I'M SURPRISED there has been no comment about Andrew Kilmister's hard-hitting review, recently reprinted in International Viewpoint, of Robert Brenner's special issue of New Left Review.
Brenner is an editor of 'Against the Current' the magazine of the revolutionary group Solidarity, within which most US supporters of the Fourth International can be found.
Brenner's thesis is that the long economic boom after WW2 was ended mainly by inter-capitalist competition. Most British leftists argue otherwise, suggesting that working-class wage demands squeezed profits and triggered the recession of the 1970s.
Socialist Outlook's article was an expecially harsh criticism: suggesting that Brenner's views opened the door to reformism. I wonder if the criticism went too far.
We needs to be rather cautious about the 'back to the 1930s' economic perspective that most British left groups are developing.
Brenner's analysis seems to counter not only those who anticipate a recession like the 1930s, but also those who think world markets can develop even growth worldwide.
The revolutionary left needs a reasoned debate about the world Generally, I think it mistaken to argue that Brenner's view cuts against revolutionary socialism.
There are some serious problems with Brenner's article. However his historical and political grasp are excellent.
The main problem as I see it is that, because of his neoclassical theory ofvalue, Brenner dismisses the falling profit rate as an operational factor.
I'm sure this would be an interesting debate for Socialist Outlook to explore further.
Chris Brooks, Reading • WE WELCOME contributions towards such a debate - Eds