From: Howard Engelskirchen (howarde@TWCNY.RR.COM)
Date: Thu Jun 14 2007 - 01:31:33 EDT
What about the point in the other post, that there is a mismatch between the aggregate totals? I didn't get that at all either. Howard ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ian Hunt" <ian.hunt@FLINDERS.EDU.AU> To: <OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU> Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 9:47 PM Subject: Re: [OPE-L] Abstraction > Dear Howard, > I only meant that you cannot get an ordinarily skilled person to do > the work of a surgeon over a longer period of time, as you can get an > ordinarily skilled person to do the work of a bricklayer, though over > a longer period of time. Of course, surgical services are brought to > market like everything else (in the US at least) and thus hare > equivalent in monetary terms to so many hours of ordinarily skilled > work: but this equation is not explained by a reduction of surgical > labour to a multiple of ordinary labour, it is the other way round, > Cheers, > Ian > > >Hi Ian, > > > >I don't understand the opening sentence here, either. Tins of bootblack can > >be exchanged for castles, recall. They can also be exchanged for > >complicated surgery. This is not about the character of the skill but the > >fact that it is taken to market. Market is the night that turns all labor > >black. For this reason the news articles Rakesh offered are completely > >relevant. As a result of competition goods or services of the same quality > >will tend to sell for the same price. > > > >Howard > > > > > > > > > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Ian Hunt" <ian.hunt@FLINDERS.EDU.AU> > >To: <OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU> > >Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 11:55 PM > >Subject: Re: [OPE-L] Abstraction > > > > > >> I don't think any number of unskilled labour hours can perform the > >> work of a skilled surgeon, but for that reason I don't think that the > >> hours worked by surgeons etc count as expenditures of labour power, > >> defined as the group of skills common to all human labour: surgery is > >> the expenditure of a skill that is not shared across people to a > >> higher or lesser degree. On the other hand, it is arguable that an > >> amateur plumber can do plumbing work but at the cost of a lot of > >> hours finding out the regulations, planning the work, and doing the > >> job slowly (the ratio might perhaps be 8 to 1, so nearly everyone > >> hires a plumber, not to mention those jobs where the work has to be > >> inspected and by regulation must be done by a qualified plumber - so > >> bricklaying might be a better example) > >> > >> >Marx says that commodities are commensurate in the market, but there > >> >is no way to > >> >get behind the market to get a handle on the abstract labor > >> >measures. How many > >> >hours of abstract labor does a surgeon represent. Can 20 or 50 > >> >unskilled labor > >> >perform the same procedure? > >> > -- > >> >Michael Perelman > >> >Economics Department > >> >California State University > >> >Chico, CA 95929 > >> > > >> >Tel. 530-898-5321 > >> >E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu > >> >michaelperelman.wordpress.com > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Associate Professor Ian Hunt, > >> Dept of Philosophy, School of Humanities, > >> Director, Centre for Applied Philosophy, > >> Flinders University of SA, > >> Humanities Building, > >> Bedford Park, SA, 5042, > >> Ph: (08) 8201 2054 Fax: (08) 8201 2784 > > > -- > Associate Professor Ian Hunt, > Dept of Philosophy, School of Humanities, > Director, Centre for Applied Philosophy, > Flinders University of SA, > Humanities Building, > Bedford Park, SA, 5042, > Ph: (08) 8201 2054 Fax: (08) 8201 2784
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