I don't know if anyone has pointed out that the nineyeenth century view of capitalism ostensibly espoused here by many of the anti- freemarket crowd ourght be replaced with a better model as per Schumpater. ( So, read Schumpater. all who have an SQ view of the free market system, or you are on the wrong page, pointing at a rock and calling it a bird.)
Profit, rather than being theft from the workers of their blood, sweat and tears, has more correctly been pointed out to be, for a company, more like the fall feeding of a bear--the necessary cushion through lean times for survival of the enterprise. (This is not todrny that there are some humans who act like thieves and steal from the enterprize and their fellow workers. That is a different problem similar to the 'more equal' problem in other systems.) Profit also pays for the growth of the enterprise and EVERY company I've worked for or owned paid a bonus to employees that spread the profit to them. Not for profit operations often operate less efficiently and squander any chance of surplus and returns less if anything to community. thanks--mel ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <moq_discuss@lists.moqtalk.org> Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 11:59 PM Subject: Re: [MD] growth and sustainability > [gav] > is profit inherently unsustainable? or is > there room for profit in a sustainable economy? Gav,You're comparing two different things: the structure of the workplacevs. its profit status. The structure of the workplace can be egalitarian(everyone has an equal voice) or it can be hierarchial (either top-down orbottom-up).A company can be for-profit or non-profit. All combinations are possible.For instance, a for-profit company can have an egalitarian structure.If investors find this structure more efficient (= more profitable)they will prefer it. On the other hand, a non-profit hospital will generallyhave a chief administrator (with an advanced degree in hospitalmanagement) & won't consult the janitorial staff on new medicalequipment purchases.What happens when an employee controlled, non-profit companycompetes against a for-profit one? Assume they are bothmanufacturing companies, competing in the same market,selling the same product for the same price. The price gets allocatedinto 4 categories: I) variable costs (utilities, raw materials) II) capital costs (land, building, machines) III) wage IV) "P-factor" (to be explained). To simply: Assume the rates for I) & II) are the same.In the for-profit company, investors provide the capital.In the non-profit company, the money for the capital is borrowed.The amount allocated to III) & IV) vary inversely.In the for-profit company, the lower III) wages get,the higher IV) the "P-factor" (= profit) is.In the non-profit company, the money for capital costs (+ interest)is repaid from IV) the "P-factor", the rest goes to III) wages.The capitalist puts downward pressure on wages,while the employee controlled company puts upward pressureon them. Craig ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
