ONCE AGAIN, WHY THE PROFIT MOTIVE COULD NOT WORK IN THE USSR.

In 1999 when my pamphlet was first published there appeared for the first time an explanation consistent with Marx’s methodology, why the profit motive is tied to market economies. It depends on the presence of “many capitals”. There for the first time appeared an explanation why the profit motive in the USSR had the opposite effect to that intended after it was made prominent in the Kosygin post-1967 reforms. In 2015 I wrote a major article on this question which is referenced in the article. Because much of this analysis has been buried by the large number of articles that appear on this site, I thought it useful to produce a follow up article as part of the series looking back at the USSR from the 1930s onwards.

BREXIT or WREXIT? As the pandemic subsides so the damage caused by Brexit becomes clearer.

LABOUR TIME IS THE VISIBLE HAND GUIDING PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. A tribute to the International Communists 1930s Theses.

WHAT CAUSES MARKET TURBULENCES, the rate of profit or the rate of interest?

This article investigates the market turbulence this week caused by a rising rate of profit.

IS NATIONALISING THE COMMANDING HEIGHTS OF THE ECONOMY A VALID TRANSITIONAL DEMAND?

Those on the left who call for the nationalization of only the top corporations, anywhere between 100 and 500 depending on the group, are proposing that the route to communism first passes through the portal of state capitalism.

COVID 19: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (profitable)

BITCOIN AT $50,000, INTEREST RATES AT 1.3%

THE PANDEMIC HAS PROVIDED A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO EXAMINE THE PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF PROFITS.

‘WHY MARX WAS RIGHT’ and where Terry Eagleton is wrong.

As dialectical materialists we are barred from hypothesizing about “what” the future will look like. However, provided we meet the following threshold – a concrete understanding of the inner workings of the capitalist mode of production – we are not debarred from hypothesizing about “how” the future can work. This article analyzes Mr. Eagleton’s worthwhile book.

FICTITIOUS CAPITAL IS NO FICTION.

This article is based on data for the US only provided by the BEA.

Please note, this article confines itself to that element of Tier 2 fictitious capital involved in pure speculation. There is no intention to discuss the element of hedging risk, which seeks to reduce volatility rather than promote it as in the case of pure speculation.