Subject: [OPE-L:1679] Re: determination of value transferred
From: Gerald Levy (glevy@pratt.edu)
Date: Mon Nov 15 1999 - 10:21:48 EST
Re Paul C's [OPE-L:1673]:
> You [i.e. Andrew K, JL] seem to imply that if an theoretical
> investigation shows that Marx
> might have made a mistake, this is a-priori a reason for rejecting it.
> Surely if Sraffa's analysis shows that changes of conditions in luxury
> industries do not affect the general rate of profit whereas Marx's assumes
> that they do, we have to find some criterion external to these assertions
> to judge which is right.
What "external" criterion would you propose? Looking at empirical data
won't help us much since we would have no way of determining whether the
changes in conditions in the "luxury" industries cause the changes in the
average rate of profit or whether the changes in the average rate of
profit are attributable to other variables, including what is happening in
the non-luxury industries. If you can think of some way around this
empirical problem of measurement, then I would like to hear what it is ...
and what assumptions are being made as part of that empirical analysis.
In solidarity, Jerry
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