5. Класическа политическа икономия (допълнителни материали за курсова работа по "Икономически учения")

This article offers a substantive understanding of the variegation of capitalism, in an attempt to move beyond the current impasse in the mainstream varieties-of-capitalism approach. Drawing on existing conceptualizations of capitalism-society relationships, as well as on Agamben’s reconceptualization of the Foucaldian notion of ‘dispositif’, the article identifies the ontological ‘dispositifs’ of embeddedness, dispossession and subsumption, associating them with ‘purely relational’, ‘sovereignty-based’ and ‘dualistic’ ontologies of capitalism, respectively. The article argues that these dispositifs are instrumental in capitalism’s process of subjectification, laying the foundations for a renewed belief in capitalism even under the most adverse conditions.

This article aims to present the theoretical foundations of the classical political economy through the contributions of Adam Smith and David Ricardo and to find out how their neoclassical followers interpreted, evaluated, and transformed this classical theoretical basis. Specifically, we analyze from a critical point of view the neoclassical interpretation of globalization by arguing that this theorization is probably insufficient in analytical terms. We conclude that an analytical counterproposal for the relative explanatory insufficiencies of the neoclassical synthesis is based on the modern evolutionary approach of globalization.

A review of Bell's book: Capitalism and the dialectic: The uno-sekine approach to Marxian political economy

This chapter: (1) demonstrates the importance of a new cycle of struggle in Thailand, which successfully challenged and transformed the ongoing regime of capitalist development in the 1990's. (2) Contributes to an understanding of the power and potential of this challenge for the future transformation of Thailand. (3) Challenges mainstream interpretations of the crisis of the 1990's, and of the ongoing "solutions" to the crisis which have been pursued by the Thai capitalist class. (4) Recognizes the central role played by women in the new cycle of struggle due to their critical position within the economy, as waged and unwaged workers, and to their capacity to challenge the patriarchal structure of Thai capitalism. (5) Creates a clear distance from crude Leninist politics, of which all of the many sectarian variations share the view that there is a separation between class struggle and "politics." The latter is the seen as the preserve of the party and is separate from the autonomous struggles of the people. Most mechanical Marxists also see workers as victims of the impersonal forces of capitalist crises. But it is Thai men and women through their multiple struggles for social justice that brought the regime into crisis and into a search for a new basis for capital accumulation. These autonomous struggles occurred, and will continue to occur, outside of any party structure, or preconceived conception of social change. (6) Provides the elements of autonomous Marxist theory and practice and apply it to an understanding of Thailand 1. The Economic Crisis of 1997 and the Crisis of Economics 2 When the financial collapse began in Thailand in 1997 and quickly spread around the world, traditional economists realized that the assumptions which they had made about Thailand and the Asian economic miracle were simply incorrect. The "Tigers" turned out to be made of paper and not steel. The underlying development theories and policies were revealed as highly suspect if not largely bankrupt. But it was not the economists who paid the price for their errors. Over the years following the crisis of 1997 the Thai people, as so often in the past, were submitted to another round of suffering, including massive unemployment and increased poverty. To many people the 1997 crisis appeared be caused by either greedy politicians, financial mismanagement by banks, by foreign investors, or by excessive exposure to the world economy. This has resulted in a deepening sense of nationalism and a desire for economic self-reliance. Meanwhile, along the corridors of the World Bank, I.M.F., Wall Street, and academia, politicians, investors, and economists still ask "how could the Asian economic miracle in Thailand have evaporated?" 3 The business press, usually closer to the realities of economic life (i.e. to business profitability), had warned of the contradictions that this particular stage of capitalist accumulation. In the mid-1990's, it focused on the structural problems of the "real economy" and, without using this language directly, on the underlying class relations of accumulation. The cover story and lead article of Business Week (2/12/1996) read: "Time for a Reality Check in Asia. As the miracle economies slow down, their hidden problems start to appear." This article focused on the growing problem across many countries in the region of rising wages,

The Economics of Military Spending offers a comprehensive analysis of the effect of military expenditures on the economy. It is the first book to provide both a theoretical and an empirical investigation of how military spending affects the profit rate, a key indicator of the health of a capitalist economy. The book presents a general discussion on the economic models of the nexus of military spending and economic growth, as well as military Keynesianism and the military-industrial complex. Including an account of the Marxist crisis theories, it focuses on military spending as a counteracting factor to the tendency of rate of profit to fall. Using a range of econometric methods and adopting a Marxist perspective, this book provides comprehensive evidence on the effects of military spending on the rate of profit for more than thirty countries. The findings of the book shed light on the complex linkages between military spending and the profit rate by considering the role of countries in the arms trade. Offering a Marxist perspective and an emphasis on quantitative analysis, The Economics of Military Spending will be of great interest to students and scholars of defence and peace economics, as well as Marxist economics.