I never got that idea. You were talking about deindustrialization in an earlier post, which tends to be association with relocating production abroad. I only said that that process was not that common during the 1930s, compared with recent times.
"Devine, James" wrote: > I don't know where you got the idea that "disinvestment" necessarily > involves foreign investment. It can (as it does these days), but > disinvestment simply means scrapping or dismantling part of the existing > capital stocks, almost always the oldest vintages... > Jim > > Michael Perelman writes: > > Jim, you are talking about something else. During the Depression, > capitalists did not have the confidence to relocate abroad nearly as much as > today. Instead, they did modernize and improve their capital stock -- if > they were able to survive. It was not disinvestment.< > > >>> Here is a paragraph from my Keynes book: > >>> During the Depression, firms weeded out inefficient plant and equipment, > creating a much newer capital stock (Staehle, 1955, p. 124). By 1939, > one-half of all manufacturing equipment in the US that had existed in 1933 > had been replaced (Staehle, 1955, p. 127). Thereafter, business produced as > much output as a decade before with 15 per cent less capital and 19 per cent > less labour (Staehle, 1955, p. 133). French productivity also improved > noticably during the Depression (Aldrich, 1987, p. 98,citing Carr'e, Dubois > and Malinvaud, 1972). Similarly, in the recessionary period of 1982-4, only > 20 per cent of West German manufacturers replying to IFO's investment survey > gave capacity expansion as their motive for investment; 55 per cent cited > rationalization (Anon., 1985a, p. 69).<<< > -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
