Re: [OPE-L] conservation principles in economic and the natural sciences

[glevy@xxxxxxxxx]

> I think if we take a purely natural science point of
> view then the notion of surplus must meltdown. One way
> to look at the system would be to specify subsistence
> wage per unit of labor service in terms of goods and
> put it on the side of inputs. These inputs produce the
> total labor service as output and thus account for all
> the labor in the system. Now the net output of the
> system can be interpreted as conversion of resources
> that are economically free such as air, water, sun,
> etc. I think they could be modeled in the system with
> zero prices. We can define wages as anything above the
> given subsistence and work out the distrbution of
> "free natural resources" between wages and profits.
> This way we could maintain the conservation principle.
> What do you think?

Hi Ajit:

Which conservation principle in the natural sciences are you
referring to and how does that relate to conservation principles
which have been suggested for political economy?

The most fundamental conservation principle in the natural
sciences refers to the conservation of *matter*.  In that regard,
even if all life were destroyed on this planet (and elsewhere),
matter would still be conserved.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust ....

In solidarity, Jerry