Re: [OPE] Services (->Paula)

GERALD LEVY wrote:
> Would it be possible for all sides to initially state what are the
> merits of
> their perspectives without at the same time identifying the (alleged)
> _de_-merits of other perspectives?
>

I think the merits of the perspective that Paul C and I are advocating are:

   1. Its starting point is the classical concern for what increases the
      productive capacity of an economy.
   2. Its second point of departure is Marx's theory of relative surplus
      value, i.e. the reduction of the labour necessary to reproduce the
      real wage vector. This together with (1) also concerns the
      long-run growth of profits and thus the expansion or stagnation of
      a capitalist economy.
   3. It is consistent and has a rational basis, rooted input-output
      analysis, Sraffa's theory of basic sectors and the premise of
      historical materialism, i.e. the material reproduction of society.
   4. It is quite general and applicable to a wide range of economies,
      not just pure models of capitalist economies.
   5. As a consequence of (2) it has a progressive outlook, since it
      concerns the material living standard of the workforce. It follows
      from our definition that the financial sector is unproductive
      while public health care is productive.

//Dave Z
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Received on Sun Jan 4 10:16:01 2009