Earlier this year Michael Lebowitz wrote the comment quoted below in relation to a discussion about new advances in decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. This paragraph is, to my mind, quite a jewel. In these few words I have found an important insight about a topic which I've thought about, but obviously, have not correctly understood.
In the Grundrisse (and elsewhere) Marx points out that money and capital are historically specific; that these concept, or economic categories, do not have a natural existence. Perhaps the same can be said about uncertainty and incomplete information; that these concepts are also historically specific; that they are not "in nature." Marx taught me that capitalism creates its own scarcity; that scarcity is not an economic problem imposed by nature. Perhaps the same can also be said about uncertainty and incomplete information; capitalism also creates these, they are not economic problems imposed by nature. They are historically specific. Would anyone here have reading suggestions on this topic? I have much to learn (or re-lean). From: "michael a. lebowitz" Subject: Re: Depoliticisisng economics Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2006 16:41:37 -0400 The point that immediately comes to mind ... though, is that the uncertainty in an atomistic world where people are separated by markets and have the incentive to hide their intentions (even if deigning to cooperate on occasion) is not the same as the uncertainty that would exist where there are social institutions being developed to facilitate the exchange of information and thus the reduction of uncertainty. Ie., if we are assuming the societies are the same except for the ownership of capital, it makes for a pretty unappealing conception of that better world. Now, perhaps this current literature on uncertainty (which I don't follow) helps to reveal the costs of an atomistic society but I suspect it would require a lot more than what people are doing-- ie., a conception of a counterfactual alternative (which is to say, the vision of a socialist society). __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
