[lbo-talk] Larry Summers channeling Sweezy?

Jim Farmelant farmelantj at juno.com
Sat Apr 2 07:13:15 PDT 2016


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/30/larry-summers-corporate-profits-are-near-record-highs-heres-why-thats-a-problem/?postshare=8941459564407146&tid=ss_fb

He not only reiterates his secular stagnation thesis but argues that it is monopoly power that is behind the divergence between surging corporate profits and the behavior of real interest rates and investment.

Thus, whether he realized it or not, he replicates the whole Monthly Review School's analysis of how present day capitalism works - what Paul Sweezy and Paul Baran were arguing for years ago and what people like John Bellamy Foster argue for today. Naturally, Summers cites none of these people (at least Krugman will sometimes cite Kalecki). Has Summer's read those people but is too embarrassed to mention them, or has he arrived at these positions independently of them?

Jim Farmelant http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimfarmelant www.foxymath.com Learn or Review Basic Math



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