The 1979 Fed rate hike began the post-Fordist era
Evidence
According to Marxist economist Christian Marazzi, the switch from Fordism to post-Fordism can be given a very specific date: October 6, 1979. It was on that date that the Federal Reserve increased interest rates by 20 points, preparing the way for the ‘supply-side economics’ that would constitute the ‘economic reality’ in which we are now enmeshed. The rise in interest rates not only contained inflation, it made possible a new organization of the means of production and distribution. The ‘rigidity’ of the Fordist production line gave way to a new ‘flexibility’, a word that will send chills of recognition down the spine of every worker today. — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 71
According to Marxist economist Christian Marazzi, the switch from Fordism to post-Fordism can be given a very specific date: October 6, 1979. It was on that date that the Federal Reserve increased interest rates by 20 points, preparing the way for the ‘supply-side economics’ that would constitute the ‘economic reality’ in which we are now enmeshed. — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 71
Categorization
- QUESTION: Marazzi’s precise dating of the regime switch — October 6, 1979 — is worth verifying and pursuing as an economic history anchor.
- XREF: Connects to earlier chapters’ theme of capitalism’s internal contradictions and economism, plus general interest in concrete periodization dates. — connects to: Heat dramatizes the shift from Fordist hierarchies to flexible post-Fordist crews — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 69; The 1979 Federal Reserve rate hike launched post-Fordist flexible capitalism — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 71; The 1973 recession undermined Fordism and birthed a new accumulation regime — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 864 (+6 more)
- SEED: Angles for an essay: isolating the exact policy moment that birthed ‘flexibility’ and the precariat — Oct 6 1979 as a pivot date rivaling 1989.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 71
Related
- The 1979 Federal Reserve rate hike launched post-Fordist flexible capitalism (similarity 0.97)
- The October 1979 interest rate shock initiated the shift to post-Fordism (similarity 0.94)
- The Fordist regime collapsed with the 1973 recession (similarity 0.80)
Broader Connections
- The 1973 recession undermined Fordism and birthed a new accumulation regime
#qualifies(0.75) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 864 - Reagan-era appointments turned the Fed into a channel for neoliberalizing economics
#expands(0.75) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 529 - The Fordist regime collapsed with the 1973 recession
#qualifies(0.75) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 847 - US financialization emerged from state responses to 1970s governance crises.
#expands(0.74) — Gerald F. Davis & Suntae Kim, Financialization of the Economy, 32 - The US economy became increasingly financialized in the post-1970s period.
#expands(0.72) — Greta R. Krippner, The Financialization of the American…, 5 - The state’s crisis-management role grew in the post-Fordist era rather than shrinking
#complicates(0.72) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 1034