> I am thinking more that the next
> times bourgeois propagandists
> justify huge income by the
> idea that the rich supposedly
> take more risks, left economists
> should debunk it with the many
> examples that disprove this
> myth.
> ___________
One needs a notion of investment efficiency to debunk the notion of capitalist efficiency and the efficiency of markets. Doug started to do this in his book by showing that the take of theCapital Goods Industry was larger more recently and was highly correlated with the rise in the size of the finance industry which is a matter of course. Here is an uneducated attempt.
(Investment in Human Capital i.e. Education + Purchase of Capital Goods + Commercial Real Estate +Other Investment Property)/(Personal Savings + Business Profits + Tax Revenue)
The idea is to look at total real investment in the numerator and total income saved in the denominator. Savings can be accomplished by individuals corporations, or the state. Real investment then would be determined by product of savings rate times efficiency. I suspect that studying such capital ratios over time and place would tell a great deal about the efficiency of capitalist and socialist states alike. My suspicion is the major as opposed to propagandized and minor function of the financial sector is to waste assets and distribute wealth upward. Too much efficiency would probably distribute wealth downward leading to dismantling structures of wealth and domination.
--mike-- Michael Cohen mike at cns.bu.edu Work: 677 Beacon, Street, Rm313 Boston, Mass 02115 Home: 25 Stearns Rd, #3 Brookline, Mass 02146 Tel-Work: 617-353-9484 Tel-Home:617-734-8828 Tel-FAX:617-353-7755