iLSE PUBLIC EVENTi
Tuesday, May 27, 2014, 3–6pm
LSE Department of International Relations & the project on CAPITAL AS POWER
Can Capitalists Afford Recovery?
SPEAKER: Jonathan Nitzan, with an introduction by Sandy Hager
Theorists and policymakers from all directions and of all
persuasions remain obsessed with the prospect of recovery. For mainstream
economists, the key question is how to bring about such a recovery. For
heterodox political economists, the main issue is whether sustained growth is
possible to start with. But there is a prior question that nobody seems to ask:
can capitalists afford recovery in the first place? If we think of
capital not as means of production but as a mode of power, we find that
accumulation thrives not on growth and investment, but on unemployment and
stagnation. And if accumulation depends on crisis, why should capitalists want
to see a recovery?
Jonathan Nitzan is a professor of political economy at York University in Toronto and co-author, with professor Shimshon Bichler, of Capital as Power: A Study of Order and Creorder. Dr Sandy Hager is a Fellow in International Political Economy at the LSE Department of International Relations.
Attendance is free.
Location: The London School of Economics and Political Science, St Clement's Building, Room S75 [campus map]
Dinner: If you wish to join us for a friendly dinner after the event (at your own expense), kindly RSVP Dr. Hager.
Contact: Dr. Sandy Hager – s.b.hager@lse.ac.uk