint for industrial renewal than a prelude to a new techno-nationalist order organised around capital control, technological dominance and regional economic blocs.

William Jefferies — James Doughney’s attempted refutation of Karl Marx’s law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall is thoughtful and thorough, but ultimately wrong.

Michael Roberts explains the recent raft of tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, how they fit into his broader project to reassert US global hegemony, and what a left response could look like.   

Michael Roberts — Keynesianism advocates digging holes and filling them up to create jobs. Military Keynesianism advocates digging graves and filling them with bodies to create jobs.

James Doughney — Careful attention to Marx’s exposition of the theory of the declining rate of profit demonstrates that his theory is not coherent, even in its own terms.

William I Robinson — Faced with an unprecedented crisis of epochal proportions, global capitalism’s extermination impulse is rising to the surface. Never has the slogan “resist to exist” been more opportune and appropriate.

James Doughney interrogates some commonly held beliefs and assumptions about monopoly capital, surplus profits and the export of capital — and explains why they are not coherent.

James Doughney — It is hard to avoid thinking that any attempt to airbrush Lenin’s ‘Imperialism’ is a form of avoidance behaviour in the face of awkward but stubborn facts.

Dmitry Pozhidaev — In 2024, Serbia offered a particularly clear reflection of the three core dimensions of capitalism’s crisis: political, economic and systemic.

David Kotz dissects the lessons from the Soviet model, explains why capitalism cannot be reformed and makes a case for democratic socialism.