Conflict inflation, distribution, cyclical accumulation and crises

This paper develops a model of inflation, distribution and accumulation. The theory of inflation is a conflict theory in which inflation results from the conflicting claims on income made by workers and firms, claims which are affected by the relative bargaining power of the two groups. This bargaining power affects the distribution of income, and therefore the pattern of accumulation in the economy, which in turn affects how the bargaining power of different groups changes over time. The model shows how the economy can experience cyclical growth, alternating between periods of excess capacity and full capacity utilization, and comments on the possibility, and implications, of deep slumps from which recovery is difficult.