Profitability and Crisis in the South African Economy

Malikane, Christopher (2017): Profitability and Crisis in the South African Economy.

Abstract

Based on new quarterly estimates of the general rate of profit over 1960-2016, this paper shows that the South African economy experienced two phase changes in the pace and rhythm of capital accumulation. The rate of profit exhibits a cyclical tendency to fall, mainly driven by the tendency of capital intensity to rise. The economy experienced a crisis of absolute overproduction of capital in the mid-1980s. This crisis was not only characterised by stagnation in the mass of profits, it was also characterised by a halt in capital accumulation. Thereafter, the rate of profit recovered primarily because of the fall in the capital-output ratio but it failed to reach the levels seen in the 1970's. We estimate that in 2012, the South African economy entered a new and on-going crisis of overproduction of capital characterised by stagnant profits and prolonged overaccumulation, which makes it impossible for economic growth to recover.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: falling rate of profit, capital intensity, overproduction of capital, overaccumulation
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E1 - General Aggregative Models > E11 - Marxian ; Sraffian ; Kaleckian; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O5 - Economywide Country Studies

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