PS 183 MidTerms

Primitive communalism, slave societies, feudalism

What were pre-capitalist social formations characterized by?

means of production

In pre-capitalist social formations, people were tied to this for subsistence

producers (themselves)

In pre-capitalist social formations, who did producers produce for?

the commons

the lack of private property as fungible

consumption

In pre-capitalist social formations, what was economic surplus used?

commercialization theory

the emergence of capitalism came from the expansion and liberation of man’s natural inclination for trade

commercialization theory

this assumes that capitalism is innate to humans and the naturlal end goal of history

commercialization theory

this assumes trade necessarily leads to capitalism, and that competition that transforms production for unceasing profit

internalist theory

proposes that capitalism emerged not by a mere expansion of trade but through a qualitative change in social and property relations

internalist theory

this theory was criticized for being too eurocentric

markets and exchange mediated through money

In capitalism, what makes up the social totality?

collapse of the commons through enclosure created foundations for private property

How were people freed from the means of production?

to generate more surplus

In capitalism, what was economic surplus used for?

oikonomia

etymological rook of economy in ancient greek

house

what does oikos mean

to manage, distribute, dispense

nemein meaning

household/estate management

oikonomia meaning

Political economy

This emerged to distinguish the management of an entire polity regarding finances, resources, but also public management, law, and morality.

economy/economics

This term emerged after the term political-economy towards the end of the 19th Century, emphasized the economy as separate/independent from politics and society more broadly

political-economy

this is the analysis of political aspects of economic phenomena, but it subordinates the political to the economic and bifurcates disciplines that necessitate one another

tradition or command

what were the first ways of the management of material sources

paradigms

These are the frameworks or the basic set of assumptions on which we view Scientific Phenomenon

natural sciences

relative to this, society is constantly changing

mercantilism

an economic system where a state competes to export (sell) more than they import (buy) with other competing states

mercantilism

here, trade was discouraged, and the goal for a state was self sufficiency in a world scarcity via colonization

mercantilism

economy was highly controlled by the government, against individual interests

mercantilism

gold and other precious metals and those who controlled its circulation were the basis of value

physiocracy

this was emblematic of the though of Francois Quesnay, stating that land is the basis for value due to its agricultural capacities

substantialist theories of values

value is carried and conserved within things, for example value is carried and conserved within gold or land

adam smith

This scholar wanted to outline the system of the emerging market society that relied on the relations of self-interested individuals

invisible hand of competition

According to Adam Smith, society is regulated through this which is inherent in the market

labor theory of value

this is the active agent in new wealth, land and capital are inert until labor is done

commodity is value for being useful at fulfilling a desire and as something to be exchanged

the division of use-value and exchange-value

Labor

According to Smith and Ricardo, what forms the basis of value?

Labor theory of value

Labor embodied in an object for its production, in rude society, and labor not involved in production is unproductive

made them more productive and created specialization and market society

According to Adam Smith, what did division of labor do?

specialization of certain industries

according to david ricardo, what did states focus on rather than self-sufficiency

laborer, capitalist, aand landowner

what were the three orders/classes of adam smith

the capitalist

according to ricardo, what is the most abused class because they both pay wages and rent?

landowners

according to ricardo, these are unproductive as they simply collect rent

As economic growth causes wages to rise and populations to grow, less fertile land will be used in expansion, limiting supply of food despite high demand, the capitalist thus pays an even higher wage plus rents cutting into profits.

Say’s Law

This says that production of a supply will necessarily create demand for a product

Young Marx

This version of Marx dealt with philosophical, moral, and essentialist critiques of religion and capitalism

Mature Marx

This version of Marx dealt with political economy and its critique

Karl Marx

He was an intellectual, philosopher, historian, journalist, but first and foremost an activist advocating for communism

Karl Marx

He critiques Utopian socialists for creating unrealistic socialist blueprints, that does not content with material reality

labor

For early marx, this was what defined man’s species-being

surplus value

For worldview Marxists, they thought that wage laborers are not being paid the full amount of their labor, soo what essentially is unpaid labor

Class conflict

For Marx, all human history was defined by this which emerged a new mode of production

Imperialism

This states that capitalism has evolved past the age of free competition but was being concentrated into monopolies, which are done through the unification/combination of industries, finance capital, banks, and the state

Open Marxism

This arose in response to the excesses of Stalinism and dogmatic Worldview Marxism, and called for a critical reevaluation of Marxist theory

Value Theory of Marx

According to this, the value of a commodity can only be expressed in relation to other commodities realized in exchange.

abstract labor

Commodities can only be commensurable to one another as values when socially reduced to what

the socially necessary labor time needed to produce it

Magnitude of value of a commodity is determined by what

money

what was created as the form of value which serves as the general equivalent so that commodities can relate to another and be exchanged

Labor-power

This is the capacity to expend labor for a given time

impersonal system of social domination

Capitalism dominates human activity through what

commodity fetishism

capitalism itself conceals the social relations of its own categories through what

Hyper-rationality

This states that representative agents make decisions that are always based on utility maximization, rational expectations, perfect knowledge, and in a setting of perfect competition

Value

For Neoclassicals, what is determined based on the personal utility an individual can acquire for specific good or service at a specific price point.

Marginal Utility

The change of utility an individual gets from the consumption of a good or service

Catch-up Effect

This refers to the effect that lower-income countries with low capital investment see higher rates of output/productivity when capital investment is introduced

demand

how much consumers desire to buy a particular product

supply

the quantity of a commodity that a company is willing to produce

equilibrium

This happens where exchangers are able to buy and sell as much as they want

Unemployment

What was theorized as a momentary disequilibrium between the supply and demand of labor?

Say’s Law

This states that supply creates its own demand

A Multiplier Effect

For Keynes, what did economic phenomena like unemployment have?

Fiscal Policies

These are policies on government spending

Government spending and deficit spending

What did Keynesians believe was necessary to stimulate demand into the economy?

Monetary policies

These are policies on the value and supply of currency

promote investment rather than saving

What do Keynesians prioritize when it comes to monetary policies?

Federal Reserve Banks

What are the Banks for banks?

Higher Interest Rates

What makes commercial banks want to save money rather than loan out money for a lower interest rate?

stagflation

In the 1970s, there was a global oil crises which caused stagnating economic growth (increasing unemployment) and high inflation