7 - Simple Reproduction in Capital, Vol. II, Sections 1–8

Summary

Marx's discussion of simple and extended reproduction in Capital, Vol. II begins with a rather long-winded discussion of simple reproduction and circulation in Chapter 17 (1974b, 329–48 [1978, 399–418]) and then a very brief discussion of extended reproduction (1974b, 348–54 [1978, 418–24]). However, this discussion (which basically focuses on the question of the money-supply necessary for circulation to take place) is of very limited interest to us here, and really only needs to be studied in any detail at all if one is interested in Rosa Luxemburg's claim that a third department of production is required to produce the means of exchange (Luxemburg 1963, 99–103).

Of much greater interest to us here is Marx's discussion of simple and extended reproduction in Chapters 20 and 21 of Vol. II. This is the famous Department I (DI) and Department II (DII) discussion of the reproduction of the total social capital of society, rather than of any individual or particular capital, as was the case with Marx's discussion of simple and extended reproduction in Capital, Vol. I. Once again these two chapters are composed of a very long discussion of simple reproduction (in Chapter 20) and a very much shorter and rather more to the point discussion of extended reproduction (in Chapter 21).