Resumo

BICHLER, Shimshon  e  NITZAN, Jonathan. Capital accumulation: fiction and reality. Rev.econ.inst. [online]. 2015, vol.17, n.33, pp.45-71. ISSN 0124-5996.  https://doi.org/10.18601/01245996.v17n33.03.

What do economists mean when they talk about 'capital accumulation'? Surprisingly, the answer is anything but clear. The conventional view is that there are two types of capital, real and financial; that these two capitals should correspond to one another; and that, unfortunately, most of the time they don't: in general, goes the argument, the growth of financial capital tends to mismatch and distort the accumulation of real capital. The paper shows this 'mismatch thesis' - and therefore the ability of economists to explain accumulation - to be built on foundations of sand. Economists, it argues, cannot measure real capital in the first place, and the proxies they devise for that purpose entangle them in logical circularities and empirical impossibilities.

Palavras-chave : Capital accumulation; capital real; capital financial.

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