Differential accumulation: Difference between revisions

The concept of differential accumulation emphasizes the powerful drive by dominant capital groups to beat the average and exceed the normal rate of return. This concept is tied to a definition of [[:en:Capital (economics)|capital]] as a social category rather than a material category (as seen by [[:en:Neoclassical economics|neo-classical]] and [[:en:Marxist]] thinkers). "[[:en:Capitalism]] is not an ‘economic system’, but a whole social order, and its principal category of capital must therefore have an ‘encompassing’ definition."<ref>[http://bnarchives.yorku.ca/9/ Differential Accumulation: Toward a New Political Economy of Capital.] Nitzan 1998, p. 175</ref>

<blockquote>...capitalization is a forward-looking process. What is being accumulated are claims on the future flow of profit. The pace of accumulation therefore depends on two factors: (a) the institutional arrangements affecting profit expectations; and (b) the normal rate of return used to discount them into their present value. The effect of rising industrial capacity on these factors is not only highly complex and possibly non-linear, but its direction can be positive as well as negative.