This paper provides a theoretical and empirical reassessment of supermultiplier theory. First, we

show that, as a result of the passive role it assigns to investment, the Sraffian supermultiplier

(SSM) predicts that the rate of utilization leads the investment share in a dampened cycle or,

equivalently, that a convergent cyclical motion in the utilization-investment share plane would be

counterclockwise. Second, impulse response functions from standard recursive vector

autoregressions (VAR) for postwar US samples strongly indicate that the investment share leads

the rate of utilization, or that these cycles are clockwise. These results raise questions about the

key mechanism underlying supermultiplier theory.