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Originally published at Economics from the Top Down Ryan Kyger1 and Blair Fix Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds. — attributed to Richard Feynman2 Most scientists don’t …
Originally published at pluralistic.net Cory Doctorow The starting gun on Big Tech trustbusting was fired in 2017, when Lina Khan, then a law student (now an FTC trustbuster!) published “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” a law-review article …
Originally published at Economics from the Top Down Blair Fix The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like …
Originally published at notes on cinema James McMahon Like other streaming services, Netflix does not make its user data public. To date, there are two exceptions to this privacy. Netflix released a large dataset of …
Abstract Covid-19 and the Global Political Economy investigates and explores how far and in what ways the Covid-19 pandemic is challenging, restructuring, and perhaps remaking aspects of the global political economy. Since the 1970s, neoliberal …
Abstract Rapid technological change is often touted as a fundamental reality of capitalist societies. It is also often presented as concrete evidence for the supposed progressive improvement of material well-being that characterises the capitalist system …
Review of Capital as Power (RECASP)
Pensions and Power The Political and Market Dynamics of Public Pension Plans ERALD KOLASI June 2022 Abstract This paper uses the theory of ‘capital as power’ to analyze the struggle over public pensions in the …
Costly Efficiencies Healthcare Spending, COVID-19, and the Public/Private Healthcare Debate CHRIS MOURÉ May 2022 Abstract Proponents of private healthcare often claim that the private sector is more ‘efficient’ at delivering healthcare services. This paper tests …
Hype The Capitalist Degree of Induced Participation YURI DI LIBERTO April 2022 Abstract Power is usually considered as either a ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ construct, as in the power to force action versus the power to …
Soft-wars A Capital-as-Power Analysis of Google’s Differential Power Trajectory CHRIS MOURÉ October 2021 Abstract The capital as power framework, developed by Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler, argues that the aim of business is not ‘profit …
Reconsidering Systemic Fear and the Stock Market A Reply to Baines and Hager JAMES MCMAHON August 2021 Abstract This article responds to Baines and Hager’s recent critique of the capital-as-power model of the stock market. …
From Commodities to Assets Capital as Power and the Ontology of Finance JESÚS SUASTE CHERIZOLA May 2021 Abstract Assets are a crucial concept of the practice and mindset of the capitalist class. Critical analyses of …
Blog
Originally published at Economics from the Top Down Ryan Kyger1 and Blair Fix Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds. — attributed to Richard Feynman2 Most scientists don’t …
Originally published at pluralistic.net Cory Doctorow The starting gun on Big Tech trustbusting was fired in 2017, when Lina Khan, then a law student (now an FTC trustbuster!) published “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” a law-review article …
Originally published at Economics from the Top Down Blair Fix The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like …
Originally published at notes on cinema James McMahon Like other streaming services, Netflix does not make its user data public. To date, there are two exceptions to this privacy. Netflix released a large dataset of …
Originally published at Economics from the Top Down Blair Fix Today I’m trying a different type of post — one that’s not a deep dive, but instead, a rapid-fire summary of an important topic. My …
Tim Di Muzio Any student of capitalism knows it is a distinct economic system prone to periodic crises. These crises come in many forms and are typically studied after the fact, as the work of …
Publications
Abstract Covid-19 and the Global Political Economy investigates and explores how far and in what ways the Covid-19 pandemic is challenging, restructuring, and perhaps remaking aspects of the global political economy. Since the 1970s, neoliberal …
Abstract In the March 2021 issue of Harper’s, Scorsese wrote an essay to pay tribute to Federico Fellini, the Italian director who directed such great films as La Strada, 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita, Nights …
Abstract In Hollywood, the goals of art and business are entangled. Directors, writers, actors, and idealistic producers aspire to make the best films possible. These aspirations often interact with the dominant firms that control Hollywood …
Abstract Wenn man genau hinhört, kann man zuhören, wie Jeff Bezos immer reicher wird. Da ist es schon wieder, dieses Geräusch. Eine weitere Milliarde in Bezos‘ Kassen. Lassen Sie uns diesen Klang des Geldes mit …
Abstract This article examines the role of the Big Three asset management firms — BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street — in corporate environmental governance. Specifically, it charts the Big Three’s relationships with the public–owned Carbon …
Abstract Although the determinants of income are complex, the results are surprisingly uniform. To a first approximation, top incomes follow a power-law distribution, and the redistribution of income corresponds to a change in the power-law …
Working Papers on Capital as Power
Abstract This paper builds an empirical and theoretical model to analyze how the financial goal of risk reduction changed the insides of Hollywood’s star system. For the moviegoer looking at Hollywood cinema from the outside, …
Abstract Neoclassical economics is the official scientific underpinning of capitalism as well as its main ideological defence, and according to Keen, it fails in both tasks. Contrary to received opinion, neoclassicism cannot explain capitalism – …
Abstract This note offers some speculative ideas worth considering. One of the key features of all hierarchical civilizations is their rulers’ fear of death. This fear was famously narrated in the ancient myth of Gilgamesh …
Abstract The debate around public versus private health care often turns on cost – that is, on how to reduce costs, and particularly government expenditures, when it comes to health care. This paper examines the …
Abstract Although the determinants of income are complex, the results are surprisingly uniform. To a first approximation, top incomes follow a power-law distribution, and the redistribution of income corresponds to a change in the power-law …
Abstract We write this essay for both lay readers and scientists, though mainstream economists are welcome to enjoy it too. Our subject is the basic toolbox of mainstream economics. The most important tools in this …
Forum
Scot Griffin
Adam Marshall wrote: Your point about capitalists aiming to preserve their wealth by ensuring their return on capital exceeds inflation makes sense. Although would this not generally require them to also beat the average? I …
Scot Griffin
Jonathan Nitzan wrote: Scot Griffin wrote: I think “confidence in obedience” collapses too many disparate issues into a singularity, obliterating any opportunity to distinguish between those issues and understand their differences. Yes, “confidence in obedience” …
Toukichi A.
I forgot/didn’t see this section in the forums and posted it in the Political Economy section. For the original, the link is here: https://capitalaspower.com/casp-forum/topic/balance-of-trade-non-us-power-indexes-the-amalgamation-stagflation-cycle/ ————————————— The following post is a way of explaining a discovery …
Adam Marshall
I should add that, in addition to Nitzan and Bichler’s work, the above argument builds heavily on DT Cochrane (and also Jeff Monaghan’s) previous writings on CasP and activism. Especially: Cochrane, D.T., 2010. Review of …
Adam Marshall
Thanks Blair. Yes, I suspected as much. For the purposes of my research, I’m not necessarily looking to chart the capitalization of these private firms. It’s more about acknowledging their size, the specific investments they’ve …
Blair Fix
Hi Adam, I think the use of public firms to categorize dominant capital is mostly a matter of convenience. The capitalization of these firms is well known and captured by various databases. The capitalization of …
Bichler & Nitzan Archives
- Covid-19 and the Global Political Economy. Crises in the 21st Centuryon August 23, 2022
Covid-19 and the Global Political Economy. Crises in the 21st Century. Di Muzio, Tim and Dow, Matt, eds. (2022). Abingdon, Oxon and New York, NY. Routledge. (Book; English).
- No Shortage of Profit: Technological Change, Chip 'Shortages', and Capital Accumulation in the Semiconductor Businesson August 17, 2022
No Shortage of Profit: Technological Change, Chip 'Shortages', and Capital Accumulation in the Semiconductor Business Mouré, Christopher. (2022). Unpublished Master Research Paper. Department of Politics. York University. Toronto. August (Thesis; English).
- Carrying the Elephantson August 7, 2022
Carrying the Elephants Bichler, Shimshon and Nitzan, Jonathan. (2022). Research Note. 6 August. pp. 1-5. (Article - Working Paper; English).
- Have We Passed Peak Capitalism?on July 13, 2022
Have We Passed Peak Capitalism? Fix, Blair. (2022). Economics from the Top Down. 7 July. pp. 1-41. (Article - Magazine; English).
- Pensions and Power. The Political and Market Dynamics of Public Pension Planson June 25, 2022
Pensions and Power. The Political and Market Dynamics of Public Pension Plans Kolasi, Erald. (2022). Review of Capital as Power. Vol. 2. No. 2. June. pp. 46-80. (Article - Journal; English).
- Pravda o inflácii: prečo sa Milton Friedman mýlil, nie prvý razon May 31, 2022
Pravda o inflácii: prečo sa Milton Friedman mýlil, nie prvý raz Fix, Blair. (2022). Belobog.sk. Translated by Marián Moravčík. May. (Article - Magazine; Other).