From: gerald_a_levy (gerald_a_levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Thu Oct 23 2003 - 09:11:32 EDT
Has anyone recently conducted an empirical investigation using input-output data which explored the capacity of a) a given capitalist social formation and b) the world-wide economy to provide for the material needs of workers _following_ the socialization of the productive forces, an end to 'luxury' production, and the abolition of 'waste' of resources on the realization of surplus value, etc.? To rephrase the question and put it in context: Many Marxists have argued -- at least going back to Engels- that the current state of the productive forces had developed to a point where with the redistribution of wealth following a socialist revolution and with a change in the relations of production that would eliminate the waste of labor and means of production that a society could, among other things, provide for the material needs of people in that society and simultaneously reduce the labor time required to produce that output. To quote Engels: "no individual can throw on the shoulders of others his share in productive labor, this natural condition of human existence; and in which, on the other hand, productive labor, instead of being a means of subjugating men, will become a means of their emancipation, by offering each individual the opportunity to develop all his facilities, physical and mental, in all directions and exercise them to the full -- in which, therefore productive labor will become a pleasure instead of a burden. Today this is no longer a fantasy, no longer a pious wish. *With the present development of the productive forces*, the increase in production that would follow the very fact of the socialization of the productive forces, coupled with the abolition of the barriers and disturbances, and the waste of products and means of production, will suffice, with everyone doing his share of work, to reduce the time required for labor to a point which, measured by our present conceptions, will be small indeed." (Engels, _Anti-Duhring_, emphasis added, JL). My question seeks to empirically test this proposition. Suppose we examine input-output tables for all nations: couldn't estimates be derived of the capacity of society to provide for needs and wants (assuming that there are assumptions made about the redistribution of wealth and the change in the division of labor, etc.)? "With the current development of the productive forces", what 'basket' of goods could workers on average expect? ... and what would be reasonable estimates concerning the working time/worker to produce that output? Has anyone done such an empirical study? Are there problems with the way in which I have posed these questions? If so, how would you re-pose the questions? I am particularly interested in an *international* empirical study because of the differences in standards of living internationally among workers (especially given the presence of mass poverty in many areas of the world). Just how big is the international 'pie' and how big a slice can each worker expect? In solidarity, Jerry
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Oct 25 2003 - 00:00:01 EDT