Financial profit is prevalent in contemporary capitalist economies, yet its nature and sources remain unclear. In classical political economy, and for Marx, profit is conceptualised either as a fresh flow of value (profit from production) or as a share of existing flows of value (profit upon...

This paper looks at Jamaica’s stalled agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), its economic performance over the past year and examines its persistently high debt burden. It finds that an unsustainable debt burden continues to displace needed investments, preventing long-term...

The Argentine economy has grown 94 percent for the years 2002-2011, using International Monetary Fund projections for the end of this year. This is the fastest growth in the Western Hemisphere for this period, and among the highest growth rates in the world. It also compares favorably to...

Many countries in the developing world have adopted an approach to monetary policy that focuses on maintaining a low level of inflation, to the exclusion of other important objectives such as employment generation, increasing investment or reducing poverty, despite the widespread evidence that...

The South African Reserve Bank and Ministry of Finance have adopted inflation targeting and the gradual relaxation of exchange controls (along with control of public spending and financial liberalization) as the foundation of their economic policy in an attempt to win the confidence of foreign...

This paper presents the first set of estimates of the rentier share of income for twenty-nine OECD countries. We define rentier share to mean the income accruing to financial institutions and the holders of financial assets. The years of coverage vary by country, but span the period 1960-2000....

This paper uses the term, capital management techniques, to refer to two complementary (and often overlapping) types of financial policies: policies that govern international private capital flows and those that enforce prudential management of domestic financial institutions. The paper shows...

We present new estimates of the rentier share of national income for OECD countries for the years between 1960 and 2000. For most countries, the rentier share of income significantly increased during the last several decades, starting in the early 1980's and coinciding with the shift to...