David > Recent Status Updates

Critique of Soviet economism in favour of the "spontaneous [economic] development" of the GPCR is downright silly, even as someone deeply sympathetic to the process and goals of the GPCR.

More nuanced view on the "Soviet Mode of Production," I am glad to read he is not a dogmatic Maoist here.

Bit more critical of Pan-Arabism and nationalism in Algeria than I would be, but valid class critiques on their limitations and historical failures.

Integration of Eastern Europe into the world system and switch of the 3rd World to classical industrial production given as viable routes for capitalism to escape the crisis of the 70s. Both came true, alongside neoliberal trade policies.

Amin's notion that state capitalism was the only way forward was clearly wrong and countered by the development of neoliberalism, which is interesting because it seemed to me that Emmanuel had pointed to the likely development of the latter in Unequal Exchange.

I am not sold at all on Amin's Maoist state capitalism thesis in regards to the USSR, but I am glad to see an actual theory of political economy regarding it rather than the simple declarations found in Chinese works of the period. What makes the Soviet "bourgeoisie" a "state-class"? How is that surplus allocation analogous to actual capitalism? His critique of rationality in planning is puzzling.

Something I enjoy with theorists of unequal exchange in particular is the focus on engaging with and critiquing marginalist economics rather than staying in the Marxian bubble, which Arrighi and Amin do to their great credit. Bettelheim's critique of unequal exchange on this point remains petty and really lazy.

Obviously Prashad's focus on Iran and Venezuela makes sense in the context of Trump I but in the aftermath of Trump II it makes him seem like a fucking soothsayer.

Bettelheim's contention that Emmanuel's "common language" situates him in pre-Marxian political economy is laughable. What was bro smoking? We are to just pretend that Marxism is intellectually dominant rather than marginalized and to work from there? Antithetical to Lenin's alliance of materialist intellectuals and wider Marxist analysis in my view.

Bettelheim's critique of "apocalyptic economism" is genuinely ridiculous. I don't even think it follows from his own position, it negates the entire structure of imperialism itself.

Interesting how quickly the switch to free trade orthodoxy and the rise of outsourcing would destroy Bettelheim's argument linking inequality of wages to productivity.

Not really understanding the political economic objections to Arhgiri by Bettelheim.

Didn't realize Giovanni Arrighi and Arghiri Emmanuel were different people so I managed to miss this entirely during grad school despite reading up on unequal exchange/dependency theory through Wallerstein and others.

Started with an opening salvo directed against Charles Beard. Disappointing, to say the least.

Mankiw's absolute free market dogmatism makes Krugman look like a socialist in comparison.