fred, thanks for the very helpful answers. you write: > But the more I think about it, I am not so sure. According to my > estimates, the rate of surplus-value increased significantly from the > mid-70s to 1994 (about 30%), because real wages remained more or less > constant while productivity (although not increasing rapidly) was > increasing 1-2% a year. Fred, how much of the recovery in the profit rate does this 30% increase in s/v account for? how much unexplained variance remains in your regressions? a 30% increase in the exploitation of an increasingly narrow population base (i.e., productive labor) does not prima facie seem to be able to account for much of the recovery in the profit rate... Esp since the rising s/v had to overcome the negative effects of a rising OCC and U/P labor ratio in order to boost profitability at all. It seems to my (very) untutored mind that the devaluation of constant capital effected in the early 80s by high interest rates and a strong dollar, as well as cheap raw materials, had to be more 'responsible' for the recovery in the US profit rate such that it was. rb
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sun Dec 02 2001 - 00:00:05 EST