Technical change and the “tendency of the rate of profit to fall”

Abstract

For the most part, the discussion of Marx' falling rate of profit has been of a qualitative and fairly imprecise nature. In particular, the transformation problem concerning the relationship between the price and value rates of profit is usually not adequately dealt with. The present article defines the various concepts rigorously and demonstrates the relationship between the price and value concepts. It is then shown that technical change which competitive capitalists will introduce always raises the rate of profit, if real wages are constant; that these viable technical changes are always socially desirable; but that there are socially desirable technical changes which will not be introduced under competitive capitalism. Some of these desirable technical changes would cause the profit rate to fall. Any efforts to demonstrate a falling rate of profit as a consequence of technical change must therefore concentrate on the relationship between technical innovation and changes in the real wage.