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Capital as Power
Conventional theories of capitalism are mired in a deep crisis: after centuries of debate, they are still unable to tell us what capital is. Liberals and Marxists both think of capital as an ‘economic’ entity that they count in universal units of ‘utils’ or ‘abstract labour’, respectively. But these units are totally fictitious. Nobody has ever been able to observe or measure them, and for a good reason: they don’t exist. Since liberalism and Marxism depend on these non-existing units, their theories hang in suspension. They cannot explain the process that matters most – the accumulation of capital.
This book offers a radical alternative. According to the authors, capital is not a narrow economic entity, but a symbolic quantification of power. It has little to do with utility or abstract labour, and it extends far beyond machines and production lines. Capital, the authors claim, represents the organized power of dominant capital groups to reshape – or creorder – their society.
Written in simple language, accessible to lay readers and experts alike, the book develops a novel political economy. It takes the reader through the history, assumptions and limitations of mainstream economics and its associated theories of politics. It examines the evolution of Marxist thinking on accumulation and the state. And it articulates an innovative theory of ‘capital as power’ and a new history of the ‘capitalist mode of power’.
This book offers a radical alternative. According to the authors, capital is not a narrow economic entity, but a symbolic quantification of power. It has little to do with utility or abstract labour, and it extends far beyond machines and production lines. Capital, the authors claim, represents the organized power of dominant capital groups to reshape – or creorder – their society.
Written in simple language, accessible to lay readers and experts alike, the book develops a novel political economy. It takes the reader through the history, assumptions and limitations of mainstream economics and its associated theories of politics. It examines the evolution of Marxist thinking on accumulation and the state. And it articulates an innovative theory of ‘capital as power’ and a new history of the ‘capitalist mode of power’.
464 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 30, 2021
Okay this absolutely did not need to be 400 pages. Opening 2 parts of this book are a mostly rambling 'refutation' of Neoclassical & Marxist economic theory that adds very little to Nitzan & Bichler's overall argument (refutation in quotation marks because their discussion of Marxism is particularly misguided and mainly focused on substantialist theories of value? Read Heinrich!). So what is Nitzan & Bichler's argument? Actually a relative simple one! For them, capitalism is an economic structure which should be understood conflictually. Dominant capital (their term for the world's largest capitalist firms) are not always looking toward endless growth/profit, rather they are looking to earn/grow more than the competition. Instead of "capital" accumulation, Nitzan and Bichler propose that "differential" accumulation is at the core of the capitalist enterprise. It's not entirely convincing, and I'm still not certain that their arguments amount to more than a well-argued economic teleology, or rather an astute observation of capitalist behaviour under monopolised capitalist production. Regardless, there is a lot of good and interesting work here. The discussion of "inflation as redistribution" was particularly compelling, their Veblenian theory of industrial sabotage was mostly convincing, and differential accumulation is a concept I'd like to see further explored/developed. If nothing else, I think Nitzan & Bichler offer us a range of unique and interesting empirical methods for understanding the behaviour of capital that I'm yet to see anywhere else. TLDR: Skip parts 1 & 2. Read part 3 & 4.
October 3, 2019
I agree with a previous reviewer that the tone of the book is a bit braggy, but maybe for good reason. I am not an economist, and I don't really have the skills to judge the validity of the authors claims. The book seems to have kicked of a research branch of its own, a feat in itself. And I haven't seen any serious attempts to refute the authors claims. The book is well researched and if the authors haven't totally fabricated their statistics or botched their math the claims made should have serious repercussions for the field of economy. For instance the relationship between growth and inflation which is shown to completely contradict predictions made by neoclassical economists. As far as I can tell that is some earth shattering information.
It would be interesting to read a response to the CasP claims by some well-read economist. Because the claims made are extraordinary. Taken as it is however I find the book both compelling and convincing. Potentially holding a great deal of explanatory power and a theoretical basis for challenging the present capitalist "Creorder".
It would be interesting to read a response to the CasP claims by some well-read economist. Because the claims made are extraordinary. Taken as it is however I find the book both compelling and convincing. Potentially holding a great deal of explanatory power and a theoretical basis for challenging the present capitalist "Creorder".
October 25, 2017
While the first few hundred pages seemed bland to me the first reading, the emphasis on sound measurement in science cannot be stressed enough and Nitzan does a fantastic job of going through it and offering an alternative. It is a difficult read, I was well versed in economics and political science and this took me two or three reads, but it is worth it. I don't think there is a more valuable book in my collection. While many economists have criticized the entirety of neo-classical economics, and many have offered various adjustments, none have offered an alternative theory of value which is a fundamental block of economics. Everything is built around it and Nitzan is the first to offer a new theory in over 50 years. That in itself is an achievement. My only disagreements with his work is mainly semantics. I am saddened that a work which emphasizes prices and measurement does not have much on monetary economics.
January 5, 2022
Nitzan & Bichler perform a fundamental service with this book. Exposing and dispelling some of the most harmful myths about political economy today. With clear and concise logic, and a thorough research on the history of Neoclassical and Marxist Economic thought, they provide a new lens through which to view the very nature of Capital. Their argument that Capital is the prevailing Mode of Power in contemporary society, will alter the way you perceive current events. Without telling the reader where we go to from here, they provide the tools necessary for an in-depth analysis of the biggest and most influential power structures domminating society today
May 5, 2021
If you put aside the technicalities of economic language and heterodox jargon in this book, the main premise is very simple and obvious. However, it is interesting how the writers could expand that premise into 400 pages rambling on neoclassical, Marxian, real economy and financialization before concluding that capital is basically a power and thus it needs to create its own order (in the sense of fabricating price and so on). There is a lot of comparison of the economic school of thoughts to modern physics that I quite find fascinating.
August 22, 2014
Their theory on differential accumulation is interesting (and worth more research), but it only comes after 300 pages of self-importantly attacking other economists and espousing their lousy theory of everything politico-economic.
August 28, 2020
You’ll appreciate the simplicity of romantic novels after you finish reading. However, it’s still a very good book for folks to get into heterodox economics.
April 19, 2022
The left has long existed in the shadows of Marx, whose systemic analysis of capitalism has remained inescapably influential not only for those who explicitly identify as Marxists, but for all who criticize capitalism and seek to build a better world. Nitzan and Bichler identify several issues with the Marxist analysis, and offer a more illuminating analysis by drawing from figures such as Thorstein Veblen, Lewis Mumford, and Michał Kalecki. They show how a view "from above" in which we take the point of view of the capitalist reveals the underlying power dynamics of capitalism and shows how the economic is inseparable from the social, with capital being none other than power as such.
December 31, 2020
Thanks to Joel Davis on YouTube for the recommendation.
My first book on economics, and I chose one completely outside the mainstream schools. Took a while to read, but that's more my own fault than the authors. In fact, I got the feeling that this was written to be accessible to as many as possible without blunting its critiques, everything being explained in detail and then even more in the footnotes. Read it, I have been told that this will make waves as more realise it exists.
My first book on economics, and I chose one completely outside the mainstream schools. Took a while to read, but that's more my own fault than the authors. In fact, I got the feeling that this was written to be accessible to as many as possible without blunting its critiques, everything being explained in detail and then even more in the footnotes. Read it, I have been told that this will make waves as more realise it exists.
February 8, 2021
review coming up...
January 18, 2022
Will come back to this. I see a lot of lines of flight I could take here. Many points. Useful for further research
April 4, 2024
This is the first comprehensive fundamental theory of capital since the XIX century that makes sense.
February 9, 2024
Bichler y Nitzan escribieron un "Capital Contemporáneo". Se trata de una de las pocas críticas realmente sistemáticas del sistema capitalista globalizado. Una crítica que ataca al conjunto de la Economía Política, tanto liberal como marxiana y marxista. Un análisis que abandona la pretensión del trabajo productivo y la producción para hacer una crítica sistemática actual del valor y la explicación de los precios, que sólo puede pasar por el proceso central del capitalismo: la acumulación (diferencial). Su conclusión se lee en el título, y realmente me parece una obra importantísima para abandonar nuestros recovecos ideológicos y replantear las relaciones capitalistas.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews