>Indeed for Mattick the rise of govt production and debt was the most
>important new feature of post WWII capitalism, a view also shared by
>Gabriel Kolko. The so called golden age from rose colored glasses or the so
>called totally administerd society from the perspective of critical theory
>was only the mirage of a boom; it was an age characterized in Mattick's
>conceptually innovative theory by *fictitious* profits and fictitious
>capital, and it was bound to come to an end. Mattick had already seen
>through this by the end of the 50s
Gosh, Rakesh, you mean the greatest global boom in history was just an illusion? A 25-year waking dream?
> What Mattick's theory provides an explanation for is why the US national
>debt has now risen to close to $4 trillion in 1997, some 13x more than it
>was in 1970.
And what would Mattick, or you, say now that the U.S. is running a big surplus and the debt/GDP ratio is going to decline? I'd be surprised myself if the black ink lasted all that long, but I'm curious what you think.
Doug