Rate of Profit T-Shirt

“Rate of profit” is a term introduced by Marx in Volume III of Capital for the ratio of profit to total capital invested in a given cycle of reproduction, or the proportion of value in any given commodity which constitutes profit for the capitalist. In bourgeois economics, “rate of profit” means the proportion of the total capital invested accruing to the capitalist as profit per annum. For a given period of circulation, or cycle of reproduction, the two definitions are equivalent. The circulation time of capital is the time that elapses between a capitalist making an initial investment and when the products are sold and the original capital plus a profit are recovered. This cycle of reproduction is a major factor in the development of capitalism, and much of Volume II of Capital is concerned with circulation of capital and the problems of Realisation.