On Thu, Aug 30, 2001 at 04:45:45PM -0700, Lawrence wrote:
> > >states and by the accumulation of deficits, one would be left with
> > >no more than a caricature. In particular, growth of capitalist
> > >income was faster than the growth of real wages, although these
> > >increased too thanks to the marked expansion of commodity production.
>
> I could agree with everything else in that essay except this part.
> Capitalist income increasing faster than wage growth? Do you agree with that
> Doug? Everything I've ever read suggested to me the opposite. In 1920
> producer goods constituted 2/3rds of the economy, in 1980 it was consumer
> goods that constituted 2/3rds of the economy. The middle of the 20th century
> saw the rise of the consumer economy. It was a historic shift. And doesn't
> this mean, automatically, that wealth was shifting from capital to labor?
> I've read that during the 60s for every 1% increase in productivity, workers
> got a 1.5% increase in wages. This extra .5% must have come from the pockets
> of the capitalists, yes? If not, what have I misunderstood?
>
>
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu