Modern Uno theory: overview

 

The beginning of Uno theory

Kozo Uno critically utilized Marx's "The Capital” and established a system of Marxian economics. The system consists of three parts: principle of political economy, stage theory, and that empirical analysis of the current state of capitalist economy. Marx wrote “The Capital”, seeing the development of capitalism in England in the 19th century. In contrast, Uno assumed the pure capitalist development ended at the end of the 19th century. Relying on this view, he asserted the principle based on pure capitalism and the stage theory. The stage theory consists of three stages: mercantilism as the formative period, liberalism as the self-propelled growth period, and imperialism as the impure and overmature period.

 

The diffusion and development of Uno theory

Uno theory has some advantages in the method and has diffused wider than the method that uses Marx's “The Capital” literally.

  In the field of principle, the Uno school was able to reconstruct the principle based on an abstract assumption where all owners of commodities act to maximize commodity economic gain, apart from the miscellaneous non-market factors. On the other hand, in the field of analysis of the current state, because the real capitalist economies have become impure, the researchers of Uno school can analyze the current state free away from the theory. 

 

The emergence of modern Uno theory

In modern times, it is necessary to critically utilize Uno’s theory. More than half a century has passed since Uno, some of Uno school innovates to the point that Uno’s theory has become outdated. Currently, the changing one is becoming the “Modern Uno Theory.” In the field of principle, here are some examples:  

 

l  credit money as commodity money.

l  intrinsic value of the commodity, based neither on of supply-demand relationship nor on the amount of embodied labor.

l  stock capital, based on the long-term idle money that inevitably arises in the circuit of capital.

l  commercial capital, which takes the burden of uncertain circulation process and organizes the industrial capitals and other commercial ones.

l  two modes of capitalist labor organization, manufacture-type, which organically combines different labors with different skill and large-machinery-type which replaces labor processes with the automatic ones to utilize the nature power.

 

In the field of stage theory, theoretical progress is less than in principle. Because more than a century has passed since the beginning of the imperialism stage, we cannot understand modern capitalism only by adding impure factors. Since the 1980s, the capitalist economy has entered Neo-liberalism. To understand Neo-liberalism as a new stage, some researchers have attempted the radical reorganization of Uno’s stage theory in various ways.

I would introduce some features of the “Modern Uno theory” in this blog, if possible.