Pathfinder Inc

[Philip Ferguson <plf13@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jose and I have tended to agree (off-line) that this thread is exhauated.

I won't say anymore in repsonse to Jose post re Pathfinder other than to
take him up on an economic point, which is not related to Pathfinder.

Jose says:

>Your zeal to prove the SWP's prices are "outrageous" leads you to engage in
>the most vulgar sort of bourgeois economic impressionism. You think
>academic-type book prices are high BECAUSE the people who buy these books
>can afford to pay more.
>
>Is it really necessary to remind you that the price of commodities, on
>average, is determined by the amount of socially necessary labor time it
>takes to produce them? Has the government of New Zealand passed a measure
>repealing the law of value for academic publishers?


Er, no Jose!  One thing I do know is my 'Capital'.

The *prices* of commodities are not determined by the socially necessary
labour in them.  It is the *value* of commodities which is so determined.

There can be, and often (indeed generally) is, a substantial discrepancy
between prices and values.

University texts can be sold at prices way above their values, just as Nike
products manufactured in Third World sweatshops are.  Or do you believe
that the exhorbitant price of Nike footwear *in general* is determined by
the socially necessary labour time it takes to produce them?

The reason university texts *can be sold at prices above their value* is
because they have a captive market of people who *have* to buy them.  Just
as I said.

Perhaps you need to advance beyond the first volume of 'Capital'!!!

All the best,
Phil