From a Marxist perspective
Among Marxists today, the tendency of the rate of profit to fall is perhaps the most popular explanation for capitalism’s cyclical economic crises, with underconsumption a distant second. In its more naive forms, this theory leaves out the question of realizing surplus value altogether.
We can’t help it! Donald John Trump is again the chief of world imperialism. Is Trump a good representative of the U.S. capitalist ruling class? He is not only a capitalist but also a large landowner.
Given that the primary focus of this blog is economics, it is essential to address both of Trump’s roles.
The Trump Organization, his main enterprise, appropriates surplus value by buying land in Manhattan (New York City) and other large urban areas. It hires construction companies to erect skyscrapers that increase in height in alignment with the continually escalating urban ground rents. As these rents climb, the Trump family gets richer.
The basic formula of capitalist production is M—C…P…C’—M’. (1) Industrial capitalists begin with a sum of money M. They must then find on the market the elements of productive capital — both constant capital (factory buildings, machinery, and raw and auxiliary materials) and variable capital (labor power), the only commodity that produces surplus value. The productive capital, both constant and variable, is represented by C.
Chapter 1: Modern Underconsumption Theories
The first underconsumptionist theories were put forward by pre-Marxist bourgeois economists such as Sismondi and Malthus. As trade unions developed, these theories gained considerable support among their members and supporters.
A Critique of Crisis Theory 