Theory of Crisis

Abstract

For Marx accumulation is the essence of capitalism: ‘Accumulate, accumulate: that is Moses and the prophets.’ But capitalist accumulation necessarily follows a cyclic path which is dominated by the crisis phase. The study of cyclical accumulation is a twofold venture: it is the study of the cause of crises and of their forms. Existing theories of crises frequently confuse the forms of crises with the causes and this generally arises because they concentrate on one of the phenomena of crises to the exclusion of others. Before turning to these, two things must be emphasised. First, the crises with which we are concerned are economic crises rather than general social crises; they are identified by a violent interruption in the circuits of capital. Second, since in the Marxist concept capitalist accumulation is necessarily punctuated by crises, the theory of the cause of crises must demonstrate that none is accidental but all arise from a common foundation which is inherent in capitalism.