Date: Mon, 08 Jul 1996 18:17:08 +0200
From: Pedro De Carvalho <PDeCarvalho-AT-gw.europarl.org>
Subject:  Broad Guidelines and Framework of Comtemporary Capitalism


 
I am doing some reserach about the broad guidelines of comtemporary
capitalism in a marxist perspective.

I want to highlight mainly the problems arised from the changing of the
production forces from a national sphere to a transnational sphere, i.e.,
the process of economic globalization.

After the huge turmoil in  the eastern Europe and former Soviet Union,
the capitalist system has broaden its horizonts. Now is extended its
wings to non-capitalist societies and societies that lived in the margin of
the capitalist system, mainly in developing countries. 

The upbringing of the transnational corporations in substitution of
multinational enterprises (concept introduce in the early 60s by IBM)
demonstrate that the production resources and factors are now viewed
in a transnational sphere. So the process of liberalization of trade
started by the GATT in 1947 joined with the progressive liberalizaion of
the capital movements worldwide created the necessary impetus to the
development of transnational corporations (TC), and these seing the
advantages, promoted the liberalization. Now the TC have international
costs structures aand explore the multiple advantages of liberalization,
mainly the realocation to the third world in the search of great
add-values. The relocations represented now 1/4 of the world
production. The labor force in these countries are rising, Are we
assisting to a proletarization process of the third world?

Some studies pointed that the dispute of markets by the triad (Japon, US
and European Union) is caused by the necessity of the capitalism
system to reply to the progressive saturation of markets based in an
exportation orientated economic model. Is the necessity of new markets
essential to the survival of Capitalism (the risen of new markets with
Eastern economies and China integrating the world economy)?

Other interesting point is analising if the source of add value, the
working hours not paid, hva changed in the advent of "the information
society", i.e., the risen of produtivity brought by the huge technological
development (with the generalization of computerization world wide)
changed the production relations? And the exploitation rate or the add
value rate, did these rates changed? You can see the tax of exploitation
by the diference between the produtivity rate and the real unitary wage
costs?

Are we assisting to a trend of falling profits? Some studies pointed out
that the percentage of fixed capital per worker is increasing
astronomic.This will cause a tendance to lower profits since the source
of add value is the industrial worker?

I hope my english is clear enough. I hope is possible to debate this
questions and others related with these issues. If we have any
suggestions or contributions, i thank you in advanced. I am portuguese
and i am in the process of translating some of my papers in english so i
can mail it. I am a graduate in economy with a post graduation in
international and monetary economy, so i am more eager to have
economic feedback than political one. In spite of that i realise that the
political perspective is important to analyse these facts.

Other thing important to me is finding some opinions and contributions
about labor value theories.

                                                                             Pedro Carvalho



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