[OPE-L:3405] Re: Re: Re: Re: objectivity of value

["Patrick L. Mason" <pmason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul,

Good point. Somewhere I once ran across an engineering textbook that
actually had formulas for labor hours, effort, etc. Theoretically,
economists since Marx have spent a great deal of time searching for
"reduction coefficients," whereas Marx indicated that the reduction of
skilled labor to simple or average labor goes on behind the back of
capital. Perhaps the reduction coefficients are simply rules of thumb that
are observable to capital but that are not observable to empirical economists.

peace, patrick




At 04:16 PM 6/1/00 +0100, you wrote:
>At 09:26 01/06/00 -0500, Patrick L. Mason wrote:
>
>
>>I agree. Abstract labor is unobservable and probably unmeasurable, just as
>>utility is unobservable and unmeasurable. Nevertheless, abstract labor and
>>labor values do provide empirical implications.
>>
>>peace, patrick l mason
>>
>>
>  Note that in capital marx uses the terms abstract labour and average labour
>more or less interchangeably. Whilst an average is not directly observable
>it is not unmeasurable. The whole of Taylors school of scientific management
>was based on determining this.
>
>