If
capitalists did not exist, profits would equal 100% of sales revenue and an
infinite percentage of zero capital invested. For proof, see my CAPITALISM: A
TREATISE ON ECONOMICS, available in hardcover, 2-volume paperback, and Kindle
editions at https://amzn.to/3kd4y39
Contrary
to Adam Smith and Karl Marx, capitalists do not create the phenomenon of
profit, which exists prior to their existence, but rather the phenomenon of PRODUCTIVE
EXPENDITURE (i.e., expenditure for the purpose of making subsequent sales).
Productive
expenditure consists of wage payments and expenditure for capital goods, both
of which show up as costs of production that must be deducted from sales
revenues and as capital invested in business assets.
The more
economically capitalistic the economic system, i.e., the more the buying for
the sake of selling relative to sales, the lower is profit both as a percentage
of sales and as a percentage of capital invested, while the higher are wages.
Capitalists
as a class do not create profits but wages. They increase wages both relative
to sales revenues and profits and absolutely in terms of wage earners’ standard
of living.
Again, for proof, read my CAPITALISM: A TREATISE ON ECONOMICS, available in hardcover, 2-volume paperback, and Kindle editions at https://amzn.to/3kd4y39
