Conclusion to six-wk workshop

1. Economics for
Activists
Week Six –
Conclusion
F2 Building, New Fatima, Rialto
16 July 2013

3. The purpose of capitalism is self-expansion – capital begets capital – and it does so by monetizing
social value and human labour. This is a circuit of transformation.

4. The purpose of capitalism is self-expansion – capital begets capital – and it does so by monetizing
social value and human labour. This is a circuit of transformation.
“Historical capitalism involved therefore the widespread commodification of processes – not
merely exchange processes, but production processes, distribution processes, and investment
processes – that had previously been conducted other than via a „market‟. And, in the course of
seeking to accumulate more and more capital, capitalists have sought to commodify more and more
of these social processes in all spheres of economic life.”
Immanuel Wallerstein, Historical Capitalism (London: Verso, 2011), 15.

12. 1. From finance capital to financialisation
Financialisation sees financial assets not as representing
wealth in the „real‟ economy, but as wealth creating
investment in their own right. (p.85)
Leverage became the most important tool of financial
accumulation… debt [or leverage] piled on a small amount
of initial investment can vastly increase the profit made.
The secret is access and banks were lending incredibly
cheaper to speculative finance companies. (p.89)