[lbo-talk] me against the right

Wojtek S wsoko52 at gmail.com
Thu Oct 21 17:58:10 PDT 2010


[WS:] I just have one question, Doug. How would you counter his argument about the lack of productivity growth? He did have a point that if there is productivity growth, the outcome of that growth has to go somewhere. So where does it go? You did not really answer this question, you just made a reference to the BLS stats, to which he countered that they are bogus. He did not elaborate, but if we pursue his inflation claim, it follows that the value of output (i.e. aggregate sales leaving industry) is inflated, which in turn inflates productivity measures.

But if productivity growth is not a statistical illusion created by inflated value of output, the outcome of that growth, which must be operating surplus since compensation of employees is flat, must go somewhere. Where?

Wojtek

On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 12:11 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> http://lbo-news.com/2010/10/20/me-against-the-right/
>
> Me against the right
> I debate right-wing money manager and former Senate candidate Peter Schiff on The Real News Network: Schiff Vs. Henwood on Economic Crisis. Topics covered include the StimPak, Schiff’s intolerable tax burden (which makes it impossible for him to buy a submarine!), the intolerable restrictions on Wall Street (which evidently make it impossible for them to do business), the wisdom of neoliberal economic policy (to Schiff, Reagan was a wimp), etc.
>
> Interesting factoid: Schiff is the son of notorious tax protester Irwin Schiff, who’s doing 13 years in federal prison for repeated tax evasion and the persistent and prominent counseling of others not to pay. As much as I dislike the bourgeois state, this seems a fruitless way to voice your objections.
>
> [links in original]
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