The discussion among Allin, Duncan, Jerry and Hans
raises some issues.
1. If rising real wages cause capitalists to introduce
labor-saving and capital-using technologies, will
falling real wages give them cause to switch back
to the old techniques? Are there examples of this?
2. Can we come up with examples of any "mechanized"
capitalist investing so that the new technique has a
higher constant capital to output ratio? (Duncan
and Paul C. responded to this question earlier, but,
other than Duncan's guess about the auto industry, we
have little to go on here.)
3. Should not one look at overseas investments and the
wages paid when examining the rate of profit for a
particular set of capitalists (like those incorporated
in the U.S.)? If so, wouldn't the any upward trend in
the real wage be, at least, lessened?
John