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This article uses the Marxist theory of imperialism to analyze the war in Ukraine that broke out in March 2022. It analyzes the evolution of the socioeconomic system of post-Soviet Russia, the evolving relationship between post-Soviet Russia and the US government, and the history of relations between Russia and Ukraine. It considers the role of nationalist ideology in Russia both before and after the demise of the Soviet Union. The article concludes that a relation of inter-imperialist rivalry played a key role in the conflict that led to the war in Ukraine. JEL Classification: B51, N40, P52 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US government has been promoting a new cold war against China for some time. It began before former President Donald Trump initiated a trade war against China and has continued under President Biden. The underlying reason for this policy is the drive of the US government to maintain a position of global domination and to prevent any other country from rising to a position of equal, or near equal, economic, political, or military strength with the US. This cold war is unjustified and poses serious dangers for people around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Marxist theory, imperialism is not a policy pursued by certain states, but rather a structural relation emerging from the dynamics of some modes of production. In the capitalist era the profit and accumulation drive underlies the establishment of imperialist relations. This paper applies historical materialism to analyze the political-economic system in China today to determine the forces that have shaped China's insertion into the global system. We present evidence that China's role in other parts of the world does not fit the Marxist concept of imperialism. We argue that the nonimperialist character of China's external relations stems from China's particular political economy. JEL Classification: F54, O53, P52 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perhaps the greatest strength of capitalism has been its ability to promote sustained technological progress. A viable socialism must also promote sustained technological progress while avoiding the problems associated with technological change under capitalism. Socialism faces a fundamental dilemma regarding technological change and job security in that technological progress is inherently disruptive. As old technologies are superseded, product lines become obsolete, production processes are changed, and certain kinds of jobs are no longer needed. Thus, technological progress creates insecurity for jobholders. Even with an employment guarantee, the loss of one's job may require retraining, changing careers, or moving to a new location. In this paper, we propose means for promoting technological advance under planned socialism while also providing meaningful employment security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the impact of state-owned enterprises on economic growth in China. We consider several possible channels through which state-owned enterprises might play a pro-growth role: first, stabilizing growth in economic downturns by carrying out massive investments; second, promoting technical progress by investing in riskier areas of technology; third, by following a high-road approach to treating workers by paying a living wage which is favorable for China to move toward a more sustainable growth model in the future. Our empirical analysis finds that a higher share of state-owned enterprises is favorable to long-run growth and tends to offset the adverse effect of economic downturns on the regional level. JEL Classification : E11, O47, P31 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current economic expansion in the United States, which began in the summer of 2009, has lasted for more than nine years as of this writing, making it the second longest expansion since the end of World War II. The previous two expansions, of the 1990s and 2000s, were prolonged by big asset bubbles, which have played a key role in the neoliberal era in promoting long economic expansions. However, the current expansion has not seen an asset bubble large enough to significantly affect the macroeconomy. This paper examines the expansion since 2009 by analyzing the movements of the rate of profit, and its determinants, and the role of aggregate demand, with the aim of determining the factors that have kept crisis tendencies at bay so far. JEL Classification: E32, E30, E11, E02 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stagnation in the US economy since 2008 has given rise to a mainstream stagnation literature. This paper offers a critique of that literature and proposes an explanation for the current stagnation based on social structure of accumulation (SSA) theory. It presents historical and econometric evidence for an SSA-based explanation of the current stagnation and considers the implications for the likely near-future course of economic policy and institutional change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper locates social structure of accumulation (SSA) theory in relation to traditional Marxism. It then applies SSA theory to analyze the current trajectory of system transformation in the global system. Drawing lessons from the global crisis of the 1930s, it uses SSA theory to illuminate the causes and possible consequences of the system transformation that now appears to be developing—a transformation that may be replacing parliamentary democracies by right-wing nationalist repressive regimes in many countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To understand a severe economic crisis such as that of 2008, it is not sufficient to analyze capitalism-in-general along with various economic policy decisions and contingent events. An adequate analysis requires taking account of the particular form of capitalism. This approach to crisis theory is illustrated by an examination of the roots of the economic crisis that broke out in 2008 in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an analysis of the current economic crisis in the United States that began in 2008, which is understood not as a business cycle recession but as a structural crisis. It presents a case that the current economic crisis is a particular type of crisis of over-investment, called an asset bubble induced over-investment crisis. It explains what is meant by that type of crisis and presents empirical evidence for the period since 1979 that supports this interpretation of the crisis. It argues that the forces that led to the current crisis cannot be seen in the behavior of the rate of profit.JEL Classification: E11, E32, N12 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyzes the growing role played by exports and investment in China’s rapid economic growth since 1978. It examines the reasons for the shift over time in China’s growth model, which occurred in stages, and it questions the sustainability of the recent dependence on exports and investment. It proposes structural changes in China’s growth model and considers the obstacles to such changes.JEL classification:O53, F43, O11 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a case that the financial and economic crisis that began in the United States in 2008 indicates the start of a systemic crisis of neoliberal capitalism. The same institutional features of neoliberal capitalism that promoted a series of long economic expansions over several decades also created long-run trends that have led to a systemic crisis. Major economic restructuring is likely to follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the neoliberal form of capitalism, economic expansion tends to be accompanied by rising profits and stagnant wages, creating a potential problem of overproduction. This obstacle to expansion has been overcome in the U.S. economy in the neoliberal era through rising household debt and the emergence of asset bubbles. However, certain trends in the U.S. economy suggest that the past methods of promoting expansion and averting severe crises in the neoliberal era may be becoming nonviable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social structure of accumulation theory faces a challenge arising from the persistence of neoliberalism, which does not appear to promote rapid capital accumulation. This article suggests an alternative interpretation of institutional change in which liberal and "regulationist" institutional structures alternate with one another, with the latter more favorable for capital accumulation. It examines the reasons why these two types of institutional structures arise, concluding that neoliberalism may persist for some time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses lessons that can be learned from the collapse of the state socialist system in the former Soviet Union. Debate over the relative merits of socialist and capitalist economic systems; Factors behind the collapse; Problems of market socialism.

Opinion. Focuses on the criticism of David Fine for the author's article `Household Labor, Wage Labor, and the Transformation of the Family'. Neoclassical versus Marxian approaches; Important things left out; Excessive formalism.

Presents a model of the relationship between household labor and wage labor within a Marxian value theory framework. Theories for the model; Advantages for capitalism; Rise of the dual wage family in the United States.

The article introduces papers published within the issue which were presented at the 6th Annual Forum of the World Association for Political Economy (WAPE) in Amherst, Massachusetts in May 2011, including one on state-owned enterprises (SOE) in China, another on the implications of the need to prevent major climate change for the developmental strategies of China and India and a paper on the influence of neoliberalism on the reform of emergency services in Great Britain.