Concerning Becker's efforts to apply the methods and techniques of neoclassical economics to a broad range of social science topics that were traditionally not considered to be within the domain of economics, I would say that I am reminded of the what the Bearded One was saying when he wrote:
"The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his “natural superiors”, and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous “cash payment”. It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. "
To the extent that this is true, then something like Gary Becker's kind of economic analysis might well succeed in shedding some light on many social phenomena in our society. On the other hand, not even capitalism, as powerful as it is, can reduce all aspects of human relations to the cash nexus. To the extent that is true, then Beckerian-style analysis will inevitably run into some serious limitations.
I also think that it might be worthwhile to compare Becker's work with that of David M. Gordon, a Marxist economist, who died back in the 1990s. Gordon's work similarly covered as nearly a wide range of topics as did Becker's but Gordon came to rather different conclusions. Whereas, Becker maintained that under free market capitalism, discrimination would put the discriminators at a competitive disadvantage, so penalizing them, Gordon argued that race and gender discrimination was beneficial to the interests of capital as a whole because it divided workers along racial, ethnic, and gender lines, thereby weakening their bargaining power against capital. Gordon also wrote on many other topics as well. Like Becker, he wrote on crime, and like Becker, in his analysis he posited that most criminal activity was more or less rational to life under capitalism. Whereas for Becker, the economic analysis of crime was used to argue for increased punishment for offenders, Gordon's political economic analysis emphasized the criminogenic nature of capitalism. Capitalism itself was based on criminality and it created social conditions under which crime was often a rational response to these conditions. Therefore, for Gordon, the best answer for dealing with crime was not to lockup more criminals and throw away the key but rather to work to the transformation of capitalist society
Jim Farmelant http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant http://www.foxymath.com Learn or Review Basic Math
---------- Original Message ---------- From: michael yates <mikedjyates at msn.com> To: "lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org" <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Subject: [lbo-talk] The wretched Gary Becker is dead Date: Mon, 5 May 2014 09:49:24 -0400
The wretched, reactionary economist, Gary Becker, has died. In his first book about the economics of discrimination, he described racist employers as having a "taste for discrimination." Just like you might have a "taste for pancakes." Those who had such a taste were, he argued, willing to accept lower profits to indulge it. That is, other things equal, employers would only hire black workers who were as productive as white workers if the black laborers would accept a lower wage. ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk ____________________________________________________________ Do THIS before eating carbs (every time) 1 EASY tip to increase fat-burning, lower blood sugar & decrease fat storage http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5368c5937845945926e19st01vuc