A Chinese Social Structure of Accumulation for Capitalist Long-Wave Upswing?

Abstract

The objective of this article is to examine whether China has a viable macro social structure of accumulation (SSA) for capitalist long-wave upswing into the early decades of the twenty-first century. The article commences with the SSA index of performance and potentiality (IPP) through which phases of capitalist development can be scrutinized. The rest of the article details the components of the IPP, first the more technical institutional factors and then broader indicators of development. The article concludes that China is currently an emerging capitalist economy and that it is likely to continue through long-wave upswing through core industrialization during the next fifteen years. There are critical limits to capitalist development in China—including problems associated with capital productivity, innovation, pollution, and rural-urban dynamics—and these are likely to restrict long-term performance by about 2020.