[OPE-L:1497] Re: Math, numbers and a quiz

S.Mohun (S.Mohun@qmw.ac.uk)
Thu, 14 Mar 1996 08:17:01 -0800

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Another quiz. Cosider the following:
'Despite Marx's firm grasp of algebra, he was never at ease in reckoning
with figures, i.e. in commercial calculations, even though there is a thick
sheaf of notebooks in which he worked through all the various kinds of
commercial calculation in several examples. But knowledge of the proper
rules of calculation is not at all the same thing as exercise in the
everyday practical calculations of the trader, and in his turnover
calculations Marx became confused, with the result that, apart from being
incomplete, they contain many errors and contradictions.'
Who wrote it?
Where?
Was he or she correct?
Does this have any bearing on the numerical example versus algebraic model
issue?
Simon
Simon Mohun,
Dept of Economics,
Queen Mary and Westfield College,
Mile End Road,
London E1 4NS,
UK
Telephone: 0171-975-5089
Fax: 0181-983-3580