The historical transience of capital: an empirical and theoretical analysis of the law of the tendential fall in the rate of profit

This paper synthesizes and analyzes a vast body of contemporary empirical and theoretical research on Karl Marx's law of the tendential fall in the rate of profit (LTFRP). By integrating long-term historical studies, econometric analyses, and methodological debates, it argues that the LTFRP is an operative force in the dynamics of global capitalism. A temporalist mathematical model is reconstructed to formalize the law and its mechanisms, data from multiple core and peripheral economies since the 19th century are examined, and key controversies such as the valuation of capital at historical versus current cost and the distinction between productive and unproductive labor are addressed. The consolidated findings demonstrate a secular downward trend in profitability, driven by the rising organic composition of capital, thereby validating Marx's thesis on the inherent limits of the capitalist mode of production and its historical transience.