Brad seems to attribute the growth of productivity to the saving of independent farmers outside of the market in his example. In other words, he explains the way capitalists exploit by the way self-sufficient farmers save. Marx had fun mocking this abstinence theory -- look in Capital under Nassau Senior.
If you believe that modern corporations actually operate like Brad's farmers, depriving themselves rather than their workers, then his explanation holds water.
You cannot "prove" the labor theory of value anymore than you can "disprove" it. Neoclassical theory and marxian theory are two different ways of looking at the world.
On Tue, Apr 05, 2005 at 12:44:27PM -0700, Miles Jackson wrote:
>
> Take a look at Brad D's blog--
>
> www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/index.html
>
> for a criticism of the Marxist notion of
> exploitation. I know we shouldn't dogpile, but
> those of us who think that the extraction of
> surplus value is worth studying should offer a
> few comments on his blog. (Frankly, I don't think
> much of Brad's argument, but I'm interested in the
> opinions of LBOsters.)
>
> Miles
>
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu