According to the Stagnation school of Marxist economics the slow economic growth and high unemployment we see today is typical of modern corporate capitalism where: (a) workers cannot afford to buy all that they make because of exploitation. (b) there is a shortage of profitable investments as compared to the large profits generated by giant corporations, leading to less investment spending. (c) there is not enough money to finance investment because the Federal Reserve is following a monetarist policy and is too afraid of inflation. (d) conservative economic policies based on Say's Law have restricted the use of fiscal policies that could stimulate the economy.

 

Over the last 25 years, FICA payroll taxes have been going to: (a) current social security benefits. (b) a trust fund to help pay for future benefits (c) both current benefits and a trust fund (d) Medicare only, social security benefits are paid for by income taxes.

 

According to Marx, businesses pay their workers less than the value of the product of their labor in order to make a profit. The businesses then reinvest these profits to be able to expand production. At the same time the workers cannot afford to buy what they have produced. This leads to: (a) the growth of the financial sector as workers borrow more and more. (b) more inflation as the central bank prints money so workers have more money. (c) a process of "creative destruction" where obsolete companies, products, and technology go bust, clearing the ground for innovation and economic growth. (d) crisis of overproduction, or what is known as recessions.