Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/242970 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Citation: 
[Journal:] Real-World Economics Review [ISSN:] 1755-9472 [Issue:] 97 [Publisher:] World Economics Association [Place:] Bristol [Year:] 2021 [Pages:] 78-95
Publisher: 
World Economics Association, Bristol
Abstract: 
For more than a century, political economists have sought to understand the nature of capital. The prevailing wisdom is that there must be something ‘real’ – some productive capacity – that underpins capitalized values. This thinking, I argue, is a mistake. Building on Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler’s theory of capital as power, I argue that capitalization is an ideology. It is a quantitative ritual for converting earnings into present value. Although the ritual is arbitrary, it gives rise to astonishing empirical regularities, reviewed here.
Subjects: 
capitalization
discounting
power
stock market
JEL: 
P16
P26
P48
G
P
G1
E44
URL of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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