Prices, Profits and the Degree of Monopoly

Abstract

A central and crucial feature of Kalecki’s analysis is the view that developed capitalist economies are characterised by oligopoly, imperfect competition and monopoly, particularly in product markets. He regarded the widely adopted assumption of perfect competition as ‘a most unrealistic not only for the present phase of capitalism but even for the so called competitive capitalist economy of past centuries: surely this competition was always in general very imperfect’ (Kalecki, 1971a, p. 158). It could be said that throughout his work, Kalecki stressed the monopolistic nature of modern capitalism, and perhaps neglected the rivalrous aspects. This point is developed in Chapter 8 when we compare the works of Kalecki with those of Marx.