Page - 109 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

a contribution to the theory of imperialism 109 precisely, is itsself-regulatingmechanism.66Thelimitsofaccumulationare determinedbythesupplyof labourpower.67 2. Surplus value cannot be exported abroad because that would effectively inhibit production inbothdepartments– foreign investmentsmakeaccu- mulation impossible (Bauer didnot take all possibilities of foreign invest- ment into account, including the purchase of rawmaterials and labour power at lowerprices thanathome). Policies that accelerate thedevelop- mentofthedomesticmarketare intheinterestof theproletariat.68 Alas,onecannotconclude fromBauer’scommentsonthemechanismsof the capitalisteconomywhetherornothebelieveditpossibletocompletelyabolish thisphenomenonundercapitalism.LikeHilferding,heassumedthat itwould onlybecomepossibletoavoidcrisesoncetheanarchyofthecapitalisteconomy was abolished and a planned economy introduced.69 Asmentioned earlier, Bauerthoughtthattheregulatingorgansoftheeconomy–monopolies,cartels, banks,andthestatethatassumescontrolovereconomiclife–alreadyfulfilled this function tosomeextent.70As theyeliminatedisproportionsbetweenthe individual branches by changing the business cycle, theymoderate crises.71 66 SeeBauer1986,p. 106. 67 Compare Haussmann 1979, p. 229. In 1929, Bauer claimed in his speech to the trade unioncongressthatthecrisis inAustriawouldbeovercomeineightyears,astherelation betweenpopulationgrowthandmortality rateswouldchange for thebetterduring this period. To support his statements, Bauer drewupa schemeof expanded reproduction. Accordingtothisscheme,theaccumulationratemechanicallydependsonthepopulation growth rate and the complex growth rate of constant capital (the accumulation rate was purportedly unchanging, constant capital would grow by 10 percent and variable capitalby5percent).AsSweezystates,HenrykGrossmandrewonBauer’s schemewhen performinghiscomplexcalculations.They ledhimtotheoppositeconclusionto thatof RosaLuxemburg:duetothelackofsurplusvalue,capitalismwouldcollapseafter34years. 68 AsRobertHaussmannobserves, Bauer’s viewson this concerned theAustro-Hungarian monarchy. InCzechiaandLowerAustria, theproportionof the industrialworkingclass in relation to the total number of employed reached its peak at the beginning of the twentiethcentury.Peoplemarriedlate,thebirthratedeclined,andthemarketboastedan excessivesupplyofcommodities. Inotherpartsof themonarchy–Galicia,Dalmatiaand Carniola– theprocessof capital accumulationwas slowandbirth rateshigh.Given the weaknessofforeigntrade,thedevelopmentofthedomesticmarketwastheonlypossible waytoindustrialisethecountry.SeeHaussmann1979,pp.229–30. 69 SeeBauer1980,p.55. 70 SeeBauer1980b,p. 174. 71 Hilferding described this tendency in amore transparentmanner thanBauer: ‘As long