Resumo

DATHEIN, Ricardo. Economic crisis and profit rate in the USA. Rev. econ. contemp. [online]. 2011, vol.15, n.2, pp. 322-341. ISSN 1415-9848.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1415-98482011000200005.

The article searchs to explain the crisis of U.S.A. through its causes on the real side of the economy, examining the profit rate performance and its distributive and technological components, and the National Accounts data. It is analyzed the apparent contradiction between an increasing profit rate in the moment of the beginning of the crisis. The unsustainable trajectory of the indebtedness and the negative performance of the wages in the labor market are interpreted as crucial and linked elements to explain the evolution and the origin of the crisis, and also to point possible alternatives with respect to its solution.

Palavras-chave : the economy of USA; profit rate; economic crisis.