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Paul Sweezy
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Paul Marlor Sweezy (April 10, 1910 – February 27, 2004) was a Marxist economist, political activist, publisher, and founding editor of the
long-running magazine Monthly Review. He is best remembered for his contributions to economic theory as one of the leading Marxian
economists of the second half of the 20th century.

Contents Paul M. Sweezy

Biography …

Early years and education

…
Paul Sweezy was born on April 10, 1910 in New York City, the youngest of three sons of
Everett B. Sweezy, a vice-president of First National Bank of New York.[2] His mother,
Caroline Wilson Sweezy, was a graduate of Goucher College in Baltimore.[2]

Sweezy attended Phillips Exeter Academy and went on to Harvard and was editor of
The Harvard Crimson, graduating magna cum laude in 1932.[2] Having completed his
undergraduate coursework, his interests shifted from journalism to economics. Sweezy
spent the 1931–32 academic year taking courses at the London School of Economics,
Born April 10, 1910
traveling to Vienna to study on breaks.[2] It was at this time that Sweezy was first
New York City, New
exposed to Marxian economic ideas.[2] He made the acquaintance of Harold Laski, Joan York, U.S.
Robinson and other young left-wing British thinkers of the day.[2]
Died February 27, 2004
Upon his return to the United States, Sweezy again enrolled at Harvard, from which he (aged 93)
received his doctorate degree in 1937. During his studies, Sweezy had become the Larchmont, New

"ersatz son" ("ersatz" meaning "replacement" in German) of the renowned, Czech- York, U.S.

born economist Joseph Schumpeter, although on an intellectual level, their views were Nationality American
diametrically opposed. Later, as colleagues, their debates on the "Laws of Capitalism"
were of legendary status for a generation of Harvard economists.[3] Field Macroeconomics

While at Harvard, Sweezy founded the academic journal The Review of Economic School or Neo-Marxian
Studies and published essays on imperfect competition, the role of expectations in the tradition economics[1]
determination of supply and demand, and the problem of economic stagnation.[2]
Alma mater Harvard University
London School of
Economics
Academic career and military service
…
Influences Karl Marx, Vladimir
Sweezy became an instructor at Harvard in 1938.[2] It was there that he helped
Lenin, Rosa
establish a local branch of the American Federation of Teachers, the Harvard Teachers'
Luxemburg, Michał
Union.[2] In this interval also Sweezy wrote lectures that later became one of his most Kalecki, Ladislaus
important works of economics, The Theory of Capitalist Development (1942),[4] a book Bortkiewicz, Joseph
which summarized the labor theory of value of Marx and his followers. The book was Schumpeter
the first in English to deal with such questions as the transformation problem
thoroughly.[citation needed]

Sweezy worked for several New Deal agencies analyzing the concentration of economic power and the dynamics of monopoly and
competition. This research included the influential study for the National Resources Committee, "Interest Groups in the American
Economy" which identified the eight most powerful financial-industrial alliances in US business.[5]

From 1942 to 1945, Sweezy worked for the research and analysis division of the Office of Strategic Services. Sweezy was sent to
London, where his work for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) required his monitoring British economic policy for the US
government.[2] He went on to edit the OSS's monthly publication, European Political Report. Sweezy received the bronze star for his role
in the war. He was the recipient of the Social Science Research Council Demobilization Award at war's end.[2]

Sweezy wrote extensively for the liberal press during the post-war period, including such publications as The Nation and The New
Republic, among others.[2] He also wrote a book, Socialism, published in 1949, as well as a number of shorter pieces which were
collected in book form as The Present as History in 1953. In 1947 Sweezy quit his teaching position at Harvard, with two years remaining
on his contract, to dedicate himself to full-time writing and editing.[2]

Monthly Review magazine

…
In 1949, Sweezy and Leo Huberman founded a new magazine called Monthly Review, using money from historian and literary critic F. O.
Matthiessen. The first issue appeared in May of that year, and included Albert Einstein's article "Why Socialism?". The magazine,
established in the midst of the American Red Scare, describes itself as socialist "independent of any political organization".[6]

Monthly Review rapidly expanded into the production of books and pamphlets through its publishing arm, Monthly Review Press.

Over the years, Monthly Review published articles by a diverse array of voices, including material by Albert Einstein, W. E. B. Du Bois,
Jean-Paul Sartre, Che Guevara and Joan Robinson.[7]

Activism
…
In 1954, New Hampshire Attorney General Louis C. Wyman subpoenaed Sweezy and made inquiries into the contents of a guest lecture
at the University of New Hampshire and his political beliefs and associations, demanding to know the names of his political associates.
Sweezy refused to comply, citing his First Amendment right of freedom of expression. He was cited for contempt of court and briefly
imprisoned, but the US Supreme Court overturned the conviction in a landmark case for academic freedom, in Sweezy v. New
Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234 (1957).[8][9]

Sweezy was active in a wide range of progressive causes, including the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, the National Lawyers Guild,
the National Council of Arts, Sciences and Professions, and the Fair Play for Cuba Committee.[10] He was the chairman of the Committee
in Defense of Carl Marzani and was particularly active fighting against the prosecution of members of the Communist Party under the
Smith Act.[10]

An outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War, Sweezy was a prominent supporter of Bertrand Russell's International War Crimes
Tribunal.[10]

Contributions to economics
…
Main article: Monopoly Capital

Sweezy's work in economics focused on applying Marxist analysis to what he identified as three dominant trends in modern capitalism:
monopolization, stagnation, and financialization.

Sweezy's first formally published paper on economics was a 1934 article entitled "Professor Pigou's Theory of Unemployment,"
published in the Journal of Political Economy in 1934.[2] Over the rest of the decade Sweezy wrote prolifically on economics-related
topics, publishing some 25 articles and reviews.[2] Sweezy did pioneering work in the fields of expectations and oligopoly in these years,
introducing for the first time the concept of the kinked demand curve in the determination of oligopoly pricing.[2]

Harvard published Sweezy's dissertation, Monopoly and Competition in the English Coal Trade, 1550–1850, in 1938. With the 1942
publication of The Theory of Capitalist Development,[4] Sweezy established himself as the "dean of American Marxists" and laid
foundations for later Marxist work on these themes. In addition to presenting the first major discussion of the "transformation problem" in
English, the book also emphasized the "qualitative" as well as "quantitative" aspect of Marx's theory of value, distinguishing Marx's
approach from those of his predecessors in political economy.[5]

In 1966, Sweezy published Monopoly Capital: An Essay on the American Economic and Social Order with Paul Baran. The book
elaborated evidence for and implications of Sweezy's stagnation theory, also called secular stagnation. The main dilemma modern
capitalism would face, they argued, would be how to find profitable investment outlets for the economic surpluses created by capital
accumulation. Because of the increase in oligopoly this took the form of stagnation as monopolistic firms reduced output rather than
prices in response to overcapacity.

Oligopoly meant there was a tendency for the rate of surplus to rise, but this surplus did not necessarily register in statistical records as
profits. It also takes the form of waste and excess production capacity.

Increases in marketing, defense spending and various forms of debt could alleviate the problem of overaccumulation. However, they
believed that these remedies to capital's difficulties were inherently limited and tend to decrease in effectiveness over time so that
monopoly capital would tend toward economic stagnation.

This book is regarded as the cornerstone of Sweezy's contribution to Marxian economics.

Sweezy had dealt with the rise and fall of finance capital in the early 21st century identifying monopoly as the more essential trend. This
formed the context in which he would analyze the resurgence of finance capital in the post-war era. Because Sweezy's approach
combined and integrated the micro effects of monopoly with the macro level insights of Keynesian theory it proved superior for
understanding the stagflation of the 1970s. Sweezy's later work with Harry Magdoff examined the importance of "financial explosion" as
a response to stagnation.[5]

Death and legacy

…
Paul Sweezy died on February 27, 2004, at the age of 93.

Sweezy was lauded by economist and public intellectual John Kenneth Galbraith as "the most noted American Marxist scholar" of the
late 20th Century.[11] He was also called "the best that Exeter and Harvard can produce" and regarded as "among the most promising
economists of his generation" by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson.[12]

Works …

Monopoly and Competition in the English Coal Trade, 1550–1850. [1938] Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1972.

The Theory of Capitalist Development. London: D. Dobson, 1946.

Socialism. New York: McGraw-Hill Company, 1949.

The Present as History: Reviews on Capitalism and Socialism. (1953, 1962).

Modern Capitalism and Other Essays. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1972.

The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism. London: New Left Books, 1976.

Post-Revolutionary Society: Essays. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1980.

Four lectures on Marxism. (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1981).

"The Limits of Imperialism." In Chilcote, Ronald H. (ed.) Imperialism: Theoretical Directions. New York: Humanity Books, 2000.

With Leo Huberman

…
F.O. Matthiessen, 1902–1950. New York: S.N., 1950.

Cuba: Anatomy of a Revolution. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1960.

Regis Debray and Latin American Revolution. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1968.

Socialism in Cuba. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1969.

The Communist Manifesto after 100 Years: New translation by Paul M. Sweezy of Karl Marx's "The Communist Manifesto" and Friedrich
Engels' "Principles of Communism." New York: Modern Reader, 1964.

Vietnam: The Endless War: From Monthly Review, 1954–1970. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1970.

With Harry Magdoff

…
The Dynamics of US Capitalism: Corporate Structure, Inflation, Credit, Gold, and the Dollar. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1972.

Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Chile. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1974.

The End of Prosperity. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1977.

The Deepening Crisis of US Capitalism. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1981.

Stagnation and the Financial Explosion. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1987.

The Irreversible Crisis: Five Essays. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1988.

With others
…
An Economic Program for American Democracy. With Richard V. Gilbert, George H. Hildebrand, Arthur W. Stuart, Maxine Yaple Sweezy,
Lorie Tarshis, and John D. Wilson. New York: The Vanguard Press, 1938.

Monopoly Capital: An Essay on the American Economic and Social Order. With Paul A. Baran. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1966.

On the Transition to Socialism. With Charles Bettelheim. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971.

Notes …

1. ^ Bruce Williams, Making and Breaking Universities, Macleay Press, p. 7. ^ Louis Uchitelle, "Paul Sweezy, 93, Marxist Publisher and
103. Economist, Dies," New York Times, March 2, 2004.

2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p John Bellamy Foster, "Memorial Service 8. ^ Text of Sweezy v. New Hampshire is available from: Findlaw
for Paul Marlor Sweezy (1910–2004)," Monthly Review.
9. ^ Simon, John J. (April 1, 2000). "Sweezy v. New Hampshire: the
3. ^ John Bellamy Foster, "On The Laws Of Capitalism," Monthly Radicalism of Principle" . Monthly Review.
Review.
10. ^ a b c Francis X. Gannon, Biographical Dictionary of the Left: Volume
4. ^ a b Paul M. Sweezy (1964) [1942]. Theory of Capital Development . 2. Boston: Western Islands, 1971; pp. 564–566.
NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-85345-079-5.
11. ^ John Kenneth Galbraith, Economics in Perspective. Boston:
5. ^ a b c Michael A. Lebowitz, "Paul M. Sweezy" Monthly Review. Houghton Mifflin, 1987; pg. 189.

6. ^ "About Monthly Review" . Monthly Review. 12. ^ Paul Samuelson, "Memories," Newsweek, June 2, 1969.

Further reading …

Bellod Redondo, J. F. "Monopolio e Irracionalidad: Microfundamentos de la Teoría Baran - Sweezy " in Principios - Estudios de
Economía Política, pp 65 – 84, nº 10, Fundación Sistema, Madrid. (2008)

Riccardo Bellofiore, "Between Schumpeter and Keynes: The Heterodoxy of Paul Marlor Sweezy and the Orthodoxy of Paul Mattick ",
Continental Thought and Theory, vol. 1 (4), October 2017, pp. 72–111

Peter Clecak, Radical Paradoxes: Dilemmas of the American Left, 1945-1970 (New York: Harper & Row, 1973), pp. 128–174

Foster, John Bellamy. Paul Sweezy & Monopoly Capital (Pluto Press, Sterling, 2002).

Nicholas Baran and John Bellamy Foster, eds., The Age of Monopoly Capital, The Selected Correspondence of Paul A. Baran and Paul
M. Sweezy, 1949-1964 (Monthly Review Press, New York, 2017).

External links …

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Paul Sweezy

[permanent dead link]

Interview of Paul M. Sweezy by Christopher Phelps and Andor Skotnes

Obituary (Monthly Review)

Obituary (The New York Times)

Obituary (The Guardian)

Obituary (Communist Party of India [Marxist-Lennist])

Paul Sweezy, 93; Marxist, economist, Harvard teacher (The Boston Globe)

Marxist Thinker, Former Prof. Dies (The Harvard Crimson, 2004)

Why The Soviet Bureaucracy is not a New Ruling Class (Ernest Mandel comments on Sweezy's view of the USSR 1979)

The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism (Maurice Dobb and Paul Sweezy debate, 1950)

Correspondence of Paul A. Baran and Paul M. Sweezy at the Stanford University Archive, Paul A. Baran's papers

See also …

Richard D. Wolff Communism

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Slavoj Zizek
Socialism portal
Michael Parenti Economics portal

Last edited 2 months ago by David Gerard

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