Disentangling the connection between Marx's 'sixth' countertendency to a falling rate of profit and the rise of financialisation.

The article focuses on providing an alternative interpretation of the "sixth" countertendency to the Law of the Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall (LTRPF) as presented by Karl Marx in Capital, Volume III. Contrary to recent views linking this sixth factor directly to financialisation, the authors argue it primarily refers to the exclusion of certain sectors—specifically natural monopolies like railways and public utilities—from the process of profit rate equalisation. This interpretation is based on three elements: the rise of joint-stock companies issuing long-term, low-remuneration financial instruments; the monopolistic nature of these sectors preventing them from conforming to average profit rates; and their exceptionally high organic composition of capital, which leads to lower profit rates approximated by dividends rather than typical profits. Empirical research supports the persistence of these sectors outside the general gravitation of profit rates, suggesting the sixth countertendency addresses structural and institutional factors rather than financialisation per se.