Gerald Levy wrote:
>
> In [4905], I wrote:
>
> > Michael P wrote in [OPE-L:4904]:
> > > The zero sum game is not inconsistent with crises.
> > I agree.
>
> Oops! I misread your sentence, Michael.
>
> I do not think that capitalist crises can be modelled as a zero-sum game.
>
> What do you believe happens to capital values in a crisis? Do you think
> that they are only redistributed amongst different players in the game,
> i.e. capitalists and other classes, or can aggregate value decline during
> the slump?
>
> In solidarity, Jerry
I believe that the devalorization of individual capital is very
important, but ...
Let me offer a possible conceptualization of a crisis. Keep in mind
Marx's understanding that a trivial matter can set off the crisis.
Suppose that we begin with a financial panic, just to see what happens
to capital values. What I as a capitalist might see will be a sudden
decline in my capital value. Other capitalists will see the same thing
-- but what is really taking place is a decline in the monetary value of
my capital. The total value of all capitals can be unchanged, even
though I may may not be able to sell my product at the moment.
The crisis itself is not a zero sum game, but the conservation of
capital values can still hold.
By the way, I have not thought this through deeply, so I can be
convinced to change my mind.
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 916-898-5321 E-Mail michael@ecst.csuchico.edu