lbo-talk at lists.panix.com wrote:
> He didn't say it in so many words, of course. These are
Greenspan's actual words, in a talk to the Economic Club of New
York on Jan. 13, 2000:
“Indeed, the increased availability of labor-displacing equipment
and software, at declining prices and improving delivery lead
times, is arguably at the root of the loss of business pricing
power in recent years. … other inflation-suppressing forces have
been at work as well.”
>
Sure, but this is perfectly consistent with neo-classical theory, too, right? I mean, in this language, you could easily explain or justify high profits (if there were any) as the deserved marginal returns to capital--the payment for all its innovation. Value theory relies on surplus as an ethical as well as an empirical category from which to calculate profits. When AG starts talking about rising real wages resulting from productivity crimping profits, then we'll know what the John Birchers have always suspected. He's a commie after all.
Christian