Review of Radical Political Economics

One of the central conclusions in John Roemer's "general" theory is that exploitation is a redundant concept in Marxian theory. This paper reexamines Marx's writings on exploitation, and argues, contra Roemer, that exploitation is a central and non-redundant concept in Marx's understanding of capitalism.

Investment fund money is a particular form of credit money whose nominal value is linked to the market prices of the assets held by mutual investment funds. The present paper argues — contrary to some neoclassical theorists — that investment fund money cannot (by itself) provide an adequate monetary basis for the reproduction of capitalism. The argument is based on the role of a medium of circulation of credible exchange value in the processes by which a credit crisis creates conditions for an eventual renewal of capital accumulation.

This paper examines the secular and cyclical behavior of labor's share of income in Canada. Some of the notable findings are: (a) labor's share of income in the whole economy shows an upward trend and a procyclical pattern; (b) the share of production workers' wages shows a downward trend and an acyclical behavior; and (c) labor's share of income is highly correlated with the profit rate over short-run cycles.