I haven't read the book, but what the book might say (if I had written it) would be that a rising share of unproductive labor was one cause (not the only cause) of the decline of profit rates in the 1970s. Since then, the profit rates have recovered some, owing to successful union-busting, offshoring, and the like. But lo and behold, public-sector workers are still left standing strong, better organized than ever, and, more obnoxious still, "Over 90 percent of public sector workers are covered by an employer-provided pension plan, whereas only about half of the private sector work force is covered (Employee Benefit Research Institute 1997)" (at <http:// www.eh.net/encyclopedia/article/craig.pensions.public.us> -- since then, the gap must have grown wider). There is nothing more appalling from a capitalist point of view than retired public-sector workers living on defined-benefit pensions! Most of them were white- collar workers, so (actuaries say) that they will live much longer than retired blue-collar workers (cf. <http://www.tdu.org/Newsroom/ House_Considers_Measure_to_Cut/house_considers_measure_to_cut.htm>)! Triply unproductive!!! Prediction (for Wojtek who is over-fond of a crystal-ball conception of "science"): that's where the class struggle hot spot will be. :-> To be sure, you get the same point by reading business pages (that may be in part because business reporters have read Marx and Keynes -- schooling does educate some students).
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>