Page - 105 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

a contribution to the theory of imperialism 105 ofcommoditiesproduced,accordingtothistheory, is investedintopurchasing articlesofconsumptionandfurthersthemeansofproduction.55 Having investigated thecapitalist economy’s susceptibility to crises, Bauer feltobligatedtoraisefurther interestingeconomicquestions.Do, for instance, othercauses for thedisruptionof theeconomyaccrue fromthe fundamental contradiction between production and property relations? Is it possible to counteract theemergenceofoverproduction–and if so,how?Canthedevel- opmentof imperialism lead toamodificationof thebusiness cycle? Inother words, thequestionwaswhetherthecapitalistmodeofproductioncouldpro- tect itselfagainstcrisesuponenteringthestageof imperialism. IwillprefaceBauer’s answerwithan importantcomment.Bauer,whohad authoredTheExplanationof Imperialism, embarkedonhisowndistinctpath whendiscussingtheproblemsofoverproductionandcrisesunderimperialism. Hemadenoconcessions topositions thatwerepopular inSocialDemocracy, andwhichweremainlyadvocatedbyGerman theorists at the time.True,his theorycontainedechoesof fashionableexplanatorymodelsof crises, suchas the theory of disproportionality between different economic branches and sectors,lowconsumptionlevelsamongthemasses,andthetheoryof‘organised capitalism’. But if the solutions he offeredwere not always satisfactory – an objection one could raise againstmost of the theories of his period – they wereat least innovative.Mostofall, Baueravoidedthekindofone-sidedness thatcharacterisedothervoices in thedebateoncrises from1901–14.Tellingly, twoopposingcampsemergedfromthisdebate,whichwentontodefendtheir positionspassionately foralmost15years: – Bernstein,Tugan-Baranovsky,andespeciallyHilferding,amongothers, rep- resented the first camp. These authors explained crises as resulting from disproportion between individual economic branches and looked to the centralised planned economy of themonopolies and banks for counter- measures. – The second campcounted among its protagonists JeanCharles Sismondi, JohnAtkinsonHobson,Schippel,Kautsky,Luxemburg,andtheRussianNar- odniks.Theyascribedthetroublesofcapitalismtotheunderconsumptionof themasses, suggestingeithertheintroductionofhighwagesortheflight to foreignmarkets inordertoovercomethem.56 55 Jean-BaptisteSaydevelopedthis theory inATreatiseonPoliticalEconomy–seeSay2000. Bauercriticisedit inBauer1979c,p.791. 56 I am fully aware that the division depicted here is a gross simplification.However, the