Ever since Marx, the future of capitalism has been fiercely debated. Marx and his followers predicted capitalism will end by violent overthrow, while others prophesied its demise will be the result of collapsing under its own weight. Still others argue that capitalism will not only continue to exist but continue to expand globally. This book takes a distinctively different approach by presenting solid evidence that capitalism has already ended.
The author argues that corporate statutory law, securities laws, and generally accepted accounting principles have combined to cause the extinction of capitalists. Without capitalists as owners of capital, there can be no capitalism. The book examines the factors that converged to contribute to and hasten the extinction of capitalists, and thus of capitalism as an economic system, in an ironic case of the law of unintended consequences. The very things that were intended to promote, protect, and sustain capitalism are the things that caused its death. It exposes the fallacy that capitalism as an economic system not only continues to exist but is expanding globally. Capitalism is extinct and the social system constructed on capitalism as an economic system cannot be sustained.
This book will appeal to economists, accountants, historians, political scientists, lawyers and sociologists, as well as students of those disciplines.
Author(s): Wm. Dennis Huber
Series: Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 198
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
Other Publications by This Author
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Part I: Capital, Capitalists, and Capitalism
1. Capital
Introduction
Capital—Concepts
Types of Capital
Financial Capital
Productive/Industrial Capital: The Resource of Production
Other Types of Capital
Mercantile (Merchant) Capital
Commercial Capital
Fictitious Capital
The Money-Commodity/Financial Capital-Physical Capital Cycle
The Capitalist Entrepreneur Cycle
The Corporate Cycle
Capital, Accounting, and Profit
Capital and Labor
Chapter Summary
2. Capitalists
Introduction
Capitalists
Capitalists and Primitive Accumulation
Capitalists and Capital Accumulation
Chapter Summary
3. Capitalism
Introduction
Capitalism—Definitions and Semantics
Capitalism as a Global System
The Origin and History of Capitalism
Karl Marx
Werner Sombart
Max Weber
Others
Emile Durkheim
Basil Yamey
Richard Tawney
Immanuel Wallerstein
Jonathan Levy
Karl Polanyi
One Other
Types, Forms, Varieties, and Models of Capitalism
Types of Capitalism
Financial Capitalism
Productive/Industrial Capitalism
Corporate Capitalism
Mercantile Capitalism
Forms, Varieties, and Models of Capitalism
The Industrial Revolution—The Fulcrum of the Transition to Capitalism
Capitalism and Accounting, Profit, Labor, the Capital Account, and the Spirit of Capitalism
Capitalism, Accounting, and Profit
Capitalism and Labor
Capitalism and the Capital Account
Capitalism and the Spirit of Capitalism
Chapter Summary
Part II: Corporations and Corporate Law
4. Corporations
Introduction
The Nature and Characteristics of the Corporate Firm
Corporations and Capital Resources of Production
Chapter Summary
5. Corporate Law
Introduction
Creation of a Corporation
Corporate Existence, Governance, and Operations
Corporate Existence
Corporate Governance
Corporate Operations
Corporate Ownership
Corporation Rights
Corporations and Corporate Property
Shareowners’ Rights
Chapter Summary
Part III: Accounting and Securities Laws
6. Accounting and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
Introduction
Capitalism, Accounting, Corporations, and Financial Reporting
Corporations and Financial Reporting
The Balance Sheet
The Income Statement
Statement of Cash Flows
Statement of Retained Earnings
Statement of Stockholders’ Equity
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
Accounting Principles
Accounting Theory
The Financial Accounting Standards Board
History and Purpose
The Financial Accounting Standards Board Conceptual Framework
Chapter Summary
7. Securities Laws
Introduction
Securities Act of 1933
Purpose of the Securities Act of 1933
Capital and the Securities Act of 1933
Capitalists and the Securities Act of 1933
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Purpose of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Capital and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Capitalists and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Accounting and Securities Laws
Capital Assets, Capital Markets, Capitalism, and Securities Laws
Capital Assets and Securities Laws
Capital Markets, Portfolio Theory, and Securities Laws
Financial Asset Pricing Model
Efficient Market Hypothesis
Capital Assets, Capital Markets, Capitalism, and Securities Laws
Chapter Summary
Part IV: The Extinction of Capitalism
8. Capitalism and the Law of Unintended Consequences
Introduction
The Necessary Conditions for Capitalism—A Review
Corporations, Corporate Law, and the Extinction of Capitalism
Accounting, GAAP, and the Extinction of Capitalism
Securities Laws and the Extinction of Capitalism
The Extinction of Capitalism and the Law of Unintended Consequences
Chapter Summary
9. Capitalists, Capitalism, Social Systems, Classes, and Power
Introduction
Capitalists, Capitalism, and Social Systems
Capitalists, Capitalism, and Classes
Capitalists, Capitalism, Social Systems, and Power
Chapter Summary
Epilogue
Summary of Chapters
Concluding Remarks
Index
