> There seem to be enough other factors, as you, De Long,
> and Devine note, to further discount the salience of
> an inverse, binary relationship between working class
> power and UE.
>
> MBS
Also Kalecki argues that full employment might be in the actual interest of the Capitalist class and they may realize it. He also shows why they might not favor a government favoring full employment. I looked at BLS for the last 20 years or so and Sweden reported about a 2% unemployment rate until recently. The same was true for Japan whose reported unemployment is now slightly lower than the US at 4.3% . Sweden was the same until the mid 90s when it started to get into serious economic difficulty.
Kalecki's theoretical argument is reasonable and may represent an economic tendency but it is false to fact assuming the Bureau of Labor Statistics data is valid. Given this is the case, one might use this tendency along with other factors to try to predict the unemployment rate. As it stands it would be a mistake to assume that capitalism
under all circumstances other than war or a fascistic regime cannot have full employment.
--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