Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Growth, Accumulation, and Unproductive Activity
  • Cited by 5
      • Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      24 March 2010
      31 October 1986
      ISBN:
      9780511664533
      9780521251518
      9780521034753
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511664533
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.463kg, 216 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.328kg, 216 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Economics, Economic Theory, Economic Development and Growth
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    Economics, Economic Theory, Economic Development and Growth
    Information

    Book description

    This book documents the growth of unproductive activity in the United States economy since World War II and its relation to the economic surplus, capital accumulation, and economic growth. Unproductive activities broadly consist of those involved in the circulation process, including wholesaling and retailing, banking and financial services, advertising, legal services, business services and many (though not all) government activities. The results indicate that the level of unproductive activity in the postwar economy has been a significant factor in the slowdown in the rate of capital accumulation, productivity growth and the overall growth rate. Here, the villain is shown to be the gradual but persistent shift of resources to unproductive activities. The consequence has been a reduction in new capital formation and productivity growth and an erosion in the rate of growth in per capita living standards. Moreover, the rise in unproductive activity is itself seen to be rooted in the logic of advanced capitalism. The forces of competition, which in the early stages of capitalism lead to rapid technical change and productivity growth, promote non-productive and even counterproductive activities in its more advanced stages.

    Reviews

    "Edward Wolff has provided us with an analytical framework which richly describes general social productive and unproductive activity and their consequences for the postwar U.S. economy...Overall, this volume should prove to be a valuable resource to economists pursuing empirical analysis of value categories." Alexander M. Thompson III, Science and Society

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Contents

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.