Nikolai Kondratiev was sacked by Stalin because the latter demanded a precision the model, based on available statistics, lacked. There are two sides to it: on the side of the forces of production, Ernest Mandel identified the original Industrial Revolution, the interchangeable parts revolution, the assembly line revolution, and the automation revolution as the locomotives of this cycle; on the side of relations of production, Phil Foner and Juliet Schor showed that each revolution in production forces necessitated the shortening of the working day and/or week in order for capitalism to survive. The last time this happened was when the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1934 set the bar at 8hr/day, 40hr/week...the present standard, which is being undermined. We are now experiencing the downside, after a long period of stagnation, of the cycle, since the length of the working day and week hasnt been adjusted to take the automation revolution into account: since mass unemployment sunders capitalisms employer/employee relation of production, every time it happens it threatens capitalism. This time, it may doom it.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 08:17:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015