Marx and Capital Vol II, Harvey and circuits of capital

This paper critically engages with one of Harvey's central conceptual frameworks
in his model for capitalist urbanization (and its central mechanism, capital
switching), i.e., his three circuits of capital. Harvey names Capital Vol II as his
main source of inspiration and characterizes his conceptual framework as an
elaboration of Marx's original intentions in the text. I have two objectives in my
critique. Firstly, while I acknowledge that Harvey's reading (and Sweezy's before
him) is plausible and scientifically legitimate, I would argue that it is not the only
possible reading of Marx's argument in Capital Vol II. Rival readings are to be
judged by their explanatory power vis-a-vis empirical questions, which Harvey has not done in this case, and not by subjective qualities of their respective readings. Secondly, I aim to expose same crucial anomalies in Harvey's exposition and discuss potential empirical challenges they create. I argue that his conceptualization of the three circuits of capital is somewhat counterintuitive as he integrates circuits of capital, household revenue, and commerce into a single category. This conceptualization is a useful tool for his model. Empirically,
however, it creates problems as it ignores that various components of his
framework have various drivers and pricing mechanisms, all of which create
problems in operationalizing the model.