From: gerald_a_levy (gerald_a_levy@MSN.COM)
Date: Wed Nov 05 2003 - 18:36:31 EST
Paul C, replying to Michael W, wrote: > In conjunction with : > a) the theory of relative surplus value > b) the Sraffian generalisation of the reproduction schemes > one can show that the categories of labour who are productive > of a social surplus profit are those workers whose activity enters > directly or indirectly into the effort necessary to produce the > real wage. It is only among this group of workers that an > improvement in labour productivity will lead to an increase > in the surplus value. Doesn't the activity of many state employees enter "indirectly" into the effort necessary to produce the real wage? Consider state labor employed in the national health insurance system in the UK, for instance. If a good becomes a public good whereas previously it was a commodity which was not part of the customary bundle of goods consumed by wage-workers, doesn't that indirectly alter the real wage? Consider public universities: doesn't the activity of workers (faculty, support staff, etc.) at those universities indirectly affect the real wage for workers? Consider public housing: doesn't the labor time expended in constructing and maintaining public housing indirectly affect the real wage of workers? I am not comfortable with this inclusion of "indirect" effort into the meaning of what constitutes productive labor. In solidarity, Jerry
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