[lbo-talk] The zen of marx (was clarification)

[Lakshmi Rhone]

Alan
You're right that there is all this work on behavioral economics. I don't
know what to make of it. I was only making the simple point that I
understand the labor theory of value
as a theory of how people value goods or give meaning to goods in the
marketplace. So I think it's a subjective theory--or at least a theory of
aggregated subjective estimations of objective costs-- and I think people
can't but value judgments without relative judgments or comparisons. That
is, I figure out how much a hand woven sweater is worth by guessing how much
more time went into it as compared to a machine produced one. If I didn't
ask that question, I don't know how I would make my own value judgments.
That people are making such valuations seems beyond obvious but that seems
to be hugely controversial among economists. So I am willing to say that
there is some truth to the labor theory of value for a lot of goods, but
it's obviously not a complete theory. And even if it's approximately
correct, I don't see what it has to do with making society socially just. Do
we need economics? I think most people have already figured out that we
don't need economists!
LR