{"product_id":"the-theory-of-monopoly-capitalism-9781583674413","title":"The Theory of Monopoly Capitalism","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1966, Paul Baran and Paul Sweezy published Monopoly Capital, \u003cbr\u003ea monumental work of economic theory and social criticism\u003cbr\u003ethat sought to reveal the basic nature of the capitalism of their\u003cbr\u003etime. Their theory, and its continuing elaboration by Sweezy, Harry\u003cbr\u003eMagdoff, and others in Monthly Review magazine, infl uenced generations\u003cbr\u003eof radical and heterodox economists. They recognized\u003cbr\u003ethat Marx's work was unfi nished and itself historically conditioned, \u003cbr\u003eand that any attempt to understand capitalism as an evolving\u003cbr\u003ephenomenon needed to take changing conditions into account.\u003cbr\u003eHaving observed the rise of giant monopolistic (or oligopolistic)\u003cbr\u003efi rms in the twentieth century, they put monopoly capital at the\u003cbr\u003ecenter of their analysis, arguing that the rising surplus such fi rms\u003cbr\u003eaccumulated--as a result of their pricing power, massive sales\u003cbr\u003eefforts, and other factors--could not be profi tably invested back\u003cbr\u003einto the economy. Absent any \"epoch making innovations\" like the\u003cbr\u003eautomobile or vast new increases in military spending, the result\u003cbr\u003ewas a general trend toward economic stagnation--a condition that\u003cbr\u003epersists, and is increasingly apparent, to this day. Their analysis\u003cbr\u003ewas also extended to issues of imperialism, or \"accumulation on\u003cbr\u003ea world scale,\" overlapping with the path-breaking work of Samir\u003cbr\u003eAmin in particular. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJohn Bellamy Foster is a leading exponent of this theoretical perspective\u003cbr\u003etoday, continuing in the tradition of Baran and Sweezy's\u003cbr\u003eMonopoly Capital. This new edition of his essential work, The\u003cbr\u003eTheory of Monopoly Capitalism, is a clear and accessible explication\u003cbr\u003eof this outlook, brought up to the present, and incorporating\u003cbr\u003ean analysis of recently discovered \"lost\" chapters from Monopoly\u003cbr\u003eCapital and correspondence between Baran and Sweezy. It also\u003cbr\u003ediscusses Magdoff and Sweezy's analysis of the fi nancialization\u003cbr\u003eof the economy in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, leading up to the\u003cbr\u003eGreat Financial Crisis of the opening decade of this century. Foster\u003cbr\u003epresents and develops the main arguments of monopoly capital\u003cbr\u003etheory, examining its key exponents, and addressing its critics in a\u003cbr\u003eway that is thoughtful but rigorous, suspicious of dogma but adamant\u003cbr\u003ethat the deep-seated problems of today's monopoly-fi nance\u003cbr\u003ecapitalism can only truly be solved in the process of overcoming\u003cbr\u003ethe system itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Bellamy Foster\u003c\/b\u003e is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Oregon and editor of Monthly Review. He has written many books including\u003ci\u003e The Robbery of Nature\u003c\/i\u003e (with Brett Clark) and \u003ci\u003eThe Return of Nature\u003c\/i\u003e, which won the Deutscher Memorial Prize.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Monthly Review Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50357139898642,"sku":"9781583674413","price":22.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f419a5c5-4e05-4989-937c-4727ce33a121.jpg?v=1728318962","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-theory-of-monopoly-capitalism-9781583674413","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}