P.J.Wells@OPEN.AC.UK
Fri, 8 Oct 1999 12:49:32 +0100
Paul wrote:
> The criterion is quite simple, a worker is unproductive if the total
> surplus
> product of the economy would not fall if the worker were shot the next
> day.
>
[>] Like Juriaan I too see what Paul means; but
(i) given a reserve army of labour, I'm sure Paul intended us to
understand the words "and not replaced by one of the unemployed" at the end
of his criterion.
(ii) more importantly, doesn't the criterion beg the question? To
know which workers are unproductive, we need to measure the surplus product
(and hence the product); but to do this, we need to know what activities
(and hence which workers) are productive.
Julian
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