Re: [OPE-L] Sraffa's Contribution to Marxian Political Economy

[Jerry Levy <Gerald_A_Levy@xxxxxxx>]

> It is strange that Solow would focus on this trivial point.  I wonder
> if Solow brought this up, or was responding to someone else's comment
> about equal rates of surplus-value?

Fred:

To begin with, Solow's comment wasn't made in relation to Marx or the
TP, it was a comment about the logic of  the Sraffian system and the
relation of that logic to real economic processes.   As far as I can
remember, to answer your question, he brought up this issue.

While his comment obviously reflected a far different methodology
(and perhaps a misunderstanding of Sraffa) it was not trivial.

Without knowing where he wanted to go with his comment, let me
suggest a possible direction.  Instead of taking for granted a positive
and uniform rate of surplus, assume instead an array of rates that vary
by industry and can be positive or  negative.  One might then argue
(as he hinted at) that some workers are exploited and some aren't.

In solidarity, Jerry