And yet it moves (down)

The article presents an estimate of the rate of profit in United Kingdom between 1855 and 2009. By isolating some of the countervailing forces specified by Marx of the law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall, it demonstrates that the law impose despite those countervailing forces, which do not reverse the tendency in the long term. Finally, the article deals with the tendency and economic cycles based on the historical development of the rate of accumulation and the rate of growth of employees. A statistical annex is included at the end.