This is the first English translation of one of the classical works of Marxist economic theory. When Rudolf Hilferding’s Finance Capital was first published in 1919 it was acclaimed by reviewers as a continuation of Marx’s Capital, and it has a major influence upon subsequent Marxist thought, especially in the analysis of imperialism where it provided some of the fundamental ideas for the theories of Bukharin and Lenin.
But Hilferding’s work was much more than a study of imperialism, which was presented only in the last section of the book. It set out to examine the main tendencies in the development of the capitalist mode of production as a whole at the beginning of the twentieth century, beginning with an exposition of the theory of money (in which particular attention was paid to the growth of credit money), then analysing the increasingly important role of the banks in the mobilization of capital, along with the development of large corporations, cartels and trusts, and finally outlining a theory of economic crises.
Hilferding’s book has, however, more than an historical interest. It is a model for any renewed attempt to understand the ‘latest phase of capitalist development’ in the closing decades of the twentieth century, and Hilferdin’s ideas still provide essential elements for the elaboration of theoretically enlightened and realistic policies in the socialist movement.
Acknowledgements vii
Note on the translation ix
Introduction to the translation 1
FINANCE CAPITAL
Preface 21
Part 1{emsp}Money and credit
{ensp}1 The necessity of money 27
{ensp}2 Money in the circulation process 37
{ensp}3 Money as a means of payment. Credit money. 60
{ensp}4 Money in the circulation of industrial capital 67
{ensp}5 The banks and industrial credit 82
{ensp}6 The rate of interest 99
Part II{emsp}The mobilization of capital. Fictitious capital
{ensp}7 The joint-stock company 107
{ensp}8 The stock exchange 130
{ensp}9 The commodity exchange 151
10 Bank capital and bank profit 170
Part III{emsp}Finance capital and the restriction of free competition
11 Surmounting the obstacles to the equalization of rates of profit 183
12 Cartels and trusts 204
13 The capitalist monopolies and commerce 208
14 The capitalist monopolies and the banks. The transformation of capital into finance capital 223
15 Price determination by the capitalist monopolies and the historical tendency of finance capital 227
Part IV{emsp}Finance capital and crises
16 The general conditions of crises 239
17 The causes of crises 257
18 Credit conditions in the course of the business cycle 267
19 Money capital and productive capital during the depression 282
20 Changes in the character of crises. Cartels and crises 288
Part V{emsp}The economic policy of finance capital
21 The reorientation of commercial policy 301
22 The export of capital and the struggle for economic territory 311
23 Finance capital and classes 337
24 The conflict over the labour contract 351
25 The proletariat and imperialism 364
Notes 371
Bibliography I The principal writings of Rudolf Hilferding 438
II Works on Hilferding 439
III Other works mentioned in the Introduction and in the text 440
Index 445
