Some controversies in the development of rent theory: the nature of oil rent

Abstract

Bina's article is both a contribution to the theory of rent and an attempt to explain the ‘oil crisis' of the 1970s. Addressing classical and modern debates, the author argues that bourgeois economics fails to theorise the specificity of rent in capitalist societies and its relation to production and the structure of property relations. By applying Marx's theory of rent to the us oil industry, Bina seeks to provide a coherent explanation of the oil price rises of the early 1970s.