Ellen Dannin wrote: > > (2) What is productivity? > > > > Simple definition: output/worker/period of time. > > Isn't it actually cost of labor etc? So that if you cut the amount of > wages paid to workers that in and of itself raises productivity, all > other things remaining equal? If the "cost of labor" (should read, IMHO, price of labor-power) is cut, that will increase profitability, ceteris paribus. However, it will leave the productivity of labor unchanged, other things remaining the same. Of course there are other ways to increase the productivity of labor other than through technological change, e.g. increasing the intensity of work, but decreasing wages per se has no *direct* affect on productivity. Jerry
