11 - 1861–1863 II: Sectoral Analysis, Accumulation, and Stability

Summary

Introduction

The second of our chapters on the Economic Manuscripts sets out in Section B with the outlines of inter-sectoral analysis in the case of “simple reproduction,” as it is called in Capital 2. Here – and in a preliminary statement provided to Engels in correspondence – we find Marx's objection to orthodox classicism that it had failed to deal properly with the presence of constant capital. Section C extends the discussion to the conditions for steady growth – or “extended reproduction” in the language of Capital – where again objections to the classical treatment are apparent. This is followed in Sections D and E by discussion of the impediment to steady growth imposed by “overproduction,” and of the secular-cyclical relation envisaged. A more general discussion of sources of cyclical instability and the recovery mechanisms envisaged are the topics of Sections F and G. Section H is devoted to the literature on overproduction with particular reference to Marx's essentially Malthusian analysis.

Sectoral Analysis and the Constant Capital “Riddle”

A letter to Engels dated 6 July 1863 provides a convenient statement of the essentials of Marx's sectoral analysis elaborated at various places in the Economic Manuscripts (in particular MECW 30: 411–51; 31: 83–94, 134–51; 32: 102–8, 114–24, 380–5; 33: 209–19; 34: 238–47). Here Marx analyzes the interrelations between the consumption- and capital-goods sectors required to assure steady “reproduction” of the national product.