Re: Re: Re: Historical Materialism

[Rakesh Bhandari <rakeshb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Doug writes:


> > Doug thinks Marx was an underconsumptionist; at the same Doug
> > subscribes to the wage led profit squeeze thesis.
>
> See, this is exactly what I was thinking of when I quoted Callari's
> observation that VT is a substitute for politics. I don't think you
> could ever prove this conclusively one way or the other using
> numbers.

prove what? problems were surely overcome not by increasing the
purchasing power of the working class, against your sometimes
underconsumption theory predicts.



>  But in political terms, it's not the least bit ambiguous - the
> ruling class felt like it was losing control in the 1970s. Workers
> were sullen and rebellious,

against rising rates of exploitation or wages not keeping up with
value of labor power perhaps in part as a result of greater tax
reductions.


>  the U.S. lost the Vietnam War,

leading to inflationary pressure in the process that threatened workers.


> and the Third World was talking about a new world economic order.

the terms of trade had turned against OPEC in the 60s; the embargo
was as much a defensive as offensive action.



>  As Paul McCracken's report for the OECD put it (and I wish I could
> find this exact quote again, it was a beaut), anxiety over inflation
> was inseparable from masses in the streets. The rebels were crushed.
>
> Doug

Which should have led to a much greater recovery in the profit rate
than it did if profits/wage ratio was the main independent variable,
as you imply when you're not focused on the problem of too high a s/v
realizing in Dept II output for which there is insufficient consumer
demand.  That the crushing did not lead to a full restoration of
profitability underlines the importance of the vcc and u/p labor
ratio which you want to junk.

At any rate, what value theory explains is why this barbaric
repression of the working class-- as well as the destruction and
devaluation of capital in part effected by Volcker's
bankruptcy-inducing high interest regime and regressive tax reform at
the expense of social darwinist social policy and the turning of the
terms of trade against raw materials producers-- restored
profitability (though only in part as Fred M emphasizes) and renewed
capitalist accumulation (such that it was).

That this is the capitalist way out of crises is explained on the
basis of the law of value.

Rakesh