Finance is an essential fix for capital’s overproduction tendency, not mere elite skulduggery
Evidence
For Harvey, fictitious capital represents not a claim on actually existing value but a share of future surplus value yet to be extracted (2006, 265–268). But, for Harvey, finance does not exist purely as the realm of elite skulduggery, it is a crucial set of economic institutions by which capital “fixes” its inherent tendency towards overproduction and, as such is an essential, if crisis-prone, component of capitalist accumulation. In order for capital to expand, it requires mechanisms by which multiple otherwise competitive capitalists can pool their resources to undertake ventures that are too risky or too large for any single capitalist to undertake alone (270–273). — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 101
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines fictitious capital as a claim on future surplus value and positions finance as a necessary institution of accumulation.
- XREF: connects to: Financial capital both depends on and disciplines industrial production for returns — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 419; Finance is necessary but not sufficient to capitalist accumulation — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 488; Financialization is integral to capitalism, not a product of deregulatory excess — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 34 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- Finance is necessary but not sufficient to capitalist accumulation
#qualifies(0.85) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 488 - Financialization is integral to capitalism, not a product of deregulatory excess
#expands(0.80) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 34 - Finance is socially and politically generative, not merely economically exploitative
#expands(0.80) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 22 - Finance manages rather than creates value under capitalism.
#complicates(0.75) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 98 - Finance lets capital attempt many commodification strategies while interest covers most failures
#expands(0.75) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 493 - Solutions to financialization require abolishing capitalism, not just re-regulating finance
#qualifies(0.72) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 34 - Financialization is reproduced from everyday life, not imposed by an autonomous elite
#complicates(0.70) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 129