Theories of Surplus Value, Part III, Chapter 21 - Part 59

As described above, the development of production on an even larger scale, resulted, even by the end of the 19th century, in a modification of that condition. As Engels put it, in his Critique of the Erfurt Programme, 

“Capitalist production by joint-stock companies is no longer private production but production on behalf of many associated people. And when we pass on from joint-stock companies to trusts, which dominate and monopolise whole branches of industry, this puts an end not only to private production but also to planlessness.” 

Moreover, the development of the Internet, of electronic point of sale, of flexible specialisation, itself made possible by the further development of automation and robotisation, have meant that although production continues to be predicated on mass production for mass markets, the production can be planned to rise or fall in accordance with constantly updated market information. Indeed, the further development of artificial intelligence means that predictive algorithms will be able to forecast future changes in market conditions, and adjust production accordingly, in the same way that it is able to foresee changes in road conditions, and change the settings for cars suspension and braking systems. 

“Thus if the commodities remain in the circulation reservoirs for a long time—if they accumulate there—then they will soon glut them as a result of the speed with which the waves of production follow one another and the huge amount of goods which they deposit continuously in the reservoirs.” (p 286) 

Marx himself, however, noted the extent to which these very processes lead to their negation. The increase in the scale of production, the constant flow of output and the improvement in transport and communication reduced the need to hold reserves. 

“In part—insofar as it is concerned with industrial consumption—this is already implied by the close succession of the production phases which the commodity itself or its ingredients have to undergo. If coal is produced daily on a mass scale and brought to the manufacturer’s door by railways, steamships, etc., he does not need to have a stock of coal, or at most only a very small one; or, what amounts to the same thing, if a merchant acts as an intermediary, he only needs to keep a small amount of stock over and above the amount he sells daily and which is daily delivered to him. The same applies to yarn, iron, etc.” (p 286) 

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