Consumer Finance and Labor Exploitation

Lending to the working class is increasingly becoming an essential feature in modern capitalism. Marxist theory, however, does not possess an adequate account of this phenomenon, particularly its effect on labor exploitation. This paper seeks to show how Marxist economic theory could understand and account for this form of finance. It finds that lending to the working class enables increases in both absolute and relative surplus value. JEL Classification: B51, G21, J5