The first idea is capitalization, and the income that can be capitalized is virtual capital. Marx pointed out: "The formation of virtual capital is called capitalization". [4] The virtual capital here has three characteristics: first, the virtual capital here is relative to the physical capital, which is a kind of fantasy and imagination capital. The so-called material capital refers to the capital that produces or realizes surplus value. It includes three forms: monetary capital, production capital and commodity capital, and virtual capital is not capital in essence, but income, which is priced by capitalization. Second, the virtual capital here exists in the form of securities. The so-called securities are a kind of ownership or creditor's rights certificate with a certain face value, which proves that the holder has the right to obtain certain income on schedule and can be freely transferred and traded. Stocks, bonds and financial derivatives such as futures and options are its typical forms. Third, adopt capitalization pricing. The category of virtual capital appears on the basis of the emergence and development of credit system. With the development of loan relationship, especially the popularization of interest in capitalist economic life, all available fixed income is regarded as the interest brought by a certain amount of capital, so the category of virtual capital appears. Therefore, capitalization pricing is an important feature. Capitalized pricing means pricing by discounting expected income. Expected return and interest rate are two important factors that determine its price. For example, Marx pointed out that "when the income was = 100 pounds and the interest rate was 5%, 100 pounds was the annual interest of 2,000 pounds, which is now regarded as the capital value of the legal certificate of 100 pounds every year. For the purchaser of this ownership certificate, the annual income of 100 actually represents 5% interest on his investment. " [5] Here, the expected income of 100 pounds and the interest rate of 5% are two important factors that determine the capital value of 2000 pounds.
The second way of thinking is the idea of occurrence, which holds that virtual capital is derived or created through the whole financial system. Therefore, virtual capital is financial capital. An example can be given to illustrate the significance of derivative biochemistry (also called amplification). Suppose that the initial capital deposited in the bank is 5000, the statutory reserve ratio is 10%, and the total deposit becomes 50000 through the process of creating money in the bank. The extra 45000 is the capital derived from the original 5000 capital, that is, virtual capital. Marx pointed out in the third volume of Das Kapital: "With the development of interest-bearing capital and credit system, all capital seems to have doubled, and sometimes even tripled, because there are various ways to make the same capital or even the same creditor's rights appear in different forms in different hands." [6] Marx cited many examples to illustrate this kind of capital creation. He pointed out: "deposit is just a special name for loans given to bankers by the public." The same currency can be used as a tool for countless deposits. "[7] He also pointed out that" just as everything will double and triple under this credit system, and even become a monster of pure fantasy, people think that after all, they can capture some real things from it, and so is' reserve' ". [8] Engels pointed out that "in recent years, for example, the phenomenon of doubling and tripling capital has been greatly developed by financial trust companies. " [9]
Virtual capital here has two characteristics: first, it is based on the whole financial system. Derive or create virtual capital through the monetary creation process of the financial system. The reason why it is a financial system, not just a banking system, is because the process of money creation in modern society is related to both banking institutions and non-bank financial institutions. Second, it exists in the form of various bills. There are mainly two kinds of bills here. One is a commercial bill, the main form of which is a commercial bill, which can be circulated many times by endorsement, thus generating virtual capital. For example, when analyzing the trade in East India, Marx pointed out that "people no longer draw bills because they buy goods, but buy goods in order to draw bills that can be discounted and converted into cash". [10] The other is a bank draft. For example, in modern society, commercial bills have been gradually replaced by bank bills. Banknotes issued by banks, that is, bank notes, "are just a bill of exchange payable by bankers, which can be cashed by the holders at any time and used by bankers to replace private bills". [1 1] Through the circulation of bills, the financial system can produce much more capital than the original capital. It is in this sense that Marx believes that "the largest part of banker's capital is purely virtual". [ 12]
When discussing virtual capital, these two views are different. Firstly, from the perspective of capitalization, this paper discusses that virtual capital is defined from the perspective of whether a single capital plays a role in the process of value creation. Any capital that plays a role in the process of value creation is physical capital, and vice versa. This paper defines virtual capital from the perspective of financial capital as a whole. Second, the extension of virtual capital defined by the two viewpoints is inconsistent. If we start from the first idea, bank loans are not virtual capital. ④ Because the bank loan here is actually the function of interest-bearing capital, and interest-bearing capital, as a part of monetary capital, is real capital, not virtual capital. From the second way of thinking, bank loans are virtual capital. Third, whether starting from the first idea or the second idea, securities are virtual capital. However, these two viewpoints discuss securities from different angles. The first way of thinking is to discuss securities from the perspective of capitalization pricing, and the second way is to discuss securities as a credit creation tool.