Profits and Fractal Properties: Notes on Marx, Countertendencies and Simulation Models


Type
Article
Change log
Authors
Ribeiro, LC 
de Deus, LG 
Albuquerque, EDM 
Abstract

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. There are new reasons for revisiting Marx’s elaboration on the rate of profit because contemporary debates provide findings from the MEGA Project, long-term data on the rate of profit, and tools for dealing with complexity and non-equilibrium systems. This article proposes that the interplay between the tendency and the countertendencies of the rate of profit to fall can be translated into a simple system of equations, one based on each chapter of Section Three of Capital—as if Marx sought to mathematically formalise his insights. This article reviews previous debates, presents data and runs a simulation model, showing that the rate of profit behaves as fractals.

Description
Keywords
Complex systems, Marx, MEGA2 Project, metamorphoses of capitalism, rate of profit
Journal Title
Review of Political Economy
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
0953-8259
1465-3982
Volume Title
29
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Sponsorship
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES, Brazil), grant (BEX 0840/14-9)