?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Differential+Accumulation%3A+Toward+a+New+Political+Economy+of+Capital&rft.creator=Nitzan%2C+Jonathan&rft.subject=Epistemology&rft.description=Existing+theories+of+capital%2C+neo-classical+as+well+as+Marxist%2C+are+anchored+in+the+material+sphere+of+production+and+consumption.+This+article+offers+a+new+analytical+framework+for+capital+as+a+crystallization+of+power.+The%0Arelative+nature+of+power+requires+accumulation+to+be+measured+in+differential%2C+not+absolute%2C+terms.+For+absentee+owners%2C+the+main+goal+is+not+to+maximize+pro.ts%2C+but+rather+to+%E2%80%98beat+the+average%E2%80%99+and+exceed+the+%E2%80%98normal+rate+of+return%E2%80%99.+The+theoretical+framework+builds+on+Thorstein+Veblen%E2%80%99s+separation+of+industry+from+business+and+on+Lewis+Mumford%E2%80%99s+dichotomy+between+democratic+and+authoritarian+techniques.+Extending+their+contributions%2C+we+argue+that+capital+is+a+business%2C+not+an+industrial+category%2C+a+human+mega-machine+rather+than+a+material+artefact.+Indeed%2C+it+is+the+social+essence+of+capital+which+makes+accumulation+possible+in+the+.rst+place.+Capital+measures+the+present+value+of+future+business+earnings%2C+and+these+depend+not+on+the+productivity+of+industry+as+such%2C+but+on+the+ability+of%0Aabsentee+owners+strategically+to+limit+such+productivity+to+their+own+differential+ends.+Introducing+the+twin+concepts+of+the+%E2%80%98differential+power+of+capital%E2%80%99+(DPK)+and+the+rate+of+%E2%80%98differential+accumulation%E2%80%99+(DA)%2C+we+examine+the+non-linear+and+possibly+negative+link+between+industrial+growth+and+accumulation+in+the+USA&rft.date=1998-01&rft.type=Journal+(On-line%2FUnpaginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2522%2F1%2FDifferential_Accumulation_1998.pdf&rft.identifier=++Nitzan%2C+Jonathan++(1998)+Differential+Accumulation%3A+Toward+a+New+Political+Economy+of+Capital.++%5BJournal+(On-line%2FUnpaginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2522%2F