tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52733781235435454582024-02-20T08:57:25.816-08:00JackJacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-66725588424729939882019-10-31T09:46:00.002-07:002020-02-20T10:02:43.567-08:00An Import the I edited<h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.56; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 19pt;">
<a href="https://worldcitizenjs.wordpress.com/2017/12/15/two-messages-at-once/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 35.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">We are all in this Together</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 35.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">(edited)</span></h1>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I was browsing at the library.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Casually browsing at the library, I picked up a book. Yes. Right off the </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">stand. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">display</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">. That works,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; white-space: pre;"> because I am concerned with </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; white-space: pre;">“messages.” </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: georgia; font-size: 14.5pt; white-space: pre;">The messages are packaged. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">There must be some process by which they come to be in the package. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Browsing a book from the display stand like this, that package is what I am getting. The </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">books of a society make for a package, which is so we can promote our values. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Pick up your read. I suggest taking your pick from libraries or bricks-and-mortar stores because then your interactions are more tangible than if you are using technologies like the Internet. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">When it is a physical experience, it all comes to you whole. I think Amazon knows, too, since there is a physical representation, which is going up on 34th street in New York City: You may get your experience of </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Amazon books - in a more </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">tangible</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> way.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 24pt; margin-top: 31pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">When books are marketed like this, with greater interaction, it also provides a path towards seeing what printers and manufacturers </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">want out of us</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">. Everybody is human and everybody has desires. These must, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">it seems to me, be expressed within the parameters of society or state. Human beings need to express themselves. Analysis of marketing provides a way to understand what the book printers and makers and </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">publishers desire, want, or need to say. How they are programming us. What do they want from us? It is not exactly a benign social intervention. They could want something totally rotten! The book I was looking at, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">for example. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">This one was by someone named Brannen. The title said, “The End of…” </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Ends</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> of the… world</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> There was a nice pleasant cover. It was in color: the world may come to an end but that is perfectly alright, for we may </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">still be able to issue these nice books. That could be. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The world could come to an end. But still…all is well. These books basically say, “All’s well. The world goes on. Everything’s fine: books come out. I hope you’re having a nice time.” </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "corsiva" , cursive; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">And Do Buy This</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">.” The world works well; </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">we are going to put out some nice books. The </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Ends</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> of the world…Ha! -these guys are clever indeed.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 14.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Access to the marketing provides me with information, and no less so than do words. These are messages. You can say that both form and content are messages. Some of the messages in the book are arranged by the clever writer; other messages are the marketing. So, the latter messages were arranged by the clever publishing firm. These are in the package together. The marketing aspect, including the “buyer experience,” contains a message. We may contrast that message with the stuffed-up one, which has been called, for clarity, the “content.” In any case, both are together. There is one package, and many. It’s all one big, sticky piece of chewing gum.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Why should we think any differently? A book is </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">packaged content</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">. It has something to say in words. Okay, sure. And that is ‘text.’ Or, we call that message the book’s “argument.” That is one argument or one phase of the argument. That is a message, a transmission. A particular book’s content/argument is therefore just one message among many. An individual gets messages. Any individual, in the course of a life, is getting many such messages, millions of them. That’s all the society does, is that it sends messages. Are we to think that the recipients, in the community - the recipients of all of the messages - keep marketing and content separate? Of course not. So wouldn’t it be better to say that the “marketing” is a cultural element and thus mixed with all the other cultural characteristics of a particular group of persons in society?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">But it seems that it would be hard for persons to admit this. But when do we grow up? It is about time that we face up to the way we receive the messages transmitted to us within the culture we exist in: U. S. culture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Or maybe international culture. Why bother to say </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">U. S.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> culture? It probably has been no different at any time in history since Gutenberg’s press, but I think what is different is that the U. S. has been organized as a democracy and its people are subject to these forces. They will have a job to do in the next election. We have a responsibility to carry out the mandate of history.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #383838; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Intellectuals need to come off the high road: they should possess a broader understanding of cultural forces. Come off the high road; get your feet wet.</span></div>
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Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-23843249770493548832018-07-07T10:25:00.001-07:002018-07-07T10:26:28.618-07:00Professor's Blog "Mainly Macro"This is a pretty good blogspot/Google blogger. I would recommend it. Here, he discusses two cases, Left objection to anti-Semitism is one...<br />
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good reading... https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com//.......Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-2935694647094547622018-04-12T06:09:00.001-07:002019-11-18T13:34:53.441-08:00Capitalism is societyWhat is a large scale capitalist economy? Is it a network? Is it a community? It is related to both of those things, and therefore a way of conducting humanity or human lives. Capitalism is a means to create a society to carry out the various functions in life, particularly those that are organized around exchange. One feature of capitalism may be that various individuals pursue livelihoods, but are linked together as a community. But this aspect, that of linkage or social connection, is missing in the intellectual study field of "economics." The studies methodically go about their business: which is the business of getting things wrong and they thus create a methodical misunderstanding. Marx's analysis, says one Galbraith, the current one, Jamie, was social and political but neo-Classical economics has "dumped" all of that. What it means is they took out the whole social connection. The social part of economics has been removed. This is to say: as intellectual technique. In the real sense economics is social but in the 'study reality,' human beings suddenly do not get along or interact socially. All that's over, and suddenly there are only individuals. This sudden disappearance of human social connections should immediately arouse suspicions.<br />
It is a wrong view. Nevertheless, this stupid technique, which call for telling us that economic actors are individuals, or mere individuals, has been accepted. The neoclassical view is wrong, yet it is accepted, as course/study material. So what is the fundamental mistake? It places the emphasis on individuals, when human beings are, in reality, social creatures. Capitalism is not out of line with this characterization. We can therefore take a more social view, but - and we may ask for the reason - the persons working in the subject field (area) of "economics," obliterated the hope for all of this.<br />
What is the reason for such unreasonable ideas? How can we explain it? Capitalism forces us to do one of two things: we have, either, to admit our social side or conceal it. Once you decide to conceal it, something absurd has to result. Then we wait for the "scientific paradigm" to correct itself. The intellectual history of economics consist of the history or the result of a decision to conceal this. It seems to me a decision to conceal the fact that social life is a part of ourselves, that we are social, and this involves initiating something that some persons needed to do because capitalism came along, threatening to confirm these facts, which "Individualists" prefers not to do.<br />
So, the argument had to be turned the oth-<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i>--</i>er way, because this was the only alternative that was palatable to a large constituency, which is to say amongst the rich, among the "ideological superstructure." Thereat is a part of humanity who do not want to admit they are part of humanity.<br />
But the view is wrong, for now and in the past. Capitalism was not some kind of individual affair. Rather it brings social life into it. We can get the picture. We can clarify. Factory workers now live together. They inhabit cities like Manchester, England. Is there a sudden transformation there, into individuals guided by rational self-interest? Social aspects of capitalism were subsequently expunged from the <i>intellectual</i> picture. These more social kinds of ideas were assigned to socialists, the curators. Intellectual life was now divided into left and right. Manufactures exploited workers. That started in the early 19th century, or before, and it was going like that until about 1850, when workmen's wages in England, mercifully, started to rise. (Braudel) The cause of the workingman was taken up by socialism. In reality capitalism itself was perfectly capable of treating workers like human beings. (Robert Owen) But the wealthy owners were afraid somebody might take away their wealth. For that reason hundreds of thousands of workers had to live in misery. They were used by the wealthy as mere pawns since the overall goal was business expansion. A labor movement was eventually formed, so that workers were (for the next 130 yrs.) able to attain more of the capitalistic "wealth," or "value," which was of course being produced on an ongoing basis. First, poverty had to be endured, in England as well as US. The growth of capitalism is one of the most bizarre stories in the history of man's experience on this earth.<br />
Of course we may continue to refuse to confront our social nature. Try that. We can all die from global warming - there is that too. But, at any rate, one should not take it as given that capitalism means only something about the individual, or individual ownership, or individualism or anything else like that (other writers might know how to put it more cannily).<br />
By getting the story of capitalism wrong and calling it individualism we consign ourselves to lives of basic propaganda. It is a big misunderstanding. It is only based on this misunderstanding that persons continue to seek after their ideal, which is a system of total individualism that they can only dream about and theorize about. It is difficult to find such a system in reality. And no wonder --- it is not there as any essential or prominent part of capitalism yet the facts are there is a large capitalist economy. What is it? What does one do with it? That is what we need to find out. It has been a very powerful system but at this time in history things need to change. Capitalism, in my view, now needs to be subject to human control, intentional control. And to exercise control includes the need for understanding what capitalism is, since of course one would need to know what one is controlling. This seems to be very difficult for us. But, I will suggest, that is where economists come in.<br />
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My usual approach is to understand the phenomena of economics in terms of man's inherent sociality.<br />
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https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/kapital-for-the-twenty-first-century<br />
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<i> In fact, the neoclassical view is just wrong. It deliberately places the emphasis on individuals when human beings are social creatures. Capitalism is not out of line with this or an exception. Capitalism forces us to do one of two things: we have either to admit our social side or to conceal it. Intellectual history, in the case of economics, is the decision to conceal this part of ourselves, to conceal that we are social beings, which involves initiating an intellect process which is necessary only because capitalism comes along threatening to confirm what one prefers to reject. So, the argument had to be turned the </i>other<i> way, because this was the only alternative that was palatable to a large constituency, amongst the rich part of humanity.</i><br />
<i> Capitalism was never individual. It immediately brings social life into the picture. Factory workers now live together, in cities like Manchester, England. There is no sudden transformation into individuals guided by rational self-interest. Social aspects of capitalism were subsequently expunged from the picture. These were assigned to socialists as curators. Intellectual life was divided. There was left and right. Manufactures brutally exploited workers, which started in the early 19th century or before, until about 1850, when workmen's wages in England, mercifully, started to rise. The cause of the workingman was taken up by socialism, when in reality capitalism itself was perfectly capable of treating workers like human beings. (Robert Owen) But the wealthy owners were afraid somebody might take away their wealth, and for that reason hundreds of thousands of workers were forced to live in misery. They were used by the wealthy as mere pawns in the expansion of business. Eventually a labor movement was formed, and by this or other means workers were (for 130 yes.) able to attain more of the capitalistic wealth that was being produced. First, poverty had to be endured, in England as well as US/America. The growth of capitalism is one of the most bizarre stories in the history of man on earth.</i>Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-85382286844097260082018-02-10T12:05:00.002-08:002019-07-02T07:36:07.760-07:00Which historical eras should we refer to as being "Capitalist"?There is certainly a history to the school of "self-interest" thought. Some people find it useful. Subscribing to the school of thought, or even elaborating it, has helped many successful persons. It seems to me that we may describe Europe as being characterized by a lot of individualism as well as a thirst to establish individualism as a point in philosophy. <br />
European society became established, which, of course, took place over a good many years. As Europe established its particular way of life, the idea of individual self-interest provided a philosophical foundation that many persons found helpful. We can see that justifications of self-interest therefore predate capitalism, and then continue into the period of European history we may call "capitalist," and by that I mean from the middle to late Eighteenth century. Capitalism is now deeply threatened, in my opinion. One of the reasons it is threatened is this dependence on the philosophy of self-interest.<br />
It is always something superimposed on the facts, rather than its being a reflection of them. Capitalism is not individualism, nor must it be equated with self-interest. The point I want to underscore is that a hyper-individualized society is <em>not </em>the same as - or consistent with - being a capitalistic society. We may use a simple mantra: "capitalism is social." The present extreme level of individualism, actually the abandonment of humans by their own society, did not exist in any other stage of capitalism and did not exist just prior to capitalism. This is, however, the present stage. It is our present condition.<br />
Therefore, the current conditions we experience do not need to be called "capitalist." The word "capitalist" should refer to something else.<br />
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-58247491395342600632017-09-14T12:59:00.001-07:002019-07-19T08:51:38.025-07:00's Wonderful<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There is a <i>Financial Structure</i>. The financial structure accommodates
various persons. The components are the <i>persons</i> in this structure (whether individuals, employees, advisers). A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">structure</i>: something like a
house. Many persons live inside of that. When I say <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">financial </i>structure I limit myself to the upper social class, the upper status sorts of person.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And these persons live inside this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">structure </i>– the commercial house – and are human and have a cooperative
feeling as humans. Capitalism depends on our cooperation, rather than our mathematics. And, no, it is not competition----or any other idea. You can call it “self-interest”
if you like – that’s just more language. Economics could not possibly exist without the human element of cooperation. Give it whatever name you like, but every day businessmen cooperate. To do so is necessary; one must undercut
the virus of self-interest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is difficult to give a definite interpretation of the way this structure was constructed. It was constructed over the course of history, but it</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">is also temporary. It is completely impermanent. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It must be understood as being completely impermanent. In the time it has left, it accommodates many, many human beings. To provide jobs is one thing. That's fine, but where is it leading? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">To be sure, there are questions, fascinating ones, about this "house of finance" the upper class has built and which conditions the world we live in. This structure, or house, works in a cooperative way, though, which I have already stated. Since they live as humans, rather than as abstractions or whatever it is that the economists believe, we would hope of them that they could realize that they are merely spinning their wheels waiting for their (and our) house to collapse. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We shall now review the ideas: capitalism causes a house to be built; what is essential (for the time it exists) is cooperation. It is not self-interest or competition that is key. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Let's paraphrase Ellington: It don't mean a thing / if it don't got that (cooperation or) "zing." Capitalism needs <i>flava.</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Amazing---</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">how they do all this out of "self-interest"!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It's remarkable!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">'S Wonderful!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b><i>The Flavor of</i></b> <b><i>Capitalism</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">[written at Starbucks]</span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-34974648386600258892017-06-16T08:36:00.004-07:002022-07-30T12:04:02.498-07:00The Purpose of the business <br />
<br />The purpose of business is a good topic. I here suggest a provocative way to look at the purpose of business.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">What's the <i>purpose</i> of a business? We ask a profound question here. A goal could be money. Are businesses just for money--? ~just for profit? The most interesting thing in the previous is, arguably, where I say, “for.” What is a business FOR? When we try to explain a business simply by citing the money -- and of course there is some connection -- we see that this is not what they are FOR, particularly. That is not the thrust of it. There is this money connection, of course, but this is not all of it. What they are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">for</i> is something else. We could, for example, claim that when
businesses make money that makes for a great society, or we could say it provides jobs and so forth. We could even try saying that having a job gives people something meaningful to do in their life. Which emphasizes <i>meaning </i>and not money. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">So, is it
better to just say businesses are there to make money? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> There is a need for a person </span>in
our society to make money. It seems fundamental; there is something fundamental here. These can be called money motives. After
all, we always see this, especially in any urban society. That everybody in that kind of society needs
money is something we can say with a reasonable (i.e. for social science) degree of confidence. A suggestion that business has other characteristics might be met by hostility, on the part of those who run business enterprises. Actually, banks would make up the special case of "only after money." </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> DO persons in our society work hard? If it
is a small business, it probably involves an individual working hard all day – for
as the common wisdom would have it, the sole proprietor tends to be a hard worker.
If a big business, then there are other considerations. It may therefore be
that “just making money” is too narrow an explanation of why businesses exist. It is not satisfactory to say that <i>some</i> businesses are only there for the money. It doubt any are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is our repeat question: <i>Are </i>businesses there just for money? If the individual wants, actually needs, money, and businesses are run by these same individuals, are businesses simply
the functional translation of that need? Once we understand the foregoing, there is a further consideration. Given that the goal of all the businesses together cannot be money, if there is something that serves as the end or the goal, that involves the free interaction of beings. Such an observation involves necessary conditions for there to be any capitalism at all. In
this connection, I will suggest that capitalism <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">regulates </i>that freedom, rather than the opposite, that it eliminates/removes freedom. The freedom simply may not be removed. That would break the capitalism system in any event. We can say that the system of business forces this necessary human freedom into guidelines, yes. Or it forces the necessary freedom to follow rules. There are certain rules, but the reasonably well-compensated individual lives in a free
society. That is a form of capitalism we can live with. We just said that capitalism needs that freedom, and thus it is
inconsistent to now say that it may go away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We therefore may conclude
that businesses are not there to get money, nor to make a profit. They are doing
that anyway, but we have no problem adding the consideration that participants have freedom. Once the participants have freedom, they can go ahead and make money. Therefore, the society that results, which is a society with all of this business activity going on in it, involves the free interaction of human beings. Anyone that believes
this to be unimportant probably does not care much about freedom, in any event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our process of
inquiry has now taken us out of the tight circle of business being “only for
money” ---- thus we have been able to place ourselves into at least a slightly broader view of the
matter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> This means that: </span>Business actors
are not involved merely in self-interest. They are acting as social beings and perpetuating reasonable society, one that is fair. They are perpetuating a society
that contains, in it, freedom. Somehow it seems to work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a person goes
to work, is she “just trying to get money”? Persons often used to say that.
They would tell you: “I am just trying to make a living.” It is time to give up
on that excuse. We need to take seriously the idea that we have
responsibilities to others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An individual who
is involved, as a free member of a free society, in business, whether as owner
or employee, is not just there to make money and he never was. He us a man, he has honor, and he is there to uphold a responsibility. This responsibility involves upholding a capitalistic social order, a society that may succeed only when it contains, in it, human freedom. How an individual goes about doing the active part of that is his or her own
business, which is not the same as saying it does not need to be done well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-50311776868923686772017-02-28T12:56:00.001-08:002019-07-19T09:53:09.662-07:00Free Markets - then and now<div style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 15pt 60pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a memo made public on Thursday, Attorney General Jeff
Sessions said the Obama policy impaired the government's ability to meet the
future needs of the federal prison system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Obama administration said in August 2016 it planned a
gradual phase-out of private prisons by letting contracts expire or by scaling
them back to a level consistent with recent declines in the U.S. prison
population.<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">From Reuters, Feb 27<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">What Sessions says here is that some element outside the private sector, namely the
federal government, needs the private sector in order to function. The federal government needs control of markets. There was a phase-out, of private prisons, under Obama. The claim
by Sessions is that the phase-out “impaired the government’s ability” to perform
some function or to function correctly or efficiently. If we were to ask whether this is an example of the
government staying out of the private sector, it seem that is not the case. Then private sector in prison work exists here only because of government. It is the government, at some level, federal or state, that wants to pay for this. Obviously, it is the government, that pays for the so-called "private" prisons. How is that the private sector? It is the government
that is creating private sector activity. What does that tell us? Here, the private sector activity is prison work, by somebody who is working with prison-as-business. According to the reasoning that persons are using here, it is the government that causes the private sector to deploy. This would happen whenever the government buys anything. There are many businesses, the majority of whose business goes to the government. If consumer decisions drive the economy, this is not the case of the private sector making those decisions. Rather, the government (state or federal) making the decisions that create profit for the private companies. Then how are they private companies? The origination of this business for
private prisons is not in society at large; if their originates from spending it is government spending. Why then would anyone call the prison firm a "private" firm? For prison work? Why would the prisoners need to be taken care of "privately"? The whole thing breaks down. It also seems nefarious. It shows that the distinctions we make between "private" and "public" when we have an economics discussion are completely confused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> For many years, all of us were subjected
to the standard kind of free market arguments—what were and are called the “free market” arguments. The
arguments or ideas said that the market was a characteristic feature of free,
private citizens. This means this area called the "market" must not come into the domain of what the government does. Therefore,
they argued, the country gets the better result when the market was
allowed to stay free from what was always called "intervention," where the meaning is government intervention. But when we look carefully, what do we find? It is that the same people making the "free market" arguments eventually take up a position in favor<i> </i>of
government intervention. What is happening here is government funding of prison businesses. It looks to me like government intervention in the market. But markets are always public. This is the real nature of capitalism. It is not private at all. Capitalism is a characteristic of a society, of a whole society, which is very much public. This is so; in this case the private industry <i>originates
</i>in a decision by government, when government "green lights" a private business activity. The work is contracted by government, it originates in government, and would not exist without government, which includes the courts and the legal and law enforcement systems wherein the offenders are tried and sentenced. But then it suddenly becomes "private." State governments of course also use the supposedly “private
prison" system. Thus, we are saying that "private prisons" are businesses only made possible by means of decisions and planned by governments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> What is under discussion in the Sessions decision is the federal
prison system, which is where Sessions works. He is in the federal government now, which is where the argument for private prisons
originates from. Then the decision to allow private prisons does not originate in society, in the lives of private citizens, or anywhere or in any market at all, outside
of government. The prisoners may wind up at the mercy of private captors, but they are put there by the government. What do "markets" have to do with any of this? The government has to hire the private prisons. What Sessions wants, this is according to the statement, is for the federal prison
system to work well. His concern is not that the private prison system to work well. He is talking about the federal prison system. The argument he makes is that, in
order for the public system to work, you gotta have the
private system. So, the idea being argued is that government needs private prisons. And that is not
a market decision, or not in the sense of traditional free market arguments. This kind of thing is not being decided by the free markets or the society. But this was the original idea of free market thought--to take government out of it. Rather than being decided by some social or market process, it is entirely
subjective—Jeff Sessions saying whatever he wants. All Sessions seems to need to do is tell everyone what the government requires. He is the government so he should know. He can
say whatever he likes, since he is the government. Thus: “for the
government to work, we need private prisons.” But how do we know? What decision-making process is involved? He might be
making that up. The important factor is that he is the government and has government power. Maybe he really believes it. Or, it could just be his opinion. How do we know? That is
not letting the markets decide at all. It seems like a very arbitrary statement, or
like something Sessions felt like saying and knew he could plausibly say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 15pt;">
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> Maybe Sessions wants the government to
have the freedom to make its own market decisions. In that case, he wants government to
have more freedom. Well, that is one sort of "freedom," but those persons who for so long spoke of “free markets” wanted
the people to have more freedoms (since some of them were businessmen). In designating how economic decisions should be make, they specifically wanted for that power to not be given
to government. </span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> So, in summary, Sessions (presumably), and others, now implicitly use what we can call heritage free market arguments for a purpose quite
opposed to what the free market arguments were originally intended for. </span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "californian fb" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> If Sessions does not want the federal government's ability "impaired," it means the federal government should have more power to do what it
wants. That does not sound like the original intention of the classic free market argument.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-90620662007953165842017-02-22T09:50:00.001-08:002017-02-28T13:32:10.464-08:00Would Free Markets Have Leaders (at all?)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In a true, standard or cliché “free market society”
political leaders are a casualty. Such things simply wouldn’t exist! The market is a social phenomenon and each
individual person in the market is out to
satisfy a particular set group. This group, often called “customers,” can vary in size, and thus, the persons the firm wants to satisfy could be small
or it could be a large set of persons. It might be big (e.g. all cell phone users
or computer users) or small (all persons who wear Alpaca sweaters). Also, in other ways, as well, it is specialized. What we have covered, above, is that the market actor is not after
everybody, and thus does not need everyone for a customer. And in addition, an actor or seller, which is to say within this idealized free market, which is really a society, does not share <i>all</i> concerns, or even "big" concerns. Her concern as to the customer is limited to
polite or pleasing behavior, as well as (of course) concern for the specific item being handled or traded/sold.
In fact, we may go further and suggest that the market actors seem to specifically try to <i>shirk</i> responsibility. The do not want responsibility for what happens in society. And, in this regard <i>limit</i> their conversations, with the clientele. Conversations are circumscribed.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Contrast that
with a political leader. What is different? The leader (compared with the "trader") has a different job. He is a figure who represents <i>everybody.</i> The leader, therefore, is a persons who has the responsibility for the <i>population. </i>There is a difference in terms of context. We need first to fix (ascertain) the context in which we are discussing human agency. Is it the context of the "market"? If by "market" we mean capitalism, then what we are
talking about is an ideal <i>capitalist </i>world, a capitalistic society, and in that clich</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">é</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> capitalist world there is no demand there, for the <i>political</i> leader. This is what I am suggesting, and, maybe this helps explain the current "Trump" phenomenon a bit. Po</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">litical situation enters crisis. That is because business has gained too much dominance. With the political system weakened, a business leader becomes formally identical to a political leader. Political leaders are no longer wanted.</span><br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-909193463998034482017-02-19T14:00:00.003-08:002017-02-19T14:00:46.692-08:00More on ethnicity and inclusion<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #252525; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #252525; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;">Let's talk about when persons help others. We can argue that the ones that actually get helped tend to be members of an ethnicity (or other group) shared in common. In other words, persons helping other persons often belong to a social group in common with the ones being helped. In capitalism, while the aspect of ethnicity is there, it has not been much addressed. It also may not be as obvious. Moreover, it is not exactly ethnicity—but that is the closest word I know, so I just use the term "ethnic." Maybe it means "inclusive group." It is there, and also moving or changing. Now, the idea of ethnicity – or something like that in capitalism – ought not be raised in such a way that would overlook the fact that capitalism contains liberals, those who do promote fair, equal, unbiased treatment for all. Far from being unknown, this is a major claim. Liberals do promote such ideas. These are also the ideas of universal human rights or equality. (For example, we mention the “Founding Fathers,” and they endorsed the idea that “all men were equal.” <i>Except</i> negroes, and, Um—Indians.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #252525; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;"> To clarify, ethnicity is present although as a sort of a moving target since the situation is constantly changing. Different groups gain more access. This happens, as time goes by. It changes as time goes by, so there is this constant alteration. Black gets rights, then gays get rights. An obvious suggestion is that “globalization” would looks to be a sort of terminal point of all of this. If it is an end point it is in the sense that at some point no more of the earth’s surface left to revolutionise/transform.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #252525; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;"> In my system, capitalism is always a form of society (and not primarily individualistic, which I find to be a ruse, and which is a subject of its own). Ethnicity is important in societies, of course! It is just as important a factor in capitalism as it was in previous earlier social formations. There seems to be an inexorable trend towards the mixing of ethnicity, in the history of capitalism. This happens gradually, as I think I mentioned. And this in turn elicits absolute indignation and outrage, at regular historical intervals. Outrage is understood as an indication of the importance of ethnicity, which is something that survives into capitalism, yet changes as time goes on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #252525; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;"> The trend is clear. It is towards some kind of human equality or inclusion, but capitalism has a very particular way of getting there. This is a big discussion. In order to get progress we must accept the real facts. This we seem to have trouble doing. As capitalism progresses (if it does, and this seems rather more unlikely these days), one would naturally expect the barriers between people to be gradually taken down. I must point out that the only way to do it is with a lot of intelligence, and planning, and thought, and, therefore, not stupidly (as we are seeing with the ethnically-oriented Trump administration).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #252525; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 14.98px;"> The other thing we really must point out here is that it is not going to happen automatically. That idea (the idea of a “magic” of the market) is not correct. </span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-27993228675806185712017-02-10T14:23:00.006-08:002017-02-12T13:11:18.061-08:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-top: 12pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">There
has to be a system of working out our problems.</span></u><span style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>W</b>e have many problems, and, in this period of history, I would like
to suggest the “economics” sorts of solutions, since solutions linked to
economics are the more germane ones, in my opinion. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">And in this
effort to address social problems in an economics context I would like to offer
some new views of capitalism itself. Capitalism proceeds from ethnicity.
Ethnicity presents obstacles, and capitalism progresses only slowly, as the
various “groups” (the term “ethnicity” may be substituted sometimes) groups
attain greater rights of participation. The unusual thing that happened in
Germany under National Socialism was the act of working backwards, and taking
away participation rights that had been in use, by the Jewish persons. This seems
not to have harmed the German economy at all, but at any rate usually the
process goes the other direction: ethnicities at first fail to participate and
slowly gain more economic rights. This is still a very big issue, in countries
like Turkey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">Capitalism is
progressive, and changes over generations, from earliest capitalisms to more
recent versions of capitalism. For a while, ethnic groups – or gender groups –
have trouble getting into the market. Over the decades, however, more and more
persons in the central countries, like Germany, the U. S., or France are able
to hold decent jobs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">So, a great
part of economics is the decisions about how to include more persons, and only
rarely does the trend go in the opposite direction. This of course, is why the
current problem of distributive justice (“inequality") is so important and
significant. It means there is a problem, it is social, and needs to be
addressed.</span><span style="font-family: "franklin gothic medium" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-89375480993895046762017-02-08T15:19:00.004-08:002017-02-12T13:14:54.928-08:00Exact change, from the barista<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">First, you tender the barista a 20- bill, in payment for a
drink that cost you $2.51. So, maybe you pay for your drink with a twenty. If I
get a $2.51 coffee drink at Starbucks and pay with a twenty the barista generally
gives the exact right change, but that is actually contrary to my understanding
of what the principle is that makes capitalism possible. So, the question is
that of the principle, what capitalism needs, in order to exist. The tab was
exactly $2.51. And she gave me exactly the correct change. Right down to the
leetle pennies? There is something very depressing about it, really. That’s not
the principle. The principle is that of an active person, living in society,
trading. Trucking. Bartering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">There has to be a “margin,” there needs to be a fuzzy space.
Human beings do not operate without. If capitalism were that clean, there would
be no system. Such exactitude is not the principle of capitalism. It contains
no vital principle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We need to understand in an accurate way. What is to be
comprehended is the need of this fuzzy zone. And what does the idea of a “fuzzy
zone” have to do with? It has to do with human relations. If we say that two
human persons are operating in relation to each other we do not mean a
mechanical juxtaposition. Rather this is something that is constantly in
adjustment, making adjustments of any and all kinds, up to the limit of human
variability. You have the whole spectrum of a busy, modern society with its
rich persons, poor persons, consumer, and producers. And the cheaters and hustlers,
the legal persons and the “criminals”—this is the way it has always been and
that is the truth whether economists and other such stalwarts of the
establishment admit it or not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This constant adjustment allows for fuzzy stuff, inaccuracy,
and space. A shifting relation may not seem to be very precise or scientific
but the other view misses when it comes to what is the principle. We do not get anything from extreme accuracy, in
the precise neo-Classical sense. They are only empty diagrams.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The real principle is not that. But the real story is not so
far away, either. The story is right there, but the story is found in the fuzz,
not the precision calculation (e.g. of change at Starbucks). Where is the
opportunity in that? There is no “margin,” there is no opportunity to get in there
and do anything. Yes, your barista is following the dictates of logic. But that
is not the principle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-22266517610300633462016-09-22T17:51:00.002-07:002017-02-12T13:59:27.409-08:00Economics is always a philosophy of life, never one of death<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "batang" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">What is economics? Is it a philosophy of death? No, it is a
philosophy of life. Economics only includes the “allocation” of resources in
support of life. There is no economics of death. Death is not an economic good
that can be distributed fairly. Economics involves rational allocation. Just as
there would be no point to irrational allocation, neither would there be any
point to a theory of unfair allocation. So, all economic theories implicitly
describe an allocation process that is fair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "batang" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, most
professional scholars who have chosen to specialize in “economics,” pretending they
know something, look for other ways to define or describe economics. They look
for some other principle, but not fairness. So, the rule is to find some method
for understanding economics allocation, and not fairness. What alternatives are
available? It becomes the matter of what is left, to the “economics field.” The alternative, or the one alternative they decided to promote was that of
self-interest. And in this way they achieved the goal: they found something outside of fairness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-8864594954833782952016-08-22T12:09:00.001-07:002017-02-10T14:38:09.758-08:00A Curious Deception<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The life that one lives under capitalism is not mere
individualism; it is society, social, as much as any other kind of expression
of human “socialness.” Those who claim the special character of an
individualistic capitalism do so for a reason. They are afraid of the social,
or of any way of life that involves more social responsibility than individual
responsibility. These are merely two different ways of living. I am not saying
one is objectively better than the other. A way of living that has more of the
social quality is engaged in making its constituent members responsible for others. This is not the only way, however. The
other way, espoused by many great Western intellectual figures, emphasizes primarily
one’s individual responsibility. So there are these two trends. Both may provide viable ways of living, under specific circumstances. The trend towards capitalism is <i>not</i> a kind of individualism. Now, as to that kind of idea, the more individualistic kind of understanding of things, there are all
kinds of justifications for this (which we can accept or not). But at the end
of the day, one lives either in one system or the other. There is a system of shared responsibility and there is a potential, but probably not very current, system of potentially more individuatedness. Should the West have a system of social responsibility or one
of individual responsibility? It is not ours to answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">History has rendered its answer: social. Capitalism is in
fact the answer that history has given. Capitalism, contrary to the received
doctrine, a doctrine imposed on us by the very same capitalistic intellectual
or cultural edifice, did not decide the case for individualism, capitalism only claimed to, and so over the
years what we have been subject to is a curious deception.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-37939018046709330202016-07-19T14:05:00.002-07:002016-09-28T15:07:38.585-07:00Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-32133518926265717572016-07-19T14:05:00.001-07:002017-09-14T16:19:34.234-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">Economics has various “schools” with ideas on "information." There are economic players, or participants. The schools of thought agree that the economic players obtain information. Do we obtain information? No doubt. Sure we do. It is not in doubt that economic theory covers information, as a theoretical component of its understanding. That is for sure. We all know that getting information is important. Information is in there someplace. I don't doubt it. Getting information is important. While getting the right information is important, there are times when we do not get it. There is more to it, somehow. There must be something else. This something else is, however, not usually explicitly spoken about. What is it then, that is not mentioned, when we focus on "information"? The other element is, perhaps, ignorance! The
subject of ignorance should not be ignored. This subject may be divided up as follows. Here is how we do this. We can make a division of ignorance into intentional and unintentional, in the sense that one may be keeping the other people ignorant on purpose </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> or not. That makes two kinds of ignorance. The sense intended is that you either did it on purpose, or you did not – you knew what you were doing or you didn't. (Maybe it just happened that way.) You did not in the later case restrict information intentionally. That's the idea. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> It <i>can</i> be intentional, as in the case where a
seller benefits from some of that good ol' ignorance </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> no doubt </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> then, the seller wants it, wants the customer to be in the dark. We may now consider that this is not really customary human behavior. We do not like to keep other persons ignorant in general. (This has some important implications we will omit here) On
the other hand, we need to be aware of this. We have to allow it in. It is the “study</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">”</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> possibility. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";"> If we do not study how ignorance works in
economic relations, Well: Then, we are ignorant!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">This discussion becomes relevant in the case of mercantilism. This is understood as a system where we have an entire country that tries to bring benefit to itself</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">it uses a certain strategy in getting profit out of its trade life. There is something peculiar about the study of this practice as other countries, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">not receiving this "mercantilist reward,"</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> could perhaps want to know about it. Back in what one historian assures us they used to call “this manor of England,” a phrase he says was widely used, if a man back then were to, say, publish
a <i>book</i> on mercantilism? He might give the whole thing away! The trade partner is</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> the other </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">country (usually it supplies raw material?) </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">– which</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> merely has to read the book. This, I would think, brings us back to the point about intentional, or unintentional, ignorance, as an aspect, for both the study of, and the practice of, economics. ("<u>Enquiring minds want to know</u>" and all that...)</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";"> This shows that ignorance was important under mercantilism. I am concerned with ignorance in economics more for today. But, if ignorance was so important under
mercantilism, and we note that it was so, at the country level, why could not ignorance be just as important in
the next, upcoming phase of the human economic and social system, as it evolved in Europe? But, this time <span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"></span> in this system <span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">–</span> on the individual level. Let's now say that in this system (the current one), trade should be for the benefit of everyone, the entire society—that does not seem unreasonable. In
that case, we get the situation where ignorance is important to the workings of the system. We get to a situation that can only be described as a situation where ignorance is essential to the system.
What we get, then, is a system that not only depends on information, or knowledge, and we can include the system's ideas about so-called “perfect information,” but also depends on ignorance, and thus, ignorance is also necessary, for its proper working. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";"> And we hardly talk about this, of course. B</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">ut are we being ignorant
intentionally, or, unintentionally?</span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-47868444978973669612016-07-18T13:15:00.000-07:002016-09-16T15:00:41.893-07:00"Welfare" in Conventional Economics<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: large;">If we say there are books on economics, that sure is the truth. There are such books, indeed there are some of these, and if we look at them we would find out more about what is being discussed. (This a rarer idea than you, the reader,
might think it is.) So, I picked out this one book, you see. It is old. One term of discussion that I noticed was “the principle of welfare,” or “social
welfare.” OK, then. But what does “welfare” mean, both back in 1928, and today? I would think that in general it might mean something like the overall good or good of the society (implies "whole society"). That would be a kind of basic idea t hat a person might have, and rather a broad idea. But
instead what I find is that these writers think that it is a narrow idea, a “principle,” of welfare, which in practice means, “concept.” The concept is going to be used in the area of economics discourse, so one is subsumed to the other, and hence “welfare” becomes <em>just</em> a concept, and so, not much different from any other. Now the "welfare economist" need to slot it in. It has to be slotted in somewhere, within economics, which is to say within that discourse. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: large;"> But let us suggest a much different way to look, which is to surmise that that in fact is economics itself is all about. So, that is different. Now we are seeing the same concept more broadly. There are two possible views that I can see in this regard. We can narrow it down to two, at least. One is that economics is for individuals, with no social welfare involved at all. This is a common enough idea that one encounters (and, in my opinion, wrong). The other idea would be what I already mentioned, that it involves, fundamentally, the whole society. If we were to hold these as two separate, distinct views we might be able to come up with some useful observation or analyses. But this kind of practice of slotting in something called "the principle of welfare," or this practice of making something called "social welfare" a separate concept just seems to be a part of the overall project of social oppression. This is the project these persons are always carrying out! Aren't they? Anyhow, there isn’t much of much interest here and this, naturally, is why we do not read so many of these books. We read the clever, new attempts at it (guys like Tyler Cowen).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was gathering dust on the bookshelf,
here at Roosevelt University. Hey, I thought I’d give it a try. I am curious like that. If “welfare”
becomes a concept, then where to fit it in economics? This seemed to be the author's concern. This is the kind of thing
they go around and around with. I observe that, f you are trying to do something that cannot be
done, this may just preoccupy you for a really unlimited amount of time.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Better to say that </span>the social welfare is the <i>purpose
</i>of economics—it is very basic. A person wants to be alive, so s/ he eats, or builds a tent. A whole society wants the same, so the society generates some kind of economic system. So, I would offer that social welfare is a lot more closely related to economics itself than just
being merely another concept, which we may endlessly screw around with, trying to fit the precision phrase ("social welfare" and "the principle of welfare" were phrases I memorized) into one’s intellectual plate, at university! When we take
something as basic as the common good or the social welfare, should we just turn it into another
ordinary concept? I think we surely end up with just a basket of particulars. This may
then pre-occupy us, and for way too long. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is certainly not worth it to go
back to the shelf. Nah... On a quest for the exact title/reference? (I won't bother, but I can say it is a rather oldish book, and it is HB 34 –something; because, it was next to another book, by Coates. But that's another story, now isn't it?). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not think that is the best way for me
to spend my time.</span></span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-24606811093509842152016-05-27T11:39:00.001-07:002016-05-27T11:39:20.703-07:00Condition of the Working Class in England (by Engels)
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">There does
not seem to be any doubt but that we are social beings. The doubt arises when
you ask whether there is any sense talking about it. Some don't want to, but
whether you want to talk about it or not, it remains there. The fact of human
sociality remains, and we are always going to be social beings, and that
entails helping, cooperating, and so forth, for we can only live where others
accommodate us. You can think of this as giving way, interaction. There always
has to be some giving way, some interaction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let's say, then, that I am out in Arizona,
and I also have a neighbor. He may be a few miles away but eventually I am
going to have to decide whether or not to be social towards him: “social” means
anything short of a state of war. Or, sometimes it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can</i> be a state of war!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If some persons do not want to talk about
it, fine, but I say that they are social: Everybody is. I am social; so are you,
however some do not want to have that discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The matter is settled. Now, if we are
social beings and we like to get along with each other it appears that
nevertheless at one time capitalism (as described by Engels and also Marx, in
the 1840s or 50s) was not very socially accommodating. It wasn’t very social—at
least not to workers whom Engels studied. He gives copious references to the
condition of “The Working Class in England,” which is a workman-like title for
Engels' 1844 book, originally in German. The book is truly without mercy.
However, we know now that Engels' analysis of capitalism as strictly
anti-social was wrong; capitalism survived. And thus it is my contention, that
it must have done so due to the fact that this social aspect of human life was
injected <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">into </span>capitalism.
Somehow, it eventually entered in, or else it was already there, dormant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, discussions since the time of marx
and Engels (marx shall be henceforth lowercase, as it is the only way to avoid
deifying him) are always about how dehumanizing capitalism is. This is
something we need to get over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Engels says: “the bourgeois certainly
needs workers...but as we need an article of trade or a beast of burden...” In
the engaging passage that follows (page 114, Penguin Classics), the bourgeoise
always gets the better end of it. He “takes very good care” not to treat
workers well. In the long run this analysis is not well-supported and
incorrect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in 1844, Engels admits, “it has
become very complicated” (p114). Over time something happens that was outside
of his model. Engels did not suspect that persons could get nicer. Or probably
I should say that human decency gets injected into capitalism. But this is not
accounted for in the 1844 report. When Engels speaks of “the centralizing
tendency of competition”, on page 117, and of a process that “transfers the
goods that cannot be disposed of in one market to other markets”, let us note
that it has the potential of social interactions. Possible interactions of this
kind are so various, and multiply so much, that over time, another eventuality
comes due, the utility of better social behavior. This may come into play as
much as any other thing. But perhaps the puritanical German, of Rhineish
orientation and under Prussian domination, did not see this one coming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the beginning of what K. Polyani calls
“market society,” which is to say the latter half of the eighteenth century,
the whole situation naturally seemed chaotic. Thus there was little opportunity
to put any social benevolence into the situation. It appeared that workers
would be thrown to the dogs, as perhaps they were for one hundred years. This
is rather dismal news about capitalism, indeed. Nevertheless, a humanizing
trend eventually took hold—even in dismal England where the human cesspools of
Manchester were located that were described with such detail and proficiency in
the opening chapter of the able Engels volume. That situation could not go on
much longer—now, this is correctly perceived by the author (and his friend Marx),
but the trend, instead of revolution, was more of an evolutionary process. It
was, eventually, humanizing. Humans have an inherent need to be social, and
also sociable, as were the good bourgeois Engels and family, Marx and family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-55911832461548662016-05-26T17:03:00.002-07:002016-05-26T17:25:45.114-07:00R. H. Tawney<br />
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<span style="font-family: "lucida bright" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Is
it a natural characteristic of acquiring money that, having acquired it, one
should be able to do whatever one likes with it? The attractive component of
capitalism, for those with no morality, has always been that they can do
whatever they want with it—I should rather say, with the money that comes out
of it. The requirement of the system is that you need to pay for what you get. Deirdre
McCloskey gave me a long lecture on this. We may work for six months, then go
to the market, to spend our wages. Are seller and buyer the same? The seller
earned a profit in a few minutes, based on perhaps six months of hard labor on
the part of the other person. It was just these kinds of opportunities that
became the surplus value component of capitalism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "lucida bright" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was quite an opportunity for someone.
Is it all bad, to explore this opportunity for profit? NO, I don’t think so. I
do not think we need to label it as bad but I do not think it is good, either,
although this seems to be the position that McCloskey ends up in, which seems
to be rather untenable, considering its extreme unlikelihood. And this she
calls “virtue.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-62436741210432956332016-05-24T12:09:00.000-07:002016-07-20T10:55:35.249-07:00Would it be of use?jacksilvermanpontiicates.blogspot.com<br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Would it be of any use to anybody, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I wonder, </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">to have a
better understanding of economics? Do we need that? I am not saying that I can change the world and I am not saying that I want to do that<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">.</span> My mission is to tell <span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">y</span>ou you were taught stuff in college
economics that is wrong. That stuff <span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">i</span>sn’t true. It's not easy to tell this to people. I can add that<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">— </span>OK — it’s a nice story. I<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">f it wasn't a nice story, no one would buy it. </span>Yes, but it cannot any longer seem so 'nice' when you realize what <span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">ha</span>s
happened. You <span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">a</span>re deliberately being given wrong information. It's a troubling situation, and serious problem. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Then it does not seem so innocent and <span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">'</span>nice<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">.<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">' </span></span>We are unable to explain the economic basis of the
society we live in. This is a matt<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">er that concerns me, is of concern to me. </span>It concerns me that we have only the basic, common sense noti<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">on</span>s about economics. The problem, and it is a deep problem, is that<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";"> </span>no one is
able to get past that, or to develop the deep theories that one would expect to see, in other areas of scholarly inquiry. There has been this failure to explain economic li</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">fe</span> in a disciplined, formal manner. And they are telling us, with a straight face, that the existing "science" is good. This is what's troubling. You have not <i>only </i>"pretty bad science," but a propaganda effort to say it isn't. And here we get back to the earlier question. Why is it so hard to create a genuine economics? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> In short<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">,</span> <span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">w</span>hy tell people the wrong things? This is <span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">something</span> we really need to understand. Is it an honest mistake? This is a big question but in any case the
pretend explanations are out there, doing their thing. Now, all these are centered in a particular school, that arose starting around 1880. Th<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">at</span> school is the “neo-Classical” school. Creative work in this school peaked, I would say, around 1920. OK, maybe not. Maybe you could say it peaked in the 1930s or at some other time; but, what is it still doing being around at all? Did it turn ou<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">t to be the truth? No! So, y</span>ou would think it would have very effectively choked itself to death some time ago. It should fall, bas<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">ed </span>on its being wrong<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">.</span> <span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">Well, why doesn't it? That's the question. A<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">n</span>d, for neo-Classical economics to <i>still </i>be there has to be malicious. It doesn't just hang around for no reason. In the past, every so ofte<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">n, I have checked. </span></span>And, what I would find out, every time I check, is that it is still out there, being taught. (I am always amazed to see that this is the case. I
have not checked under any rocks for a while, though. Maybe it just got to be too boring. However, it is also true that <span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">m</span>any professors are questioning it, now. Currently, this is
true. That's great. What took you so long, baby? It sure took them a long time, to get there. My<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">,</span> <span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">t</span>hat <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> strange.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Classical theory is much preferable. Let's see how the Classical theory looks, written out. I encountered the
following explanation. This was from a Wikipedia page: “neo-Classical
Economics.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_economics" title="Classical economics"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">Classical economics</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">, developed in the 18th and
19th centuries, included a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_theory" title="Value theory"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">value theory</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_(economics)" title="Distribution (economics)"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">distribution</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> theory. The value of a
product was thought to depend on the costs involved in producing that product.
The explanation of costs in Classical economics was simultaneously an
explanation of distribution. A landlord received rent, workers received wages,
and a capitalist tenant farmer received profits on their investment. </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This sounds to me better than the “o<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">ther</span></span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">” </span></span> approach<span style="font-family: "garamond" , "serif";">. Anything would be.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-42816683620761696792016-04-16T13:45:00.004-07:002016-07-18T13:24:07.665-07:00In What Way is Knowledge Available to US?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Knowledge
is not available as such, although we point to an exception: the field of
philosophy. But, if this is the case, then what do the philosophical treatments of knowledge depend on. Surely, they depend upon arguments. In order to make others believe
something we are say<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ing, we </span>need the argument. This applies to products, firstly. Since this is an economics blog<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">? So, then:</span> A “Snickers”
bar presents the us wi<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">th</span> an argument that a </span></span><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the </span></span>“Snickers” bar in question is not some kind of junk<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">,</span> but actual
food. I never quite bought that argument. I have bought them on occasion.
But, I do not buy the argument. I think I have rarely had a really ‘yum’ experience with the candy bar. My body seems to reject these things, out of hand. But it is
an argument, a<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nd the same goes for</span> other products. They are an argument for us to buy them. But, leaving that aside, beliefs as well
are “sold” as arguments, and, in some cases, if something was to be
disseminated (to the ‘market’ or) to the public, that meant it had to be sold.
It had to be packaged in a commercial form. Thus, persons live both
capitalistically and culturally. In the book trade (as opposed to something
like iron, or natural gas) very often ideas are the items being sold. But these
are still commercially packaged.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "tahoma" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t all
cultures always have all kinds of cross-currents? Some ideas are purely non-commercial, but some are only slightly related to commerce, and some are close. "Arguments" get closer and closer to the real thing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-11470516991248867832016-04-03T11:49:00.000-07:002016-07-18T13:53:58.804-07:00Business Humanism<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The truth is there's an element of disruption, in business,
and, in the society. This truth applies to retail, or other, business. And therefore<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> it applies</span> to
the situation of successful capitalism. In real capitalism there is this element of disruption. I am not saying this is
good. But only that it is not all<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;">goody two-shoes</span> or "virtue" or nice. This is
all I am saying. The "bourgeois" are not all "virtue."
<span style="font-size: large;">There is plenty of non-virtue! </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[example follows]:</span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">
I worked, very briefly, for a furrier store and, upstairs, the craft shop. During my childhood, this was my very own dad's business. He seems to have liked this kind of work. I didn't. It made me
uncomfortable, and by actually working there for a few months I knew more than I wanted to about that world. I worked in the upstairs shop, sometimes, as a child or adolescent, but this is when I was an adult. And, after what
passed for a day's "work" in retai<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">l</span>, the day ended. I got off the job, finally, but the bad mood didn't leave me. Next, I must have stopped at a service station. There I encountered a similar retail experience, and now I knew <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">it from the inside. This </span>of course represented the same ethos as dad's store, and here we find a variety of candy in open bins. So, I just started
stealing the candy. That's how angry I was after a day working the downstairs, interacting with both salesmen and customers and dad's store—and with dad. The end result? Snatching can<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">dy! </span>The proprietor saw this. I didn't
care. I was not going to change my attitude, knowing what I did about <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">the way </span>business worked! He turned out to be one hostile fucker, too, a rather mean fellow.</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">
But it forces me to ask: <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">t</span>his is what McCloskey calls "virtue"? I cannot quite go along with that. I think that n<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">o</span> businessman would accept
these proclamations s<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">he makes,</span> concerning the culture of business. It doesn't work
this way. Her dad was a Harvard man; my dad was a retail business man. They are indeed honest enough persons in this world, who could tell you that such a
view does not accurately capture life in the business world. Nevertheless, I still like McCloskey's theories.</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">
The element under discussion is that of disruption, or "rough trade<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">.</span>"
And, this is a known part of life to all hustlers, playboys, sharks and I am afraid small,
sharp little businessmen. Now let us look to the blacks: they have a
music called "blues." (They also buy a lot of fur co<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">ats don't they? Dad<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">?</span>)</span> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">
The blacks integrated into the society<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> of</span> capitalism. They took their
culture North, actually, and, yes, they have this music, which may be a dirty, disruptive
music. There is a rough feel to it. Blues starts with acoustic guitar, then goes no<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">rth on the train and </span>gets
even rougher for a while, what with electric guitars and all (and "Chess" Records, run by a typical Jewish businessman). Then it suddenly turns around and gets more "smooth," starting with B. B., who I saw on television
once explaining his mission in l<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">ife </span>for blues to get more respect(able). I see a tendency
for the disruptive, raggedy element (and this, in turn, is a part of
a capitalistic society) to get cleaned-up. Certainly, human behavior has a potential range to it. (For the academic to clean it with mathematics has, of course,
absolutely no impact.) It goes from one end of a spectrum of human behavior to
the other, as music, too, goes from falsetto to bass. Whose jo<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">b is it, to provide for us the answer</span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">—</span>whether to be smooth, or disruptive<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">?</span></span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">
Now Ms. McCloskey has given<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">u</span>s</span> her word<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">:</span> "virtue." What it
indicates is a moral or ethical character, and also the element of <i>conduct</i>.
There are persons who are virtuous but also act a little rough on the
outside. They are of major interest, in capitalism. The interesting question is this. Does capitalism <i>need </i>this aspect of roughness that so upset me, at the fur store?</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">There's
Paul Ryan, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton. There is a spectrum from clean people like Ryan, who
are super-conservatives and also look like some kind of porcelain dolls, to rougher,
radical types. And, come to think of it, they, predictably enough, have tousled hair. Which one is the
"virtue" element? </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;"><br />
<br />
</span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-77646464385731190772016-03-26T11:39:00.001-07:002016-04-13T08:02:45.295-07:00Delivered To Your Door<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">All these persons, sitting alone and
isolated in their little houses have no idea that the world is falling apart.
They seem shielded. That way, they do not understand what is really going on. The system
delivers money and material things, right to their door; so, they cannot see
reality. They believe that everything is fine. Everything is fine, but that is because an
efficient system delivers just exactly that appearance. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"> So, it's an appearance; everything seems OK. But how do we know that everything is going to be OK? In fact, there may be evidence to the contrary, but a
nice big door locks. It blocks their home at the front door. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"> The money they have is (of course) made through
international trade—the subjection of other peoples through U. S. imperialism,
which has been a very successful system, successfully delivering the world into "globalization." It was an old plan, and this has been supported, since the second world war, through a maze of military bases whose value is now being questioned, at least occasionally, by various persons. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"> The U. S. thinks it can dominate the whole world, but should you think that everything is going
to be OK, what does that mean? It is to say that you don’t see any evidence of that, any contrary evidence. No. Not in your
isolated ‘little’ or 'medium' or 'big' house.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;">You do not even
read the newspaper that is delivered to you and that bumps against the bottom
of your outside door.</span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-87134761003298152292016-03-22T09:27:00.001-07:002016-03-22T09:44:55.464-07:00Breathe, Mon!Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-21780194957731327512016-02-29T07:51:00.002-08:002016-03-25T12:48:26.730-07:00The Concept of "Economics"<br />
Capitalism is of a liberal nature, it's not conservative at all. However, this does not mean there are not any conservatives in capitalism. Many of the richest participants (or those in capitalism who have the most capital) are conservatives. That does not make the system by nature conservative. Within the "regime of Kapital" there are conservatives, certainly. And not only that, but also there are all kinds of conservatives. Still, the behavior is liberal. Capitalism is by nature more like something that is open, and therefore liberal. So, that is the nature of this phenomenon. (We have understand here that it is a social phenomenon and not in any truly meaningful way an 'individual' phenomenon at all, which means a drastic break with formerly popular ways of viewing it.) <br />
For example they share. ("They" means the persons participating, and surely capitalism in the end engulfs entire societies. As an example of how participants share: how can you make money without sharing information? There is also close holding of trade secrets, closed social classes of various kinds, etc. But overall, I don't think I am wrong to suggest that capitalism creates a more liberal society, a sharing society.)<br />
<br />
The common behavior pattern of capitalism is of a rather more <em>liberal </em>nature; whereas as secondary consideration concerns the <em>ideology</em> of capitalism. That becomes bifurcated (into L. & R.)<br />
<br />
Capitalism gradually increased in influence. Finally, it dominated (above, I say "engulfed") the whole societies within which it was practiced. And as capitalism rose it became gradually clear to the powers of society what was happening. They knew they were becoming capitalistic; they could see something different happening, right before their eyes. What you are now gonna need, then, is this element of an explanation. People are going to try to create a theory. In other words: when the society began to understand and integrate this knowledge that capitalist practice was proving to be superior, there was also a very great (and I do not ignore them or belittle them or their interests) conservative element. This element in society then proceeded to create it's version. It wasn't true, but it was a version of what happened. That theory is today called "economics." It also, we should mention, once ran under the rubric, "political economy." In any case what we can say here is that Society (upper classes, so a capital letter!) crafted their own version of what was happening. And: this is what modern "economics" is, when we mean by "economics" the study of what used to be called "political economy." (The contrasting lexical group would be the business and trade behaviors as such, the "phenomena" of capitalism.)<br />
<br />
Generally speaking, <em>all</em> phenomena are subject to interpretation, or certainly most phenomena so long as there is a subjective element. Thus, what a capitalistic society <em>says </em>about capitalism is one particular interpretation.Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5273378123543545458.post-25314451966465775972016-02-21T12:36:00.001-08:002016-03-25T12:52:53.584-07:00 accepting and rejecting the neo-Classical approach in economics<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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(Kaldor, “theories of value and distribution” ; Introductory chapter
; 1960)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When
Nicholas Kaldor says, in 1960, “the conditions under which…”, he means cerebral.
Those “conditions” are cerebral as they are not found in the manifest, physical
world. Kaldor also seems on related territory when he mentions “abstract” and “a-priori,” in this introduction to volume 1 of
his collected “essays” (“Collected Economic Essays”; 1980).</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In telling us all about his earlier life
as a neo-classical fellow (he studied under Lionel Robbins at the LSE), we are given
to understand that the goal is to determine economic equilibrium: “the
factors determining economic equilibrium,” or the conditions of economic
equilibrium. As a purely private scholar-economist my own view
puts me in a different place. My economics takes me to a different place. I assume rather the opposite. To me, there aren’t any such factors or conditions: the concept doesn't seem to apply. The
difference is in where we start from. We find ourselves back to the consideration of assumptions; and, we may
question them, we may try to get a read on how different people assume different things. Assumptions
do not merely need to be assumed. Rather we can get some bearings on where we
are at with them. So, Kaldor seems to keep saying the same things. I mentioned the word "conditions," and there is also “that abstract world.” Another bit from Kaldor is where he mentions generalisations that are “derived from a few self-evident postulates alone.” I also noticed the word, “static.” </div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his “introduction to volume one” Kaldor
does really a quite excellent job of stating the whole nest of problems that relate to the
self-generated neo-classical mental world (as of 1960). He discusses what
he and other economists believed in economics, in the 1930s. But Kaldor eventually rejected
it; and, this I hasten to add, took a while. So; He is someone who both accepted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and </i>rejected the neo-classical system of
thought. Quite a feat. Most of us do one or the other, but not both, while Mr. Kaldor first
accepted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">then </i>rejected.</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There also could be someone who <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">first </i>rejected, then decided that, if
looked at more carefully, there could be a little sense to it. Not much,
some. Why else would anyone have believed in it?</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us now read through the 1933 paper (“The
Determinateness…”) in order to get, only, sentence six. This reads:</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For in any analytical study, forces whose laws of operation are known
must clearly be separated from others in whose behavior [things are, Um—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> so well known] and the only
satisfactory way to detect and account for the influence of the latter [what he
said, above, which I chose to omit, was, actually, “uniform principles” and he
is en-quoting these words himself] in the real world is by assuming them away and
examining what events would be like in their absence. It is, moreover, only by
employing this “method of difference” [as before: the author is en-quoting his
own wording] that we can hope gradually to extend the range of phenomena over
which we can make generalisations. </div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The excerpt, which I have slightly
tampered with, provides us with perhaps a good example of how the more
intelligent sort of neo-classical practitioner thinks (in – for example – the thirties).</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How are these “forces of operation” to be “known”?
What does he mean by “known”? I would like to point out, firstly, that they are known to the economist.
And what does Kaldor mean by forces (I will choose to accept “forces” here)
whose laws are “known”? I want to discuss this sentence here as one which seems to
invite an enormous, devastating criticism. How are these bits (or laws) known? When
the “forces whose laws of operation are known [or not]” are divided into the two
categories Kaldor gives (this known and the unknown stuff echoes Donald
Rumsfeld, for reasons I don't know anything about), even without considering them we are able to see that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both </i>of the two categories are to be
known strictly through self-referential, internal exercises. The problem is
that, first, some of these laws – those that are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>known – are omitted. We can accept that. Fine, then, the only
way for us is to omit them. But what are left are things that are known
cerebrally. Since that is so, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both </i>categories
are self-referential, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both</i> are merely
internal, cerebral, self-generated “knowledge.” It is all happening inside the
head.</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “static,” the “a-priori,” the cerebral—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this </i>constitutes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything</i> he calls “known.” The division into two parts is thus in
my view absurd. The “forces...are known”, claims Kaldor. Yes, but as a thought
exercise. There is, he claims, a case where the “behavior of things” (my own
en-quotation) is not known. In the other case, they are. This exists as a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">contrast </i>to the other case. In the
latter case, “forces” or “laws” are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>
known, they are to be assumed away because of this. So it is the case that where
“there is no ‘uniform principle’” we are justified to assume these things away
and then what is left are those “forces,” or “laws,” that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> known. We have assumed away some things that are not known, but
that is alright (we could say valid, or scientific) since it is the case that “forces
whose laws of operation” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are </i>known
are taken into consideration (and this has to be done, I suppose, in a most scientific
manner). </div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we ask how they were known, we see
they were known only by the mind. Yet this same mind also assumed away other
phenomena. Or “forces,” which could mean many things, really, including “behaviors,”
which word may not have been so commonplace in the thirties, compared to today,
in psychology and economics, among other places. So, the objection here is that
what is “known” (according to Kaldor’s view as of the 1930s) are the behaviors—presumably
something like buying and selling. These are known by mind, by the mind—only
that. There is a backstory here. We are looking at something. Some persons looked
at some others persons who were engaged in buying and selling practices—trade,
in other words. That person then calls himself an economist. He says that he
(or she--however I do not see the females who “know” these things) knows things.
That’s great; but, what? That which she “knows” turns out to be assumptions.
Everything comes from the same place—the mind.</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How about turning it around? Wouldn’t it
be much better to assert rather that we do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not
</i>know exactly what is going on in this buying/selling world? This world we
call, for lack of a better name, economics. That is not what they do. These men
say: “we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do </i>know.” </div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the kind of assertion they make, but
when we look? Then it is clear that nothing is really known. It is assumption
after assumption, case after case of merely listing possible realities or
assumptions. What <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is </i>actually known
is much less than Kaldor’s use of the word “known” would seem to indicate. From
observation of the world, what we know, is this. Persons are in fact buying and
selling things to each other. They sell a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lot
</i>of things. They almost always use money, too, so that not only are goods
transferred. Also money is. Many times the monies used are obtained on credit, and
this is where bankers come into it. More we do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>know. We do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>know
that (these are Kaldor’s examples, numerically listed to the number of six, in
this first piece) “a closed economy” can be assumed, or that there is “perfect
knowledge,” or that there is “perfect competition.” (Kaldor also has something
called “direct exchange,” which seems to be another conceptual necessity to
make all of this stuff function properly.) Then he adds a fifth and sixth
consideration as regards problems involving time, and concludes by saying “these
assumptions we may thus regard as the ‘accepted framework’ of static theory…” (We
should note another self-en-quotation.) He then adds that in the case where
there are those who (even in the thirties) contest this framework, they do so
in a particular way. (It has to do with the word “determinateness,” b.t.w.,
where, once again, even the very word “determinateness” apparently needs to be
self-en-quoted.) This seems to be Kaldor’s practice (of putting things in quote
markings), but I want to say that he is a very thorough person and clearly has
given much thought and study to these things that he at one time accepted, later
rejects.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So, once
again, my problem with Kaldor’s presentation is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything </i>is determined by the mind, including both the category
of what laws by which forces act or what forces we are able to know, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and </i>that other set of complimentary
forces or laws or behaviors we don't know. The result is we have no way to say where one is to make the cut. Yet such a division into two
categories is defended, this in the opening paragraph of “introduction to
volume one.” There is nothing, or almost nothing, that is “known” or else on
the other hand somehow suffers from something like “no uniform principle,”
which allows us to leave <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">those </i>factors
off since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both </i>are uniform. This
is because both come from the mind, nowhere else. And if there are some
phenomena of economics that are validly known, it is just these general
everyday observations. All businessmen know about that. In fact, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i> of the fancier things (that only the
economist knows) like “forces,” factors, laws, behaviors and whatever are creations
of mind. And since these are cerebral only, my argument is that none can be “known”
any more than any other. There is nothing definitively known at all—nothing to
base a science on.</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel that, properly understood, this is
very important refutation of ideas within the area of economics. The “known”
forces are just as mysterious as the “unknown” forces, and everything collapses
with that observation. His confidence in “forces whose laws of operation are
known” is clearly mistaken. We see it when we ask about how they are “known” at all.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: 12.75pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">For in any analytical study, forces whose
laws of operation are known must clearly be separated from others in whose
behavior no such “uniform principles” have yet been detected; and the only
satisfactory way to detect and account for the influence of the latter in the
real world is by assuming them away and examining what events would be like in
their absence.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Note: Kaldor, “essays on value and
distribution,” second ed; Holmes and Meier Publishers, Inc; New York; 1982 </span></div>
Jacob Silvermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13321984006847799071noreply@blogger.com0