The 1979 Federal Reserve rate hike launched post-Fordist flexible capitalism

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

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

Categorization

• DEFINE: Dates the otherwise hazy Fordism/post-Fordism boundary to a single policy event.
• QUESTION: Is Marazzi’s precise dating of the Fordism-to-post-Fordism switch to October 6 1979 broadly accepted, or is it rhetorically convenient?
• XREF: A precise hinge-date for a regime shift resonates with how David Harvey dates neoliberalization to the late 1970s Volcker shock. — connects to: Class antagonism has moved inside each worker rather than between classes — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 74; Most incapacity-benefit claimants are casualties of deindustrialization, not malingerers — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 81; The 1979 Fed rate hike began the post-Fordist era — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 71 (+3 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 71

Related

• The 1979 Fed rate hike began the post-Fordist era (similarity 0.97)
• The October 1979 interest rate shock initiated the shift to post-Fordism (similarity 0.92)

Broader Connections

• The 1979 Fed rate hike began the post-Fordist era #corroborates (0.98) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 71
• The 1973 recession undermined Fordism and birthed a new accumulation regime #complicates (0.80) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 864
• The US economy became increasingly financialized in the post-1970s period. #expands (0.78) — Greta R. Krippner, The Financialization of the American…, 5