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THE SPANISH CRISIS THEORETICAL QUESTIONS AND EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS. 11th Annual Historical Materialism Conference 6-9th November 2014 School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London. Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé Visiting researcher , dept . of Economics , Kingston University
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THE SPANISH CRISISTHEORETICAL QUESTIONS AND EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS 11th Annual Historical Materialism Conference 6-9th November 2014 School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London Juan Pablo Mateo Tomé Visitingresearcher, dept. of Economics, Kingston University Email: j.mateotome@kingston.ac.uk
Overview: theeconomic crisis • Existence of onetheoryforthe crisis withintheMarxistapproach • Howthe general laws of accumulationmanifestthemselves in theSpanisheconomy • Law of value→ insufficient surplus generated: profitability crisis (TPRF) Spain: characterisationof the growth model • Valorisationprocess centered in the construction sector → re-valorisation of residential assets or increase in the housing prices apart from objective foundations • Investment ↔ Price {demand pushes up prices and price increase attracts more demand} → Profits • Disequilibria in price deflators
Causes: → Profitability: social content, notpsychologicalortechnical • Problems in the capacity of generating surplus in other branches → Inelasticity of demand → Externallinks (How can it be sustainablefortheentireperiod? ) • Industry: elements for construction, transport infrastructure • Services: sale/ rental, reparations, plumbing, financial (credit loans, securitisation) • Particularities of Spain → Integration in theEurozone • Lessproductivedevelopment • Vs tradablesectors
Implications of thehousingbubblefortheempiricalresearch: • Itisnotsufficient to analysethebehaviour of the macro categories (CK, p, r) • Sectoralrestructuring • Stagnation of K/L, Y/L • Howtoadressthelevel and dynamics of profitability? • Thefictitiouscharacter of therise in ‘r’ isrevealed in thedepreciation of assets→ debt • Changes in theapparentcausality: Investment → price → profit • Consequence: limits of theSystem of NA
The Spanish case: a profitability crisis? • Rate of profit • -17.4% (95-07) • -24.7% (95-12)
Long term rate of profit (1970-2012) • Surplus (Ameco and INE): VA – Wages • Allexpressions of r descendabruptlyfromthemax. reached in 1974 to 2012: • r (total) → -46%; • r (exc RE) → -51%; • r exc RE-VSer → -43%
Conventional measures of profitability in 2000-12 (2000= 100) and total rate of fall since 2006
Technical composition, labour productivity and real wage (2000= 100) • Growthperiod: • Decrease in TCC and Y/L until 2000, butstrongrate of increase of both K and L • K/L barelyincreases <10% in 2000-7, Y/L onlyincreases 0,49% • Labourproductivityfalls 3.3% in 1995-07, w (GDP deflator) descendsby 6% in 1995-06 • Crisis:rise in TCC, Y/L and w (U)
“Capital productivity”, productivity efficiency of investment and prices (1999= 100) • Y/K (max r) fallsby 27% in 2000-12 • Around 80% of thedecreaseoriginated in thelowerlevel of Y/L reachedbytheweak TCC • Similar pathfortheprofitrate and Y/K, as long as profit-share has remainedconstant
Composition of net investment at current prices by type of assets • Investment in construction, from 68.6% (1995) to 71-72% (2004-07) • Increase in housingbutslightdecrease in otherconstruction
Dynamics and level of capital accumulationby sector • Particular “relationship” between TCC and Y/L”, with 2 exceptions: • Deep reestructuring in theindustrysince 1980s, and in the 90s, in favor of low-mediumtechnologybranches • Banking: highpresence and dependenceon real stateactivity
Annualaveragerates of labourproductivity and pricedeflators (1995-2007) • The capital accumulationmodelbasedontherise in price of assets leads notonly to stagnation in productivity, butalso to aninternaldestructuring • Construction, Trade-Trans-Hot and Professional services→ ∆P> 4% annual … • … but Y/L fallsby 2-4% per year
Sectoralrates of profit (1995-2012) • Higher r: Finances; Construction; Agriculture • From 1997 to 2003, Constructionistheonlyactivitywithanincreasing and aboveaveragerate of profit. Evenafter 2003, itstillisone of themostprofitablesectors.