> On Sep 11, 2016, at 11:13 AM, Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:
>
> Roberts, and Marv all seem to be assuming that empirical analysis of the "economy," combined with assumptions about the exercise (or non-exercise) of state power can provide predictions of future economic trends. It seems to me, however, that Marx would deny that there can be an empirical 'science' of capitalist economies (and/or capitalist societies). History can only be written backwards.
I don’t see anything in Roberts’ post which suggests otherwise.
His summary view is that “world capitalism is in a major downwave in prices, productivity and profitability which won’t come to an end without further major convulsions in capitalist production similar to that in 2008-9…productivity growth everywhere has slowed to a trickle despite the new technological advances of the internet, big data, social media, 3d printing etc….the debate continues on whether the current era of ‘disruptive’ new technologies will drive capitalism forward and with the majority of people <https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2015/09/24/robots-and-ai-utopia-or-dystopia-part-three/>…Keynes’ 1930s optimism gained credence with the boom during a major world war and the subsequent post-war Golden Age that restored the profitability of capital for a generation. Let’s hope it does not take another world war to confirm the optimism of the modern Keynesians like DeLong. <https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2016/01/11/brad-delongthe-marxists-and-the-long-depression/>”
This is informed speculation, not a prediction of the imminent demise of capitalism such as has been forecast by Marxists of various stripes for the past century and a half, particularly during the system’s recurring crises.