Re: [OPE-L] Sraffa and the question of gravitation

From: Paul Cockshott (wpc@DCS.GLA.AC.UK)
Date: Mon Apr 30 2007 - 18:18:14 EDT


Ajit
"If R happens to be not equal to the Srandard rate of
profit then R1 = R2 = R3 = ... will not be true. It
will be true only when R is equal to the Standard
rate. The next step in the argument is that inequality
between R1, R2, R3, ... can exist only if there is
some outside constraint on the system. Thus when in
your empirical work you find R's not to be equal, one
explanation for it could be that there is always some
outside interference in the market--for example,
tariff, tax, subsidies, etc."

Even on your own terms this does not seem to follow.
Suppose that we find empirically that R is not equal
to the standard rate, then from your argument the
sectoral rates would not be equal.

But more generally I would like to see you substantiate
the argument that that inequalities in rates can only
occur in the presence of outside constraints.

To show this you would have to have some sort of dynamics
in your system and show that this dynamics led to a
uniform rate.

Since a system with a non-uniform rate has a higher
entropy, and is thus ** more probable ** than a system
with a uniform rate, on very general statistical grounds,
you would have to invent a set of dynamical laws that
were entropy reducing. This is a non-trivial task, and
I will believe it possible when I see you produce these
dynamical laws.


Paul Cockshott

www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~wpc



-----Original Message-----
From: OPE-L on behalf of ajit sinha
Sent: Mon 4/30/2007 11:42 AM
To: OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU
Subject: Re: [OPE-L] Sraffa and the question of gravitation
 
--- Paul Cockshott <wpc@DCS.GLA.AC.UK> wrote:

> OK so you are implicityly assuming that R1=R2 =R3
> this is not evident at this point of your
> explanation
>
> Paul Cockshott
__________________________
I'm not implicitly assuming that. All I'm saying is
that if you aggregate all the sectors of the economy
and conceive it as one factory ( as Marx time and
again tries to do), then the input side can be
multiplied by (1+R) and equated to the output side,
where R is the average profit for the whole economy.
If R happens to be not equal to the Srandard rate of
profit then R1 = R2 = R3 = ... will not be true. It
will be true only when R is equal to the Standard
rate. The next step in the argument is that inequality
between R1, R2, R3, ... can exist only if there is
some outside constraint on the system. Thus when in
your empirical work you find R's not to be equal, one
explanation for it could be that there is always some
outside interference in the market--for example,
tariff, tax, subsidies, etc. Furthermore, the real
world, of course, is more complex and so any model
designed to clarify a particular theoretical point
should not be expected to "varify" the real world
variables immediately. This, of course, was not part
of the question but I'm just trying to clarify a point
in advance. Cheers, ajit sinha
>
> www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~wpc
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OPE-L on behalf of ajit sinha
> Sent: Sun 4/29/2007 9:52 PM
> To: OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU
> Subject: Re: [OPE-L] Sraffa and the question of
> gravitation
>
> --- Paul Cockshott <wpc@DCS.GLA.AC.UK> wrote:
>
> > Ajit
> > I have put a paper entitled, 'Sraffa and the
> > question
> > of equilibrium' written by myself and a colleague
> of
> > mine on the SHE web site. This paper directly
> deals
> > with an issue that has been, one way or the other,
> > one
> > of the major concerns of the discussions on this
> > list.
> > I would appreciate all critical or friendly
> comments
> > or a seminar on this paper. I hope the content of
> > the
> > paper is provocative enough to bring out some of
> the
> > people who have been mostly silent on this list.
> >
> > Paul C
> >
> > Looks an interesting paper but could you
> > please justify the step in going from your
> equation
> > iv
> > to equations v , vi and vii
> >
> > I am not sure what rules of inference you are
> using?
> >
> > Paul Cockshott
> >
> > www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~wpc
> _____________________________
> Paul,
>
> If you add the three equations to get the equation
> for
> the system as a whole then you will get something
> like:
> [a(1+R1)+b(1+R2)+c(1+R3)]p1 + ... = X+Y+Z
> The equation for the system as a whole could also be
> written as:
> (a+b+c)(1+R)p1 + ... = X+Y+Z
> The condition of eqs. v-vii is simply saying that:
> [a(1+R1)+b(1+R2)+c(1+R3)]p1 = (a+b+c)(1+R)p1 and
> similarly for second column and the third column.
> Remember, this condition will satisfy the equation
> whatever the value of R happens to be. However, R1 =
> R2 = R3 = ... will be true only if R = the standard
> rate of profit. Cheers, ajit sinha
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >  The
> > paper can be accessed from:
> >
> >
>
http://www2.economics.unsw.edu.au/nps/servlet/portalservice?GI_ID=System.LoggedOutInheritableArea&maxWnd=_Heterodox_WorkingPapers> >
> >
> > or from the SHE site:
> >
> > http://she.web.unsw.edu.au
> >
> > Cheers, ajit sinha
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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>
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