Paradox of monetary profit, shortage of money in circulation & financialisation

Over the last four decades, the term “financialisation” has entered economics terminologies to explain the development of capitalist economies in which: a) the rate of profit in the production sector is falling or narrowing relative to that in the financial sector b) profit seeking through financial speculation has grown rapidly among the household and the production sectors; c) public and private debt is rapidly accelerating and its ratio to GDP is increasing swiftly; d) there is an independent and accelerated growth of the financial sector compared to that of the real sector. This paperis a theoretical attempt to shed light on these features through the lens of the paradox of monetary profit and its manifestation in the capitalist economy, i.e. the shortage of money in circulation. The aim of this paper is to show how the paradox of monetary profit provides a theoretical framework to analyse the mechanism by which the capitalist economies move towards financialisation. This theoretical argument shows the connection between the shortage of money in circulation and financialisation. The core idea proposed in this paper is that financialisation is the direct result of the shortage of money in circulation, and that this shortage can be explained through the paradox of monetary profit

Theorizing the process of financialization through the paradox of profit: the credit-debt reproduction mechanism

Financialization occurs where, over time, capitalist economies undergo a transformation, with profit-making via investment in production declining, to be replaced by profit-making via investment in financial markets. In the present research, we offer a novel theoretical explanation for this process, that we call the credit-debt reproduction mechanism. We derive this inductively, starting with Marx’s analysis of the paradox of monetary profit and its practical manifestation in the capitalist economy, the shortage of money in circulation. This shortage results in capital becoming increasingly expensive, making long-term investment decisions less certain, less profitable and less justifiable. Investment in financial markets grows, but this leads to an ever-expanding cycle of credit and debt, which puts capitalist economies on a one-way road from productive investments to predominantly unproductive investments. We include in this analysis important reflections on the distinction between “financialization” and “financial development.” We also revive and revisit the notion of the shortage of money as a key driver in this process. Another contribution made in this research is to draw a distinction between practical and theoretical solutions to the paradox of monetary profit. Crucially, our research confirms the absence of a theoretical solution to the paradox, there existing only practical solutions