[OPE-L:4756] Re: the determination of real wages---- and a puzzle

Paul Cockshot (wpc@cs.strath.ac.uk)
Mon, 14 Apr 1997 03:58:25 -0700 (PDT)

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> Keynes thought the direction of the rate of profit is to zero. For
> Marx it would take surplus value falling to zero or the composition of
> capital rising to infinity. The first possibility is not worth
> discussing. The second forgets that constant capital is defined on labor
> time and there are major technological improvements in the production of
> constant capital.

Why is the first not worth considering?
In the 70s using national income statistics for the UK I estimated that
around 1976 or so the rate of profit had become negative, after allowing
for stock appreciation.