The problem with the Bichler-Nitzan theory is twofold:
(1) while they reject any concept of economic value as unscientific, their replacement idea of "power" can mean anything and nothing, and you can go "any which way you like" with that notion. Any economic fluctuation then just reflects a change in power relations, but that change cannot be independently verified, it's only an interpretation that is indirectly inferred.
(2) they have a very weird idea about measurement - they assume that measurement is impossible, unless it is perfect measurement, or unless there is perfect data, but this is an empiricist error. At the same time that they dismiss the very possibility of economic measurement, they are continually using official statistical measures to clinch their arguments.
To their credit, Bichler/Nitzan make some effort to describe how actually existing capitalism functions, but unfortunately their account is chockfull of conceptual and logical errors.
Jurriaan
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Received on Thu May 7 09:14:04 2009
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