Fetishism and Financialization

Abstract

The capitalist system is based on property rules, which are the same for all forms of property. Yet these rules operate differently for capital and labor as distinct forms of property. This paradox obscures the role of living labor as the source of surplus value, and hence mystifies money as self-expanding value. This “fetishism of money” facilitates “financialization,” prevents accurate analysis of the capitalist system, and the formulation of alternatives.