From: Ian Wright (wrighti@ACM.ORG)
Date: Sat Apr 21 2007 - 13:06:38 EDT
Hi Alejandro Just some questions and observations. Entrepreneurship, however defined, is a kind of concrete labour. The more important point is: should this particular kind of labour get paid in wages, or should it enjoy profit income? The concept "entrepreneurship" is very much tied up with the attempt to justify the receipt of profit income by the capitalist class. Paul has a point when he mentions a "fixation with an early stage of capitalism". In the modern economy much of the activities that once would be categorized as "entrepreneurship" by pro-capitalist theorists are now performed under the form of wage labour. >Even though some market socialist (like Karl Polanyi) thought in an economy in the hand >of cooperatives dealing with democratic decision-making inside the firm, others marketed, >like me, prefers to think that we don't have to privilege a single form of firm organization. >In that case we wrongly limit the organizational mix alternatives. The criterion to judge the >success of a firm organization has to be profitability. Profitability for whom? The crucial question is what kinds of firm organizations are ok, what kind of property claims are ok, how income is distributed, and whether there is democratic control over the length of the working day. For example, if equity stock is allowed, such that owners of stock are claimants on the revenue stream of the firm in perpetuity, then profit income exists, and hence a capitalist class. This means that additional income, over and above that required to maintain the value of savings over time, can be received solely in virtue of property held, not work performed. Would you allow this kind of institutional setup under market socialism? Best wishes, -Ian.
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