The question of whether 40-60-year Kondratieff long waves in economic growth actually exist has been controversial since the 1920s. The authors of this book apply new methods of time series analysis and report evidence of long waves in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the second section of the book, contributions from Russia, the USA and France show that there is a long wave pattern in the aggregate profit rates of several highly industrialized countries. Although there is still a lot to be discussed about the properties of various profit rate estimates, this research sheds new light on the discussion of the famous Marxian law of the falling tendency of the aggregate profit rate. The third section of this book provides theoretical discussions and attempts at modelling the role of social, economic and technological factors in the long-wave process, besides presenting new data on long-run patterns of labour unrest. While answers to a number of old questions come within reach, interesting new hypotheses emerge.

This book presents new methods for the analysis of time series and the identification of long waves. In Part One it is shown that new time series analyses confirm the existence of Kondratieff long waves in economic growth for the 19th and 20th centuries. Part Two presents evidence on long waves in aggregate profit rates for selected major industrialized countries. Part Three covers theoretical discussions and attempts at modeling social, economic and technological factors in long waves.