Functional forms of industrial capital. Capital as an economic category. Forms of capital Essences and main forms of functioning of capital

General formula for the circulation of commodity-capital is:

T '-D' - T ... P ... T '.

T' is not only the product, but also the presupposition of the two circuits previously considered, since what is for capital alone D - T, already includes T' - D' for the other, at least in so far as a part of the means of production is itself a commodity product of other individual capitals making their circuit. In your case, for example, coal, machinery, etc., represent the commodity capital of the coal producer, capitalist machine builder, etc. Further, in Chapter I, Section IV, it is shown that already at the first repetition D…D’, before this second circuit of money-capital is completed, not only the circuit P…P, but also the circulation T’… T’.

If reproduction takes place on an extended scale, then the final T' more than initial T' and therefore it must be denoted here by T".

The difference between the third form and the first two is, firstly, that here circulation as a whole with its two opposite phases opens the circuit, while in form I the circulation is interrupted by the process of production, and in form II the whole circulation with its two mutually complementary phases is only a mediating link in the process of reproduction and therefore forms a mediating movement between P…P. At D…D’ contact form is D - T ... T '-D' = D - T - D. At P…P reverse form: T' - D'. D - T \u003d T - D - T. In T' …T1 the appeal also has this latter form.

Secondly. By repeating Circuits I and II, even if the end points D' and P' form the starting points of a renewed circuit, the form in which these D' and P'. D'=D+d and P'=P+p start a new process again like D and P. In form III, however, even if the circuit is resumed on the same scale, the starting point T should be designated as 7", namely for the following reason. In Form I, only
D' as such opens a new circuit, it functions as money-capital D, as a capital-value advanced in the form of money, which must increase in value. The value of the advanced money-capital increased, owing to the accumulation which took place during the first circuit, became larger. But does the value of the advanced money-capital amount to £422? Art. or 500 lb. Art., - this does not change anything in the fact that it is simply a capital value. M' no longer exists as capital increased in value or fertilized by surplus value, not as a capitalist relation. After all, he [D'] has yet to go through the process of increasing value. The same applies to P…P’; P' should continue to function constantly and renew the circuit as P, as capital-value, which must produce surplus-value. On the other hand, the circulation of commodity-capital is opened not merely by capital-value, but by already increased capital-value in the form of commodities, and therefore from the outset it contains not only the circulation of capital-value in the form of commodities, but also the circulation of surplus-value. Therefore, if simple reproduction occurs in this form, then at the final point T' the same size as in the starting point. If part of the surplus-value enters the circuit of capital, then, although at the end T" instead of
T', i.e. appears T' greater value, but the next circuit still starts again with T', which is only a greater C' than it was in the previous circuit, and begins its new circuit with a greater accumulated capital-value, and therefore with a relatively greater newly produced surplus-value. In all cases, T' constantly opens the circuit as commodity-capital, which = capital-value + surplus-value.

T' acts as T in the circulation of individual industrial capital, not as a form of this capital, but as a form of other industrial capital, insofar as the means of production are the product of this latter.

Act D - T(i.e. D - Sp) of the first capital for this second capital is the act T' - D'.

R and sp in the act of address

D - T <

play an identical role insofar as they are commodities in the hands of their sellers, in the one case the workers who sell their labor power, in the other the owners of the means of production who sell these latter. For the buyer, whose money functions here as money-capital, R and Sp function as commodities only as long as he has not yet bought them, hence as long as they, as commodities of others, stand in opposition to his capital, which exists in the form of money. Sp i. R differ here only insofar as sp in the hands of your seller = T', therefore, can be capital, since sp represents the commodity-form of the seller's capital, while for the worker R is always only a commodity and becomes capital only in the hands of the buyer, as an integral part of P.

therefore T' can never start a circuit as simple T, as a mere commodity form of capital-value. As commodity capital, it always has a dual character. From the point of view of use-value, it is the product of the functioning P, - in this case, yarn, the elements of which R and cn, appearing as commodities from the sphere of circulation functioned as factors in the formation of this product. Secondly, in terms of value, it is equal to the capital cost P plus added value t, produced during operation P.

Only in the circuit itself T' part of it T = P= capital value can and should be separated from that part T', in which surplus-value exists, from the surplus-product in which surplus-value resides, whether the two parts are actually separable from each other, as in the case of yarn, or not, as in the case of a machine. These parts of value become separable from each other whenever T' turns into D'.

If the whole marketable product can be divided into independent homogeneous partial products, such as our 10,000 pounds of yarn, and if therefore the act T' - D' can be represented as the sum of successive sales, capital-value in the form of commodities may function as T, can separate from T', before the surplus-value is realized, therefore, before the T' generally.

From 10,000 pounds of yarn worth £500. Art. cost 8 440 pounds = 422 f. Art. q is equal to capital-value separated from surplus-value. If the capitalist sells only 8,440 pounds of yarn for 422l. Art., then these 8,440 pounds of yarn express T, capital value in commodity form; contained, moreover, in the same T' surplus product in the form of 1,560 pounds of yarn, equal to a surplus-value of 78l. Art., would enter into circulation only later; the capitalist could make

T-D-T <

before the circulation of the surplus product, up to t - d-t. Or, if he had first sold 7,440 pounds of yarn worth £372. Art., and then 1,000 pounds of yarn worth 50l. Art., then the first part T the means of production could be replaced (the constant part of capital, c), and the second part
T - the variable part of capital, v, labor power, and then everything is the same as before.

But if such successive sales take place, and if the conditions of the circuit permit it, then the capitalist, instead of dividing everything T' on With + v+ one that can perform this division also on any part T'.

For example, 7,440 pounds of yarn = 372 f. st., which, being parts of T' (10,000 pounds of yarn = £500), are representatives of the constant part of capital, can themselves be divided in their turn: into 5,535.360 pounds of yarn, worth £276.768. Art., which replaces only a constant part of the capital, the value of the means of production consumed in the production of 7,440 pounds of yarn; for 744 pounds of yarn worth £37,200. art., replacing only variable capital; for 1,160.640 pounds of yarn, worth £58,032. Art., which are the bearer of surplus value as a surplus product. Therefore, by selling 7,440 pounds, the capitalist can replace the capital-value contained in them by selling 6,279.360 pounds of yarn at a price of £313.968. Art., and the value of the surplus product in the form of 1,160.640 pounds of yarn = = 58, 032 f. Art., spend as income.

Similarly, he can further divide 1,000 pounds of yarn = 50l. Art. = variable capital value, and sell them in proportion: 744 pounds of yarn worth £37.200. Art. - it will be a fixed capital cost of 1,000 pounds of yarn; 100 pounds of yarn worth £5,000 Art. - the variable part of the capital in the same 1,000 pounds; hence 844 pounds of yarn, worth £42.200. Art. serve as a replacement for the capital value contained in 1,000 pounds of yarn; finally, 156 pounds of yarn, worth £7,800. Art. represent the surplus product contained in it and can be consumed as such.

Finally; he can have the remaining 1,560 pounds of yarn worth £78. Art. to divide, if the sale succeeds, so that the sale of 1160.640 pounds of yarn worth £58.032. Art. replaced the value of the means of production contained in 1,560 pounds of yarn, and the sale of 156 pounds of yarn, worth £7,800. Art. – cost of variable capital; 1,316.640 pounds of yarn = 65.832 pounds Art. represent in the aggregate the recovery of the entire capital cost; finally, the surplus product in the form of 243.360 pounds of yarn = 12.168 pounds. Art. remains to be spent as income.

Just as each element c, v , t can, in turn, be broken down into the same component parts, and in the same way every single pound of yarn worth 1 shilling = 12 pence can be broken down.

c = 0.744 pounds of yarn = 8.928 pence v = 0.100 pounds of yarn = 1.200 pence m = 0.156 pounds = 1.872 pence

c+v+t=1 pound of yarn = 12 pence

If we add up the results of the above three sales made in installments, we get the same result as if we sold 10,000 pounds of yarn at once.

We have permanent capital:

at 1st sale: 5535.360 pounds of yarn = 276.768 pounds. Art.

"2nd" 744, 000 "" = 37, 200 ""

"3rd" 1160, 640 "" \u003d 58, 032 ""

Total…………………………… 7440 pounds of yarn = 372 lbs. Art.

Variable capital:

1st sale: 744,000 pounds of yarn = £37.200 Art.

"2nd" 100,000 » "= 5,000""

"3rd" 156,000"" = 7,800""

Total…………………………… 1000 pounds of yarn = 50 lbs. Art.

Surplus value:

at 1st sale: 1160.640 pounds of yarn = 58.032 pounds. Art.

"2nd" 156,000"" = 7,800""

"3rd" 243, 360", "=12, 168""

Total………………………….. 1,560 pounds of yarn = 78 lbs. Art.

Grand total:

Fixed capital 7440 pounds of yarn = 372l. Art.

Variable capital 1000"" = 50""

Surplus value 1560" » = 78""

Total………………………….. 10,000 pounds of yarn = 500 lbs. Art.

T' - D' in itself is nothing more than the sale of 10,000 pounds of yarn. 10,000 pounds of yarn is a commodity like any other yarn. The buyer is interested in a price of 1 shilling per pound, or £500. Art. for 10,000 pounds of yarn. If during the transaction he pays attention to the structure of capital in terms of value, then only with. by the insidious intention of proving that 1 pound of yarn could be sold for less than 1 shilling, and that even in this case the deal would be profitable for the seller. But the quantity of a good a consumer buys depends on his needs; so, for example, if he is the owner of a weaving enterprise, this quantity depends on the composition of his own capital, functioning in the weaving enterprise, and not on the composition of the capital of the spinning manufacturer from whom he buys. The proportions in which T' must, on the one hand, replace the capital consumed in the process of its production (or the various components of this capital), and, on the other hand, must serve as a surplus product intended either for the expenditure of surplus value or for the accumulation of capital - these proportions exist only in the process of circulation of that capital whose commodity-form is 10,000 pounds of yarn. They have nothing to do with sales as such. Moreover, it is assumed here that T' is sold at its value and that, consequently, it is only a question of its transformation from a commodity form into a money form. For T', As a functional form in the circulation of this individual capital, from which the productive capital must be replaced, the decisive factor is, of course, whether and to what extent price and value deviate from each other during sale; but here, considering only the differences of forms, we need not dwell on this question.

In the form I D…D’, the process of production is in the middle between two complementary and opposite phases of the circulation of capital; it will be finished before the final phase comes T' – D'. Money is advanced as capital first to the elements of production, the elements of production are converted into a commodity product, and this commodity product is again converted into money. This is a completely complete cycle of transactions, the result of which is suitable money for everything and everyone. Therefore, the renewal of the process is given, therefore, only as a possibility. D…P…D’ can be the same as the last circuit, which ends the functions of individual capital in the event of its withdrawal from the enterprise, and the first circuit of individual capital, which first begins to function. The general movement here is: D-D', from a known amount of money to a larger amount of money.

In Form II, P…T’ ~ D’ – T…P (P’), the whole conversion process follows the first P and precedes the second; but it proceeds in the reverse order of the order in form I. The first P is productive to capital, and its function is the process of production, which is the preliminary condition of the process of circulation that follows it. On the contrary, the final P is not a production process; it is only a secondary residence of industrial capital in its form of productive capital. And besides this P is the result of the transformation that took place in the last phase of circulation—the transformation of capital-value into R + cn, into subjective and objective factors, which in their combination form the form of existence of productive capital. Capital, whether P or P', at the end of the circuit it is again present in the form in which it must again function as productive capital, carry out the process of production. General form of movement, P…P, is a form of reproduction and does not indicate, like D…D’, to increase value as the goal of the process. Therefore, this form all the more facilitates classical political economy the possibility of ignoring a certain capitalist form of the production process and representing production as such as the goal of the process, which consists in producing as much as possible and as cheaply as possible and exchanging the product for other possibly more heterogeneous products, serving in part for resumption of production (D - T), partly for consumption (d - t). At the same time, since D and d are here a medium of exchange only fleetingly; then the peculiarities of both money and money capital may go unnoticed, and the whole process turns out to be simple and natural, i.e., has the naturalness of flat rationalism. In the same way, when considering commodity-capital, profit is sometimes forgotten, and when it comes to the circuit of production as a whole, commodity-capital figures simply as a commodity, but when it comes to component parts of value, it figures as commodity-capital. Of course, accumulation is portrayed in the same way as production.

Form III T’ – D’ – T…P…T’, the circuit is opened by two phases of the process of circulation, and precisely in the same order as in form II, that is, in the form P…P; followed by P, moreover, it follows, as in form I, with its function, with the process of production; the result of this last T', the cycle ends. Just as in Form II it ends P, simply by the re-existence of productive capital, so here too it ends T', the re-existence of commodity capital; just as in form II capital in its final form II must again begin the process as a process of production, so here, after the reappearance of industrial capital in the form of commodity-capital, the circuit must begin again with the phase of circulation. T' - D'. Both forms of circuit remain incomplete because they do not complete D', i.e., increased capital-value, again converted into money. Therefore, both forms must be continued, and therefore they involve reproduction. The whole circuit in form III is T’…T’

The third form is distinguished from the first two by the circumstance that only in this circuit the starting point of the process of increase in value is the already increased capital-value, and not the original capital-value, which is yet to increase. The starting point here is T', expressing a capitalist attitude; as such, it exerts a determining influence on the entire circuit, for already in its first phase this circuit includes both the circuit of capital-value and the circuit of surplus-value; at the same time, the surplus value, if not in each circuit separately, then on the average, must be partly spent as income, go through circulation m - e - m , partly to function as an element of capital accumulation.

In the form C' ... C' the consumption of the entire commodity product is assumed as a condition for the normal course of the circuit of capital itself. The individual consumption of the worker and the individual consumption of that part of the surplus product which is not subject to accumulation embraces all individual consumption. Therefore, consumption taken as a whole - both as individual and as productive consumption. - is included in the circuit
T' as a condition. Productive consumption (which essentially includes the individual consumption of the worker, since labor power is, within certain limits, a constant product of the individual consumption of the worker) is carried out directly by each individual capital. Individual consumption, on the other hand, except for what is necessary for the very existence of the individual capitalist, is supposed exclusively as a social act, and by no means as an act of the individual capitalist.

In Forms I and II the entire movement is expressed as the movement of the advanced capital value. In Form III capital, which has grown in value and appears in the form of the total commodity product, forms the point of departure and takes the form of movable capital, commodity-capital. Only after its transformation into money does this movement branch into the movement of capital and the movement of income. In this form, the circulation of capital includes both the distribution of the entire social product and the special distribution of the product of every individual commodity-capital—distribution, on the one hand, to the individual consumption fund, and, on the other hand, to the reproduction fund.

AT D…D’ given the possibility of expanding the circulation depending on the size of that part d, which will enter the renewed circuit.

P in P...P it can start a new circuit with the same value, perhaps even less - I can still represent reproduction on an extended scale;

so, for example, in the event that the elements of the goods become cheaper due to an increase in labor productivity. On the contrary, in the opposite case, productive capital that has increased in value may represent reproduction on a materially reduced scale, if, for example, the elements of production become more expensive. The same applies to T'... T'.

AT T’…T’ the presence of capital in the form of commodities is a prerequisite for production, and as a presupposition it returns again in the same circuit in the second T. If this T not yet produced or reproduced, then the circulation is suspended; this is T should be played for the most part as T' any other industrial capital. In this circuit T' exists as a starting point, a transitional point, and a final point of a movement—that is why it is always present. It is a constant condition of the process of reproduction.

T’…T’ differs from Forms I and II in another point. All three circuits have this in common, that capital completes the process of its circuit in the same form in which it opens it, and thereby again assumes the initial form in which it again opens the same circuit. initial form D, P, T' there is always the form in which capital-value is advanced (in form III, together with the surplus-value added to it), hence, in relation to the circuit, this is the original form of value; final form D', P, T' there is always a converted form of one of the preceding functional forms in the circuit, which is not the original form.

In this way D' in form I there is a converted form T', final P in form II, the transformed form D (both in form I and in form II, this transformation is achieved by a simple act of commodity circulation, thanks to the formal movement of goods and money); in form III T' there is a converted form P, productive capital. But here, in Form III, the transformation concerns, firstly, not only the functional form of capital, but also the magnitude of its value; in the process of production, the use-form and the value of the commodity components of productive capital were exposed.

Starting point shape D, P, T' given in advance for each circuit - for I, II and III; the form that repeats itself again at the final point is caused, and consequently also conditioned, by a series of metamorphoses of the circuit itself. T', as the terminus of the circuit of individual industrial capital, only presupposes a non-circulating form P the same industrial capital of which this C' is the product; D' as the final point in the form I, as a converted form T' (T' - D'), suggests that D is in the hands of the buyer, exists outside the circuit D…D’ and only as a result of the sale T' is involved in this circuit, becomes its own final form. Thus in form II the final P suggests R and Sp(T) as existing outside and included in its circuit, as its final form as a result of the act D – T. But leaving aside the last extreme point, the circuit of individual money-capital does not presuppose the existence of money-capital at all, and the circuit of individual productive capital does not presuppose the existence of productive capital. in form I D may be the first money-capital, in form II P may be the first productive capital to enter the arena of history, but in form III

T twice assumed to exist outside the circuit. First time in the circuit

T' -D' -'T <

it T, because it is made up of cn, there is a product in the hands of the seller; it is itself commodity-capital, insofar as it is the product of the capitalist process of production, and even if it is not, it appears as commodity-capital in the hands of the merchant. The second time it is assumed in t - e - m, in the second m, which must likewise be available as a commodity in order to be bought. Anyway R and cn, whether they are commodity-capital or not, they are the same commodities as T' and relate to each other like commodities. Exactly the same is the case with the second t in t - d - t. So since T' = T (P + Sp), insofar as goods are elements of the formation of the T' and to that extent it must be replaced in circulation by commodities of the same kind; like this and in t -
d - t the second m must also be replaced in circulation by other commodities of the same kind.

Further, on the basis of the capitalist mode of production as the dominant one, every commodity in the hands of the seller must be commodity-capital. It continues to be commodity-capital in the hands of the merchant, or becomes so in his hands if it was not so before. Or, like imported articles, for example, it must be a commodity which replaces the original commodity-capital and therefore gives it only another form of existence.

Commodity items R and Cn, which make up the productive capital P, as forms of existence P have a different appearance than they had in the various commodity markets where they were acquired. They are now connected and in their connection they can function. as productive capital.

The fact that only in this form III T within the circuit itself turns out to be a prerequisite T, due to the fact that the starting point of the circuit is capital in the form of commodities. The circuit is opened by the transformation T'(insofar as it functions as capital-value, it makes no difference whether it is increased by the addition of surplus-value or not) into the commodities which are the elements of its production. But this transformation embraces the whole process of conversion. T - D - T(=P+ cn) and is the result of the latter. So here T stands on both extreme points, but the second extreme point, which receives its form T thanks to the act D - T from outside, from the sphere of the commodity market, is not the last point of the circuit, but only the last point of its first two stages, encompassing the process of circulation. Its result is P, whose function, the process of production, begins thereafter. Only as a result of this last process, and not as a result of the process of circulation, T' is the end of the circuit and takes the same form as the starting point T'. On the contrary, in D-D' and in P…P, final points D' and P are the immediate results of the conversion process. Therefore, it is assumed here that only at the end of the circuit is there in other hands D' in the first case and P - in the second. Since the circuit flows between the extreme points, insofar as D in one case, P in another, i.e., neither existence D like other people's money, nor existence P as an alien process of production, are not the precondition for these circuits. Against, T’… T’ suggests that T (= R + cn) represents other people's commodities and is in the hands of others, that these commodities, by means of the introductory process of circulation, are drawn into the circulation and are converted into productive capital, and as a result of the functioning of this latter T' again becomes the final form of the circuit.

But precisely because the circulation T’…T’ within its movement presupposes the presence of another industrial capital in the form T (= R + cn)(a sp includes various types of other capitals, for example, in this case, machines, coal, oil, etc.), then for this reason alone it must be considered not only as general a form of circulation, i.e., not only as a social form in which each individual industrial capital can be considered (except in those cases when it is invested for the first time), and therefore not only as a form of movement common to all individual industrial capitals, but in at the same time as a form of movement of the sum of individual capitals, i.e., of the entire capital of the capitalist class, as a movement in relation to which the movement of each individual industrial capital is only a partial movement, intertwined with the movements of other capitals and conditioned by them. For example, if we consider the annual total commodity product of a country and analyze the movement by which one part of this product replaces the productive capital in all individual enterprises, and the other part enters the sphere of individual consumption of various classes, then we consider T’…T’ as a form of movement inherent both to social capital as a whole and to the surplus value or surplus product produced by it. Social capital is equal to the sum of individual capitals (including the sum of stock capitals and the sum of all public capital, since governments employ productive wage labor in the mines, railways, etc., and therefore perform the functions of industrial capitalists), and the general movement of social capital is equal to the algebraic sum of movements of individual capitals. This circumstance in no way excludes the fact that a given movement, taken as the movement of isolated individual capital, exhibits other phenomena than the same movement considered as part of the general movement of social capital, i.e., considered in connection with the movements of other parts of this capital. the last one. At the same time, it solves problems that must be assumed already solved when considering the circulation of individual individual capital, and not deduced from it.

T’… T’ is the only circuit in which the originally advanced capital-value forms only a part of the extreme point from which the movement begins, and where, therefore, this movement declares itself from the very beginning as the total movement of industrial capital, as the movement of not only that part of the product , which replaces the productive capital, but also that part of it which forms a surplus product and is usually partly spent as income, partly must also serve as an element of accumulation. Insofar as the expenditure of surplus value as income is included in this circuit, so too is individual consumption included in it. But this latter is included, furthermore, because the point of departure C, the commodity, exists in the form of a definite article of consumption; every capitalistically produced object is commodity-capital, whether its use-form is destined for productive consumption, or for individual consumption, or for both. D-D' points to only one side: to value, to the increase in the advanced capital value, as the goal of the whole process; P ... P (P ') points to the process of production of capital as a process of reproduction, and the amount of productive capital remains the same or increases (accumulation); T'...T', manifesting itself already at its starting point as a form of capitalist commodity production, embraces both productive and individual consumption from the very beginning; productive consumption, together with the increase in value contained in it, is only part of the movement in this form. Finally, since T' can exist in a form of use that cannot enter into any process of production, this already shows in advance that the various components of value T', expressed in shares of the product, should occupy a different position, depending on whether T’…T’ as a form of movement of all social capital or as an independent movement of individual industrial capital. In all its peculiarities this circuit transcends its own limits as an isolated circuit of mere individual capital.

in figure T’…T’ the movement of commodity-capital, i.e., of the entire capitalistically produced product, is not only a prerequisite for the independent circulation of individual capital, but is, in turn, conditioned by it. Therefore, if the originality of this figure is understood, then it is no longer enough to confine ourselves to indicating that metamorphoses T' - D' and D - T are, on the one hand, functionally defined stages in the metamorphosis of capital, and, on the other hand, links in the general circulation of commodities. Now it is necessary to clearly show the interweaving of the metamorphoses of one individual capital with the metamorphoses of other individual capitals and with that part of the total product which is destined for individual consumption. Therefore, when analyzing the circulation of individual industrial capital, we take as a basis mainly the first two forms.

Circuit T’…T’ is a form of separate individual capital, for example in agriculture, where the calculation is carried out from harvest to harvest. In figure II, the starting point is sowing, and in figure III, the harvest, or, as the physiocrats say, in the first, avances, in the second, reprises. .
The movement of capital-value in figure III appears from the outset only as a part of the movement of the total mass of products, while in figures I and II the movement T' forms only a moment in the movement of isolated capital.

In figure III, the commodities on the market form a constant prerequisite for the process of production and reproduction. Therefore, if we focus on this figure, it seems that all elements of the production process originate from the sphere of commodity circulation and consist only of commodities. With such a one-sided understanding, elements of the production process that are not commodity elements are overlooked.

Since in C' ... T' the starting point is the whole product (the whole value), it is found here that (leaving aside foreign trade) reproduction on an extended scale, with an unchanged productivity, can take place only if in the part of the surplus product to be capitalized already contains material elements of additional productive capital; hence it is found here that, insofar as the production of one year is the prerequisite for the production of the next year, or insofar as this production can take place during one year simultaneously with the process of simple reproduction, the surplus product is immediately produced in such a form as to enable it to function as additional capital. Increased productivity can only increase the substance of capital without raising its value; but in doing so it forms additional material for the increase in the value of capital.

T’…T’ lies at the basis of Quesnay's Tableau economique, and the fact that, in contrast to the form D…D’(the form exclusively adhered to by the mercantilist system) chose this form, and not the form P... P, testifies to his great and faithful tact.

FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION

Russian State University

oil and gas them. I. M. Gubkina

Department of Economic Theory

Report

“Relationship of securities with the main forms of capital. Industrial capital and its functional forms. Trade and loan capital. Fictitious capital and its functions. »

Performed:

Art. gr. EU-06-2

Lazareva N. D.

Checked:

st.pr. Boreyko A.A.

Moscow, 2010

1. Industrial capital and its functional forms …………………....3

2. Trade capital ……………………………………………………...……….4

3. Loan capital………………………………………………………………..…6

4.Fictitious capital and its functions………………………………………………8

List of used literature………………………………………………...12

1. Industrial capital and its functional forms

First of all, let's define industrial capital- this is capital that successively goes through three phases in its movement (acquisition of means of production and hiring labor, direct production and marketing of manufactured goods), is in the process of movement successively in three functional forms (monetary, productive and commodity), self-increasing in the end , while providing the owner of the capital with a profit within the average social.

money capital how the functional form of industrial capital has the well-known form of movement:

Movement commodity capital

can be represented as follows:

T’ - D’ - T’* (c.p.*, r.s.*)… P’… T’’*, where T’’* > T’.

The name of the capital we are considering (industrial capital) can be interpreted in such a way that we are analyzing capital that operates only in the sphere of industrial production. But it's not. Thus, we first of all assert that the transition to industrial capital means the formation of industry proper as a sphere of human activity, opposite and qualitatively different from handicraft production. On the other hand, we emphasize that the sphere of the actual production of value and surplus value becomes decisive in human economic activity (recall that there were periods of archaic capitalism, when usury capital dominated (Northern Italy of the 14th century) or merchant (commercial) capital (Netherlands of the 16th century ), however, in the first and second cases, there were no relations of hiring labor for the production of real use values ​​as dominant economic relations).

The emergence of industrial capital is a qualitative leap taking place against the background of the transition to a three-link system of machines. The next qualitative leap in economic relations is the transition from industrial capital to monopoly capital and finance capital.

2. Trading capital

Development economic system represents a certain form of progress of the whole society. The development of the economic system is based on the growth of the productive power of labor through the use of more advanced means of production, the growth of skills, and the education of workers.

Height The productive power of labor is most often manifested in the emergence (separation) of new independent activities, the process of deepening the division of social labor is underway. At a certain stage in the development of human society, its economic organization, economic system, there is a separation (separation) as an independent type of activity for the sale of manufactured goods. There are people who professionally, under the dominance of industrial capital, are engaged in the sale of products and bringing it to the final consumer.

Their capital (this is commercial capital as a separate part of industrial capital a) operates only in the sphere of circulation, engaging in those activities that we, referring to the process of circulation, did not associate with the production of value. Capital (and we also talked about this more than once) is a self-increasing value, the purpose of which is precisely self-expansion. The owners of capital, on the other hand, have as the main motive of their behavior the receipt of profit not lower than the average social one.

In this regard, we are faced with a formal-logical contradiction in the allocation of capital professionally engaged in the sale of goods. On the one hand, such capital operates only in the sphere of circulation, where value is not created (hence, self-expansion of capital cannot take place). On the other hand, such capital really exists, there are enough people who are engaged in this kind of activity (it is obvious that they would not do this without receiving anything in return, without appropriating some excess value over the costs they incurred, because the economy is still built on a rational basis for the realization of its own economic interests of its subjects).

Obviously, the capitalists we are considering (we will call them merchants) are engaged in the sale of goods and bringing them to the final consumer only because they ultimately make a profit, and this profit should not be lower than average. Otherwise, these capitals will look for another application for themselves, since the basic principle of investing capital (see above) is not implemented in this case.

Thus, we have a situation where both industrial capital and isolated commercial capital are interested in dividing the acts of production of goods and their sale between different subjects (the total profit increases, and consequently, the rate of profit appropriated by both industrial and commercial capital increases).

The formula for the movement of trading capital as a separate part of industrial capital takes the following form:

D - T - D' (D' > D).

The industrial capitalist sells all his output to the commercial capitalist, who brings the product to the final consumer, incurring certain costs. The final price to the consumer is certainly higher than that at which the industrial capitalist sold his commodity. It compensates our commercial capitalist for the costs incurred by him and gives a profit within the limits of the average.

The allocation of independent capital, which is engaged in the sale of the produced goods, creates a new competitor. It is clear that from now on industrial and commercial capital will begin to fight for that part of the profit that each of them will receive in the end. However, the overall competitive environment allows us to say that both capitals will still receive profit within the limits of the average social one.

The bifurcation of the selling price into wholesale and retail creates two types of trade relations. Wholesale trade has as subjects, on the one hand, the capitalists who produce the commodity, and on the other hand, the capitalists who are engaged in its final realization. Retail trade, on the other hand, connects the merchant capitalist with the final consumer (this is usually an individual).

The emergence of two types of trade within the framework of a single act of selling manufactured products in conditions of deviation from competition creates a favorable environment for the emergence of numerous resellers, that is, between the manufacturer of the goods and the final buyer there is not one merchant capitalist, but several different resellers. The situation is quite typical for Russia, when the goods pass through several hands, claiming, of course, for a part of the “pie” of surplus value in the form of profit. The number of intermediaries reflects the situation in society, when the latter wins in the competition between industrial and commercial capital. The reason for this has already been noted - the distortion of competitive principles in the economy (let's add: in general, immaturity, unformed market relations and market institutions).

The processes of isolation of parts of industrial capital do not end with the separation of commercial capital as independent. At the next stage of development, the isolation of money capital takes place, which takes the form of loan capital.

3. Loan capital

The third functional form of industrial capital (in addition to productive and commodity capital) is money capital, which serves the process of changing value at the stages of acquiring means of production, hiring labor and marketing products. progress process productive forces, expressed in the growth of the productive power of labor, as a rule, is accompanied by a deepening of the division of social labor, when there is a separation as independent new types of activities that were previously performed by other economic entities within the framework of undivided labor (for example, the sale of products by the direct producer and the allocation as an independent entity trading capital, professionally engaged only in the sale of products, see above).

As the economic system develops, money capital emerges as an independent capital, which begins to operate professionally with money. However, it is worth noting that money appears in him as a result of the fact that in the process of circulation of industrial capital there is a temporary discrepancy between the acts of purchase and sale, sale and acquisition of means of production. As a result, temporarily free cash, which industrial capital transfers to entrepreneurs who professionally and more effectively manipulate the money belonging to the capitalists - producers of goods. They themselves, as a rule, cannot ensure the high efficiency of the use of these funds. All this leads to the formation of a layer of money (loan) capitalists.

Transactions with money capital differ from commodity-money transactions related to the acquisition of means of production, the hiring of labor and the sale of manufactured products. They inevitably take the form of a loan, when money itself becomes the specific object of purchase and sale. Let's explain this with the following example.

The industrial capitalist has 100 units of temporarily free cash. He lends them to a capitalist who deals professionally with money. Let us note that the industrial capitalist remains the owner of this money. It is obvious that our industrial capitalist will not lend his own funds to someone for temporary use. Thus, it turns out that he transfers money only if it is returned with an increment (why should not our capitalist himself use these 100 units as new capital, which can provide an increment equal to the average social profit?!).

What, then, is the reason for a capitalist who deals professionally with money to receive 100 units, if after a while he will have to return, for example, already 105 units? The simplest explanation is to use them in an area that can bring an increase in value greater than the 5 units that will have to be returned to the owner of the capital.

Thus, the economic interests of both subjects are realized: the industrial capitalist receives from the capitalist professionally operating with money 5 units for the temporary use of 100 units of his temporarily free funds, and the capitalist operating with money receives an increment as a result of a more efficient investment of these funds. , say equal to 12 cost units. This allows him to return 100 units on time, pay 5 units for using other people's money and make a profit equal to 7 units.

Described here the transaction is just a loan (another type of this kind of transaction (by the way, more common as loan capital is allocated as an independent one) is the relationship of an industrial capitalist, who, for example, does not have enough money of his own, with the owner of the money. In this case the industrial capitalist will return other people's money on time, and pay a certain amount for the use of other people's funds, and will receive an increase in his own capital by an amount equal to the difference between the average profit and payment for the temporary use of other people's money). In this case, there is a specific purchase and sale of such goods as money. The one in need of money actually buys it as capital4, which can bring a profit within the limits of the average, minus the payment for the temporary use of other people's money, which actually becomes a specific form of the price of such a commodity as money. In economics, this payment for the use of other people's money is called interest. It can be argued that interest is the price of money-capital.

It's obvious that money capital (loan) has a different formula of proper motion, namely

where M* > M', the difference between them is appropriated by industrial capital receiving the loan. However, for the owner of money, their movement is limited to the direct self-expansion of money, since the use of funds by the recipients of loan capitalists is not of interest.

It should be noted that the changes in capital that we are analyzing are much deeper than they might seem at first glance. There is a bifurcation of capital itself, each part of which claims its share of the surplus value (profit) created in the sphere of production. The owner of money capital (capital-property) receives his share in the form of interest. The capitalist (capital function) who uses money receives an entrepreneurial income equal to the difference between average profit and interest.

This division is absolute, comprehensive. If you do not borrow money, you receive both interest (as the owner of capital) and entrepreneurial income (as a functioning capitalist), i.e., not a part, but the entire average profit. The doubling of capital is, of course, also reflected in the average social profit, which now appears to us as the sum of the average social rate of interest and the average social entrepreneurial income. This division of the average profit is also absolute, all-encompassing.

Appearance loan capital required institutional consolidation of emerging changes. This was reflected in the formation and development of credit as a specific form in which a loan exists, and the banking system, when special enterprises appear that professionally operate with money, and to a greater extent use not their own, but other people's funds5.

The splitting of capital, in turn, could not but change economic relations that exist in society. The appearance of capital-property could not but create a new class of commodities - the titles of this very property.

4. Fictitious capital

Fictitious capital- (from lat. fictio - fiction, eng. fictitious capital) - capital that does not have intrinsic value, but generates income.
The concept of fictitious capital was formulated by the German economist K. Marx (1818-83) during the analysis of loan capital as a converted form of money capital, the emergence of which is associated with the separation of capital-property from capital-function. The emergence of fictitious capital is due to the development of the credit system and financial intermediation as an independent field of activity. Unlike loan capital, the form of movement of which is credit, fictitious capital is the use of credit as capital.
K. Marx singled out several forms of fictitious capital. First of all, these are credit instruments of circulation issued by banks - a banker's bill and banknotes not backed by gold. By issuing credit through the issuance of "credit marks" that are not backed by any real value, banks turn them into "interest-bearing capital." To the extent that banking capital is formed by credit issue, it is fictitious. Another form of fictitious capital is "government debt capital" represented by bonds. government loan which bring their owners a certain income, although the amount of money loaned to the state not only does not function as real capital, but may have long been spent. At the same time, the bonds themselves continue to be the object of purchase and sale as titles of ownership, giving the right to receive income, thus functioning as securities. As soon as they cease to find buyers for themselves, "even the appearance of this capital" will disappear.
The next form of fictitious capital is capital represented in the shares of private companies formed in the form joint-stock companies. Being originally representatives of real capital invested in real enterprises, they then receive an independent form of movement in the securities market as income-generating property titles, where they acquire a market value different from their nominal value. At the same time, an increase or decrease in the share price does not lead to an increase or decrease in share capital and in general has nothing to do with the change in the value of the real capital they represent. This creates the illusion of their independent existence as real capital along with the capital of which they are titles. Every capital appears to be doubled and even tripled. The appearance of illusory forms of capital reinforces the idea of ​​capital as a value that grows automatically.
Thus, the development of fictitious capital, as a form of loan capital that has become isolated and has received independent movement, ultimately leads to the “swelling” of capital circulating in financial markets.
The relationship and mutual transformation of loan and fictitious capital are carried out through the interaction of the loan capital market and the securities market, where the process of “flowing” of one capital into another takes place.
Fictitious capital is formed as a result of the fact that "debts become a commodity," that is, debt certificates of various kinds receive independent circulation on the securities market as a commodity-capital, the price of which is the capitalization of the income it brings and is regulated by the rate of loan interest.
The market value of fictitious capital is directly dependent on the amount of income it brings and inversely on the level of interest on loans. On change market value fictitious capital is affected by cyclical fluctuations in the economy, changes in the loan capital market, the state of the financial and credit system, as well as the scale of speculative transactions in the securities market. The gains and losses from fluctuations in the prices of these "paper duplicates of real capital" may also be the result of trading in the stock markets. Under the influence of constantly changing market conditions, fictitious capital is one of the most "sensitive" and unstable indicators of a market economy. Since the depreciation or appreciation of securities does not depend on the change in the value of the real capital that they represent, these processes do not lead to either a decrease or an increase in the national wealth of the country. They are reflected only in the state of solvency of their owners. Fictitious capital is used to redistribute financial resources according to changing market conditions.
Main development trend fictitious capital- the emergence of new types of securities that are "secondary", derivatives in relation to previously issued ones, for example, shares of investment companies, financial futures, options, warrants.
Peculiarity modern stage development of fictitious capital - the widespread use of so-called financial instruments, which include savings and investment certificates, bonds and other credit instruments of circulation. The new financial products of the securities market also include the securitization of debts of various companies, the state and the financial and credit institutions themselves. Investing in securities is an increasingly common form of capital accumulation in countries with developed market economies. This is accompanied by corresponding changes in the credit system, in its institutional and functional structure: along with banks, specialized financial and credit institutions engaged in investing in securities are actively developing.
In Russia, with the transition to market relations, there is also a gradual formation of fictitious capital in the form of government and corporate securities, which, by their economic nature, can arise from co-ownership relations (shares), credit relations (bonds, treasury bills) and payment turnover (bills of exchange, checks).
In modern foreign economic literature, the concept of fictitious capital is not used; the use of this term depends on the methodology of scientific analysis and approaches to understanding the categories of value and capital.

The appearance of joint-stock companies is the materialization of capital-property in the corresponding titles of ownership (shares, shares, etc.). However, this is only the outer side of the deeper changes that are taking place with capital. Another bifurcation of capital-property itself begins. Fictitious capital arises (a set of various titles of ownership), which separates itself from the real means of production (real capital).

Both fictitious capital and real capital now carry out their own movement within the framework of the economic system. If real capital in its movement does not undergo changes in comparison with the movement of industrial capital that we have described, then fictitious capital in its movement can “inflate” and “shrink”, regardless of the size of real capital, which is represented by specific titles of property.

AT market economy the term “company capitalization” is well known. It is about how much everything is currently worth on the market. ordinary shares of this firm. This is a very mobile value, the size of which is influenced by a variety of circumstances, both economic and non-economic.

The movement of real capital is the movement of real inventory items. The movement of fictitious capital is only the movement of property titles representing the given real capital. They themselves become specific goods, and as a result, a corresponding market arises - the securities market.

Strictly speaking, the securities market is broader than the market of property titles alone, since at some stage of development, not only titles to real capital, but also titles to money capital transferred on loan become commodities.

Bibliography:

1. Akulov V.B., Akulova O.V. Economic theory. Tutorial. Petrozavodsk: PetrGU, 2002.

2. Krasavinoy LN Money circulation and credit of capitalist countries. M., "Finance", 2005.

3. Galanova V.A., Basova A.I. Stocks and bods market. M., Finance and statistics. 1998.

Capital- stock of tangible and intangible assets used productively to generate income. In other words, capital is any resource created for the purpose of producing more economic goods.

There are physical (material capital) and human capital.

physical capital- non-expendable property (buildings, machines, equipment) used by the company in its activities. Distinguish between fixed and circulating physical capital.

Main capital - real durable assets, the value of which is transferred to the product in installments over a number of periods of production (buildings, structures, machinery, equipment, vehicles etc.).

Working capital - real assets, the value of which is fully transferred to the cost of a new product and returned in cash to the entrepreneur when the product is sold in each cycle (raw materials, fuel, materials, semi-finished products).

Human capital- the physical and mental abilities of a person obtained through education or practical experience; a measure of the ability to generate income embodied in a person. In other words, human capital is a special kind labor resources. Therefore, capital in the market of factors of production means material factors, capital goods.

Another aspect of capital is related to its monetary form. Money capital is the common denominator to which the value of capital in the form of any asset is reduced. AT monetary terms the value of both physical and human capital can be calculated. Capital embodied in the means of production is called real capital.

money capital, or capital in cash, is an investment resource. By itself, money capital is not an economic resource; it cannot be used directly in production, but it can be used to purchase factors of production.

Historically the first economic types capital became merchant and usurer's capital, which appeared long before the capitalist economy.

Merchant capital acted as an intermediary in the process of commodity exchange at the stage of simple commodity production.

usurious capital earned income in the form of a percentage of the provision of cash loans. These forms of capital contributed to the concentration of significant monetary and material values ​​in one hand.

The formation of a new type public relations was due to the influx of capital into the industry.

industrial capital- capital, functioning in any sphere of material and non-material production, carrying out a complete circuit in its movement and taking on a special functional form at each stage. It applies not only to industry, but also to agriculture, transport, services and other sectors of the economy.

Capital begins to move in the form of money. Machine tools, machinery, equipment, production and storage room, i.e., means of production, as well as labor power. The first stage of the movement of capital consists in the transformation of money capital into productive capital. Then the production process begins, during which the goods purchased by the capitalist are consumed and goods and services are created. In the second stage of the movement of capital, productive capital is transformed into commodity capital. The sale of goods and services produced brings the owner of capital a certain amount of money. Thus, the third stage of the movement of capital presupposes the transformation of commodity capital into money capital. These are the three stages that industrial capital passes through in its movement.

Circulation of capital- three stages of the movement of capital and its successive transformation from one form to another.

The development of capitalist relations led to a kind of specialization and division of labor and the allocation within the framework of industrial capital, in the first place, commercial and loan capital.

Trading capital- a detached part of industrial capital functioning in the sphere of commodity circulation. Merchant capital functions in monetary and commodity forms and goes through two stages of circulation. This type capital is engaged exclusively in the organization of trade in order to obtain commercial profit, which acts as the difference between the purchase and sale prices of goods.

Loan capital- a detached part of industrial capital, loaned out and bringing income to the owner in the form of interest. In the form of loan capital, temporarily free cash is accumulated.

Today, the bulk of loan capital is concentrated in various financial and credit institutions - banks, funds, insurance companies, etc.

bank capital- capital invested in a banking enterprise by bankers or bank shareholders.

Based on the formation of monopoly associations in industry and banking in the XIX-XX centuries. the formation of financial capital.

financial capital- large banking capital merged with large industrial capital. On the one hand, banks, by lending to industrial enterprises or buying their shares, are closely connected with the activities of these firms, in other words, with the activities of industrial capital. On the other hand, industrial capital influences banks by buying their shares, creating their own financial structures. Financial capital is the basis for the existence of financial and industrial groups, including both industrial enterprises, as well as banks, trading and transport companies etc. Its offspring is the financial oligarchy - a small layer of the richest owners who have a significant impact on the economy and politics. For example, in the late 1990s in Russia, about 6-7 financial and industrial groups controlled more than 50% of Russia's national wealth.

Finance capital is monopoly industrial capital fused with monopoly banking capital. With the formation of finance capital, all specific forms of economic activity (industrial, commercial, banking) are combined into a single integrity. Financial capital makes it possible to concentrate a huge mass of social wealth in the hands of a small group of the largest monopolists - the financial oligarchy.

Dominating the economy of the capitalist countries undividedly, the financial oligarchy subjugates the bourgeois state and directs its policy in its own interests. Especially dangerous for the cause of peace is financial capital engaged in military business.

There are two main concepts of the origin of financial capital:

Rational. Financial capital arose as a result of a certain rational agreement between people who understood that special means were needed to improve the service of the sphere of commodity circulation and increase the efficiency of its functioning.

Evolutionary. The emergence of financial capital was objective: first in the form of money, then, with the development of banks and other financial and credit institutions and the manufacturing sector, there was a need for other financial assets. This led to the emergence of capital in the form of liquid financial assets, i.e. capital in the form of securities that are exchanged for money.

Merging of banking and industrial monopolies occurs in various forms, which is connected with the new operations of banks in the era of imperialism: maintaining current accounts, making settlements and payments of clients, short-term and long-term lending, trust business, mutual participation in equity capital and personal union. The closest ties between industrial and banking monopolies are carried out through joint ownership of securities.

After World War II, under the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution, the merging of banks and industrial monopolies intensified due to the growth in the scale of credit, settlement and payment operations. There was a specialization in the loan capital market, new credit and financial institutions developed rapidly: insurance institutions, pension funds, investment companies.

However, most of these institutions are either directly subordinate to the monopoly banks or are closely merged with them. Monopoly commercial banks remain the main force in the loan capital market. The same applies to the industrial monopolies, which have not lost their leading positions, despite the decline in the share of industry in the total social product in a number of capitalist countries. Thus, the backbone of finance capital is still made up of fused industrial and banking monopolies.

An important feature of modern financial groups in the capitalist countries is the outgrowth of national frameworks. The development of international and banking monopolies leads to the strengthening of ties between them and the emergence of international financial groups.

Industrial capital.

Industrial capital is capital that successively goes through three phases in its movement (acquisition of means of production and hiring labor, direct production and marketing of manufactured goods), is in the process of movement sequentially in three functional forms (monetary, productive and commodity), self-increasing ultimately, while providing the owner of the capital with a profit within the average social.

The continuity of the circulation of industrial capital requires a constant successive change of its forms, the preservation of the necessary proportions between them. But the continuity of the circuit is periodically interrupted by the dominance of private ownership of the means of production, the antagonistic nature and spontaneous development of capitalist production. The dominance of industrial capital reaches its highest stage in the era of free competition, which, in turn, gives rise to monopolies, first of all in the sphere of production, and then in the sphere of trade and credit. On this basis, industrial capital is fused with banking capital, a new type of capital appears - financial capital.

The condition for the existence of the capitalist mode of production is the development commodity circulation, that is, the exchange of goods through money. Capitalist production is inextricably linked with circulation.

Each individual capital begins its life path in the form of a certain amount of money, it acts as money capital. With money, the capitalist buys goods of a certain kind: 1) means of production and 2) labor power. This act of conversion can be depicted as follows:

Here D means money T- product, R- labor force and sp- means of production. As a result of this change in the form of capital, its owner receives at his disposal everything that is necessary for production. Previously, he had capital in the form of money, now he has capital of the same amount, but already in the form productive capital.

That is, first stage in the movement of capital consists in the transformation of money capital into productive capital.

After that, the production process begins, in which production consumption goods bought by the capitalist. It is expressed in the fact that workers expend their labor, raw materials are processed, fuel is burned, machines wear out. Capital again changes its form: as a result of the production process, the advanced capital is embodied in a certain mass of commodities, it takes the form commodity capital. However, in the first place, these are no longer the commodities that the capitalist bought when he got down to business; Second, the cost of this commodity mass higher than the original value of capital, because it contains the surplus value produced by the workers.

This stage in the movement of capital can be depicted thus:

Here is a letter P means production, the dots before and after this letter show that the process of circulation is interrupted and the process of production is taking place, and T means capital in the form of commodities, the value of which has increased as a result of the appropriation of surplus value by the capitalist.

That is, second stage in the movement of capital consists in the transformation of productive capital into commodity capital.

The movement of capital does not stop there. The goods produced must be sold. In exchange for the goods sold, the capitalist receives a certain amount of money.

This act of conversion can be depicted as follows:

Capital changes its form for the third time: it again assumes the form of money-capital. After that, its owner has a larger amount of money than it was at the beginning. The goal of capitalist production, which is to extract surplus value, has been achieved.

That is, third stage in the movement of capital consists in the transformation of commodity-capital into money-capital. Having received money for the sold commodity, the capitalist uses it again to buy the means of production and labor power necessary for further production, and the whole process is resumed again.

These are the three stages through which capital passes successively in its movement. In each of these stages, capital performs a corresponding function. The transformation of money-capital into elements of productive capital ensures the combination of the means of production belonging to the capitalists with the labor force of wage-workers; without such a connection, the production process cannot take place. The function of productive capital consists in the creation by the labor of hired workers of a mass of commodities, of new value, and, consequently, of surplus value. The function of commodity-capital is, by selling the mass of commodities produced, firstly, to return to the capitalist in money form the capital advanced by him for production, and, secondly, to realize in money form the surplus-value created in the process of production.

These three stages pass in its motion industrial capital. Industrial capital in this case is understood to be any capital used for the production of commodities, whether we are talking about industry or agriculture. “Industrial capital is the only form of existence of capital in which the function of capital is not only the appropriation of surplus value or surplus product, but also their creation. Therefore, it is industrial capital that determines the capitalist character of production; the existence of industrial capital includes a class contradiction between capitalists and wage-workers.

Consequently, every industrial capital moves in the form of a circuit.

Circulation of capital called the successive transformation of capital from one form to another, its movement, covering three stages. Of these stages, the first and third take place in the sphere of circulation, and the second in the sphere of production. Without circulation, that is, without the transformation of commodities into money and the reverse transformation of money into commodities, capitalist reproduction, that is, the constant renewal of the production process, is unthinkable.

The circulation of capital as a whole can be represented as follows:

All three stages of the circulation of capital are closely related and depend on each other. The circulation of capital proceeds normally only under the condition that its various phases pass without delay into one another.

If capital lingers in the first stage, this means the aimless existence of money capital. If the delay occurs at the second stage, then this means that the means of production lie in vain and labor power remains without the use. If capital encounters a delay in the third stage, then unsold goods accumulate in warehouses and overwhelm the channels of circulation.

Of decisive importance in the circuit of industrial capital is the second stage, when it is in the form of productive capital; at this stage there is the production of goods, value and surplus value. In the other two stages, however, value and surplus value are not created; there is only a change in the forms of capital.

The three stages of the circulation of capital correspond to three forms of industrial capital: 1) money capital, 2) productive capital, and 3) commodity capital.

Each capital exists simultaneously in all three forms: while one of its parts is money-capital, which is being transformed into productive capital, another part is productive capital, which is being transformed into commodity capital, and the third part is commodity-capital, which is being transformed into money capital. Each of these parts in turn assumes and discards all these three forms one by one. This is the case not only with all capital taken separately, but also with all capitals taken together, or, in other words, with the total social capital. Therefore, Marx points out, capital can only be understood as movement, and not as a thing at rest.

This already has the possibility separate existence three forms of capital. It will be shown later how trading capital and loan capital are separated from the capital employed in production. The existence of various groups of the bourgeoisie - industrialists, merchants, bankers - is based on this separation, among which the distribution of surplus value takes place.

Turnover of capital. Production time and circulation time.

Each capital makes a circuit continuously, constantly repeating it. Thus, the capital makes its turn.

Capital turnover called its circuit, taken not as a single act, but as a periodically renewed and repeated process. Turnover time capital is the sum of production time and circulation time. In other words, the time of turnover is the interval of time from the moment capital is advanced in a certain form to the moment when capital returns to the capitalist in the same form, but increased by the amount of surplus-value.

Production time is the time during which capital is in the sphere of production. The most important part of the production time is working period, during which the processed object is directly exposed to labor. The working period depends on the nature of the given branch of production, the level of technology at a given enterprise, and on other conditions. For example, in a spinning factory it takes only a few days to turn a certain amount of cotton into yarn ready for sale, and in a steam locomotive plant, the production of each steam locomotive requires the expenditure of many tens of days of labor of a large number of workers.

The production time is usually longer than the working period. It also includes breaks in processing, during which the object of labor is exposed to certain natural processes, such as the fermentation of wine, the tanning of leather, the growth of wheat, etc. With the development of technology, the time of many such processes is reduced.

Turnaround time is the time during which capital is transformed from a money form into a productive one and from a commodity form into a money form. The duration of the circulation time depends on the conditions of purchase of means of production and sale finished goods, from the proximity of the market, from the degree of development of means of transport and communication.

Fixed and working capital.

Different parts of productive capital are not turned over in the same way. The difference in the turnover of the individual parts of productive capital results from the difference in the manner in which each of them transfers its value to the product. Depending on this, the capital is divided into fixed and circulating.

fixed capital That part of productive capital is called which, taking a full part in production, transfers its value to the product not all at once, but in parts, over a number of periods of production. This is part of the capital spent on the construction of buildings and structures, on the purchase of machinery and equipment.

Fixed capital is advanced by the capitalist at once for the entire period of its operation, but its value is returned to the capitalist in the form of money in installments. The elements of fixed capital serve the purposes of production, usually for many years; they wear out to a certain extent every year and eventually turn out to be unsuitable for further use. This is physical deterioration machines, equipment.

Along with physical wear and tear, tools of production are also subject to moral deterioration. A machine that has served for 5 to 10 years may still be strong enough, but if by that time another, more advanced, more productive or cheaper machine of the same kind has been created, then this leads to the depreciation of the old machine. Therefore, the capitalist is interested in making full use of the equipment in the most possible way. short time. Hence the striving of the capitalists to lengthen the working day, to intensify labor, to operate enterprises in several shifts without interruption.

working capital called that part of productive capital, the value of which is completely transferred to the commodity during one period of production and wholly returns to the capitalist in the form of money (with the addition of surplus value) when the commodity is sold. This is the part of the capital expended on the purchase of labor power, raw materials, fuel and auxiliary materials, that is, those means of production that are not part of the fixed capital, and, as was said, the capitalist returns the cost of buying labor power in excess.

During the time when the fixed capital makes only one turnover, the circulating capital manages to make many revolutions.

Having sold a commodity, the capitalist earns a certain amount of money, which contains: 1) the value of that part of the fixed capital transferred to the commodity in the process of production, 2) the value of circulating capital, 3) surplus value. In order to continue production, the capitalist again uses the proceeds, corresponding to circulating capital, to hire workers, to purchase raw materials, fuel, and auxiliary materials. The capitalist uses an amount corresponding to the part of the value of fixed capital transferred to the commodity to compensate for the wear and tear of machines, machine tools, buildings, that is, for the purpose of depreciation.

Depreciation there is a gradual replacement in monetary form of the value of the fixed capital by means of periodic deductions corresponding to its wear and tear. Part of the depreciation deductions is spent on major repairs, that is, on the partial replacement of worn-out equipment, tools, production buildings, etc. The main part of the depreciation deductions is kept by the capitalists in cash (usually in banks) in order to buy it when necessary. new machines instead of old ones or build new buildings instead of those that have fallen into disrepair.

Marxist political economy distinguishes the division of capital into fixed and circulating capital from the division of capital into fixed and variable. Fixed and variable capital differ from each other in the role they play in the exploitation of workers by the capitalists, while fixed and circulating capital differ in the nature of the turnover.

These two ways of dividing capital can be depicted as follows:

Bourgeois political economy recognizes only the division of capital into fixed and circulating capital, since this division of capital does not in itself show the role of labor power in the creation of surplus value, but, on the contrary, obscures the fundamental difference between the costs of the capitalist for hiring labor power and the costs of raw materials, fuel and etc.

Annual rate of surplus value. Ways to accelerate the turnover of capital.

With a given value of variable capital, the rate of turnover of capital influences the size of the surplus value squeezed out of the workers by the capitalist in a year.

Let us take two capitals, each of which has a variable part equal to 25 thousand dollars, and the rate of surplus value is 100%. Let us suppose that one of them turns over once a year, and the other two times a year. This means that the owner of the second capital, having the same amount of money, can hire and exploit twice as many workers during the year as the owner of the first. Therefore, by the end of the year, the results for both capitalists will be different. The first of them will receive 25 thousand dollars of surplus value for the year, and the second - 50 thousand dollars.

Annual rate of surplus value called the ratio of the produced in a year masses of surplus-value to the advanced variable capital. In our example, the annual rate of surplus value, expressed as a percentage, for the first capitalist is

25,000/25,000 = 100%, while the second has 50,000/25,000 = 200%.

From this it is clear that the capitalists are interested in accelerating the turnover of capital, since this acceleration enables them to obtain the same amount of surplus-value with less capital, or with the same capital, to obtain a greater amount of surplus-value. The rate of capital turnover also affects the amount of that part of working capital that is advanced for the purchase of raw materials, fuel, and auxiliary materials.

Marx showed that by itself the acceleration of the circulation of capital does not create an atom of new value. A faster turnover of capital and a faster realization in money form of the surplus value created in a given year only makes it possible for the capitalists, with the same amount of capital, to hire a larger number of workers whose labor creates a greater mass of surplus value in a year.

As we have seen, the time of turnover of capital consists of the time of production and the time of circulation. The capitalist seeks to shorten the duration of both.

The working period necessary for the production of commodities shortens with the development of the productive forces, with the growth of technology. For example, modern ways smelting of iron and steel speeds up the processes many times over compared to the methods that were used 100-150 years ago. Progress in the organization of production, for example, the transition to serial or mass production, also yields significant results.

Breaks in processing, which are part of the time of production beyond the working period, are also in many cases reduced with the development of technology. Thus, the process of tanning leather used to take weeks, but now, thanks to the use of the latest chemical methods, it requires only a few hours. In a number of industries wide application Catalysts are substances that speed up the course of chemical processes.

In order to accelerate the turnover of capital, the entrepreneur also resorts to lengthening the working day and to the intensification of labor. If with a 10-hour working day the working period is 24 days, then the lengthening of the working day to 12 hours reduces the working period to 20 days and accordingly accelerates the turnover of capital. The same result is produced by the intensification of labor, in which the worker expends in the course of 60 minutes as much energy as he used to expend, say, in 72 minutes.

Further, the capitalists strive to accelerate the turnover of capital by shortening the circulation time of capital. The possibility of such a reduction is created by the development of transport, post, telegraph, the best organization trade. But the shortening of circulation time is counteracted, firstly, by the extremely irrational distribution of production in the capitalist world, which causes the transportation of goods over vast distances, and, secondly, by the intensification of capitalist competition and the growing difficulties of marketing.

Together with the circulating capital, the surplus value created during the given period passes through circulation. The shorter the turnover time of capital, the faster the surplus value created by the workers is realized in monetary form and the sooner it can be used to expand production.

SUMMARY

1 . Each individual industrial capital moves incessantly in the form of a circuit consisting of three stages. These three stages correspond to three forms of industrial capital. – monetary, productive and commodity, differing in their functions.

2. The circulation of capital, taken not as a separate act, but as a periodically renewed process, is called the circulation of capital. The turnover time of capital is the sum of the time of production and the time of circulation. The most important part of the production time is the working period.

3. Each productive capital is divided into two parts, differing in the nature of the turnover: fixed capital and circulating capital. Fixed capital is that part of productive capital, the value of which is transferred to the commodity not all at once, but in parts over a number of periods of production. Circulating capital is that part of productive capital, the value of which is wholly transferred to a commodity during one period of production and wholly returned to the capitalist when the commodity is sold.

4. The acceleration of the turnover of capital makes it possible for capitalists with the same capital to complete a greater number of turnovers in the course of a year and, consequently, to hire a greater number of workers who will produce a greater mass of surplus-value. The capitalists strive to accelerate the turnover of capital both by improving technology and, in particular, by intensifying the exploitation of workers. – lengthening of the working day and intensification of labor.