Michael Perelman wrote:
> Suppose each good
> experiences an increased markup, while nominal wages remain unchanged. What
> workers end up with shrinks and surplus increases. Maybe I'm just missing your
> point.
The point in dispute concerns the conditions under which only *some* goods
experience an increased markup. In that case the total of surplus labor has
not changed in the least. Consider a mental experiment the following. I believe
that all the navel oranges now available are from last years crop -- and
that next years crop has already been determined. Now a movie comes out
showing people trashing navel oranges for some kind of weird fun. A
nationwide frenzy to buy and trash navel oranges develops. Suddenly
the price of navel oranges shoots up. The profits of the wholesalers who
currently hold most of the crop certainly shoots up. But no extra value is
created. So where does that extra profit come from? That is the situation
with Nike. The extra price is a reflection of pure weird pleasure on the
part of purchasers and reflects no increased surplus value anyplace.
Carrol
