'Too bright for comfort': a Kaleckian view of profit realisation in the USA, 1964-2009

摘要

This paper uses modern gross national product accounting conventions to chart the various expenditures responsible for profit realisation from 1964 to 2009 in the USA. Revealed are significant changes in the main drivers of profit realisation after 1982. Specifically, the shifting distribution of income away from median workers and the use of debt are increasingly responsible for profit realisation after 1982. This represents a significant aspect of the economy that set the environment for the recent crisis and has implications for a post-crisis economy as well.