Jim Devine wrote:
<snip>
2. I don't know where the theory that "If there was a surplus of
workers, wage labor was the best way to exploit them. If there was a
shortage, then slavery or other forms of bondage would work." comes
from. It's very similar to the theory in an old paper by the late MIT
economist Evsey Domar. He stated it in terms of the "man/land" ratio:
when there are few workers relative to the availability of land, the
only way that landlords could extract a surplus was to impose slavery
or serfdom.
The Domar article is quite excellent, particularly when debating with
orthodox economists because Domar couches it all in orthodox analysis.
However, in a more heterodox, quasi-marxist, framework, Clare
Pentland develops the thesis in some detail in his unpublished 1961 PhD
thesis,
"Labour and the Development of Industrial Capitalism in Canada" which I
had the honour of editing and writing the introduction for when it was
published as _Labour and Capital in Canada 1650-1860"_ (Lorimer: 1981).
Pentland was quite a participant in the transition debate in the 1950s and
'60's (see, for example, "Feudel Europe: An Economy of Labour
Scarcity", _Culture_, September 1960.) He did as much as anyone to
develop a
Marxian connection between labour shortage/surplus and unfree/wage
labour. (See my references to his work in _Labour and Capital in Canada_
for further references.)
Paul P
--
Paul Phillips Professor Emeritus, Economics University of Manitoba Home
and Office: 3806 - 36A st., Vernon BC, Canada. ViT 6E9 tel: 1 (250)
558-0830 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
