On Dec 30, 2008, at 12:40 PM, Eric Beck wrote:
> Wasn't your conclusion in After the New Economy just the opposite of
> this: that layoffs and plant closings actually harmed the cutting-back
> company but benefited the the capitalist class as a whole? That is,
> carrying out cutbacks created an atmosphere of discipline and fear
> that was beneficial to capitalism if not the individual capitalist(s)?
Yup I did say that, because the empirical evidence from the 1990s suggested that. But those were closings mainly during good economic times. These are closings during bad times. 3M is one of our stronger corporations. Companies that cut back in expansions are probably suffering from serious problems masked by the general expansiveness.