Hi Michael: Well, I guess I would say partly so. Is not the speed and ease with which one can complete a task ITSELF part of the "use value" yielded by the calculator versus the slide rule? Hence when (in my first example) I referred to the two goods doing the exact same job, this had to mean in the exact same time. (I am sure there are some jobs that a skilled slide rulist can do just as fast as with a calculator - - leaving aside the possible greater aesthetic pleasure from using a slide rule, which must also be counted in the use value.) Cheers, Paul B. > Paul, that was exactly my point. A slide rule still does what it did 20 years ago. It is just that we can do it better now. > > > > In terms of the Levy-Perelman discussion, if the job done by the > > two commodities is exactly the same (e.g., simply counting things up > > or doing the exact same calculation when comparing a slide rule to a > > calculator), then it is clearly the unit value (value per unit of use > > value) that has changed. My guess is though, that that there are a > > lot more examples where the character of the use value changes along > > with changes in the value of the commodity that provides that use > > value. For example, a calculator can do things that you just can't > > do with a slide rule. But then there are other examples where a > > commodity crowds out other competing commodities because it has a > > lower value, even if the use value(s) it produces is/are in some ways > > inferior to the one(s) it replaces. > > > > In general I would think that the use value(s) yielded by a commodity > > are usually inseparable from the material shape of the commodity > > itself, so that changes in value and use value normally occur > > together. This is perhaps most clear in the case of services but I > > would need to think about this more. How would the connection > > between value and use value differ if at all for services compared to > > material goods? Cheers, Paul Burkett > > > > > > > -- > Michael Perelman > Economics Department > California State University > Chico, CA 95929 > > Tel. 530-898-5321 > E-Mail michael@ecst.csuchico.edu > >
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