At 18:58 13/08/2007, JimD wrote:
Jon Baranov wrote:
> > > The basic mechanism behind unequal exchange is clear - prices
must deviate
> > > from values to make for equal rates of return.
me:
> >right.
Mike Lebowitz:
> Only if rates of exploitation are equal--- but the mechanism for this?
for Marx, the mechanism for equalizing rates of exploitation was
Smith's "compensating wage differentials." That theory is wrong, but
then again, rates of profit never fully equalize either.
more like free mobility of workers will lead to equalisation of wage
per workday; that's not enough for equal rates of surplus value,
though, unless the relation of productivity to the wage is equal...
and what can yield that?
Mike:
> And assumptions about labour mobility, worker strength,
> etc? Truly little else but tautological identities masquerading as theory!
that's why I wrote:
>>Of course, these exercises are almost (if not completely)
tautological. What's important is the political economy behind the
determination of the OCCs and the RSVs.<<
agreed, you are not especially guilty--- although I don't know what
you mean in the case by 'political economy'. Class struggle?
m
Michael A. Lebowitz
Professor Emeritus
Economics Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6
Director, Programme in 'Transformative Practice and Human Development'
Centro Internacional Miranda, P.H.
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fax: 0212 5768274/0212 5777231
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