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Some Factors Affecting US Capital Profitability over the Last Decades

Author

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  • Enrico Sergio Levrero

    (Roma Tre University)

  • Giacomo Sbrenna

    (Roma Tre University)

Abstract

Over the last decades the progressive decline in long-term real interest rates has not been matched by a reduction in the rate of profits This has been seen as a puzzling phenomenon that calls for an explanation and has also questioned what has been called the “monetary theory of distribution†(MTD) which, following Sraffa (1960, §44), stresses the monetary nature of the rate of interest and its effects on income distribution. The scope of this work is to advance some remarks on this phenomenon by referring to the case of the United States. We will star by taking a closer look at what actually happened to the US real interest rates and (observed) profit rates. We will then go on to discuss the relationships between money wages, interest rates and the profit rate in the Classical-Keynesian approach, focusing on the determinants of theprofits of enterprise. Finally, we will analyse the changes in some of these determinants over the last decades, among which manager remunerations and monopoly power, as well as the way in which the fruits of technical progress are distributed in the present stage of capitalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Enrico Sergio Levrero & Giacomo Sbrenna, 2022. "Some Factors Affecting US Capital Profitability over the Last Decades," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 16(2), pages 77-101, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:awu:journl:v:16:y:2022:i:2:p:77-101
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • B51 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian
    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects

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