Currentness of Hilferding’s theoretical projections

Abstract

The objective of this essay is to restate several fundamental theoretical ideas and their diverse treatment among classic authors that in one form or another have been influenced by the work of Rudolf Hilferding. One of them is the determination of monopoly prices, whose approximation anticipated important contributions such as those of Joe Bain and Paolo Sylos Lavini. In terms of monetary and financial analysis, Hilferding’s work anticipates Fisher, Keynes, and of course Eichner and Minsky, who owe much to Hilferding’s perspcatiousness in their understanding of the relationships between bank capital and credit and the cycle of industrial credit, the mechanisms of investment financing and their recurring fragility. Hilferding also poses a theoretical framework for the economic cycle, which is realized not only on the national stage, but also involves the exportation of capital and imperialism. All heterodox economics, all twentieth century Marxism and current Post Keynesian and Neomarxist thinking, share a reference point in this book.