The transition to capitalism inevitably leads to temporarily increasing rents in any society with a low level of development of productive forces, especially in agriculture. The rents and the marginality are the larger, the lower the productivity in food production. In leading economies, the transition to capitalism was blocked as long as rents were not redistributed for mass incomes. Capitalism could hence not emerge as long as previous increases in agricultural (food) productivity occurred. Today’s underdeveloped economies are less prepared for the transition to capitalism and face a more serious rent problem, whereas the barrier of previous increases in productivity does not operate due to the integration into a capitalist world system. In addition, rent is reinforced by international specialization which discourages the food and the investment goods sectors in the Third World. More market therefore cannot replace the necessary struggle for the channeling of rent into good production and mass consumption.
