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Capital as Process and the History of Capitalism

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  • Levy, Jonathan

Abstract

In the wake of the Great Recession, a new cycle of scholarship opened on the history of American capitalism. This occurred, however, without much specification of the subject at hand. In this essay, I offer a conceptualization of capitalism, by focusing on its root—capital. Much historical writing has treated capital as a physical factor of production. Against such a “materialist†capital concept, I define capital as a pecuniary process of forward-looking valuation, associated with investment. Engaging recent work across literatures, I try to show how this conceptualization of capital and capitalism helps illuminate many core dynamics of modern economic life.

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  • Levy, Jonathan, 2017. "Capital as Process and the History of Capitalism," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 91(3), pages 483-510, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buhirw:v:91:y:2017:i:03:p:483-510_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Wansleben Leon, 2021. "Capitalization and its Legal Friends," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 53-64, March.
    2. J. Drake, 2022. "Pistor’s Code of Capital: Wealth Inequality and Legalism About Capital," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(3), pages 583-588, December.

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