Duncan K. Foley (foleyd@cepa.newschool.edu)
Wed, 6 Oct 1999 23:12:12 -0400
A comment on Paul C.'s thoughtful comment on productive and unproductive
Smith conceives of the wealth of the nation as residing in three funds: a
consumption fund, including stocks of consumption goods (and presumably
consumption durables), a circulating capital fund, and a fixed capital
fund. One of the aspects of Smith's definition of productive labor is that
it adds to one or another of these three funds. But note that the
consumption fund is one possibility.
It's also interesting that Smith counts the skills of the labor force as
part of the fixed capital of the nation.
Duncan
Duncan K. Foley
Department of Economics
Graduate Faculty
New School University
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