UK Industrial Production (and the Falling Rate of Profit)

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Since some people believe a supposed "de-industrialisation" process has already occurred in the west, wait until the end of this decade! Not to repeat myself, here (http://www.revleft.com/vb/capital-and-falling-t173729/index.html?t=173729) is a rough explanation of the current situation of western capitalism. The last ten years have been cheating, through tax cuts for the rich, subsidisation of corporations, low central bank interest rates etc. While the last relevant markets are being capitalised upon in China, Capitalism does not have any new territory to expand to either (since someone gave me that "argument" in a recent discussion about the relevance of TFRP of the production process(!). The Rate of Profit is absolutely low, and i hope to see more mass organization of radical leftists now towards world revolution. Situations as in Europe are already worthy towards mass workers organization; the longer this situation goes on, the nearer we are towards revolution.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/chart.png?s=ukipiyoy&d1=19720101&d2=20120731
(1972-2012. 40 years of UK capitalism. Tendency? Down.)

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Why is the rate of profit low?

There is plenty of potential for Capitalism to profit from recessions. This is a phenomenon that has largely established itself in the developed countries espousing financial Capitalism. Whilst obviously no growth, low growth and negative growth are, in general, negative indictments on the Capitalist mode of production, they are normal periodic crises and in and of themselves do not represent a huge danger to Capital's hegemony, since the profits made in a recession merely amount to a further centralising of Capital in the hands of a few.

Of course, eventually this will have a destructive ability on the ability of Capital to rule, since the obvious converse effect of a centralising of Capital is the impoverishment of those who are not accumulating Capital, since debt merely establishes bubbles and can only do so for so long before such a system is shown to be unsustainable.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

You don't understand, this is not the Rate of Profit that is at focus here, but the Rate of profit of the Production Process! When the Constant Capital (machines) replaces Variable Capital (live labor), the Rate of Profit s/c+v falls and it becomes unprofitable for Capital to invest into the economy = Capital as a system dies off, becomes unable to reproduce material wealth and hence life itself.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

I wrote more detailed about the implications of Marx's/Luxemburg's theory here. (http://www.revleft.com/vb/capital-and-falling-t173729/index.html?t=173729)